The invention relates to a harvesting machine (19) for harvesting plants such as sugar beet row by row, comprising a harvesting unit that has at least one harvesting device and a chassis (20). Said harvesting unit has at least one pair (1) of brush cylinders comprising two brush cylinders (2) lying adjacent to one another and standing obliquely vertically used as a harvesting unit for stripping the leaves of the stalks (3) of the plants to be harvested, said stalks (3) being fed between the rotating brush cylinders (2) during the leaf-stripping process and having at least part of the leaves removed by the interacting brush cylinders (2). According to the invention, the brush cylinders (2) can be adjusted transversally to the harvesting direction (Y1) in order to adjust the degree of leaf-stripping during the leaf- stripping process as required, by altering the distance (?x) of the brush cylinders (2) in relation to one another.
