Importance

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Abstract

A crop harvesting header, attachable to a combine to sever standing crop and intiate the crop harvesting process, is disclosed wherein both the cutterbar and the floor of the header are somewhat flexibly constructed to follow the contour of the ground and harvest low growing crops. A counterbalancing force for the cutterbar is provided by leaf spring members spaced along the width of the header. These leaf spring members are connected to a lower portion of the header in such a manner as to enable the amount of countebalancing force supplied to the cutterbar to be variable by changing the number of leaf spring members exerting a counterbalancing force, either by increasing the number of locations that the leaf spring members are connected to the header frame or by increasing the number of leaf spring members at each location. Attachment ribs pivotally interconnecting the cutterbar and the header frame provide stability against side-to-side movements by the cutterbar relative to the header frame without subjecting the leaf spring members to such forces and without requiring extra frame members to prevent the side-to-side movements of the cutterbar.

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First Claim