Patent ID: 6910321

Claim:
In a topper/shredder mechanism for a cane harvester including a rotatable topper/shredder element mounted for rotation about an upright axis, and a cane top gathering arrangement for directing cane tops to said topper/shredder element, the improvement comprising: said topper/shredder element including a center support disposed along said axis; at least two topped/shredder disks spaced from each other along said axis and joined to said center support; each topper/shredder disk having a plurality of cutting blades joined to, and projecting outwardly from, spaced locations about its periphery; and at least one air-assist vane extending between said at least two topper/shredder disks for generating a stream of air for aiding sideways discharge of shredder cane tops from said topper/shredder element.