Weed seed destruction device with a straw guide surface

Abstract

A combine harvester includes a straw discharge rotor discharging into a straw stream and a sieve discharging into a chaff stream and a weed seed destructor section receiving the chaff and weed seeds for devitalizing at least some weed seeds. The straw is maintained out of the chaff stream by a guide construction having a front curved section underneath the rotor and a rear section which comprises a row of cantilevered flexible fingers which flex to assist in flow of the straw thereover and release of the straw from the rear end thereof. The rear ends of the fingers are thus unconnected and allow the straw to be freely released onto a dividing wall extending to the entrance to a straw chopper. The row of fingers can be carried on a support bar which is reciprocated around a transverse axis by a connection to a reciprocating element of the combine.