Sitrex wheel rake-trying to decide

[Trac-Tech]

Hi Guys
I second what Renze said. It really depends on the conditions you are working in and what you are making. Wheel rakes are good for dry hay, but when in not quite ready conditions with rain clouds around and a farmer stressing about it being baled before it rains, it can make rope for you.
Down here in Aus, wheel rakes are still big sellers in the dry areas where they only produce hay and straw. In the wetter areas where they make hay and silage, roataries are the only things used.
In Silage, it definitely winds the grass into "Rupunzles hair". Thats my experience anyway and I am sure there will be differing opinions on this, but I hope it helps.
Cheers

 

[flusher]

Hi Guys
I second what Renze said. It really depends on the conditions you are working in and what you are making. Wheel rakes are good for dry hay, but when in not quite ready conditions with rain clouds around and a farmer stressing about it being baled before it rains, it can make rope for you.
Down here in Aus, wheel rakes are still big sellers in the dry areas where they only produce hay and straw. In the wetter areas where they make hay and silage, roataries are the only things used.
In Silage, it definitely winds the grass into "Rupunzles hair". Thats my experience anyway and I am sure there will be differing opinions on this, but I hope it helps.
Cheers

Thanks for the input from Down Under.

Here in the North Sacramento Valley rainfall is under 20 inches/year and the humidity generally is less than 50% from April thru Oct when a lot of haying is done. I suppose that's one reason why there are so many wheel rakes around here.

 

[HayDR]

If you are going to do silage or haylage you will need a PTO driven or Hydraulic driven rake. In the USA, dry hay is 85% of the hay harvested and haylage is 15%. In Europe, it is 75% haylage and 25% dry. That affects the choices of every haytool chosen so that is why you see a different marketing mix of products sold in Europe that those sold in the USA. You will see more haylage raised in the USA now that we have $5 a bushel corn.

 

[mark.r]

That's a nice Vermeer unit that Mark just posted but I can't imagine it's a cheap one either.

 

[flusher]

If you are going to do silage or haylage you will need a PTO driven or Hydraulic driven rake. In the USA, dry hay is 85% of the hay harvested and haylage is 15%. In Europe, it is 75% haylage and 25% dry. That affects the choices of every haytool chosen so that is why you see a different marketing mix of products sold in Europe that those sold in the USA. You will see more haylage raised in the USA now that we have $5 a bushel corn.

Thanks for the info.
My interest is strickly dry hay in small square bales.

 

[Lazy J]

I just priced new Sitrex rakes at our local New Holland dealer today.

10-wheel Hi-capacity $8,250
12-wheel Hi-capacity $11,200

10' rotary rake $4,300

We used a Vermeer WRV10 hi-capacity rake for two years in Iowa. I like the rake for its speed and for the fairly good windrow it made. I don't like wheel rakes as a rule sue to the amount of dirt and debris that can be incorporated into the windrow.

The pricing of the Sitrex rotary rake is lower than I thought they would be so it may be an option for our operation. I did find a Vermeer WRV10 in Kansas that looks really nice though......

Jim

 

[mark.r]

I just priced new Sitrex rakes at our local New Holland dealer today.

10-wheel Hi-capacity $8,250
12-wheel Hi-capacity $11,200

10' rotary rake $4,300

We used a Vermeer WRV10 hi-capacity rake for two years in Iowa. I like the rake for its speed and for the fairly good windrow it made. I don't like wheel rakes as a rule sue to the amount of dirt and debris that can be incorporated into the windrow.

The pricing of the Sitrex rotary rake is lower than I thought they would be so it may be an option for our operation. I did find a Vermeer WRV10 in Kansas that looks really nice though......

Jim

Is that normal . . . for such a large rotary to be so much cheaper than the wheel rakes? I thought it would be the other way around.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Is that normal . . . for such a large rotary to be so much cheaper than the wheel rakes? I thought it would be the other way around.

10' is on the small side for a rotary rake. The larger rotary rakes that will cover 18' were around $16k if memory serves me correctly but that is for a Kuhn 6002. There are much larger rotary rakes with some different options and large price tags but for the guys chopping hay where the hay is a higher moisture the rotary rake is a better system so the price is justified.

 

[nomad]

Price is main determining factor in selection of hay rakes.
Just to give you an idea on price levels;
An 16' rotary rake will cost about 2000 USD.
A 4-wheel rake will cost about 500 USD
A 8-wheel 3pt V-rake will cost about 1250 USD.
Plus, with a little blacksmithing by yourself, you can add 2 more wheels to convert the 8-wheels to 10-wheels. Not so easy to modify the rotary rakes.

 

[flusher]

Flusher here:

In the interest of closure, since I started this thread last month, things have changed. I found a nice rake locally.

It's a JD 350, 3pt type, pto-driven. The rubber is good and the teeth are new. Paint job is pretty good. $800.

Thanks to everyone who posted. I learned a lot about wheel rakes as a result. Now the fun begins--learning to use this little honey.