V rakes

[Fordfarmer]

Bought a round baler earlier this year,
and it really emphasized the need for a
newer, higher capacity rake. The old Ford
503 and New Holland 56 are well worn,
anyway.
Planning on going to WI Farm Technology
Days this week, and will be looking at
rakes. Any you'd suggest looking closely
at, or not wasting my time on? New
Holland, JD, and H&S dealers are closest.

 

[Timmycornpicker]

Well, my friend and neighbor (onelonleyfarmer on YouTube) uses the daylights out of his H&S medium capacity rakes. In a more typical haying operation they'd last a lot longer before overhaul than what he has to do. I've run one of his. I think well of it, much better than the Frontier he had before. I don't have an opinion on other brands since I have no experience with them.

 

[Tx Jim]

When it comes to wheel rakes H&S are very good. I've owned a H&S Hi-cap 14 wheel rake for 19 yrs that's raked many 1000's of acres.

 

[rockcreek4630]

If you care about hay quality stay away from wheel rakes they put dirt in your hay. And yes i use one until I can afford a bar rake. If I were to get another wheel rake it would be a rowse currently I have a h&s (hunk of ####)

 

[rrlund]

Depends on what you're raking I guess. If you plan to rake any corn stalks, get something where the shafts are behind the wheels and push them. My only experience is with Gehl. They pull the wheel. Stalks want to wrap around them. and large windrows of hay will catch and bunch on rare occasions. One thing I do like about my pull type Gehl vs the 3pt Gehl that I had, I was able to make a minor modification to it so I can raise one side at a time and rake a single windrow if I have an odd point or an odd swath somewhere. It had two cylinders on it alright, but just one hose plumbed to a T. I added a hose and use the dual remotes.

I guess if I was shopping for new, an H&S would be what I'd be looking at.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

I like my carted wheel rake, it is a Kuhn I do all of my hay in round bales and I agree that a decent windrow makes a better bale.

In this picture I was raking 3 windrows cut by a 9 foot haybine into on row in one pass. I bought the rake new in 2016 and it hasnt been a second of trouble. I like the fact there is no pto, no drive belts or chains, no gear boxes, and no castering wheels that break, or develop a speed wobble. I have made thousands of round bales with hay raked by this rake and dirt raked into the hay hasnt ever been a issue for me. Its just drop in the draw pin, connect the two hydraulic remote lines pick up the Jack stand

, and you are good to go raking. I highly recommend this rake. Bruce

 

[72supr]

I have a R2300 Vermeer Bar rake that I use and really like it. You do not get junk in your hay like you do with a finger rake.

 

[Fordfarmer]

No corn stalks... and no Gehl equipment.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

Where I am located I would not know how to act if I was in a square field! And a lot of time the there are places where the hay is thin and then thick. The only v-rake I ever got to use was a Frontier brand and it opened and closed hydraulically - so if you came into a thick area then you could narrow up the rake and keep the windrow from being too big, and then widen it back out when the hay thinned out. Or close it together when the shape of the field needed it. BUT, it was the flimsiest thig I ever used and was all over the road when on the road.
I assembled Bush hog brand v-rakes for a while and if I owned one, I would want to raise and lower each side separately, instead of together. That would require dual remotes. Mark.

 

[dcarp]

I have the same Kuhn rake SR110, great rake. Had mine for about 10 yrs. no dirt in my hay. Probably could if you have the down force too high, simple adjustment to fix. If you have extremely high volume hay you could have a problem. If you have the high volume the frame outside, wheels inside works better.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I've got 2 different wheel rakes. On is a front fold so you can fold it forward and lift either side separately depending on which side you want to use. You can rake one single windrow with either side or doubles with both sides or even triples like Bruce is. It also has a way to adjust the width in the back so if it is light hay like in 3rd cutting you can squeeze them together for a good windrow. It is a Heston I bought used. Then the other is a 3pt Gehl with a double set of single rakes to make a Vee. I flipped on over then reversed the wheels so they would be on right and slid it out about 3 feet so it will rake 2 single windrows at the same time. It will not make double windrows without a lot of reversing of parts. I liked it for when we had more hay and had to rake it rather quickly before the dew was off. I could rake 20 acres in nothing flat with it. Just let the tractor amble along about 5 mph. If you get dirt in the hay it is set to run to hard on the ground. I don't notice a problem and nobody buying hay has said anything about it to me either.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Actually my Kuhn rake will allow to lower one side only. You have a valve to close while the rake is in the up position, and takes the hydraulic flow only to one side. I use it in this fashion if I need to flip a single windrow over because it had caught a rain

 

[Fred Werring]

Think it depends on how much you want to spend.

Got a 10 wheel Frontier. The type that has the frame in front of the raking wheels. In heavy hay it can wad up on you, hay gets bunched up on the frame. Did have one year the hay was so thick in this one field that I gave up on it and drug out the bar rakes. Got to keep an eye on it. But I can rake in a third the time over a bar rake even with the wads. If I get a wad, I raise it up, let it clear, and go on. Have to clean up the wad with the baler, but still way faster. And since my hay help grew up and left.... Paid $1400 for that rake used.

Friend had an Odgen I maybe should have bought when he quit haying. It's the type with the rake wheels in front of the frame, claims he never had a wad running it. But he wound up selling it for $7000, and I thought that was a lot of money, so....

Fred

 

[SVcummins]

We have a new holland that will turn about anything the H&S is the same as new holland

 

[DanielW]

It sounds like you're looking at new. Are you sold on a V-Wheel rake? They makes sense for most of us looking for a wide working width for (comparatively) low investment.

If I were looking and had the money, however, I'd go with a double rotary. We have a single, and I would never go back to a bar or wheel rake after using it. Fast, superbly gentle on the hay, and creates a tall fluffy windrow that dries down in a fraction of the time with no roping. Before I had it, I had a double hitch to pull two 10 foot Deere bar rakes in tandem. Even though the single rotary is a lot narrower working width, the extra time spent raking is saved in drying time alone, and the hay quality/lack of leaf loss makes it even more worthwhile. Unfortunately double rotaries are typically well above the price range for my pokey little operation.

A dealer up the road from me specializes in getting equipment out of Europe, and they have some pretty wacky/interesting stuff from time to time. Last year they had a double rotary from Samasz: Holy smackers, was that ever a beautiful piece of weaponry. Built like a tank where it needed to be, yet nimble/maneuverable in small/odd-shaped fields. I'd never heard of Samasz before, but apparently they've been around for decades and are getting increasingly popular overseas. I can't remember what the price was, but he had a list there comparing it to the Kuhn or Class equivalents and it was substantially less. They also makes a double bar rake like Vermeer's.

I was trying to screw myself up to spend the dough on it, but it sold before I could convince myself that I needed it (probably a good thing). The dealer hasn't brought in another double yet - only singles.

 

[Chester5731]

I just bought a new Frontier 8 wheel with kicker wheel. I love it. It does an excellent job and is well built. I understand they redesigned then a few years ago. This one is sturdy with a lot of easy adjustments. I priced an equivelent H&S and it was about $1500. more than the Frontier. I can't comment on what others have said about getting dirt in the hay as it doesn't seem to be any different than the old NH 56. If anyone is in need aof a NH56 I have one that needs a new home.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

I think on the Bush hog rakes, you had to pin one side up. But I think I would like an 'on the go' ability to just briefly raise one side, without dismounting. But that might slow you up on turns at the end where you want to raise both sides at once. Mark.

 

[rrlund]

I was concerned about lift time when I added a hose and went to dual remotes, but it pops right up and isn't an issue. I don't raise it all the way, just enough to get it above the hay.

 

[Fordfarmer]

A double rotary would be ideal... but it 8s beyond my budget.

 

[Fordfarmer]

Neighbor has one, seems to like it. Does
a nice job. Thinking it might require
more gpm than my old tractors produce.
Might be something to check out at the
show tomorrow.

 

[Fordfarmer]

Will probably go with a new one. I've been watching craigslist, Facebook marketplace, and dealer lots... not much used available, that isn't used up. NH dealer did have a decent used H&S V10. Left a message for the salesman after hours on a Friday... it sold before he got back to me.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

I don't know how old the Frontier rake I used was, but it had 4 tires,
8 or 10 wheels. I think it was 10. Took 2 remotes-one to raise and
lower- and one to widen and narrow up. But the tongue was very sloppy
and the rake was hard to pull straight down the road-just all over the
road- it would almost swing across the opposite lane. Even on a
sidehill it wanted to dog track. But the ability to widen and narrow
on the go to keep uniform windrows was a nice feature. Mark.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

Good to know, thanks. Mark.

 

[SVcummins]

Where is the 56 rake ? As far As dirt in the hay you set the
wheels so the hay turns the wheels not the dirt anyway

 

[SVcummins]

Foreign machinery is great until its 20 years or more and 5 or 6 mergers down the road

 

[Brown Swiss]

As long as it is bi fold and high capacity helps!

 

[rrlund]

The thing that was happening with mine anyway, the left side would have to raise all the way before the right side would start to come up, then going back down, the left side went all the way down before the right side would start down. Going to dual remotes solved that.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

That was the problem I had heard about too. Do you operate both remotes simultaneously to raise at the same time? Mark.

 

[Tx Jim]

(quoted from post at 06:57:06 07/21/21) As long as it is bi fold and high capacity helps!

Ditto on large advantage of bi-fold/hi-cap rakes with rake wheels next to unraked hay that have rake wheels being pushed vs butterfly type rakes with frames next to unraked hay pulling rake wheels. Plus I can rake 1,2 or 3 hay swathes that are 9 or 10' wide each just by moving a hyd valve control lever

 

[rrlund]

I tried that, but it was slower than just hitting one at a time. By themselves, they're so quick that they're off the hay before you know it. If I'm thinking, I raise the side that's going to drag in the direction that I'm turning first, then the one that's going to just roll over it, but when you're raking right along, it's just grab which ever one your hand hits first. I rake with an Oliver 1550 with hydra power drive. I pull the knob and put it in underdrive first, so it slows way down before I raise the rake, that helps a lot.

 

[Chester5731]

The 56 is in the thumb of Michigan.

 

[Destroked 450]

Sitrex and Tonutti made a large percentage of the wheel assemblies that a number of companies used on their carts
I have a Sitrex H90-8V and it's a decent rake but if I had the funds I'd get serious about a NH Procart or Kuhn SR model
I think a Vermeer hydraulic bar vee rake like a R23 is the cat's meow, but way over my price range

 

[MARK ROBKE]

Good to know what works best! Mark.