A better way to rake hay?

That's how the farmer that bought my dad's hay this year raked the fields because he didn't have enough running tractors to do the work. Dodge Dakota pulling a rickety old NH 56 rake. Running right down the windrow. Can't imagine how much hay was wound up on the driveshaft when they were done.
 
That nice comfortable pickup truck cost a pretty penny. With hay never being worth what you would call big money, I think I would feel better raking with a 2500 dollar auction tractor. My wife and I also feel we work in some pretty cold wet conditions living up north. Raking hay on an open tractor on a nice hot sunny day is A gift from God. Al
 
I guess a guy does what he's gotta do right? Accessing feed hay from a ditch is something that I was told some cattle people avoid because of the trash and junk that gets into the bales. Not sure if that is something that the YT crowd avoid or not. Up here a couple of days back, a 19 year-old drove an SUV into a farmer's barley field and 100+ acres burned up. He'll be telling his story at the local remand center for a day or two and then come back to court later I suspect.
 
Wow, in your neck of the woods farmers must be getting rich. Easy good money making hay. Here very rare for hay to bring much profit. Lots of horse women looking for hay, just getting paid for it is hard. Most guys will let them make payments. This works until they fall behind. Then they just find a new farmer. Al
 
6-8 tons a acre???? WOW I feel Blessed when I get 2-3 ton but I only get one cutting also here, I would also love to get 150 a ton,, I do get 125 a ton here,,
 
Lots of eastern Washington alfalfa gets baled with pickups. Baling almost always done at night so there's a little dew on it. They grow it under irrigation circles, and dairy quality is worth almost $300 a ton. I guess the employees are happier having the comforts of a pickup. Raking is done with tractors, for the most part.
 
I quit dealing with horse hay buyers 35 years ago,, some of the most dishonest liars and thieves I have ever dealt with in my life, my hay goes to cattle men,, never a issue with them ever in 45 years of selling them hay
 
Forgot to mention- everyone uses engine balers, because of the power requirements of the big balers. Mostly Freemans and New Hollands.
 
I've raked hay with a 1-1/2 tone truck cause it needed raked and no tractor there 10 miles from the house at the time. No problem with it winding up on the drive shaft since it was in a swath under the truck.
 
I will say it can sort of work because I have tried it myself.

Beater yard truck that had working air conditioning seemed like a much better option when compared to an open cab tractor with the heat we had that summer.

1st attempt wrapped hay so tight around the driveshaft it almost stopped the truck before sending out plumes of smoke from the smoldering mess of hay that took half an hour to cut off.

2nd attempt made a custom hitch that stuck a few feet out past the side of the truck to eliminate the need to drive over the swath.
Worked well but even in low range it's hard to keep your speed down to what the rake is designed to operate at.
After blowing a few bearings and breaking a few bars the idea was scrapped.
 
Yeah, this isn't a new idea. But for a lot of reasons, its not ideal. First and foremost, it tends to tear things up because you end up going faster than you think.
Anyone else get a kick out of hay being "6-8 tons/acre and $150/ton" ? Someone lives in fantasy land apparently.
 
Not much different than using a Doodlebug like my Grandfather.
I often skip baling the two outside winrows til last. They need to be raked out from the fencerow to dry. So hooking the rake to the truck was easy.
Since getting a gyrorake I switch out the baler to the rake and back again.
 
Ha! EVERY time I rake hay it's different. Only thing that's the same is the physical location of the fields. The rest is a crap shoot for one reason or another and I use a JD 500 series parallel bar and 4 basket 3 pt in my irregular fields......each has it's good and bad points.
 
Drove over windrows with our army Jeep once
and the hay wrapped around the driveshaft
and ruined the pinion seal.
 
Our neighbor bought a new Blazer in the late 1970's. The boys used that to rake hay for several years. I do not know how they kept the driveshaft from wrapping up with hay.
 
Years ago, and may have been on this site, was the picture of a guy was using his WWII surplus Jeep to plow his garden
 

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