Apparatus and method for use in harvesting crops of the genus Brassica

A method of harvesting crops of the type falling in the genus Brassica comprises lodging the crops using a crop pusher assembly transported by a tractor and including a stationary crop pushing surface which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly from an upper top edge to a position adjacent the ground. The surface is convex and includes a bottom pivotal flap for following ground contour. The standing crop is moved to a lodged position against the ground without cutting or breaking the crop stems. This prevents shattering of the crop by maintaining the crop in the lodged position and causes the crop to continue to mature by maintaining the stems without cutting or breaking. After the crop has matured, the lodged crop is cut with a header of a combine harvester for harvesting the crop.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for use in harvesting 
crops such as Canola, Mustard, Crambe and others which fall in the genus 
Brassica. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Harvesting of seed crops is generally carried out on a commercial scale 
using a combine harvester to collect the crop heads and a portion of the 
straw or stalk and to separate the seeds from the remaining material for 
collection on the combine harvester. 
In some cases the combine harvester includes a straight cut header which 
cuts the crop from its standing position in the field. 
In other cases, it is desirable to separately and previously cut the crop 
from its standing position to form a lying swath of the crop which is left 
to dry in the swath condition before the crop from the swath is lifted 
into the combine using a pickup type header for separation of the seeds 
from the remaining crop materials. 
Both the straight cut technique and the swathing technique have advantages 
in different crop conditions. 
The same techniques are used in regard to crops in the genus Brassica which 
includes amongst others Canola, Mustard and Crambe. However it is also 
known that care has to be taken in the harvesting of these crops in that 
if they are left to stand in the field for an extended period of time, the 
crop is prone to shattering in which movement of the crop in the wind or 
other weather conditions causes pods to break open releasing the seeds 
from the crop to be deposited on the ground where they are lost to the 
harvesting process and can cause problems in later years. In many cases, 
therefore, the swathing technique is the method currently preferred. 
Some experimental or research work has been carried out in Sweden in which 
small or research plots of this crop have used simple relatively crude 
techniques to flatten or lodge the crop. This has been done mainly to hold 
narrow swaths in place since narrow width swaths do not have sufficient 
bulk and tend to break up in any windy conditions. No publications 
describing this work are known. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is one object of the present invention, therefore to provide an improved 
method and apparatus for use with crops of the type falling in the genus 
Brassica which allows an improved efficiency of harvesting reducing crop 
loses and improving crop quality. 
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of 
harvesting crops of the type falling in the genus Brassica comprising: 
providing a crop pusher assembly including a crop pushing surface; 
transporting the crop pushing surface through a plurality of standing crop 
stems of the above type; 
engaging the pushing surface with the standing crop so as to push the 
standing crop from a standing position to a lodged position against the 
ground; 
the pushing being effected without cutting or breaking the crop stems; 
preventing shattering of the crop by maintaining the crop in the lodged 
position; 
causing the crop to continue to mature by maintaining the stems without 
cutting or breaking; 
and after the crop has matured, cutting the lodged crop with a header of a 
combine harvester and harvesting the crop. 
Preferably the crop pushing surface comprises a surface which is inclined 
downwardly and rearwardly from an top forward edge to a bottom trailing 
edge. 
Preferably the surface is maintained substantially stationary as it is 
moved forwardly through the crop. 
Preferably the surface is convexly curved from the top edge to the bottom 
edge. 
Preferably the surface is convexly curved from a substantially vertical 
portion at the top edge to a portion at the bottom edge which is at an 
angle to the vertical and inclined downwardly and rearwardly. 
Preferably the surface includes a bottom flap portion which can pivot 
upwardly and downwardly about a generally horizontal axis so as to 
increase and decrease a distance from the ground. 
Preferably the bottom flap portion is connected to a main body of the 
surface by a hinge and is spring biased downwardly toward the ground. 
Preferably the surface is formed by a flexible sheet, preferably of a 
plastics material. 
Preferably the stems are substantially horizontal in the lodged position. 
Preferably there is provided a crop divider at each end of the pusher 
surface. 
Preferably the crop divider at each end of the pusher surface is adjustable 
in a direction upwardly and downwardly relative to the ground. 
Preferably the header of the combine harvester moves in a direction so as 
to approach the crop from the upper end of the stems toward the bottom end 
connected to the ground. 
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided an 
apparatus for pushing crops for lodging of the crops on the ground 
comprising: 
a frame having mounting elements thereon for attachment to a transport 
tractor; 
a crop pushing surface mounted on the frame for movement therewith across 
the ground for engaging the pushing surface with the standing crop so as 
to push the standing crop from a standing position to a lodged position 
against the ground; 
wherein the crop pushing surface comprises a surface which is inclined 
downwardly and rearwardly from a top forward edge to a bottom trailing 
edge; 
and wherein the surface is maintained substantially stationary as it is 
moved forwardly through the crop.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
An apparatus for pushing a standing crop is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 
indicated at 10 and is arranged for mounting on a suitable tractor vehicle 
11 for movement with the vehicle in front of the vehicle in front of the 
vehicle in a pushing action. The vehicle is preferably a swather type 
tractor having a pair of forwardly extending arms 12 and a centre coupling 
13 arranged for mounting and supporting the apparatus in a slightly 
floating action so the apparatus can lift in the event of impact with a 
rigid obstacle. 
While the swather tractor is particularly convenient, other tractor 
vehicles or power units can be used in which case the mounting 
arrangements for the apparatus may be varied in accordance with 
requirements. For example the apparatus may be mounted on a high clearance 
sprayer or a conventional tractor with narrow wheels. 
The apparatus comprises a main frame 14 including a first horizontal beam 
15 and a second horizontal beam 16 directly below the first. The beams 
extend across substantially the full width of the apparatus and are 
interconnected by a series of vertical posts 17 at suitably spaced 
positions along the length of the beams to provide a substantially rigid 
structure. For attachment to the swather tractor, the top beam 15 includes 
a bracket 18 for receiving a transverse pin 19 of the mounting 13 of the 
tractor vehicle. The bottom beam 16 carries a pair of rearwardly extending 
brackets 20 and 21 each for attachment to a respective one of the arms 12 
of the tractor vehicle. 
The shape and arrangement of the mounting bracket is of course available 
for modification depending upon the type of tractor to which the apparatus 
is to be attached. 
The main frame of the apparatus further includes a top forward rail 22 and 
an intermediate rail 23 which is supported upon the beams 15 and 16 and 
extend outwardly and forwardly therefrom. The top rail 22 is upwardly of 
and forwardly of the intermediate rail 23. Each of the rails is connected 
to the frame by a plurality of arms 24 and 25 which extend from the beam 
15 forwardly at spaced positions along the length of the rails so as to 
hold the rails infixed position forwardly of the beam 15. 
The apparatus further includes a curved pusher plate 26 which is formed of 
a semi rigid sheet of a suitable plastics material such as polyethylene 
which has sufficient rigidity to remain substantially in the curved 
position illustrated while allowing sufficient flexibility to allow the 
sheet to be curved and some flexibility to resilient deform in the event 
of impact with an obstacle. The sheet forming the pusher plate 26 is 
smoothly curved so as to substantially follow the arc of a circle and 
extends from a substantially vertical portion at the rail 22 past the rail 
23 to a rear portion 27 at the beam 16 which is inclined downwardly and 
rearwardly. The sheet 26 is attached to the rails 22 and 23 and to the 
beam 16 by brackets 28. A rear flap portion 29 is attached to the lower 
end 27 of the sheet 26 by a hinge 30 which allows the lower flap portion 
to pivot upwardly and downwardly as indicated by the arrow 31. In a rest 
position, the flap portion 29 is maintained such that it follows the 
curvature of the sheet 26 and particularly is in effect contiguous with 
the bottom portion 27. However the flap portion can also pivot about the 
hinge 30 against the bias of a spring 32. The spring 32 is mounted on a 
pin 33 which is pivotally connected to a bracket 34 at its upper end 
attached to one of the posts 17. At its lower end the spring pushes on a 
lower bracket 35 attached to the rear face of the flat portion 29. The 
flap portion can therefore pivot upwardly and downwardly to accommodate 
slight changes in ground height or minor obstacles and also to maintain a 
substantially constant pressure against the crop material to be pushed. In 
the event that the crop material exceeds a predetermined amount, the flap 
portion will pivot upwardly under pressure from the underlying crop 
material. In the event that the amount of crop material decreases, the 
flap portion will pivot downwardly to increase the pressure. 
At each end of the crop pusher is provided a crop deflector 36, 37 for 
engaging the crop beyond each end of the sheet 26 to pull crop into the 
area of the sheet for pushing under the sheet. Thus each crop deflector 
comprises a main deflector arm 38 mounted on an extension portion 39 of a 
bottom beam 16. The arm extends forwardly and is mounted on a hinge 40 
allowing upward and downward movement of the arm. Movement is effected by 
a hydraulic cylinder 41 connected between a bracket 42 on the arm and a 
bracket 43 on an extension of the beam 15. The arm carries a plurality of 
crop guide fingers 43 and 44 which act to direct the crop inwardly. The 
height of the forward end of the arm 38 can be raised and lowered in order 
to accommodate crop conditions and changes in ground height. 
In operation, the crop pushing apparatus is transported through the field 
containing the standing crop 50. The crop material is engaged by the crop 
deflectors and pushed inwardly to a position forwardly of the crop pushing 
sheet 26. The sheet engages the crop initially at its upper part indicated 
at 26A and commences pushing the crop over so that the crop is distorted 
and compressed forwardly and downwardly to lodge the crop onto the ground 
in a compressed mass which remains compressed and folded forwardly due to 
the interengagement between the crop stems in the folded condition. No 
cutting action occurs and the crop is simply distorted forwardly. The 
stems remain substantially intact so that there remains communication of 
fluids through the stem from the ground to the heads. However the crop is 
pushed over and lies generally flat against the ground. Generally the 
action is effected in strips of the same width as the pusher with the 
strips being in the opposite directions across the field. The crop 
dividers ensure that the crop material is divided into one lodge strip or 
a next adjacent lodge strip with little or no crop remaining standing 
between the strips. 
The crop remains in the lodged condition for a period in the range 10 days 
to 20 days. During this time fluids continue to be communicated from the 
roots of the crop to the heads of the crop to ensure that maturing of the 
crop continues. However the crop is protected from damage by wind or other 
weather conditions so that the heads are not shaken or shattered by the 
weather condition and remain protected in dose proximity to the ground. 
Normally the lodging action will occur when the crop has reached normal 
swathing stage, which is well known to one skilled in the art and is often 
detected at 10 to 50% seed turn. The lodging action is effected prior to 
the crop reaching a condition where the heads can shatter and this is 
normally detected by seed color change within the pod. The last insert 
days of maturation therefore take place in the lodged condition and 
complete maturation is normally detected by sampling for dry seed. 
When maturation is detected and the weather conditions are suitable, the 
crop is harvested using a combine harvester schematically indicated in 
FIG. 4 where the combine is schematically indicated at 60. The combine 
harvester is of course shown only schematically since this is well known 
to one skilled in the art. The illustration shows a feeder house 61 
attached to a header 62 having a auger transport system 63, a table 64 and 
a sickle knife 65. As shown the header of the combine harvester is moved 
in a direction opposite to the direction of lodging so that the heads of 
the crop feed firstly into the header of the combine harvester and the 
stems of the crop are cut by the sickle knife 65 as they are reached by 
the sickle knife as it projects forwardly from the table 64. Lifter guards 
may be used advantageously to ensure even flow into the combine header. 
The use of this process with the above defined crop materials provides an 
arrangement in which the crop can be properly lifted into the combine 
harvester. Thus this crop material does not fracture from the seed pods 
when lodged in this manner so that it retains some resilience maintaining 
the pods at a position spaced from the ground sufficient to allow the 
header to pass under the heads and lift the heads onto the table for 
harvesting. 
This harvesting method using the lodging of the above defined crop provides 
a method in which the crop is lodged using the curved sheet and the spring 
flap so that it is lodged without fracturing, cutting or breaking of the 
crop stems. As the lodging occurs without cutting, breaking or fracturing, 
the crop continues to mature as there continues to be a translocution of 
the necessary fluids from the roots to the seed pods. However the lodging 
action has the advantages that the crop heads are protected from weather 
conditions particularly wind to reduce shattering of the crop that is the 
breaking of the heads and the dispensing of the seeds which is 
particularly prevalent in the above defined crop type. The lodging also 
has the additional advantages that there is a more compete material 
maturation and that there is potentially less green seed and higher yield. 
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above 
described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made 
within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such 
spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the 
accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and 
not in a limiting sense.