Swather

A swather is a farm implement that cuts hay or small grain crops and forms them into a windrow. A swather may be self propelled via an internal combustion engine or may be drawn by a tractor and powered through a power take-off shaft. A swather uses a sickle bar (see mower) to cut the stems of the crop. A reel helps the cut crop fall neatly onto a canvas which moves it and deposits it into a windrow, with all stems oriented in the same direction. As combines replaced threshing machines, the swather was needed to replace the binder.

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Windrow: A windrow is a row of cut hay or small grain crop. It is allowed to dry before being baled, combined, or rolled. For hay, the windrow is often formed by a hay rake, which rakes hay that has been cut by a mower into a row. For small grain crops which are to be harvested, the windrow is formed by sw...

Internal combustion engine: An internal combustion engine is an engine that is powered by the expansion of hot combustion products of fuel directly acting within an engine. A piston internal combustion engine works by burning hydrocarbon or hydrogen fuel that presses on a piston; and a jet engine works as the hot combustion p...

Tractor: A tractor (from Latin trahere "to pull") is a device intended for drawing, towing or pulling something which cannot propel itself and, often, powering it too. Most commonly the word is used to describe a vehicle intended for such a task on some other vehicle or object....