Deere & Company
Controlled float on an agricultural harvester for header leveling

Abstract:

A header assembly for an agricultural harvesting machine comprises a first frame assembly, a second frame assembly that supports a cutter, and is movable relative to the first frame assembly, a float cylinder coupled between the first frame assembly and the second frame assembly, an accumulator, a controllable reservoir, and fluidic circuitry. The fluidic circuitry comprises a first conduit forming a first fluid path that provides a flow of pressurized fluid under pressure to the float cylinder, so the float cylinder exerts a float force on the second frame assembly, a valve mechanism that is actuatable to inhibit fluid flow along the first fluid path between the accumulator and the float cylinder, a second conduit forming a second fluid path fluidically coupled to the controllable reservoir, the controllable reservoir being controllable to add fluid to the float cylinder.