JD 594 vs 553 rake

Hi all,

As some of you know, I have some old equipment that I've been selling/giving away over the last 2 years. I'm down to 3 rakes, 2 side delivery and a dump rake. The dump rake I'm keeping.

I found in the old barn, an original manual for a 594 that shows in my grandmother's writing that it was purchased June 6, 1952. I thought that was the rake that was out in the field and easy to get to but as I've read on here, the 594s have 4 bars right? And the 3 bars are the 553s? Is there anything else I can look at? I'm starting to wonder if the 3 bar one in the field is even a JD so I was wondering if there's pictures or something or certain areas or metal stampings that I can look for that would help identify it. The other one is buried in the brush and depending on the weather (it's a bit wet on the edge of the field) this weekend I am going to try to get it out or at least cleared. I'm hoping to get up there today to at least see if that has the 4 bars.

The reason I want to know for sure is because I'm going to try to sell them. I've about 2.5 hours from Lancaster so I thought I'd post them in Lancaster Farming for about $100 - 200 each so I want to make sure they're identified properly.

thanks in advance!

It's been awhile since there's been one on the farm, but if I remember right, there's JD cast into the hubs on the front wheels, and also on the gearbox. It's small, but there. Deere marked all of their castings with DEERE or JD, do a little scaping and/or wire brushing and you'll find it.

(reply to post at 14:22:59 06/04/10)

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The 553 is 3 bars and the 594 is 4 bars. The 594 came out in 1934 and was was made up into the mid/late 1950's with the 594LW being one of the latest models - lw stands for low wheel or little wheel and will have normal 15" or 16"size tires on the front instead of the tall 36" ones.

Both models were heavily based on "Dane Company" rakes whom John Deere bought out. That said the 553 and 594 share many common parts that are identical. If your 3 bar rake has the gear driven bars at the front of the bar head(note: I am not referring to the gearbox area) like the 594 then it is a John Deere. John Deere is the only company that I know of that used the gear system to turn the bars. Due to this, it is possible to have the bars out of time - there are timing marks.

Parts list is viewable for free at the John Deere parts website which can also help you identify. John Deere casting numbers which can be found on almost every part will match the parts list number identifiers.

Feel free to post some pictures if you can and I can probably tell you what you have. Make sure to include pics of the gearbox area, lever handles, wheels etc, and of course general shots of the rake.

Only got to poke around a bit this weekend because Sunday turned into a mess with torrential rain and tornado warnings (thankfully none touched down here but I had forgotten what standing in a barn with a metal roof with a MAJOR rainstorm coming down sounded like).

Anyway, I was able to figure out that the rake in the field has 4 bars. The one was buried in the weeds so I didn't see it but it's there. The casting numbers are pretty hard to read so I think I'm going to go up over the weekend and take a paper and pencil and try to get an etching of it. I also found some remnants of green paint so I'm really thinking it's the 594.

The one in the brush that I took a better look at the one in the brush too. Saw some green paint and it looks the same but it's missing a few halfs of the bar the "tines" attach to. Wondering if they just put that one there when it died and used it for parts as needed. Not sure.

More to come.

Need to revive this ancient post.

Finally was able to get in the field and see what's what there this weekend. Looking for help identifying this rake. It's 4 bars. When I pulled it, all the wheels turned freely and tracked well. I didn't mess with the levers or anything as I assume they'll need some "persuasion" to move. I did squeeze a few of the handles and the grips moved.

I did get some close ups of numbers in various places if anyone needs them. Can anyone help me identify this once and for all? I want to post it somewhere (Lancaster Farming maybe?) so that I can give it to someone that'll use it. I do not want to see it go to scrap.

Thanks!