The purpose of research is the development of methods and devices for the treatment of dense crop when harvesting grain crops with combines. Methods for utilization of dense crop are chopping with rotary shredders after threshing, cutting of recycled stalks into fragments during thrashing with tow, cutting of stripped stalks by a cleaning unit with its simultaneous laying in a roll. The development of methods was carried out taking into account the requirements for tillage carried out after the harvest of cereal crops on the fields, which should be prepared for the cultivation of subsequent crops according to the traditional, minimal and zero technology. For shredding the combed stems of cereal crops, a device has been developed that is mounted on the header and the inclined chamber of the combine, cutting the stems into parts of 140-170 mm and putting them into spreading. On the basis of mounted on the combine and trailed roller headers, equipped with an integrating conveyor, rotary feeder and chopper, schemes of a trailed harvesting unit are developed. These schemes provide the grinding and distribution of the material across the header's width. The possibility of collecting and loading the crushed material into the vehicle is considered. For harvesting straw for various needs from dense crop, a unit was proposed for harvesting grain crops with a nozzle with simultaneous cutting and gathering of the stems in a swath. Behind the cutting header, the cutting apparatus is hung, and on the left and right, side rakes are attached to the header and combine harvester, which feed the cut mass into the inter-track space of the combine. Cut stalks in the left and right front wheel tracks of the combine are retracted to the sides by special guiding devices. The proposed technical solutions are protected by patents of the Russian Federation for inventions.