A large, rotating assembly of horizontal bats or tines mounted on the front of a combine harvester or swather. As the machine moves forward, the reel gently pulls the standing crop toward the cutter bar and feeds the severed material onto the header auger or draper canvas. Its speed and height must be continuously adjusted by the operator to match ground speed and crop conditions, preventing shattering or bunching.
Raise the reel a few inches so we don't shatter those dry soybean pods before they hit the cutter bar.
Also heard as
- pickup reel
Related terms
Combine harvester
A large self-propelled machine that reaps, threshes, and cleans grain crops in one pass.
Shatter
The tendency of a plant's seed pods to split open and drop their seeds before harvest.
Barley reel
A specialized grain-cleaning machine used to separate wild oats and other impurities from harvested grain.