Hay rakes on rough terrain

[DustyH]

Which style hay rakes work better for hilly terraced land? I am using a side delivery rake right now that belongs to a brother in law, but I am considering purchasing a rake of my own and am leaning toward a wheel type. When I go over the hills or on uneven terrain the rake lifts up and skips that spot would a wheel rake help in this situation?

 

[dun]

Which style hay rakes work better for hilly terraced land? I am using a side delivery rake right now that belongs to a brother in law, but I am considering purchasing a rake of my own and am leaning toward a wheel type. When I go over the hills or on uneven terrain the rake lifts up and skips that spot would a wheel rake help in this situation?

A wheel rake will pick it up batter but will be a lot more expensive replacing broken teeth(spokes).

 

[Angus Cowman]

I use wheel rakes in my uneven terrain and I don't have a problem with teeth braking
I prefer hydraulic driven bar rakes but they just don't work as well as the wheel rakes

I prefer the Kuhn wheel rakes over the other brands I have used but they are a little more pricey

 

[hurleyjd]

Which style hay rakes work better for hilly terraced land? I am using a side delivery rake right now that belongs to a brother in law, but I am considering purchasing a rake of my own and am leaning toward a wheel type. When I go over the hills or on uneven terrain the rake lifts up and skips that spot would a wheel rake help in this situation?

A wheel rake will pick it up batter but will be a lot more expensive replacing broken teeth(spokes).

Get a vermeer with the dura bull wheels and they will hold up better.

 

[dyates]

Depends on what kind of hay you have also. My limited experience with wheel rakes says if there are any weeds, forget it. If the hay is really thick with long stems, forget it. I tried to rake a field of very mature orchardgrass the other day with a Lely 8 wheel rake. Just wouldn't do it. Wad after wad. That long stemmy stuff hangs in the teeth on the wheel and won't flow through the rake. Makes a real mess. On good, short leafy hay, it works very well. Might be that I never got it adjusted right, but I tried every possible combination I could with no good results.

 

[dun]

Depends on what kind of hay you have also. My limited experience with wheel rakes says if there are any weeds, forget it. If the hay is really thick with long stems, forget it. I tried to rake a field of very mature orchardgrass the other day with a Lely 8 wheel rake. Just wouldn't do it. Wad after wad. That long stemmy stuff hangs in the teeth on the wheel and won't flow through the rake. Makes a real mess. On good, short leafy hay, it works very well. Might be that I never got it adjusted right, but I tried every possible combination I could with no good results.

I had the same problem so I set the rear of the rake pretty far apart so the windrows were pretty wide. Then I locked down one side of the rack and just raked with the other side to get better windrows for baling

 

[Angus Cowman]

I don't understand not being able to rake any type of hay with a wheel rake I have raked everything from wheat and rye to fescue,clover,johnson and orchard grass
I raked rye this yr that was making 6.5 /1150lb bales to the acre and I have raked fescue and orchard grass that has made 9/1100 lb bales to the acre

the only time I have had to raise and rake with one side was last yr and I was raking rye that made 9.8 1200lb bales per acre
I am talking cereal rye not rye grass

I use a 10 wheel Kuhn rake and take 30ft of hay per pass

 

[dyates]

Depends on what kind of hay you have also. My limited experience with wheel rakes says if there are any weeds, forget it. If the hay is really thick with long stems, forget it. I tried to rake a field of very mature orchardgrass the other day with a Lely 8 wheel rake. Just wouldn't do it. Wad after wad. That long stemmy stuff hangs in the teeth on the wheel and won't flow through the rake. Makes a real mess. On good, short leafy hay, it works very well. Might be that I never got it adjusted right, but I tried every possible combination I could with no good results.

I had the same problem so I set the rear of the rake pretty far apart so the windrows were pretty wide. Then I locked down one side of the rack and just raked with the other side to get better windrows for baling

I finally figured that one out, but it was easier to just pull out the hitch pin and hook up the bar rake. Same amount of driving.

 

[dyates]

I don't understand not being able to rake any type of hay with a wheel rake I have raked everything from wheat and rye to fescue,clover,johnson and orchard grass
I raked rye this yr that was making 6.5 /1150lb bales to the acre and I have raked fescue and orchard grass that has made 9/1100 lb bales to the acre

the only time I have had to raise and rake with one side was last yr and I was raking rye that made 9.8 1200lb bales per acre
I am talking cereal rye not rye grass

I use a 10 wheel Kuhn rake and take 30ft of hay per pass

Maybe the Kuhn works better? Do you use a tedder on a lot of your hay? I think I would have had more success if the hay had been tedded to soften/break the seed stems. But then again, why add another unneeded pass through the field when I can just pull out the trusty old bar rake. I can rake anything with the wheel rake if I want to make a windrow 6' wide. That's a problem when the roller is only 5' wide.

 

[cfpinz]

I don't understand not being able to rake any type of hay with a wheel rake I have raked everything from wheat and rye to fescue,clover,johnson and orchard grass
I raked rye this yr that was making 6.5 /1150lb bales to the acre and I have raked fescue and orchard grass that has made 9/1100 lb bales to the acre

the only time I have had to raise and rake with one side was last yr and I was raking rye that made 9.8 1200lb bales per acre
I am talking cereal rye not rye grass

I use a 10 wheel Kuhn rake and take 30ft of hay per pass

Maybe the Kuhn works better? Do you use a tedder on a lot of your hay? I think I would have had more success if the hay had been tedded to soften/break the seed stems. But then again, why add another unneeded pass through the field when I can just pull out the trusty old bar rake. I can rake anything with the wheel rake if I want to make a windrow 6' wide. That's a problem when the roller is only 5' wide.

A lot does depend on the rake. Dad and most other folks in this area have the basket type v-rakes that have the frame and support tubes on the inside of the raking area when in work position. They all plug up in thick hay. I bought a used, older model one of these and have never plugged it, no framework on the inside to catch hay:

http://www.vermeerag.com/equip/rakes/wrx_rake/

 

[Angus Cowman]

I don't understand not being able to rake any type of hay with a wheel rake I have raked everything from wheat and rye to fescue,clover,johnson and orchard grass
I raked rye this yr that was making 6.5 /1150lb bales to the acre and I have raked fescue and orchard grass that has made 9/1100 lb bales to the acre

the only time I have had to raise and rake with one side was last yr and I was raking rye that made 9.8 1200lb bales per acre
I am talking cereal rye not rye grass

I use a 10 wheel Kuhn rake and take 30ft of hay per pass

Maybe the Kuhn works better? Do you use a tedder on a lot of your hay? I think I would have had more success if the hay had been tedded to soften/break the seed stems. But then again, why add another unneeded pass through the field when I can just pull out the trusty old bar rake. I can rake anything with the wheel rake if I want to make a windrow 6' wide. That's a problem when the roller is only 5' wide.

the kuhn has more adjustments than any rake I have previously used
that may be your problem is making the front too wide and the rear to narrow and yes I do make wide windrows they usually are about 5 1/2 wide and sometimes as high as 2 1/2 ft or more as I run a baler with an extra wide pickup as for tedding it depends on the hay, temps and the humidity
I can rake 3 windrows layed down by my 10 1/2 ft discbine with my wheel rake and that puts alot of hay on the ground it is cheaper to run the rake thru the field than it is the baler I also have a center kicker wheel on my rake so the center windrow gets turned all the way over

 

[dyates]

[

A lot does depend on the rake. Dad and most other folks in this area have the basket type v-rakes that have the frame and support tubes on the inside of the raking area when in work position. They all plug up in thick hay. I bought a used, older model one of these and have never plugged it, no framework on the inside to catch hay:

http://www.vermeerag.com/equip/rakes/wrx_rake/

Exactly. I think I'll try switching the support tubes out left to right and right to left and flip the wheels over. I'm not sure that will work, but it appears I will have a slight bit more clearance and less of a plugging problem. The support tubes currently create a perfect hook that catches like crazy, but if I flip everything, the hook will be leading instead of back in the middle.

 

[cfpinz]

Exactly. I think I'll try switching the support tubes out left to right and right to left and flip the wheels over. I'm not sure that will work, but it appears I will have a slight bit more clearance and less of a plugging problem. The support tubes currently create a perfect hook that catches like crazy, but if I flip everything, the hook will be leading instead of back in the middle.

I didn't quite follow all that swapping and flipping, but... Most of the basket rakes I've seen had pins with clevis pins on the bottom holding the rake wheel supports to the main frame. Hay has a tendency to build up and catch on those pins. I've helped a couple people to get rid of those pins and put either hex head or carriage bolts in their place upside down with a lock nut on top. It's not a bad idea to drill the bolt and put a cotter pin in above the nut in case it backs off. Not a fix-all, but it sure helps.