which spiral?

[vmarc]

New to haying need help.What is the best pattern to use when raking hay?I've seen directions to spiral in and some say to spiral out.what's your favorite way?Using side delivery rake.Or does it matter which rake is used?Thanks.

 

[vmarc]

New to haying need help.What is the best pattern to use when raking hay?I've seen directions to spiral in and some say to spiral out.what's your favorite way?Using side delivery rake.Or does it matter which rake is used?Thanks.

 

[Bird]

I'm certainly no hay expert, although I've cut, raked, and baled a few hundred bales, but I'm not sure what you mean by "spiral in or spiral out". Are you talking about whether the roll the hay right or left with the rake. If so, I don't think it makes any difference. Most of my hay work was using an 11' haybine (mower/conditioner), then we used an old 9' side delivery rake to rake 3 windrows into one. In other words the center windrow was not raked. We just raked the ones on either side onto the center one and baled it.

 

[Bird]

I'm certainly no hay expert, although I've cut, raked, and baled a few hundred bales, but I'm not sure what you mean by "spiral in or spiral out". Are you talking about whether the roll the hay right or left with the rake. If so, I don't think it makes any difference. Most of my hay work was using an 11' haybine (mower/conditioner), then we used an old 9' side delivery rake to rake 3 windrows into one. In other words the center windrow was not raked. We just raked the ones on either side onto the center one and baled it.

 

[JoshJ]

If I understand this right...

Spiralling in will leave you rake stuck in the center if you dont want to drag it across your just made windrows and mess em up. Could complicate things if you have more than one field to rake.

 

[JoshJ]

If I understand this right...

Spiralling in will leave you rake stuck in the center if you dont want to drag it across your just made windrows and mess em up. Could complicate things if you have more than one field to rake.

 

[vmarc]

Thanks for the input........For clarification,Some say to start in the middle of the field and spiral out clockwise.Seems you would end up with the last windrow against a fence or out of the the work area.Some say start counter clockwise around the perimeter for one turn,and then go to the middle and spiral out counter clockwise.This seems to make sense.As Josh says it doesn't make sense to start on the perimeter and finish in the middle and hem yourself in.Who would have thunk it was so complicated to rake hay?

 

[vmarc]

Thanks for the input........For clarification,Some say to start in the middle of the field and spiral out clockwise.Seems you would end up with the last windrow against a fence or out of the the work area.Some say start counter clockwise around the perimeter for one turn,and then go to the middle and spiral out counter clockwise.This seems to make sense.As Josh says it doesn't make sense to start on the perimeter and finish in the middle and hem yourself in.Who would have thunk it was so complicated to rake hay?

 

[Bird]

Aah, now I understand what you were talking about. We always started mowing hayfields around the perimeter; one time around clockwise since the haybine was offset to the right and we'd have the tractor out close to the edge, then one round counterclockwise, with the tractor in the row already mowed and mow the outer edge, then back to clockwise and continued until we finished. When we raked and baled, again we started at the perimeter and worked our way to the middle, but didn't have to worry about getting hemmed in because one would be raking while the other was baling. We had a neighbor who was full time in the hay business, frequently worked alone, and he did the same thing except he had two air-conditioned John Deeres; one with the rake, one with the baler, so he'd rake awhile, bale awhile, rake again, etc. And he never shut down the tractor that he wasn't using because it would get too hot in that cab if he shut it down and turned off the air-conditioner. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Bird]

Aah, now I understand what you were talking about. We always started mowing hayfields around the perimeter; one time around clockwise since the haybine was offset to the right and we'd have the tractor out close to the edge, then one round counterclockwise, with the tractor in the row already mowed and mow the outer edge, then back to clockwise and continued until we finished. When we raked and baled, again we started at the perimeter and worked our way to the middle, but didn't have to worry about getting hemmed in because one would be raking while the other was baling. We had a neighbor who was full time in the hay business, frequently worked alone, and he did the same thing except he had two air-conditioned John Deeres; one with the rake, one with the baler, so he'd rake awhile, bale awhile, rake again, etc. And he never shut down the tractor that he wasn't using because it would get too hot in that cab if he shut it down and turned off the air-conditioner. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[gsganzer]

As Bird said. Start at the outside and rake in, then turn around and rake out for the remainder into the center( your outer row will be a double windrow, you'll have to bale it slow). Once you get to the center, we just left the rake down and drove straight out and exited the field. It messes up the rows, but the baler has to exit the field too, so it just picks up what got messed up as it drives out the exit path.

 

[gsganzer]

As Bird said. Start at the outside and rake in, then turn around and rake out for the remainder into the center( your outer row will be a double windrow, you'll have to bale it slow). Once you get to the center, we just left the rake down and drove straight out and exited the field. It messes up the rows, but the baler has to exit the field too, so it just picks up what got messed up as it drives out the exit path.

 

[turnkey4099]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( As Bird said. Start at the outside and rake in, then turn around and rake out for the remainder into the center( your outer row will be a double windrow, you'll have to bale it slow). Once you get to the center, we just left the rake down and drove straight out and exited the field. It messes up the rows, but the baler has to exit the field too, so it just picks up what got messed up as it drives out the exit path. )</font>

Yep, spiral in. There is no need to be concerned about driving back out. Just leave the rake running and it makes a nice "road" from the edge to the center. Yah, it does mess up the rows a bit but no more than the corners do anyhow.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( As Bird said. Start at the outside and rake in, then turn around and rake out for the remainder into the center( your outer row will be a double windrow, you'll have to bale it slow). Once you get to the center, we just left the rake down and drove straight out and exited the field. It messes up the rows, but the baler has to exit the field too, so it just picks up what got messed up as it drives out the exit path. )</font>

Yep, spiral in. There is no need to be concerned about driving back out. Just leave the rake running and it makes a nice "road" from the edge to the center. Yah, it does mess up the rows a bit but no more than the corners do anyhow.

Harry K

 

[vmarc]

Thanks guys.I'll give it a try.

 

[vmarc]

Thanks guys.I'll give it a try.