A mining machine for dislodging solid material from a mine face includes a body portion mounted on endless tracks and a boom member extending forwardly from the body portion with a cutter drum member rotatably mounted on the front end of the boom member. An endless conveyor mechanism is positioned in a longitudinal trough member and conveys dislodged material from the front of the mining machine. A gathering platform extends forwardly from the body portion and the conveyor mechanism and is positioned rearwardly of the cutter drum member. A plurality of rotatably mounted gathering disc members are positioned rearwardly of the forward transverse edge portion on the gathering platform. The gathering discs include a first pair of large discs that are positioned oppositely of the longitudinal axis of the conveyor mechanism. A second pair of smaller gathering discs are positioned laterally of the large gathering discs adjacent the lateral edge portions of the conveying platform. A drive mechanism mounted on the gathering platform is drivingly connected to the gathering discs so that the small gathering discs rotate in a direction opposite to the corresponding large gathering discs. The dislodged material is directed onto the gathering platform and is fed by the small gathering discs onto the large gathering discs and therefrom into the trough member and onto the conveyor mechanism. The gathering discs may be driven by a single motor connected to a large disc with the remaining discs connected by meshing spur gears. In another embodiment, each of the large discs may be driven by separate motors with drive trains connecting the small discs to the respective motors.
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