The windrow pickup attachment

We want the pickup attachment to be easily attached or removed, to pick up cleanly, to keep itself free of winding forage and to reject stones.

The main part of the pickup is the revolving drum with retracting fingers. The fingers, pointing down, move forward and up carrying the forage with them. As they move up they start to retract into the drum so that they will not draw forage down. Then the conveyor apron moves the material to the feed rolls. A large, high-pickup drum is less likely to convey stones to the apron because they have more chance to be shaken loose before reaching the top.

The steel alloy fingers are retracted by the action of the stationary cams on the bars to which the fingers are attached. Damaged fingers can usually be removed and replaced separately.

The conveyor is usually a part of the pickup attachment, but with some machines it is a part of the basic unit.

The pickup is usually operated by the PTO or engine drive, although some are ground-driven. Ground-wheel drives have not been entirely satisfactory.

To keep the forage in contact with the conveyor, a rubber-tired wheel or steel paddle wheel is used. The rubber-tired wheel may not be driven; it just presses down on the forage and moves with it. In some models it impels the forage only if the forage stops; otherwise the forage and conveyor move the wheel. The paddle-type wheels are always power-driven. They do not rest on the empty conveyor, only on the forage.

In place of a hold-down wheel, some machines use hold-down bars or walker arms.

One machine has a three-speed pickup roll or drum; you can change the pickup speed to fit the tractor forward speed and the crop conditions.

One manufacturer sells the pickup as an attachment to the cutter bar unit. This pickup attachment is lightweight and inexpensive and is readily attached and used with the cutter bar in place.