Using a Hay Rake

Johnvan

New User
I was wondering how well a hay rake might work for raking heavy grass clippings into winrows.

I have a couple acres of horse pasture in fescue that I cut with a rotary mower deck. The horses aren't good about keeping it even. I need to add composted manure/shavings and clean up excess thatch before overseeding this fall.

The first step is to cut the grass down evenly but this has produced a lot of clippings. I was wondering how well a hay rake would work for raking the clippings into rows which I could collect in a wagon. I'd be following this with a pasture drag set with the tines backwards to dig up thatch, which I'd rake up again before spreading compost and overseeding.

[/img]https://agrisupply.com/4-wheel-right-hand-rake-3-pt/p/52582/
 
I don't know how much luck you'll have raking it with a wheel rake,but a rotary rake will rake it.
 
I've loaned my rotary out twice to do it. I raked some third cutting today with the wheel rake. It was light around the edges. The rake didn't get much of it.
Seems to me that years ago,somebody did make a miniature wheel rake for lawns though.
 
Northern Tool sells a couple rakes specifically for that purpose. The tines are closer together than hay rakes.
 
I still have one of them left from when I sold them, I did not look at your link nut when I sold them you could get a Vee rake or a inline they work great for clippings leaves and trash on sand and small gravel
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm going to try a V rake from Northern tool.

This particular one got good reviews. The other models apparently were pretty flimsy.

John
 
We have some ponies and cattle; so I'm not exactly sure about how horses are with this.

If you spread manure on a pasture in the fall, you can be just about guaranteed that cattle and ponies won't graze it the next spring.

They'll eat it as hay, if you cut it. They will also eat the regrowth.

They just won't be very fond of grazing the initial growth.
 
What is your objective? Thicker grass? Different grass mix? Prettier pastures? I have horse pastures and they are
always uneven. That is the nature of horses. They will eat one area down to the dirt and leave other areas untouched
(especially the roughs where they poop). They are also picky eaters, some grasses taste better then others so they
eat the ice cream down to the dirt and leave the liver knee high. I mow my horse paddocks several times a year and
chain drag them occasionally to spread the manure.

It is my experience that I get good over seeding germination by mowing, then broadcasting seed, then chain dragging.I
think the chain drag shakes the seed through the thatch and breaks the soil a little, then the thatch settles on top
of the seed when it rains, the thatch keeps the seed moist and increases germination. I also mix in some white dutch
clover seed to add a legume in the fields. Dutch clover seed is hard to find outside of horse areas, but all the
stores around here sell it. This is kind of a simple form of no til seeding.

These are my theories, others may disagree. I know I haven't answered your question about a rake, but I have never
raked a paddock, and I have never seen some of the best horse farms in the nation do it either.
 
I wanted to redirect my own comment somewhat.

I didn't take into account the fact that the original post mentioned "composted" manure.

Depending on the level of composting, animals may (may being the operative term) find the pasture suitable for grazing the next spring.
 
The pasture is all grass, mostly fescue. In this area we are very near a rock quarry, and there is a lot of rock close to the surface. Some exposed etc.

What I'm trying to do is bolster the topsoil. There was some erosion due to questionable farming techniques etc. Every year I take manure/shavings that have been sitting out back for a couple of years and spread them over the thinner areas. I also use a chain drag to pull up thatch and expose soil before I overseed in the fall with Fescue and Rye grass. The Rye gives me some better growth in the winter, but obviously its all pretty limited. More fertilizer in the spring around March and hope for rain. The thin topsoil dries out pretty quickly in the summer if it's dry...

I try to keep up with cutting the taller grass during the summer just to keep the horses in grass that they will eat.

The horses don't seem to mind the compost at all. After the manure breaks down say over 90 days they pretty much don't worry about it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

John
 
Is the grass long enough to contact to tips of three rake teeth? How high is the grass stubble? Is the grass is too short or too low a rake may not pick it up very well.
 
I have flail mower pastures, then used a new idea 4150 side delivery rake to gather the clippings. I didn't think it would work, but it did. Then I even tried making a round bales out of it. Made 3/4 of a roll & feed it out to the cows. They were thrilled to have it. JD 445 round baler.

Good luck
 

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