Stack forming vehicle

Claim 1

A stack forming vehicle adapted to be towed by a prime mover and adapted to receive a chopped forage crop from a crop harvesting device of the type having a discharge spout through which the chopped forage crop is discharged, comprising: a generally rectangular shaped vehicle body including a bottom wall, a front wall, upstanding substantially opposed vertical sidewalls, a closure structure shiftably mounted on said vehicle body adjacent the rear end thereof and being swingable between a closed position for closing the rear end of the vehicle body, and an open position to permit a formed stacked to be removed rearwardly from the vehicle body, ground-engaging wheels connected with said vehicle body to permit the latter to travel over the surface of the ground, a revolvable compacting roller mechanism positioned within said body and being operable to continuously travel over the surface of the forage crop during the loading of the vehicle body to continuously compact the forage crop therein, a vertical pusher member positioned in upstanding substantially vertical relation within the body and being longitudinally shiftable between a forward position adjacent the front wall of the body and a rearward position adjacent the rear of the body whereby said pusher member will progressively push the form stacked rearwardly from the wagon, when shifted from the forward position to the rearward position, drive means connected with the said pusher member and to a source of power and being operable to shift said pusher member between said forward position and said rearward position, said drive means being operatively connected with said ground engaging wheels and being operable to drive said wheels in a forwardly direction simultaneously as the pusher member is being shifted rearwardly.