Reel drive shaft for windrow pickup attachment

An improved windrow pickup attachment for a forage harvester having crop processing means including an input opening for receiving crop material, said attachment comprising

• a main frame positioned on the front of said forage harvester adjacent said input opening,
• a transverse reel mounted on said main frame for picking up crop material from the ground,
• said reel including a series of tines and a plurality of stripper plates, said tines projecting outwardly between said stripper plates for engaging crop material and urging it upwardly and rearwardly along said stripper plates,
• said reel further includes left and right groups of tine bars on which said tines are mounted, each of which groups have a like plurality of opposing tine bars generally aligned in a transverse direction, said opposing generally aligned tine bars terminate in a centrally located spaced relationship, and
• a conveyor mounted on said main frame for receiving crop material from said reel along said stripper plates,
• said conveyor comprising an auger located rearwardly of said reel for consolidating crop material under conditions where it is urged rearwardly by said reel,
• said conveyor further comprising means for feeding said consolidated crop material to said crop processing means via said input opening, the improvement comprising
• a drive shaft for said reel assembly including a pair of outwardly disposed rigid elements affixed to an intermediate rigid element,
• said pair of outwardly disposed rigid elements and said intermediate rigid element having a common axis,
• drive means coupled to one of said outwardly disposed rigid elements for rotating said drive shaft about said common axis,
• opposing bearing assemblies for supporting said drive shaft on said main frame, said bearing assemblies affixed in the vicinity of the outer ends of said outwardly disposed pair of rigid elements, and
• intermediate support means comprising a third bearing assembly disposed to support said shaft at said intermediate rigid element.