A crop residue handling device (34) is mounted to the rear of a combine harvester (10) for intercepting crop residue. The residue handling device (34) includes a chopper (36) which chops and impels the chopped residue rearwardly through a discharge duct (46). A transition duct (64) receives the crop exiting from the chopper (36) and contains upright deflector vanes (86, 88) mounted for pivoting and being automatically moved among desired positions by a power actuator (94) so as to direct desired proportions of the crop residue between a blower (38) for receiving and accelerating the chopped through a discharge spout (52) for collection in a receptacle of a towed trailer (54), and a pair of spreader disks (40) located at opposite sides of the blower (38) for receiving and dispersing the crop residue on the ground.
