A windrower, called a swather in North America, is a farm machine that cuts hay or small grain crops and lays them into a row, called a windrow, to dry before collection, mechanizing what hand scything, cradling, swathing, mowing and raking once did by hand. It cuts the standing crop with either a reciprocating sickle bar or rotating cutting discs and deposits the cut material in an aligned row behind the machine. As combine harvesters replaced separate threshing machines, the windrower added back an optional drying step that binding sheaves had once provided, and it remains common in northern growing regions where a short season means standing grain cannot always be cut directly by a combine.
Facts
Partially Attested
OriginCame into grain harvesting as combines replaced threshing machines, adding an optional step for the drying time that binding sheaves had formerly provided. 1 The source describes the windrower's place in grain harvesting after combines replaced threshing machines but gives no date or inventor for its origin. Classification
Power Source Connections
Associated With
a windrower cuts and arranges hay or forage into rows for a baler to pick up afterward
Powered By
Entity-backed identity for the power-source enum value this implement already carries, resolved to an agriculture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The power-source fact itself stays on the implement unchanged.
Entity-backed identity for the power-source enum value this implement already carries, resolved to an agriculture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The power-source fact itself stays on the implement unchanged.
Sources
1. Swather (Wikipedia)
Body text, grain harvesting sentence
For grains, as combines replaced threshing machines, the swather introduced an optional step in the harvesting process to provide for the drying time that binding formerly afforded.
Opening definition
A swather (North America), or windrower (Australia and rest of world), is a farm implement that cuts hay or small grain crops and forms them into a windrow for drying.
lead description or Wikipedia lead (power-source)
They may be self-propelled with an engine, or drawn by a tractor and power take-off powered.
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