Whatever Happened To Chainsaw-Type Cutters?

Whatever Happened To Chainsaw-Type Cutters? MOWERS Mowers (31H) 24-1-31 One important piece of farm machinery that changed very little during the 20th century is the cutterbar. We've heard talk of new inventions û such as a laser cutter û but the only ones we've actually seen built are chain-type cutterbars. We recently followed up with both inventors to see how they've fared. FARM SHOW published a story in 1998 on Tom Loftus's continuous "chain-type" cutterbar for combine headers (Vol. 22, No. 6). The continuous chain reduces vibration to allow faster combine speed and also reduces shatter. We called Loftus, who farms near Ivesdale, Illinois, to get an update. "Your article generated phenomenal interest - I could have probably sold 20 units sight unseen," says Loftus. "I received so many calls and letters I could barely handle them all. "I originally built the unit for my Case-IH 1660 combine equipped with a 20-ft. platform. It worked even better than I had hoped. It cut much cleaner and allowed me to harvest faster than I could have with a conventional grain platform. Last year I made a few improvements on it that worked great." Loftus had a local machine shop build his 50-ft. long continuous cutter chain, which consists of a continuously rotating chain equipped with replaceable sickle sections. He removed the existing 20-ft. cutterbar and wobble box and replaced them with the new cutting chain and a pair of hydraulic motors. One motor mounts at each end of the chain. As the chain rotates, it returns through a return trough under the platorm in a slot that was originally used to store an extra sickle. Chain speed and direction are controlled from the cab. "The continuously rotating cutterbar has more than twice the cutting surface of a conventional cutterbar and makes equal and full use of all sickle sections. As a result, the sections won't get dull in one spot like they do on a reciprocating cutterbar being used on row crops. Another advantage is that the cutting chain can be run both ways to get full use out of the sickle sections. When the knives are dull on one side, the direction of the chain can be reversed." Loftus recently entered into an agreement with HCC Inc., which will manufacture the unit. Anyone who wants to get on a mail list for more information should contact HCC, Inc., 1501 First Ave., Mendota, Ill. 61342. Willard Pearson of Dawson, Minnesota, was the first inventor we ever featured with a "Chain Sickle" for cutting hay, soybeans and small grains (Vol. 9, No. 4). His system also used conventional sickle sections on a specially designed chain that rotated around two sprockets, one of which was adjustable for setting chain tension. A hydraulic orbital motor allowed the operator to vary sickle speed, and also to reverse the chain's direction. "We had more than 600 inquiries from FARM SHOW's original report," says Pearson. "We installed a working prototype chain sickle on a 7-ft. hay mower and planned on adapting it to fit combines, swathers and mower-conditioners. We had hoped to work out a licensing agreement with a manufacturer but it never worked out." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Willard Pearson, Rt. 1, Box 98, Dawson, Minn. 56232 (ph 612 769-4515).

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