More wheel rake.

[dun]

If the hay is real stemmy like johnson grass, big bluestem etc, even with the rear spacing set to make a 6 foot windrow you will still get balling. Even worse is stuff that has much branchy weeds like queen anns lace, chicory, etc. Even just using one side it will ball up on the wheels and leave giant gobs. Worse is that it doesn't rake clean when it starts to load up. I raked a field for the neighbor last night and will finish it this morning, it's all like that. I spend nearly as much time backing up to clear a plug/ball as I do going forward.

 

[danl]

It makes me feel better that even Dun has trouble raking sometimes :!:

I figure he was putting up hay before rakes were even invented.
I am going to try to open up the back a little today.
It does have a lot of Johnson grass and queen annes lace in patches and that seems the worse.
I have no problem where the bermuda is thick.

What makes it bad is sometime I don't see it fast enough because Im going around a tree or ditch and look back and I have a giant hairball.

Father in law says he thinks it is a Missouri law you can't have a square, treeless hayfield (:

 

[novatech]

If the hay is real stemmy like johnson grass, big bluestem etc, even with the rear spacing set to make a 6 foot windrow you will still get balling. Even worse is stuff that has much branchy weeds like queen anns lace, chicory, etc. Even just using one side it will ball up on the wheels and leave giant gobs. Worse is that it doesn't rake clean when it starts to load up. I raked a field for the neighbor last night and will finish it this morning, it's all like that. I spend nearly as much time backing up to clear a plug/ball as I do going forward.

What kinf of rake?

 

[IL cow man]

I'm the worst hay raker known to mankind, but do you have the front swung too wide feeding your hay into the center to perpendicular to the tractor. I have the same problem with Frontier rake with big grasses and weeds clumping and plugging, but mine usually comes from the way the frame is built and it catches on the pipe to the inside rake wheels. I'm looking at a Belco rake and it has individual arms to each wheel with adjustable springs for wheel down pressure. The Rhino swift rake appears to have a looped pipe on the inside so should catch less than the Frontier. I don't know if this info will help but i would look at the angle. You may have to give up some swath width, but it may let it clean off the inside wheel more readily. I usually have to go get the bar rake for the reed canary grass and overgrown weeds or i have to big a mess. I also have found the wheel rakes don't like turns as the wheels will slow down and drag the hay and clump it. I try to rake the majority in fairly straight windrows and crossing across mowed (disc mower) swaths it does fine which is the opposite for a 5 bar rake. I am leaving only two outside windrows. I rake the inside first and leave the last two or 3 windrows on the outside. It takes a lot of raising and lowering on the ends, but it is the only way I get the Frontier to rake.

 

[Angus Cowman]

If the hay is real stemmy like johnson grass, big bluestem etc, even with the rear spacing set to make a 6 foot windrow you will still get balling. Even worse is stuff that has much branchy weeds like queen anns lace, chicory, etc. Even just using one side it will ball up on the wheels and leave giant gobs. Worse is that it doesn't rake clean when it starts to load up. I raked a field for the neighbor last night and will finish it this morning, it's all like that. I spend nearly as much time backing up to clear a plug/ball as I do going forward.

Not neccesarily
we have been baling JG that is putting up 7 bales an acre and having No problems
when I was mowing the JG was as tall as my head while I was sitting on a 110hp tractor
I have raked rye that was making 11 bales pr acre and no problem
Have mowed over 6ft tall millet and raked it with a 10 wheel rake and didn't plug it
it was producing over 11 bales per acre

alot of it has to do with Rake design

I doubt we have pliugged the Kuhn rake 2 times in 5yrs and 15000+ bales

 

[dun]

Don;t know what rake it is. He's had it for about 10 years. Another neighbor has a 12 wheel rake, don;t know tha make of it either. But youcan rake a lot of junk hay without it plugging or balling. I don;t have the money for a fancy smancy rake like that. I'll stick will my rollabar for my own hay. Besides, the wife can rake with the kubota and it savs me from having to do the raking along with the rest of it.

 

[novatech]

Don;t know what rake it is. He's had it for about 10 years. Another neighbor has a 12 wheel rake, don;t know tha make of it either. But youcan rake a lot of junk hay without it plugging or balling. I don;t have the money for a fancy smancy rake like that. I'll stick will my rollabar for my own hay. Besides, the wife can rake with the kubota and it savs me from having to do the raking along with the rest of it.

I have an old New Holland rollbar. Never have plugged it up in johnson or anything else. Not even with double or triple rakes.

 

[dun]

The expensive rake that the neighbor has is a Sitrex magnum. It's so big you could probably rake bales with it.

 

[IL cow man]

There is a huge difference in the Rake designs and the frame set ups. Basically the more expensive the rake the better it is. The ones with the frame behind the wheels have the best volume capacity as the hay won't catch on the frame. The v rakes the fold upward have big differences in the frame setup and clearance.

 

[dun]

There is a huge difference in the Rake designs and the frame set ups. Basically the more expensive the rake the better it is. The ones with the frame behind the wheels have the best volume capacity as the hay won't catch on the frame. The v rakes the fold upward have big differences in the frame setup and clearance.

The link has a picture of the Sitrex rake
http://www.sitrex.com/products.2.php?idPDProdotto=22

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Have been using one of them Sitrex rakes and not had any problem with it balling up.

 

[JSCATTLE]

i have a 10 wheel kuhn . The only time I have trouble is when the wind is real bad . It seems to blow it against the wheels and hangs up . But that's in 20 mph plus .

 

[dun]

Have been using one of them Sitrex rakes and not had any problem with it balling up.

Almost wish I had bigger and squarer fields so I could use one of them.

 

[hillrancher]

Have been using one of those rakes for the past 5 years. The only trouble is uneven ground. I can pick it up and cross the windrow have no troubel with odd shapes. I rake two rows and bale then go back and forth. Do have trouble when it is windy and this years has been the worst.

 

[danl]

IL Cow man I have to disagree, according to my brother in law I am the worse hay raker in the universe.

Do you all rake three rows around a field first, wait for the baler to roll them up then make straight rows across the field?

I can't keep straight enough for him, I think i need a gps. I really run into problems going around trees.

 

[Angus Cowman]

IL Cow man I have to disagree, according to my brother in law I am the worse hay raker in the universe.

Do you all rake three rows around a field first, wait for the baler to roll them up then make straight rows across the field?
That is pretty much how we do it
I can't keep straight enough for him, I think i need a gps. I really run into problems going around trees.

 

[IL cow man]

GPS would not help with trees as you fall asleep from being bored out of your mind sitting there not steering and then you hit the tree. My patches are not even big enough to use GPS anything that is big enough is in corn and soybeans.

 

[1wlimo]

the person raking needs to think about the person baling.

I have been useing a sitrex magnum MK12 for the last couple of years.

Before that I have used a sitrex haymaker, or Kuhn rottary rakes. They both leave the windrow better for the baler.

 

[shaz]

the person raking needs to think about the person baling.

I have been useing a sitrex magnum MK12 for the last couple of years.

Before that I have used a sitrex haymaker, or Kuhn rottary rakes. They both leave the windrow better for the baler.

When I taught the wife to rake I made the outer 2 passes for her and said "Now, just go back and forth". I lost sight of her when I clogged the baler in another field. Came back and she was still going round & round. Her last windrow was about 20'x 20' with a 10 wheel rake.
As far as ground speed goes.....I past her baling :shock:
She gets the idea now though.

 

[cfpinz]

That's interesting, I've had trouble with v-rakes plugging when they have a frame inside the wheels but not the other types. I've got one that operates similar to the Sitrex one in the link and have never plugged it, knock on wood.

Must be operator error...