This study was conducted to investigate experimentally the basic characteristics of the torque of the cutterbar driving shaft as the double-knife was used instead of the conventional standard single-knife type. A new design for inclined setting of the cutterbar relative to the direction perpendicular to combine harvester movement was investigated to test a possible reduction of concentrated load caused by the simultaneous cutting of many rows. It was evaluated that the maximum torque and mean total power of the driving shaft due to the cutting resistance of the rice straw were largely depended upon the rotational shaft-speed and straw feeding rate, but were resepectively 1.1~2.3 and 1.15~1.34 times higher compared to those while idling. It was also proved that the inclined setting of the cutterbar could save a considerable amount of energy required for its driving shaft.