Crop stalk guide cutterbar attachment extension

A crop stalk guide cutterbar extension for use on a crop stalk guide attachment to a crop gathering header cutterbar includes a plurality of mounting bars, guide bars and braces which provide a plurality of assembled units for mounting to and forwardly of the crop stalk guide attachment. Each assembled unit of the extension is formed by one of the mounting bars, one of the guide bars and one of the braces. Each mounting bar is attached to and extends forwardly from a support framework of the crop stalk guide attachment and each guide bar overlies one mounting bar and has a forward end attached on a leading end of the mounting bar. The guide bar is supported by one of the braces disposed between the guide bar and corresponding mounting bar to extend inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the forward end to a rearward end overlying and spaced above a leading end of one of the guide plates of the crop stalk guide attachment. The guide bars and mounting bars of the assembled units together define forward elongated passageways running in the direction of forward travel across the field surface and leading rearwardly to rearward elongated passageways of the crop stalk guide attachment for raising and guiding crop stalks which are flattened on the field surface upwardly to the crop stalk guide attachment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention generally relates to crop harvesting equipment and, 
more particularly, is concerned with a crop stalk guide extension for 
employment with a crop stalk guide attachment to a cutterbar of a crop 
harvesting machine gathering header. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Crop harvesting machines, such as combines, are commonly used to gather and 
harvest grain-bearing stalk crops as the machine is moved across the 
field. In the case of short stalk row crops, such as soybeans and milo, 
the crop harvesting machine gathers the crop by cutting the stalks close 
to the ground and feeding the severed grain-bearing stalks into the 
machine. The machine harvests the grain from the stalks by first threshing 
the severed stalks and finally separating the grain from the threshed 
stalks. 
Crop harvesting machines typically utilize crop headers mounted 
transversely across their forward ends to cut and gather a wide swath of 
the crop upon each pass through the field. The crop gathering headers 
commonly employ cutterbars extending transversely to the path of movement 
of the machine through the field and positioned close to the ground for 
severing the crop stalks close to the ground. 
Crop gathering headers also usually employ devices for guiding the crop 
stalks into the cutterbars. The particular guide device employed depends 
on what crop is being harvested. One type of stalk guide device, which has 
been used for short stalk row crops, such as milo, is constructed of a 
number of rod-like fingers which attach to the cutterbar and extend 
forwardly on opposite sides of the stalk rows. At their forward ends, the 
fingers, in turn, mount springy tines which extend rearwardly on opposite 
sides of the stalk rows. 
Problems have been encountered with this type of stalk guide device that 
impede the overall efficiency of harvesting operations. First, under 
certain tangled crop conditions, the tines can break off and be pulled 
into the cutterbar causing damage which requires temporary shutdown of the 
harvesting machine until repairs are made. Second, weeds intermingled with 
the crop stalks tend to catch on and plug the guide fingers, eventually 
impeding the smooth flow of the crop stalks to the cutterbar and requiring 
temporary suspension of the harvesting operation until the plugged weeds 
are cleaned out. 
A solution to these problems in guiding crop stalks into the cutterbar of a 
crop harvesting machine gathering header has been provided by the crop 
stalk guide cutterbar attachment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,610 
issued to Britten. The Britten crop stalk guide assembly includes a 
support framework and a plurality of flat guide plates. The support 
framework is attachable to the cutterbar of the crop gathering header so 
as to extend forwardly from below the sickle guards and a sickle of the 
cutterbar and to be spaced above the field surface the same as the 
cutterbar. The flat guide plates are attached on the top of a forward 
portion of the support framework so as to extend above the cutterbar 
sickle guards and sickle. The guide plates are spaced laterally in 
relation to one another and define elongated passageways between them 
which run in the direction of forward travel and lead rearwardly between 
the sickle guards to the sickle of the cutterbar. 
The patented Britten crop stalk guide cutterbar attachment has heretofore 
performed satisfactorily under most crop conditions and thus has provided 
a solution to the aforementioned problems. However, a problem may still 
arise under certain extreme conditions wherein certain crop stalks are 
bent down so low to the ground that they pass under the attachment and the 
cutterbar. 
Consequently, a need has arisen for an improvement to the design of the 
Britten attachment for guiding crop stalks into the cutterbar of the crop 
harvesting machine gathering header. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a crop stalk guide assembly designed to 
satisfy the aforementioned need. The crop stalk guide assembly of the 
present invention provides a crop stalk guide extension for employment 
with the aforementioned crop stalk guide attachment to the cutterbar of 
the crop harvesting machine gathering header. The crop stalk guide 
extension is adapted for use in extreme conditions wherein certain crop 
stalks are too low to the ground to be engaged and guided the crop stalk 
guide attachment alone. The crop stalk guide extension assists the crop 
stalk guide attachment in guiding low crop stalks rearwardly and upwardly 
into the cutterbar without experiencing plugging and breakage problems. 
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a crop stalk guide 
assembly for use on a crop gathering header cutterbar disposed a 
predetermined elevation above a field surface and having a row of 
laterally-spaced forwardly-extending sickle guards and a sickle composed 
of a row of blade sections reciprocally movable laterally through the 
sickle guards and cooperable therewith to sever crop stalks from the field 
surface. The crop stalk guide assembly of the present invention comprises: 
(a) a crop stalk guide attachment having a rear portion attachable to the 
header cutterbar and a front portion extending forwardly from the rear 
portion, the rear and front portions together defining rearward elongated 
passageways beginning forwardly of the cutterbar at substantially the 
predetermined elevation of the cutterbar and running in the direction of 
forward travel across the field surface and leading rearwardly to between 
the sickle guards to the sickle of the cutterbar for guiding crop stalks 
on the field surface to the cutterbar and terminating over the cutterbar 
above the predetermined elevation thereof; and (b) a crop stalk guide 
extension having a rearward portion attachable to the crop stalk guide 
attachment and a forward portion extending forwardly from the rearward 
portion and below the crop stalk guide attachment, the rearward and 
forward portions together defining forward elongated passageways beginning 
forwardly of and below the crop stalk guide attachment at an elevation 
below the predetermined elevation of the cutterbar and the crop stalk 
guide attachment and adjacent to the field surface and running in the 
direction of forward travel across the field surface and leading 
rearwardly to the rearward elongated passageways for guiding crop stalks 
on the field surface to the crop stalk guide attachment and terminating at 
an elevation above and over the front portion of the crop stalk guide 
attachment and thus above the predetermined elevation of the cutterbar and 
the front portion of the crop stalk guide attachment. Each of the rearward 
elongated passageways of the crop stalk guide attachment has a width less 
than the width of each of the forward elongated passageways of the crop 
stalk guide extension. 
More particularly, the crop stalk guide attachment includes a support 
framework having a rear portion and a front portion and is attachable at 
the rear portion to a header cutterbar so as to extend at the front 
portion forwardly from below the sickle guards and sickle of the 
cutterbar, and a plurality of guide plates each having a front portion 
defining a leading end and attached on the front portion of the support 
framework so as to extend above the sickle guards and sickle of the 
cutterbar and being spaced laterally from one another so as to define 
rearward elongated passageways therebetween and running in the direction 
of forward travel and leading rearwardly between the sickle guards to the 
sickle of the cutterbar. 
Further, the crop stalk guide extension includes a plurality of assembled 
units made up of mounting bars, guide bars and braces. Each mounting bar 
has a rearward section adapted to underlie and be attachable to the front 
portion of the support framework of the crop stalk guide attachment and a 
forward section having a leading end and being attached to and disposed 
downwardly in an offset relation to the rearward section and extending 
forwardly from the rearward section and forwardly from the front portion 
of the support framework and one of the guide plates of the crop stalk 
guide attachment. 
Each guide bar has a forward end and a rearward end. The forward end 
overlies and is attached on the leading end of the forward section of one 
of the mounting bars. Each guide bar extends inclined upwardly and 
rearwardly from the forward end to the rearward end which overlies and is 
spaced above the leading end of the front portion of one of the guide 
plates of the crop stalk guide attachment. The guide bars and the mounting 
bars together define the forward elongated passageways running in the 
direction of forward travel across the field surface and leading 
rearwardly to the rearward elongated passageways for guiding crop stalks 
on the field surface to the crop stalk guide attachment. 
The leading end of the forward section of each of the mounting bars and the 
forward end of each of the guide bars of the crop stalk guide extension 
have lateral edges which taper forwardly and toward one another and 
terminate at points so as to provide crop dividers for separating stalks 
in adjacent rows from one another. Each of the mounting bars and the guide 
bars have substantially the same width and thickness. Each mounting bar 
and guide bar has a width that is less than the width of each of the 
forward elongated passageways of the crop stalk guide extension. Each 
guide bar has a slick upper surface which is capable of providing a 
substantially smooth flow of crop stalks through the forward elongated 
passageways and of sweeping loose grain rearwardly and over the cutterbar 
along with the severed portions of the crop stalks. 
Each brace has a lower end attached to the forward section of one of the 
mounting bars at a location spaced rearwardly from the leading end thereof 
and an upper end attached to one of the guide bars at a location between 
and spaced from the forward and rearward ends thereof. 
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will 
become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the 
following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings 
wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the 
invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is 
illustrated a crop stalk guide assembly, generally designated 10, of the 
present invention, for use on a crop gathering header cutterbar 12 which 
is disposed a predetermined elevation above a field surface. The crop 
gathering header cutterbar 12 includes a transverse support bar 14, a row 
of laterally-spaced forwardly-extending sickle guards 16 and a sickle 18 
composed of a driven strip 20 and a row of blade sections 22 fasten in 
side-by-side relation along the driven strip 20 and reciprocally movable 
laterally through the sickle guards 16 and cooperable therewith to sever 
crop stalks (not shown) from the field surface F. The sickle guards 16 are 
attached by any suitable fasteners 24 to an underside of the support bar 
14. The driven strip 20 of the sickle 18 is mounted along an aligned row 
of depressions 16A in the sickle guards 16 for reciprocal movement 
relative thereto by a conventional drive mechanism (not shown) connected 
to an end of the driven strip 20. As the driven strip 20 of the sickle 18 
moves laterally relative to the sickle guards 16, blade sections 22 of the 
sickle 18 move in reciprocating fashion through slots 26 in the sickle 
guards 16. The moving blade sections 22 of the sickle 18 cooperate with 
stationary cutting edges 16B on the sickle guards 16 to sever the crop 
stalks. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, the crop stalk guide assembly 10 comprising the 
present invention basically includes the combination of the crop stalk 
guide attachment 28 as shown and described in the above-cited Britten 
patent with a crop stalk guide extension 30 therefor also comprising the 
present invention. The crop stalk guide attachment 28 has a rear portion 
32 attachable to the header cutterbar 12 and a front portion 34 extending 
forwardly from the rear portion 32. The rear and front portions 32, 34 
together define rearward elongated passageways 36 beginning forwardly of 
the cutterbar 12 at generally the same or nearly the same elevation as the 
predetermined elevation of the cutterbar 12 and running in the direction 
of forward travel across the field surface F and leading rearwardly to 
between the sickle guards 16 to the sickle 18 of the cutterbar 12. The 
crop stalk guide attachment 28 via the rearward passageways 36 thereof 
guide the rows of crop stalks (not shown) on the field surface F to the 
cutterbar 12 and terminate over the cutterbar 12 above the predetermined 
elevation thereof, as seen in FIG. 2. 
The crop stalk guide extension 30 of the present invention has a rearward 
portion 38 attachable to the crop stalk guide attachment 28 and a forward 
portion 40 extending forwardly from the rearward portion 38 and below the 
crop stalk guide attachment 28. The rearward and forward portions 38, 40 
together define forward elongated passageways 42 beginning forwardly of 
and below the crop stalk guide attachment 28 at an elevation below the 
predetermined elevation of the cutterbar 12 and of the crop stalk guide 
attachment 28 and adjacent to the field surface F and running in the 
direction of forward travel across the field surface F. The forward 
passageways 42 lead rearwardly to and merge with the rearward elongated 
passageways 36 for guiding crop stalks on the field surface F to the crop 
stalk guide attachment 28. The forward passageways 42 terminate at an 
elevation above and over the front portion 34 of the crop stalk guide 
attachment 28 and thus above the predetermined elevation of the cutterbar 
12. As best seen in FIG. 1, the forward passageways 42 each has a width 
greater than a width of the each of the rearward elongated passageways 36. 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the crop stalk guide attachment 28 basically 
includes a support framework 44 and a plurality of guide plates 46. The 
support framework 44 has a rear portion 48 and a front portion 50. The 
rear portion 48 is attachable to the header cutterbar 12 so as to extend 
at the front portion 50 forwardly from below the sickle guards 16 and 
sickle 18 of the cutterbar 12. Each guide plate 46 has a front portion 46A 
terminating in a leading end 54 and is attached by a fastener 56 on the 
front portion 50 of the support framework 44 so as to extend above the 
sickle guards 16 and sickle 18 of the cutterbar 12. The guide plates 46 
are spaced laterally from one another so as to define the rearward 
passageways 36 therebetween running in the direction of forward travel and 
leading rearward between the sickle guards 16 to the sickle 18 of the 
cutterbar 12. 
More particularly, the support framework 44 of the crop stalk guide 
attachment 28 includes a transversely-extending rigid mounting member 58 
in the form of an elongated mounting bar 60 with spaced mounting tabs 62 
by which the mounting bar 60 is attached to an underside of the sickle 
guards 16 and thereby to support bar 14. The support framework 44 also 
includes a plurality of flat support members 64 rigidly attached at their 
rear ends, such as by welding, to the mounting bar 60 and extending 
forwardly therefrom in laterally spaced relation to one another. 
The support framework 44 further includes a plurality of hollow rings 66 
arranged in spaced pairs and rigidly attached on top of each of the flat 
support members 64. The pairs of rings 66 are located about midway between 
front and rear ends of the flat support member 64 and are spaced forwardly 
from the mounting bar 60. The hollow rings 66 are positioned in alignment 
with the sickle guards 16 of the cutterbar 12 for receiving pointed 
forward tips 16C of the guards 16 through the hollow interiors of the 
rings 66. 
Further, each guide plate 46 has front and rear portions 46A, 46B and a 
middle portion 46C extending between and rigidly connecting the front and 
rear portions 46A, 46B. The front, rear and middle portions 46A, 46B and 
46C have different functions. More particularly, the spaces between 
respective lateral edges of the middle portions 46C of adjacent guide 
plates 46 define the rearward elongated passageways 36 which lead to the 
sickle 18. The lateral edges of the front portion 46A of each guide plate 
46 is tapered forwardly and toward one another and terminates at a point 
46D so as to provide a crop divider for separating the stalks of adjacent 
rows from one another. 
The lateral edges of the rear portions 46B of the guide plates 46 are 
farther apart from one another than are the lateral edges of the middle 
portions 46C thereof so as to define opposite rear notches 68 which are 
vertically aligned with the cutting edges 16B of the adjacent sickle 
guards 16 located on opposite sides of the rearward elongated passageways 
36. The rear notches 68 in the guide plates 46 provide sufficient 
clearance at the rear portions 46B of the guide plates 46 for the crop 
stalks to enter between the respective sickle blade sections 22 and sickle 
guards 16 for accomplishment of the severing of the stalks by the cutting 
action of the moving blade sections 22 against the stationary cutting 
edges 16B of the sickle guards 16. 
Each guide plate 46 also has a generally arcuate shape along the 
longitudinal dimension or length thereof. The attachment of each guide 
plate 46 by the fasteners 56 to the flat support members 64 at the forward 
half of the guide plate 46 and the positioning of the rearward half of the 
guide plate 46 over hollow rings 66 on flat support members 64 produces a 
bend in the guide plate 46 which is approximately halfway between its 
opposite ends and this way gives the guide plate 46 its generally arcuate 
shape. Thus, the rearward half of the guide plate 46 is more inclined 
relative to the horizontal than the forward half thereof. 
Also, the guide plates 46 have slick upper surfaces. The slick surfaces 
promote the smooth flow of crop stalks through the rearward elongated 
passageways 36 between the guide plates 46. The slick surfaces also 
promote sweeping of loose grain which has fallen on the guide plates 46 
rearwardly along the upper surfaces of the guide plates 46 and over the 
cutterbar 12 with the severed crop stalks so as to reduce grain losses. 
The desired slickness of the guide plate 46 top surface can be supplied by 
use of a suitable plastic material or, alternatively, by polishing the 
surface of a guide plate composed of metal. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, the crop stalk guide extension 30 of the 
present invention includes pluralities of mounting bars 70, guide bars 72 
and braces 74. More particularly, the crop stalk guide extension 30 is 
made up of a plurality of assembled units 76 (only one of which is seen in 
FIG. 3) which are mounted to the flat support members 64 of the support 
framework 44 of the crop stalk guide attachment 28 in fore and aft 
alignment with the flat support members 64 and the guide plates 46 of the 
crop stalk guide attachment 28. Each assembled unit 76 is formed by one of 
the mounting bars 70, one of the guide bars 72 and one of the braces 74. 
Each mounting bar 70 has a rearward section 78, a forward section 80 and 
an intermediate section 82 extending therebetween and interconnecting the 
rearward and forward sections 78, 80 in an offset vertically step-like 
relationship wherein the forward section 80 is at a lower elevation that 
the rearward section 78. The higher rearward section 78 is adapted to 
underlie and attached to the front portion 50 of the support framework 44 
of the crop stalk guide attachment 28 with the same fasteners 56 used to 
attach the front portion 52 of the guide plate 46 to the front portion 50 
of the support framework 44. The lower forward section 80 has a leading 
end 84 and is attached to and disposed downwardly in an offset relation to 
the rearward section 76 by the forwardly and downwardly inclined 
intermediate section 82. The forward section 80 extends forwardly from the 
rearward section 78 and thus forwardly from the front portion 50 of the 
support framework 44 and the corresponding one of the guide plates 46 of 
the crop stalk guide attachment 28. The forward section 80 has a length 
greater than that of the rearward section 78 and intermediate section 82. 
Each guide bar 72 has a forward end 86 and a rearward end 88. The forward 
end 86 overlies and is attached on the leading end 84 of the forward 
section 80 of the corresponding one of the mounting bars 70. Suitable 
fasteners 90 are provided for attaching the guide bar forward ends 86 upon 
the mounting bar forward section leading ends 84. Each guide bar 72 
extends inclined upwardly and rearwardly from its forward end 86 to its 
rearward end 88 where it overlies and is spaced above the leading end 54 
of the front portion 52 of a corresponding one of the guide plates 46 of 
the crop stalk guide attachment 28. 
The guide bars 72 and the mounting bars 70 of the assembled units 76 
together define the aforementioned forward passageways 42 running in the 
direction of forward travel across the field surface F which are aligned 
with and lead rearwardly to the rearward passageways 36 for guiding crop 
stalks on the field surface to the crop stalk guide attachment 28. The 
forward ends 86 of the guide bars 72 have pointed configurations that 
overlie and match in profile the pointed configurations of the leading 
ends 84 of the forward sections 80 of the mounting bars 70 so that 
together the forward ends 86 and leading ends 84 provide crop dividers for 
separating stalks in adjacent rows from one another. Each of the mounting 
bars 70 and the guide bars 72 of the assembled units 76 have generally the 
same width and thickness. Also, each guide bar 72 has a length similar to 
that of the forward section 80 of a given one of the mounting bars 70. The 
widths of the mounting bars 70 and guide bars 72 are substantially less 
than the widths of the forward passageways 42 of the crop stalk guide 
extension 30 and the widths of the guide plates 46 of the crop stalk guide 
attachment 28 but greater than the widths of the rearward passageways 36 
thereof. As in the case of the guide plates 46 of the crop stalk guide 
attachment 28, each of the guide bars 72 of the crop stalk guide extension 
30 has a slick upper surface capable of providing substantially smooth 
flow of crop stalks through the forward passageways 42 and of sweeping 
loose grain rearwardly on the guide bars 72 and over and to the guide 
plates 46 along with the crop stalks. 
Each brace 74 has a lower end 92 attached to the forward section 80 of one 
of the mounting bars 70 at a location spaced rearwardly from the leading 
end 84 thereof and an upper end 94 attached to one of the guide bars 72 at 
a location between and spaced from the forward and rearward ends 86, 88 
thereof. The upper end 94 of each brace 74 is bent to form a mounting tab 
96 giving each brace 74 a substantially inverted L-shaped configuration. 
The upper end 94 is attached to a corresponding one guide bar 72 of each 
assembled unit 76 at the mounting tab 96 by any suitable fastener 98. This 
attachment occurs closer to the rearward end 88 than to the forward end 86 
of the guide bar 72. The lower end 92 is attached to the forward section 
80 of a corresponding one mounting bar 70 of each assembled unit 76 by 
welding or any other suitable means. 
From the above description, it will be readily understood that the crop 
stalk guide extension 30 when attached on the crop stalk guide attachment 
28 of the Britten patent allows the header of a crop harvester to work 
lower to the field surface and thereby to move across the field surface 
and slide under flattened crop stalks and raise them so that they will be 
positioned to be engaged and guided by the crop stalk guide attachment 28 
into the header cutterbar 12. The crop stalk guide extension 30 need not 
be used in normal crop conditions, being primarily intended for use in 
extreme conditions wherein crop stalks are too low to the ground to be 
engaged and guided the crop stalk guide attachment 28 alone. 
It is thought that the present invention and its advantages will be 
understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that 
various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the 
form hereinbefore described being merely preferred or exemplary embodiment 
thereof.