big wheel rake

[merlynr]

My buddy and I do some haying together and our rake has seen better days and he wants to get a four big wheel rake with 3pt hitch for our small operation of less than 100 br bales and about 3-400 squares per year. There is one of those rakes in our vicinity,but I've never seen one in operation except utube. I'm sort of against it. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[retired farmer]

I have seen them, I have used them, and you couldn't give me a new one.

 

[rrlund]

I've got an 8 wheel V-type. I like it just fine. If I was going with just a 4 wheel for a single swath,I'd stay with my Kuhn gyro type,but if the price is right,sure,they're a good rake. Just keep in mind,I'm talking about the newer type where the rods go all the way to the center of the wheel,not the old style with the small spring tines that bolt to the outside of the wheel. Those type are junk. They have a fiber bushing in the center of the wheel that wears so the wheel starts to tilt back,then the tines get bent back and they just slide over the hay.

 

[Roy Ward]

I have a Khun SR112, love it fully adjustable. Light crop I put four nine foot cuttings together, heavy crop two cuttings together. Very cheep to maintain. No more side deliver tines in my fields.

 

[danofarming]

I have one, a nine wheel inline. This past winter I bought and rebuilt a new holland 258 with dolly wheels. The big wheel has not been out of the shed. Differences 1) 258 makes fluffy windrows that will dry the green spots that turn up. Big wheel makes tight windrows. 2) 258 does not pull grass from ground and add to dry cut hay. Big wheel does that and with the tight windrow it does not dry out. 3)258 can get into corners better small lots are no problem. Big wheel has to be backed into corner to drag hay out. 4) Big Wheel will cover a lot of ground quickly. 258 is only 8 1/2 feet wide swath. Thinking of finding another 258 and a double hitch. Thinking of selling my Big Wheel. Oh yea, the lift chains do not come off of the 258 and hang up in the tine causing the wheel to stop turning and making a mess. Guess I like the New Holland 258 Side Delivery Best.

 

[Texasmark1]

I used them before and should have known better. This spring I bought one for my downsized farm since I retired. a 4 wheel, 3 pt, spring loaded boom. Only good thing I can say about it is that if I am working irregular problems, I can lift and lower it when desired and pick my way through existing ww's.

Otherwise it either hops over thick stuff, or the tynes bend back, or if raking against the wind, light grasses like coastal bermuda just stick to the wheels.

So I parked it, wrote it off as an exercise in stupidity as I should have known better and went down the road to my local aftermarket jobber and bought a JD side discharge parallel just like I should have done in the first place.

Mark

 

[merlynr]

Thanks for the responses and it seems like the majority doesn't like them,especially the small ones. In a large field the bigger models seem to work better. I'm going to show my partner this thread.