V-Rake questions- learning curve

[etmountianman71]

For the experts-
This is my second year to using a v-rake ( Agco 1508 8 wheel) and I am learning how to rake with it effeciently. Love how much time it saves, especially for my dad raking while I am at work. Trying to make things easier for him as he gets older (he will be 77 in July).
Now the issues:
rake wheels- my two front wheels do not turn as needed (they are free, nothing wrong with bearings) but seem to drag more than turn. I have adjusted the height from the drawbar and how the arms are lowered, keeping only about two inces of the tines on the ground.
clumping- I have also noticed that I am getting clumping of hay between the wheels (different types of grass hay and different fields- thick or thin). I have tried raking slower and faster but seem to find the same issue (level ground or hilly).

Any suggestions as I do not want to go away from the advantages of the v-rake.

 

[circlew]

Are the wheels on correct. My granddad bought a rake a few years ago and the wheels were on backwards and it was doing just like your rake.

 

[Rajela]

pictures??????????????????//

 

[John SD]

First off I have no experience with a wheel V-rake so my advice is not worth :2cents:

Is there some kind of fore-aft leveling adjustment on this rake? Sounds to me like the rake could be a bit tail heavy and the front wheels are not contacting the ground with sufficient force to turn.

I'm not positively clear from your description if this is a 3pt or pull type rake. I'm thinking pull type. If it is 3pt, I think the first thing I would do is shorten the 3pt top link a bit to see if that would lower the front and raise the rear of the rake.

I moved up from using a 6 wheel Vicon to a Vermeer R2800 V-rake last year. The baskets are driven by one of the tractor remotes. The folding/unfolding and front/rear raise/lower functions are controlled by the other tractor remote using an electric splitter box.

Best part is I can do everything needed without getting out of the cab. ;-) I'm not even close to 77 yrs old and it really wears me out to have to get in and out of a tractor much. It is surprising how little dust the bar rake raises compared to a wheel rake. Rake tractor has no AC so running with all windows and doors open. I really appreciate raising less dust.

 

[M5farm]

Are the wheels on correct. My granddad bought a rake a few years ago and the wheels were on backwards and it was doing just like your rake.

that would be my guess also

 

[etmountianman71]

I will try to take pics the next time we put up hay.
Yest the wheeels are on correct and turn freely.
This is a pull type rake that I put on the drawbar so I can adjust the front of the rake height.

I plan on keeping a positive thinking cap. Just a machine.

 

[Richardin52]

I have a ten wheel Kuhn speed rake. It came with the wheels on backwards.

When I rake I go back and forth in as straight a line as possible then do my headlands last. I do not get any clumps on the straight runs but do get some on the curves.

Speed rake is a good name for it. The faster I go the better job it does. Nothing faster on the market.

 

[John SD]

I will try to take pics the next time we put up hay.
Yest the wheeels are on correct and turn freely.
This is a pull type rake that I put on the drawbar so I can adjust the front of the rake height.

I plan on keeping a positive thinking cap. Just a machine.

Is your tractor drawbar straight, or designed so you can flip it over for more adjustment?

I had a Fordson Major with 3 positions for drawbar height. I always kept it in the top position. The lower positions were just too low, and caused the drawbar pin to catch on windrows and bunch up hay.

 

[skyhightree1]

my set up

 

[Rajela]

Looks like that tractor is on fire????

 

[skyhightree1]

Looks like that tractor is on fire????

lol it is everytime I start it up has probably 15,000 hours on it. My mechanic wants to rebuild it. Everytime he sees me start it up drives him crazy.

 

[Rajela]

Cough...Cough..I been raking hay all day long...Cough ..Cough....

 

[John SD]

Looks like that tractor is on fire????

lol it is everytime I start it up has probably 15,000 hours on it. My mechanic wants to rebuild it. Everytime he sees me start it up drives him crazy.

If I had to drive with that smoke in my face all day, it would finish me off. :yuck:

If the tractor is diesel the problem might be something as simple as a bad fuel injector :?: :idea:

If the tractor is gas, I don't see how you keep spark plugs in it. :shock:

 

[hurleyjd]

Okay I will put my two cents in here. The rake wheels are right and left if installed wrong they will not rake right. Try changing the wheels from one side to the other want take long and that might work. Also when I rake I go around the field about four times and bale those windrows and then I put up strait windrows I also pick the rake up when making the turn. The rake will not rake when trying to make a turn.

 

[skyhightree1]

Yea I know its diesel but only smokes 2-5 minutes then stops goes back to normal.
Clip of what v rake raking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkK4JJ2 ... ata_player

 

[OklaBrangusBreeder]

My 2 cents worth....

I got a new 10 wheel rake three seasons ago and it about ate my lunch the first day I used it. Two things that made the difference for me.

* It should not clog in back. If it is, you probably need to open the rear throat by adjusting the angle of the wheel arm. That is about the #1 thing I would tell you to do before anything else. After I did that, the rake worked just like it should.

* Since it was working so well, I tried to increase the ground speed and found that I could drive too fast for the hay to kick out the back. When I shifted back down 1 gear, it went back to raking like it should and all worked well.

Those sound like simple things. But it took both to get my rake to work. Now that I have it set and know what gear to rake in, I've had no problems at all.

 

[etmountianman71]

So update on my raking. We made some adjustments on the width again and also found I had some teeth that were not tight. Makes a better windrow now and did not clog up as bad. So I will test it out on a bigger field soon.
Another adjustment was on using the drawbar at a higher setting in the front with the draft set up higher.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

Just happy to rake faster.