Wheel rake vs. side delivery rake

Whats the pros and cons with a wheel rake? I've been thinking of buying one and wanted your input. I've always used a side delivery rake but its getting worn out and doesn't do too good in one of my fields that is a grass mix with no alfalfa.
Can you up the speed a bit with a wheel rake? Leaf shatter? Hilly ground? Sharp corners? Dirt in windrow? Does it pick up all the hay really good? My side delivery rake will leave a bit of hay in a thin crop (not missing any teeth). What wheel rake would be best with a 9 foot cut haybine? I want to rake 2 windrows into 1 with one pass, takes 2 passes with my side delivery. How many wheel rake for that 9' cut? Also it must be a trailer type, don't want a 3-point set-up.
Thank you
 
We had an old IH side delivery rake for years, and recently upgraded to a Gehl 418 4 wheel with the middle gatherer.

Night and day difference. Much gentler at handling the hay and rolling it over, instead of the side delivery whipping it into a rolled up wick. The 8 wheel model is the perfect size for the same cutting width you're working with. Hilly ground and sharp corners do not seem to affect it. Will pick up a little dust in the windrow if the dirt is really dry, but you could do worse with a side delivery.

Only downside is the size of the unit. It's about the same width as the side delivery, but it folds up and is quite tall.

But if we park it in the pasture behind the barn, the cows itch themselves on the rake instead of itching up against and ruining a good fence.
 
I've had a Kuhn 10 wheel rake for about 6 years now. Works great, picks up all the hay. Makes a nice fluffy windrow. We rake at about 6.5 mph, could go faster but we're using a very small tractor to take with and the ride isn't good enough to go faster. It folds up to a very narrow width. I noticed that if it was parked in with the cows they liked to use it as a scratching post but then again they do that to most everything.
 
Ive had a 10 wheel for about 10 years now. I can lift the front single wheels and get an 8 wheel if I want.. I have also taken one side off and use just one side when hay is really thick to make smaller baling rows.. I like it alot. Faster than my old side discharge. I sell to horse folk never had a complaint about "dirty" hay. I pull about 4-5 mph.. could go faster but rough ride..lol
 
Have you considered a rotary rake? I had and got rid of a wheel rake because it wouldn't lift heavy hay (trefoil and reed canary), it just ripped the top off the windrow. I tried a fellow's Kuhn rotary and it was great. A deutz allis rotary however is downright tragic.
 
We use a nine wheel rake(standard eight wheel with one wheel in the center and forward where the two side dump together). The extra wheel fluffs the center of the windrow and IMHO makes baler pickup better. We did have a little trouble with some sudan that got too tall. The rain kept us out of thee field at cutting time. If you find the right speed it wont ball up often.
 
We had both a side delivery rake and a 4-wheel rake. The wheel rake tends to push the hay and the side delivery rolls the hay. Dad liked the side delivery rake better because the rolled (twisted) windrow was easier to pick up with the baler.
 

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