JD WHEEL RAKE

Phil H

Member
I am going to buy a rake to turn some hay with and someone has a JD Wheel rake that I looked at. The only thing that turns the wheels is them dragging on the ground as you pull it. I thought it would at least be a ground driven rake with a gear box or something other than the tines dragging in the dirt!! I can't see how this thing would turn a windrow of alfalfa or any heavy hay. Are all of the wheel rakes made this way? My pasture is level with a slight role but not on any side hill. Maybe I should try and find a pto driven side delivery, even if it will cost a lot more. Anyone got a better idea? thanks...Phil
 

All wheel rakes have the wheels turned by ground contact only. If your hay isn't too thick or wet the wheel rake will turn it fine. Granted a powered rake will turn a wetter,thicker windrow.
 
Also some say the tines hitting the ground pick up and put dirt in the row while others say it is not so, never was around one so I do not know but I do know a bar rake should have the tines 2" off the ground against on the ground.
 
Actually, a wheel rake doesn't have to run in the ground to make the wheels turn. The crop running against them along with your own forward travel will make them turn. You can raise the wheels to where they just make contact with the ground and still get all the hay with no dirt in the windrow. Mike
 
You did not say what type of JD wheel rake you are looking at. The old ones that just had short teeth on the outside of the wheel did not work very well at all. The hay had to be fairly light and dry for them to work. The newer ones that have the long teeth that go clear to the center hub will work very well. The wheel itself is just about the same on all modern wheel rakes. They frames and mounts are the only big differences.

All wheel rakes are just driven by the angle action with the ground. The difference in todays rakes is the angle of the teeth they lift the hay more than drag it. If you do not have too much down pressure they will rake fine and not put dirt into the windrow. The biggest advantage with a wheel rake is raking speed and gentleness on the hay. A bar rake that is pulled very fast at all will beat the heck out of the hay.

Now that being said, I am not a fan of JD newer hay rakes they are boughten off of another manufacture and they are lightly built. There are much better framed rakes on the market. Sitrex, M&W , NH, And CIH rakes are all made by Sitrex. Kuhn/Knight has a good rake now. H&S makes a good rake as well.

I would stay away from the winged type wheel rakes unless you have a very flat field. They are not great at following the ground contours. These rake are just a hitch/frame that is three point mounted. They are much cheaper than the V type wheel rakes that have there own carrying/gauge wheels.
 
JD Seller
H&S has built some of JD's wheel rakes. I made the mistake yrs ago of buying a new JD 704 built for JD by Tonutti. It was built out of tissue paper thin rectangular tubing. The back tubings broke 3 times under warranty. I traded the 704 for a H&S hi-cap in 2002 and I'm still raking with it.
 
I didn"t see any model # on the rake, but the tines were like those on a mower conditoner or reel rake. Not the rubber mounted tines. The wheels the tines were mounted on were solid and didn"t have spokes. The frame was all straight but it just looks like a strange way to roll hay over. I can definetly see how it woud be gentle on the hay.
 
I guess the best is to try this type of rake, and see what it does. All I have seen is what is on U-tube and that is on a flat field under the best conditions....
 
That sounds like a 567 wheel rake. From what I understand they work about the way most wheel rakes of that type do. Not very well. Mike
 
Are you baling or chopping that hay? I had dairy for 30 years, baled about 4 years, chopped haylage for 26. No way I would chop behind raked hay. Rolla-bar rake was bad enough, no way behind a wheel rake. Yes, I had a wheel rake, but only used before the square/round baler. Maintaining sharp chopper knives is enough of a ha$$le without stones. Whether behind the 800 JD swather or the 5209 NI discbine...........cut it, forget it, don"t touch it.....before chopping.
 
That is the old type and they do not work the best. I would pass on it unless it is real cheap and you are not doing much hay.
 

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