Need help with Hay not drying

All a rake does is roll up, or roll over. It does not change the shape of the windrow once it's rolled up. The inside stays on the inside, and the outside stays on the outside. If you rolled it up and the inside is wet, the inside will stay wet unless you get about a week of hot, dry weather.

What you need is a tool that will s-p-r-e-a-d the windrow back out on the ground so the inside can get air and dry out.

In Minn you need to follow a set way of doing hay.

You need at least 3 maybe 4 days of good weather.

Goes like this.
Day one. Cut the hay. ( insure your mower spreads the hay out. You dont want it in a tight windrow. Air needs to get to it.)

Next 2 days are drying days. Do not rake the hay.

Next day. Rake the hay into windrows about 10 or 11 am At 1 or 2 pm start baling. Then go like heck as the rain is coming. :-)

If your hay gets rained on in a windrow. You screwed up and didnt judge the weather.
Hay can deal better with rain if its still in the swath not the windrow. You dont rake until your ready to bale.

If your hay gets rained on in the swath " You can rake it into windrows with you NH55. Then at the center of the field, Turn around and raise your basket so that it is catching 1/2 the windrow. The rerake the other way. This will spread out your wind row for drying again." You can also spread out a windrow with the left side of the rake low and the right side high.

If all you want to do is flip a windrow so the bottom is top. Just run the rake so that the last 1/4 of the rake contacts the windrow. On my set up its just run the left rear tire along the right side of the windrow.

Hope this helps.

A tedder will take one day off your drying time.

If your not already laying it down in this manner you may give it a try. I will let it lay up to 2 days if it needs it before I rake.