Patent ID: 7520119

Claim:
A flexing crop lifter apparatus adapted for attachment to a guard finger of a guard attached to a cutting header, the apparatus comprising: a finger recess portion configured to receive a forward end of a guard finger in a finger recess defined by the finger recess portion when the finger recess portion is moved rearward; a securing portion adapted for attachment to the cutting header to secure the apparatus to the cutting header; a ski mounting plate extending rearward and downward from the finger recess portion under an attached guard finger; a ski member having a bottom surface configured to ride along a ground surface, the ski member attached only at a rear end thereof to a rear end of the ski mounting plate and extending forward under the ski mounting plate and curving upward at a front end thereof; a lifting arm extending rearward from the front end of the ski member back and over a knife of the cutting header when the apparatus is attached to the guard finger; wherein the ski member and the ski mounting plate are configured to flex up and down with respect to the finger recess portion.