A harvester for harvesting stalks of stalk-like plants. The harvester includes a chassis, at least one ground contacting propulsion device connected to the chassis, and a basecutter assembly. The basecutter assembly is coupled to the chassis. The basecutter assembly includes a plurality of cutting knives and a pair of counter rotating plates. The pair of counter rotating plates include a first plate and a second plate, each of which have at least one of the plurality of cutting knives attached thereto. The first plate rotates about a first axis. The first plate has at least one portion thereof that extends in a radial direction such that the portion would interfere with the knife of the second plate except that the first plate is offset in a direction parallel to said first axis relative to said knife of said second plate.
