Patent ID: 7343726

Claim:
A harvesting machine comprising: a support frame; a turning circle mounted to said support frame for being selectively rotated about a substantially vertical axis; a discharge assembly, for the transfer of harvested crop to a transport vehicle, having an inlet end and an outlet end, with said inlet end being coupled for rotation with said turning circle and for pivoting vertically, relative to said turning circle, about a generally horizontal axis, whereby said discharge assembly is mounted for pivoting vertically over a range of active positions, including a lower active position, and including positions located below said lower active position; an extensible and retractable actuator including a first component and a second component selectively shiftable relative to said first component, with said actuator having opposite ends respectively coupled to said turning circle and to said discharge assembly and being adapted to move the discharge assembly about said generally horizontal axis to vary the height of said outlet end of the discharge assembly; and a stop element being mounted in the vicinity of said actuator and being moveable between an active position and an inactive position, wherein when the stop element is in the active position the stop element is positioned for limiting the range of contraction of the actuator such that the discharge assembly cannot be moved to a position lower than said lower active position, and when the stop element is in the inactive position, the stop element does not limit the range of contraction of the actuator such that the discharge assembly can be moved to a position that is lower than the lower active position.