Patent ID: 7299611

Claim:
A walk-behind cotton harvester comprising: a cotton picker housing having at least one plant lifter mounted forward of the housing and defining a plant row channel extending back into the housing to a plant compressor sheet; a picker rotor mounted in the cotton picker housing adjacent to the plant row channel and traverse to the plant compressor sheet; a doffer mounted in the cotton picker housing near the picker rotor for removing picked cotton from the picker rotor and moving the picked cotton to an outlet at the rear of the cotton picker housing; a power unit including an internal combustion engine mounted on the housing including a rotatable output selectably connectable in rotatably driving relation to the picker rotor and the doffer for imparting rotation thereto, wherein the picker rotor and the doffer are located substantially on one side of a forwardly to rearwardly extending center line of the harvester, and the power unit is located substantially on an opposite side of the harvester; a rear support structure extending generally rearwardly from the rear of the cotton picker housing; a vertical member fixedly connected to the rear support structure; at least one wheel rotatably mounted to the lower portion of the vertical member; and at least one handle coupled to the upper portion of the vertical member, the at least one handle allowing an operator to steer the harvester while the operator walks behind the harvester during operation of the harvester.