Hay Rake

[BigMccorm]

Hey everybody,

Our current hay rake is getting ready to bite the dust and we're looking for a new one. We have the means to repair it if it would be cheaper to buy a duel hitch and another old rake.

What models do you folks recommend? Are wheel rakes better than "old school" rakes? Thanks for the help.

 

[Egon]

What type of "Hay Rake" are you asking about?

 

[jwcinpk]

I hate my wheel rake! That is unless you are going in a straight line. The small odd shaped feilds here in SE Ky make a wheel rake a nightmare. I am in the market for a good roller bar rake.

 

[BigMccorm]

I was asking about a roller bar rake. For the life of me I couldn't remember what it was called. We bale all kinds of odd shaped fields and put up around 40,000 bales a year.

 

[jwcinpk]

Although I've never personally used one I have been told the 8 wheel V rakes are what I want for the roller I've got. I've seen them used and it does look like they would save time and fuel. Hydraulically raised would be nice. I can see problems on slopes though if you needed to get in and out of some place with it raised.

 

[Blksim]

I was asking about a roller bar rake. For the life of me I couldn't remember what it was called. We bale all kinds of odd shaped fields and put up around 40,000 bales a year.

Were you thinking about the New Holland 256 Rolabar rake ?

 

[mjarrels]

NH-256 was the best hay rake ever made... to this day at auction, one will bring $1600 in good condition.

VC-5 Checkertails - Skeet for the Fleet.

mark

 

[kensfarm]

My NH 56 is still going strong..

"Hydraulically raised would be nice. I can see problems on slopes though if you needed to get in and out of some place with it raised."

Here's my trick.. mount the rake hitch on a "3pt drawbar".. not the bottom pull drawbar.

Lower the "3pt drawbar" to a desirable pulling height.. but not the lowest setting. Move the "lock or marker mechanism" on 3pt control shift so you can easily set the 3pt hitch to that height every time.

Now adjust your rake teeth height for level ground.

While you are raking.. you can now raise or lower the rake teeth on the fly by adjusting the height of the 3pt hitch.

Turning around.. backing up.. going over win-rows.. you can raise the teeth on the fly. Comes in very handy when doing the small pieces of land.. or going over the gravel road.. you can keep the rake hub locked in.. and not have to get off the tractor.

 

[JJ. in B.C.]

I agree with you there kensfarm, i have been using the same system myself for a number of years and find it works great with my rolling terrain and odd shaped fields. JJ.

 

[Greg_Phillips]

We use an 8 wheel Vermeer rake to rake about 350 acres a year in Western Kentukcy. Along with the disc mower and round baler, it is one of the best purchases that we ever made. It lets one person stay infront of the baler with no more that a ten minute head start instead of the 2-3 hour head start we had to have with a side delivery rake. The only way I would ever go back to a side delivery rake is if I could get a twin rake.