# raking hay



## robert23239 (Sep 28, 2009)

Hello ALL,

I was wondering is one hay rake really better than the other? Wha rake do you use or prefer? I am still using the old roll bar rake and it still works , the big is that I can't lift it up. I do see an advantage there. 
Also I think one can set the rake too low and actually pull up grass, which is still green and maybe wetter than the cut hay. I have a hard getting people to buy that theory. I would like to know what you guys think ? 

Thanks and enjoy the haying 

Robert


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## fordf150farmer (May 1, 2010)

well i have used, 5bar pto driven, 5bar ground driven, three point v-rake (wheels) and pull type v-rake (wheels). the best rake would be the pto driven bar rake. it is easy to control the height, and doesnt slowdown with ground speed. it will also power through big slugs of hay and straighten them out. 

the v- rakes are good when you have LOTS of hay on the ground and you are in a hurry, it also saves fuel. but they do miss a little, especially if you have lots of turns to make around the outside edge. and of these the pull type is the better of the two... better flexibility with uneven ground. 

so what you really need is one guy with a pull type v rake for the center, and a guy with a three point mounted pto driven bar rake to do up the end rows.


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## Fordfarm (Dec 27, 2005)

I have an old Dearborn Side Delivery Rake that is ground driven. I hook it up to the three point instead of the drawbar, and use that to control how high it is. I come to the end of a "run", lift the 3 point control handle, and the rake lifts. I put limiter chains on the 3 point so all I need to do it shove the control handle down and the rake is at the same height every time. Works wonderfully. Had a friend come over a couple years ago with a "V" rake. After he was done, I went around and picked up all he missed. Nothing wrong with a ground drive rake, you just have to learn to use it.


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## Morgan (Oct 26, 2006)

Here is my rake, I use a New Holland Model 57


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## Grateful11 (Dec 1, 2008)

We use a NH 256 Rollabar ground driven rake and seems to work fine for us. We thought about trying 8 wheel Wheel Rake but after talking to several people about wheel rakes we found out they have a tendency to rake a lot rocks up because they run off the ground so I'll pass on that. Neighbor has a twin rotor rotary Krone that's nice and it's fast but you're looking at close to $20K. Our Rollabar is over 30 years old and may need replacement in the near future and it will probably be another Rollabar but may be a 258, a little wider.


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## Fordfarm (Dec 27, 2005)

The problem that most people have with the PTO driven side delivery rakes is the tendency to "rake heavy" I've seen guys try to rake heavy, wet, hay that isn't ready to be raked. They think that, since it's PTO driven they can just "plow through".. 

It's the "because I can" syndrome....

I've plugged my ground driven rake ONCE, and that was because I had removed a stripper bar because it was bent. With a ground driven machine, you develop a "feel" for the machine and the hay you're in, and end up with a more uniform dry in the hay. My BIL has a PTO rake - I've actually seen his dad plug the thing up to the point it stops because the hay was to wet/heavy. You can go through heavy spots better, but it will also ball things up if you aren't careful.

It depends on what your hay is like, you might need a tedder, too.

Whatever you get, you'll have to learn it AND your hay to get good results.

Plus, what kind of baler do you have? It DOES make a difference. You rake windrows different for different balers to get optimum use and the best bales you can.

When you say "can't pick it up" - do you mean when you come to the end? Like I said before - I hitch mine to the 3 point, not the drawbar. If you use limiter chains, you just throw the 3 point control handle down, and each time it stops at the height you set it at. The cage will keep moving while it's in the air, but who cares. The first 20' will tell you if you have it set too low/high. You want it to "brush" just above the ground, but not deep enough to "cut" the ground. All rakes will pull a little grass due to uneveness of the field, and even teeth that wear differently, but it shouldn't be a constant thing.


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## Fordfarm (Dec 27, 2005)

BTW - the New Holland rakes are about the best side delivery rake you can find - PTO OR Ground Driven.....

They are a TAD expensive, though.


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## Morgan (Oct 26, 2006)

I have to tedder my hay at least 3 times and sometimes 4 to get it dry enough. I grow Vaughn Bermuda hay for horses and I check the moister with a moister meter to make sure its dry enough before its baled. Horse people will not put up with molded hay.


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## Fordfarm (Dec 27, 2005)

That's one reasn I don't sell hay, I use it myself. I understand that you don't want moldy hay, but some folks can be pretty anal about hay that their animals are gonna waste half of in the first place.....


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## Morgan (Oct 26, 2006)

I only bale square bales, not much waste to square bales when they are fed right.


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## Fordfarm (Dec 27, 2005)

I agree, the waste in a small bale is less, but even when fed "properly", there is waste. 
I only put up small squares, too.


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## durallymax (May 17, 2010)

What to use to move/merge hay depends on your operation, what type of hay it is (Legume or grass), how much of it you have to do, what is going to be processing that hay and what your budget is.

We have a variety of hay tools.

We only do big Square bales. And we only bale grass all of the alfalfa gets chopped. 

If the hay was cut with our 18' Self propelled discbine it stays as one windrow and gets flipped with a Kuhn Tedder. If it was cut with our smaller 11' pull type discbine which we use for mowing ditches and such, we tend to leave it still as one windrow depending on the crop, otherwise we will merger two together with a Kuhn Rotary rake. If it is cut with our 33' Pottinger discbine we will run over it with the Kuhn Rotary rake and merge rows with that.

For chopping we use a 34' Oxbo 334 continuous merger. But thats a $115,000 price tag and I know nobody is going to be buying one of them anytime soon. We put 90' into one windrow with it.


The reason we use the kuhn rotary rake is partly for speed, weve got a lot to get done quickly and it does a decent job. And the Merger can makes too big of windrows for balers.


When it comes to alfalfa, a merger is going to be the best tool to use. Because it doesnt drag the hay across the ground, it lifts it and moves it which drastically reduces leaf loss. But small mergers are still a few grand. So it could be out of your price range.


New holland bar rakes still work great and keep on ticking. New Holland hay tools are some of the best out there.


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