Anybody use the fold up v-rakes? Looking to save some time raking hay and wanted opinions on these. Raked about 15 acres last year with my neighbors wheel rake and it cut the time in half. Been looking at vermeer, Tonutti, and the new Kuhn.
Wheel rakes?
- Thread starter tom4018
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We use both a wheel rake and a side delivery. On irregular gound like we have around here the side delivery may take longer but it does a more through job. Actually the "we" isn;t accurate. I used it once and went back to the side delivery and let the others mess with the wheel rake.
dun
dun
Used a 12 wheel V-rake last year on about 120 acres.
My thoughts as follows:
1. Flat ground and even hay crop - not a lot of turning - very nice - run the rake fully open spread and just go - everything works fine..
2. When we got into the heavy crops, the hay tended to either catch up on the wheels, or bung up in the exit at the end of the V. Continuously opening and closing the V to try and find the best raking width for the conditions. DO NOT DO THIS unless under way - it is hard on the wheels and the wheel fingers.
BEWARE - opening the V while under way tends to cause SLAMMING action if care is not taken - it may be difficult to understand while reading this topic, but you will understand when you try it for real!
3. We would often get big piles at the end of the V that would then squirt out and open up on the ground - requiring the baler to have to wiggle around to get all the hay into the baler pick up.
4. Rolling ground - we continuously had problems with the wheels running into the ground, or hanging up and hay escaping under those wheels.
5. Difficult to get into tight corners. Wheels tend to stop turning when you turn a corner - creates stress on the individual wheels and leaves hay behind. The bigger the V the worse the problem.
6. Difficult to work the irregular edges of some fields.
7. One field of real heavy hay - the rake frame was bent slightly during a turn - we were able to fix it - but this was caused by heavy crop and wheels stopping during a turn.
All in all the rake was ideal for large open areas - but smaller fields and irregular fields were a pain. Heavy crops or wet hay or just wanting to roll a windrow over once was not an enjoyable job.
We no longer use it for OUR conditions.
Side delivery is old - but does the job so nicely that we just went back to it and parked the wheel rake back at the dealer.
Not sure how much hay you are doing - but if it is only 15 acres - do not bother to spend the money - not enough return on your investment to make it worth while - at least in my opinion.
Neighbour runs two side delivery rakes in tandem - uses a rig from NH to pull them - we tried it and we will probably go that route in the future.
Bez
My thoughts as follows:
1. Flat ground and even hay crop - not a lot of turning - very nice - run the rake fully open spread and just go - everything works fine..
2. When we got into the heavy crops, the hay tended to either catch up on the wheels, or bung up in the exit at the end of the V. Continuously opening and closing the V to try and find the best raking width for the conditions. DO NOT DO THIS unless under way - it is hard on the wheels and the wheel fingers.
BEWARE - opening the V while under way tends to cause SLAMMING action if care is not taken - it may be difficult to understand while reading this topic, but you will understand when you try it for real!
3. We would often get big piles at the end of the V that would then squirt out and open up on the ground - requiring the baler to have to wiggle around to get all the hay into the baler pick up.
4. Rolling ground - we continuously had problems with the wheels running into the ground, or hanging up and hay escaping under those wheels.
5. Difficult to get into tight corners. Wheels tend to stop turning when you turn a corner - creates stress on the individual wheels and leaves hay behind. The bigger the V the worse the problem.
6. Difficult to work the irregular edges of some fields.
7. One field of real heavy hay - the rake frame was bent slightly during a turn - we were able to fix it - but this was caused by heavy crop and wheels stopping during a turn.
All in all the rake was ideal for large open areas - but smaller fields and irregular fields were a pain. Heavy crops or wet hay or just wanting to roll a windrow over once was not an enjoyable job.
We no longer use it for OUR conditions.
Side delivery is old - but does the job so nicely that we just went back to it and parked the wheel rake back at the dealer.
Not sure how much hay you are doing - but if it is only 15 acres - do not bother to spend the money - not enough return on your investment to make it worth while - at least in my opinion.
Neighbour runs two side delivery rakes in tandem - uses a rig from NH to pull them - we tried it and we will probably go that route in the future.
Bez
Dun
Nope - but he told me New Holland makes them and that is where he bought it.
Side deliveries are a positive drive and work well - I believe the rig runs around 3500 Canuck bucks. Not counting the cost of the rakes.
Used it for about an hour one day - he is a commercial hay guy and does about 1500 acres of square bales - big and small. It was a beauty.
In fact, I believe I may have misled you - used the word tandem - this rig is actually two side delivery rakes - one with left delivery and one with right delivery. They form a V and do a darned fine job of raking.
It is collapsable and tows behind the tractor very nicely.
Call your NH guy - the others probably make them as well, but I have not seen them.
Bez
Nope - but he told me New Holland makes them and that is where he bought it.
Side deliveries are a positive drive and work well - I believe the rig runs around 3500 Canuck bucks. Not counting the cost of the rakes.
Used it for about an hour one day - he is a commercial hay guy and does about 1500 acres of square bales - big and small. It was a beauty.
In fact, I believe I may have misled you - used the word tandem - this rig is actually two side delivery rakes - one with left delivery and one with right delivery. They form a V and do a darned fine job of raking.
It is collapsable and tows behind the tractor very nicely.
Call your NH guy - the others probably make them as well, but I have not seen them.
Bez
OP
OP
tom4018
Dumb Old Farmer
Dun, here is a link to that should show a picture of the rake hitch he is talking about. Another rake will hook behind it and a cylinder offsets the hitch. They work good in large fields but I have several small fields so I don't feel it will work for me.
http://www.fastline.com/item.asp?itemno=3591761
http://www.fastline.com/item.asp?itemno=3591761
I have an 8 wheel. It works good if conditions are right and it is fast. Bez pointed out most of the drawbacks. I have also found it difficult to turn a windrow over, where the old side delivery will flip them no problem.
I almost always double my windrows before baling so the V rake is much faster. If I'm just turning one row to dry I use the side delivery rake. I have tried turning a single row with the V rake with one wing up, but it is very unstable and I ended up flipping it on it's side.
One thing to look for is the distance between the tractor and the rake. In my opinion, the ones that are farther back are harder to rake around turns. Bez mentioned most drawbacks, but I love mine and it would be hard to go back, but as I said, I always double rows.
One thing to look for is the distance between the tractor and the rake. In my opinion, the ones that are farther back are harder to rake around turns. Bez mentioned most drawbacks, but I love mine and it would be hard to go back, but as I said, I always double rows.
tom4018":2cr4m9z3 said:
Hmmm, interesting. I think the hardest part would be getting the rake reversed so that it kciks it to the other side. I have several SD rakes and they all dump it the same direction
dun
tom4018":vw1j4llb said:
I know, that's why I was trying to figure out how to make one of my right delivery rakes a left delivery. All it would probably take is a gear box. Anyone know a source for parts for 40 year old side delivery rakes?
dun
New Holland makes a Model 252 Pivot Tongue Rake Hitch. It allows you to pull 2 left, or 2 right hand rakes and make 1 or 2 windrows, or 1 left and 1 right and make 1 windrow. It's on my wish list, but so is a second rake.
Daybreak
Well-known member
Howdy,
I too needed to rake hay faster and neater. I bought a NH HT152 10 wheel V rake with the 2 center kicker wheels. I am very happy with my investment. I sold my JD SD rake shortly after getting it. My land is all fairly flat and level. My fields are fairly square, and do not have a lot of obstacles. I raked my 20 acres alfalfa field in about 1 hour. It feels like cheating after I raked. I have it set for a 48" drop, so when I come out with the roll baler, 48" neat windrow works great with limited weaving. You can only go so fast with a SD rake. The V rake is rated to 14mph. I usually average around 10-11 mph
+
raking time cut more than half
windrow sized to match baler
raises up and over other windrows
-
do not try to make tight turns with it. It's not made for that.
I too needed to rake hay faster and neater. I bought a NH HT152 10 wheel V rake with the 2 center kicker wheels. I am very happy with my investment. I sold my JD SD rake shortly after getting it. My land is all fairly flat and level. My fields are fairly square, and do not have a lot of obstacles. I raked my 20 acres alfalfa field in about 1 hour. It feels like cheating after I raked. I have it set for a 48" drop, so when I come out with the roll baler, 48" neat windrow works great with limited weaving. You can only go so fast with a SD rake. The V rake is rated to 14mph. I usually average around 10-11 mph
+
raking time cut more than half
windrow sized to match baler
raises up and over other windrows
-
do not try to make tight turns with it. It's not made for that.
ironpeddler
Well-known member
Daybreak":1bc1dzki said:
To the farmer that works a public job a V-Rake is a must from the time savings alone. You do not waste fuel & a half a day raking with a NH 256.
We harvest close to 1000 acres a year and just use 8 wheel V rakes.
Didn't think of this in my previous post, but the slamming problem Bez mentioned when you open or close the rake while moving can be cured by putting a restrictor in the port on the cylinder where one of the hoses screws in. Cost is a couple of dollars. I have done the same thing on the cylinder that raises and lowers the cutter bar on some disc mowers. Not safe to be anywhere around some of them when you pull the hyd. lever, even at an idle. The restrictor slows it down to a nice speed. If it is too slow you can take it out of the cylinder and drill it out 1 size at a time until you are happy. Not to insult anybody, but make sure you TAKE IT OUT OF THE CYLINDER to drill it out. Then make sure its clean and free of metal shavings before you put it back. Yes,I have seen this happen. More than once.
Bama
Well-known member
Put in a flow control valve and you can adjust it with a needle valve. Just make sure you put in in the correct way. Most are free flow one way and restricted the other.
ironpeddler
Well-known member
Chuck,
If you use an orifice type restrictor, you need to do so with the connecting hose having a 45 or 90 degree adapter or fitting before the hose. The restricted hydraulic stream will eventually cut a hole in the hose. If the stream is deflected into a steel fitting you will not have this problem. We have sold over a thousand V-Rakes and did exactly what you mentioned in the early 1990's and a year or two later we were replacing all hoses on those rakes.
If you use an orifice type restrictor, you need to do so with the connecting hose having a 45 or 90 degree adapter or fitting before the hose. The restricted hydraulic stream will eventually cut a hole in the hose. If the stream is deflected into a steel fitting you will not have this problem. We have sold over a thousand V-Rakes and did exactly what you mentioned in the early 1990's and a year or two later we were replacing all hoses on those rakes.
Theres a kid that does baling in SD and SW MN. I know nothing about haying eqip. so bear with me... he cuts it with a machine that also windrows it. Then he comes back with a tractor, baler, and the V-rake on the FRONT of the tractor, BACKWARDS, and makes one pass, raking the two windrows into one and baling at the same time. Old folks parked on the gravel the first time to watch. Dont know how it's attatched to the front of the tractor, but its pretty brilliant.
