"How could a barber cut hair if he only had a pair of scissors and no comb?" asks Peter Linklater, inventor of anew rotating "comb" for sicklebar mowers that he says improves cutting ability and also conditions hay. "It's like cutting a piece of string. It always cuts easier if it's held tight."

Linkiater's invention consists of a series of combs made out of loops of metal rod attached to a rotating shaft positioned just inches above the cutterbar on a standard sicklebar mower. Powered by separate drive and gearbox driven off the pto, the giant comb spins at about 800 rpm's, raking through hay stalks as they come up against the cutterbar.

"It's the only mower conditioner that pre-conditions hay before it's cut. At a ground speed of 4 to 5 mph, the combs pass up through the crop once before it's cut. That results in a very positive conditioning action since the crop cannot move -- its roots are still in the ground. The action is not strong enough to uproot the crop but just enough to evenly condition it without requiring a lot of power, and it holds the stalks tight while it's cut, reducing power needs of the cutterbar," says Linklater.

When the comb rakes through the stalks it flattens them out, conditioning the lower stem areas where the most moisture resides. The heavier the crop, the better it works, according to Linklater. Another benefit of the comb is that it eliminates second cuts, which occur when stems drop back down onto the sickle bar after they're cut only to get cut again. With the rotating comb installed, crop material is thrown backwards as soon as it's cut. "It keeps the knife clean and doesn't wrap because it spins at such high rpm's. It untangles the lower crop areas, making penetration easier for the sicklebar," says Linklater.

He almost no additional power is required to run the comb since the sicklebar runs so much easier. He plans to install the comb on his self-propelled swather and has applied for a patent.