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Raking hay

M

Mtjohnso

Member
Still trying to learn how to rake hay with an old Bradley tail dragger side delivery rake.
Just raked a hill side that was steep enough that I raked everything vertical or up and down the hill. Made baling much nicer but leaves dead time in going from row to row to bale.
So what do others do on a hills where there is a pucker factor of not feeling comfortable going across the hill side ways?
Also when rake a flat field and you go continuously around the field to the center, how do you get out of the center without messing up everything you just raked? Understand with a three point rake, but for anything you tow it seems like there is no good solution for getting the rake out of the center of the field.
 
To get out of the middle, rake your way out across a corner. Maybe make 3 passes....once out, once wide back to center, once out to finish off windrow- will be 3 passes put together but makes for easy, clean turn.
 
It has been a long time since I raked hay. Common practice in the neighborhood was to rake out all 4 corners. Got double benefits from doing that. Cleaned up what got missed by the rake when turning, & by baling the X first, it made turning with the baler easier.
Willie
 
I rake in in a spiral leaving about 5' of hay outside the windrow and then in the center I turn around and rake back out along the outside of the spiral. This makes bigger windrows which work better for my baler and takes less travel distance with the baler.
Zach
 
I grew up using a 3pt rake. Years later when I got back into farming I was looking for a 3pt rake and everyone told me "get a pull type rake" and I asked the same question. "Once you get done raking how do you get out of the field?" and I got the same answer you did on here..."rake your way out". So I bought a 3pt rake...lol. If you are raking hay on a field that you are too nervous to drive across sideways then should you really be driving on it?
 
When raking a "flat" field with our left hand delivery <a href="http://youtu.be/PlcFC8Di37s">JD 640 hay rake</a>, we make two passes clockwise.

At the end of two passes, we make one pass counter-clockwise.

This makes an opening large enough to drive through from the middle of the field.

a162173.jpg" width="650"


Hope this helps.
 
I always chase the rake with the baler. With my V rake, we make 2 rounds around the field then go back and forth. With the single rake, I give them a 3 windrow head start.
 

first crop hay here is far to heavy to combine windrows except for the outer one, which you then have to turn over a time or two to get it to dry down. We go completely around 5-6 times then start striking off lands, which enables a wide swing with the baler with wagon behind. If I am done raking I will leave the rake and sometimes both rake and tractor in the middle, then it is right there for turning the outer double windrow in for better drying.
 
I have gotten used to raking with my v rake a bit differently. I take the longest side of the field and start raking back and forth, leaving about two windrow passes to the outside perimeter. Then I rake the outside windrow, then the inside perimeter windrow to clean up the ends. Saves running over the already raked outside windrows...
 
Good idea, but when the wife, who is a "cowgirl"not a "tractor"girl, is the one running the rake, its a whole bunch easier on the fences if I make the 2 outside rounds. Besides, if I talk her into raking, I bale the inside round first, so she has a place to turn.
 
If your field is that steep you don't have any choice. Rake about 4 rounds around the perimeter as safely as possible, then rake as you are doing, up and down.
 
No need to worry about it. How you rake is personal/family preference. I'd have got my tail chewed if I mowed and raked a field in a circle. Gets rough once you get off the headlands going across the field.
 
We always just raked out the corner and picked up the bunches as we picked up the field. Now with the round baler we cut like was said about the lands.
 
With my square baler my windrows are about 6'-7' apart - narrower than my rake. If I tried to put 2 passes of my rake into a single windrow I'd wear my clutch out making the tractor go slow enough so the baler could keep up.
 
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