IH Rake model?

Had a neighbor pull an old IH rake on steel out of a hedge. He was going to scrap it, however it looks to have no wear in the bushings, but it's rusty from sitting out for 7 decades or so. I'm thinking it could be made usable, but have no idea what model it is. Don't have pictures (cell phone died).

It has 3 bars, gearing for 2 speeds of the reel (2 ring gears), remains of yellow paint on wheels, red on the gears and shafts, but the frame looks to have been green (!?!). Has the part # RB805 on the larger ring gear. The tongue hooks to a threaded rod through a pipe that has notches on it, and a spring loaded pin to adjust pull point offset (L/R).

Any clues?

3 bar rake = scrap.

Not here, that is the tedder version and wanted. field ready after getting one on dealers lot will sell for probably $800 There were a couple of versions of that rake but the last ones were made up to 1960 And they did not carry a model number, only the name rake-tedder. I have the parts & operators manuals here for them.

I have a couple of those rakes with one for parts and one I use. I've never seen one that hadn't been broken in the middle and welded. They are a good rake for what they are but are hard to find new tines for. The second gear is for tedding and I would never ted with a rake that old as they run backwards for tedding and its tough on them. I wouldn't think the rake is worth more than scrap metal price. If the rake is in good shape and someone only has a few acres of hay it would make a good rake.Really slow to move down the road but out in the field I pull it in 4th gear with my H.

I have the parts & operators manuals here for them.

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Would those be PDF's, or hard copies? Drop me an e-mail and let me know what it would take to get a set. It may take a day or so to get back to you - I don't check mine as often as some do.

This appears to be a "3 bar, open gear"; it has 2 tail wheels. I'm not sure how 'stuck' things are on it which might make it not worth fixing, and it has no tongue left, so if I can get some of the major parts to move I would need dimensions to make one.

I also see in another thread that you have a source for parts, like teeth.

Again, the color scheme seems odd - it is definitely a yellow (not rust/white) on the front wheels, and scratching deep of what remains on the frame shows almost an Oliver green, though I suppose it could have been IH blue in 1936. This isn't farmer paint, as below that is metal. I saw no discernible paint left on the reel, though the bearing blocks had some red under the dried grease.

Does anyone know if those colors are possible, or a clue to a year of manufacture? If I took this on as a restoration, what would be the original paint codes?

Thanks!

And that 4th gear is why it is rough on them. They are designed for a walking speed that for a man is about the same as for a horse and that is about 2-2 1/2 mile per hour. In 4th unless you are at a complete idle then you are trying to travel way too fast. And overspeeding will break things.

I've never seen one that hadn't been broken in the middle and welded.

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This one has no welds, though it does have a small chip off the heel of one tooth on the small ring gear, and some obvious wear in the top of the tail wheel spindle supports, but that could be easily bushed.

Compared wear-wise to the Case F170 that I've been using (or more accurately, currently fixing again in the driveway), the IH has another 40 years of use left in it.

WellWorn, down in the right side box it says NO email, you need to open that if you want a response. The books I have are the orignal owners manuals and the orignal dealers parts manuals. I have made copies of my manuals for people and sent them by snail mail. And I asked for just what my costs are for that. I do not know enough about computors to be able to send a copy that way. Yes the colors were used like that and the blue does fade to green, red to orange and yellow to a white. The first model was built in 1916 with a mager change in design in mid 20's then a change in way the back end raises in the early 30's and was virtually unchanged untill end of production in 1960. Along the way they switched from teeth that went over the bar that if you broke a tooth you had to take the bar out and all the teeth off to change it to the newer type that are a simple bolt on. No problem for me to get new teeth in both styles as they are still made with thousand's of those rakes still in use being pulled by horses as they were designed for, The quick change tooth is the same as is used on the 4 bar enclosed gear rake that does not have the tedder function. Does what you have still have the seat on? Some still use the seat and long toung but most in this area use a short tractor length toung behind a fore cart and pulled by a team of Belgins. If the bearings are stuck to the bar they might just be able to be gotten loose by using a penetrating oil and a hammer hitting on the side or you might have to use heat. And it is common for the bar to wear out in the bearing area or setting stuck for a long time with out being greased and out in the weather. I have repaired hundreds of wore out broken or rusted away bars on McCormick, Deere, New Idea and Case rakes. I put a complete reel from a Massey Harris into a 4 bar McCormick before I realized they were 2 different makes. Over the last several years I have handled and repaired close to 40 if not over that in steel wheel rakes. I have 4 New Idea 4 bar No. 4 steel wheel rakes setting here now wating for rebuilding that I should have had some done but I have had a very bad year as this spring I lost my wife of 37 years unexpedly so I have just not had the time or gumption to get on them. The orignal toung would have been wood and about 3 1/2 - 4" wide and about 2 3/4" thick. I am just using treated 4x4 cut down to the 2 3/4" thickness and about 4' long and putting a tractor set of hitch plates on as that is all they want her, do not want the long horse toung, Just is easier to use the fore cart. Slowing down as in 12 days I will be hitting the 72 mark. I have opened my email in the SEND email box where yours says NO email.

4th gear on an H isn't exactly flying. I never had a problem with them doing normal raking, only tedding. I've got a rubber tired NI rake that also took a beating tedding.

I know the speeds in an H as I had one. Also know those New Ideas as I have worked on a lot of them and have 4 setting here right now to completely rebuild including the frame using a parts rake. The reel speeds for raking are about a fifth (I could go out and check but not going to do it as unnessarry) so the rake doesn't get the abouse in raking with the higher tractor speeds as it does in ted mode. They were all designed and built in the horse and not tractor erra and the walking speed of a horse (depends on individual horse) is about 2 or 2 1/2 mile per hour so they were designed to work at that speeds. That is the speeds that plow bottoms were also designed to work at untill the high speed bottoms came along for tractors with higher horsepower.

Leroy, e-mail sent. It seems you are using "classic view", and I'm using "modern". My e-mail should be listed under my profile. I had to go to classic view to access yours.

Thanks for the additional info. Yes, this one has the bolt on teeth, though because it's still sitting in weeds, I couldn't tell if they're all there with a 'once over' look, though a few do look bent "up". I assume that's from use as a tedder.

Sorry to hear about your wife. I can only imagine how difficult it is.

Charlie, I agree that 4th on an ordinary H isn't flying. From the charts, top speed is about 5mph in 4th, unless it's equipped with the optional "7mph 4th" (available? standard? from #86677 up) but I'd never pull an old rake in 4th with my H, except with the rake disengaged going down the road. I use 2nd on my SA. I haven't had the H on the rake, yet, but guess that a low idle in 3rd would be about right.

In my youth I spent a lot of time pulling an old JD rake with an Allis WC in 2nd gear because my uncle, who taught me the art and spent half his life using horses, was adamant that THAT was all the fast they were meant to go. I have that "swish, swish, swish" rhythm burned in my brain, and 40 years later, I still set the throttle of whatever is pulling a rake to match it, field conditions allowing.