NH 256 adjustment ?

[disco]

I have a NH 256 rake. I have never owned one. It has a slot for adjusting it up and down in the front. We are raising alfalfa. If anyone knows where it should be set at please let me know.
Thanks Paul

 

[Blksim]

I have a NH 256 rake. I have never owned one. It has a slot for adjusting it up and down in the front. We are raising alfalfa. If anyone knows where it should be set at please let me know.
Thanks Paul

The manual says set it back (up) for lighter, fluffy windrows and foward (down) for a tighter, more roped windrow. I run mine in the upward mode but I bale just grass hay.

 

[disco]

Thanks for the reply! It is set towards the bottom. I cut about 1 acre to test the NH 499 and the 256. It did kind of rope it up which gave me a few wet spots. Overall worked good. I will reset before cutting the rest.
Thanks much,
Paul

 

[Blksim]

Just curious. What size tractor do you use with the 499 ?

 

[disco]

We use a JD 4020. Worked great. Could'nt tell it was back there. Not sure if I have the rolls set right. Alot of the stems were breaking, not cracking. The man I got it from used it to cut 110 acres of CRP a year. It's in really good shape. He never worried about conditioning.
Thanks Paul

 

[zzvyb6]

Check to see if the rolls are "in register", meaning that the chevrons line up with out interference. There is an adjustment for this that allows you to rotate one of the rolls relative to the other. The hay should go into the chevron pattern but not be snipped at the edges. Look for rubbing marks on the rolls as a tip off that this is happening.

 

[disco]

Thanks for the reply,
I think I need to back off the roll presure. There is about 3/8" gap between rolls. They seem to be in sync. Nothing hitting anywhere.
Thanks Paul