GB652539A - Improvements in swath turners and windrowers - Google Patents

Abstract

652,539. Haymaking. BAMFORD, C. J., and BAMFORD, H. V. Aug. 5, 1948, No. 20659. [Class 6(iii)] Tractor-driven swath turner having three or more laterally spaced turning heads carrying tines has the turning heads and supporting wheels so disposed that when the supporting wheels and tractor wheels run between the swaths, the heads are in the correct position for turning the swaths. Tractor-propelled swath turner or windrower has three turning heads 10, 11, 12, and the machine frame comprises transversely-extending angle-section members 13, 14 connected by spaced vertical members 15. The machine is attached to the tractor by an upper arm 17 and two lower arms 20 pivoted on a rod 19 extending between spaced lugs 18 on the lower frame member 14. Between the centre head 11 and the outside heads 10, 12, are bearings 21 in which slide standards 22 carrying castor wheels 24, the height of the frame above the ground being varied by a screw adjustment 25. Three pairs of brackets 26, 27, 28, extending rearwardly of the frame carry bearings 29 supporting a transverse shaft 30 carrying gear boxes 31 for operating the turning heads as described in Specification 527,981, [Group XXVIII]. The centre head 11 is in the centre of the frame and midway between the road wheels 32 of the tractor, while the outer heads 10, 12 are outside the wheel tracks of the tractor, the supporting wheels 24 being midway between the centre head and the outside heads, while being in alignment with the tractor wheels. Alternatively the supporting wheels 24 may be at the extremities, of the frame outside the outer turning heads. Each of the rotating heads can be independently reversed. Each head has a lug 33 connected by a spring 34 to a projecting arm 35 mounted on the frame. The outer heads 10, 12 may be adjustable laterally along the transverse driving shaft to allow for differences in the distance between the swaths. The shaft 30 is driven by a telescopic shaft 37 connected by a universal joint 39 to a shaft 40 driving the gearing in the gearbox 41. In a modified construction the machine frame has three supporting wheels, two of which are aligned with the tractor wheels, while the third is behind the centre head 11 so that the machine is self-supporting when uncoupled from the tractor. The shaft 30 may be driven from one or more of the supporting wheels instead of the power take-off. In swath turning all the heads are rotated to direct the swath against the adjacent swath boards 52. In windrowing the rotation of the outer heads is reversed so that the rotating head at the delivery end turns inwardly, the swath board between this and the central head being reversed. The frame may be rigidly attached to the tractor or when supported by road wheels have pivotal connection to allow it to follow inequalities of the ground. The frame of the machine and the transverse shaft may be in sections as in Specification 652,538.