Deere + Company

John David Burger

Henry Dennis Anstey

Steven R Pilcher

Steven Dave Anton

A harvesting system is provided that includes a primary harvester for harvesting grain and biomass, a biomass harvester for further processing the biomass, and a tugger and accumulator coupled between the primary harvester and the biomass harvester. The tugger and accumulator includes an onboard power plant and an onboard propulsion system.

Tugger and accumulator for use with an agricultural biomass harvester

A shield is provided for preventing crop build-up above the axle and behind the pickup frame from interfering with the closure of the gate after bale discharge. A spring member is interposed between the baler frame and a deflector surface. Preferably the spring member occupies the entire space between the baler frame and the deflector thereby preventing any accumulation of crop material in that space. As the gate of the baler begins to close a gate shield of the baler contacts the deflector surface and compresses the spring member allowing the deflector surface to deflect toward the baler frame. Because crop material cannot build up in the area occupied by the spring member and deflector surface, deflection of the deflector surface provides a clean path for the gate shield allowing the gate to close without interference from crop material build-up. When the gate is opened again the spring member expands pushing the deflector surface and any accumulated crop material toward the center of the baler. A cover is also provided to prevent crop material from entering any space between the frame and the deflector surface and/or the spring member.

Growing community of inventors

Ottumwa, IA, United States of America

John David Burger