- Thread starter Bkpigs
- Start date
Loosehandle
Well-known Member
- Location
- Wisconsin
Depends on if you are just flipping it over so the
damp side stops up,or if your just wildly thrashing
the windrow around. Raking hay is an art, especially
on a side hill.
damp side stops up,or if your just wildly thrashing
the windrow around. Raking hay is an art, especially
on a side hill.
James Howell
Well-known Member
Run the <a href="http://youtu.be/C4ahbioFDWE">A</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/HgKBuc5Qi8Q">B</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/f8-QgObKj4w">MT</a>, and <a href="http://youtu.be/GPeMadEcPPI">70</a> in third gear at a little over 4MPH.
BANDITFARMER
Well-known Member
Well it all depends on the hay, Grass hay is different to rake than clover or alfalfa and tall fescue is different too. Do you want a fluffy windrow or a tight windrow? Like Allen K said after you rake enough hay you get a feel for it and you figure it out how to set the rake. 3 and 4th on my 1550 Olivers in under or over is ware I like to rake (3 to 5 mph). There is an art to raking hay, Some are masters and some are jugheads. Bandit
Deere Scotty
Member
JD 60 in 5th gear, or 6 1/4 MPH rated speed; but run about 80% RPM. IH 666 7.4 MPH at rated; but run 65 - 75% if ground is fairly smooth.
farmerwithmutt
Well-known Member
Depends on hay and how dry i watch the leaves and see
how many i am knocking off adjust speed according to that.
If to dry i always set the windrow to the width of the baler
so i can skip raking if i can. also need to set basket on new
holland do you want to dry fast or slow i will make it tight
windrow so it wont dry to fast and get over dry and loose a
lot of leaves when baling i have quit baling and waited till
the dew is on to save leaves. also how is the drawbar set i
will play with the drawbar to stay of the windrow.
One funny story about raking farmer teased his wife about
how she raked hay she said fine cook your own
dinner!!!lesson learned some people are good at cooking
and some at raking hay . thankfully the bar had lunch she
was mad enough to include the hired kid and i never said
anything!
how many i am knocking off adjust speed according to that.
If to dry i always set the windrow to the width of the baler
so i can skip raking if i can. also need to set basket on new
holland do you want to dry fast or slow i will make it tight
windrow so it wont dry to fast and get over dry and loose a
lot of leaves when baling i have quit baling and waited till
the dew is on to save leaves. also how is the drawbar set i
will play with the drawbar to stay of the windrow.
One funny story about raking farmer teased his wife about
how she raked hay she said fine cook your own
dinner!!!lesson learned some people are good at cooking
and some at raking hay . thankfully the bar had lunch she
was mad enough to include the hired kid and i never said
anything!
Of course there ARE a lot of important variables:
For instance, if it's a weekday and I'm taking time off from work to rake - I'd say no more than 3mph.
I'd much rather be raking than working.
But a big field, with more important things to be doing, I'd be pushing 5mph in most cases.
Depends on the rake being used too. Old IH 4 Bar rake is never much over 4mph. JD 850 or IH 35 can do 5.
We do several smallish fields, all square bales. So not really in it for mass production. A few thousand bales a year. So, never really any need or desire to push the speed envelope to see how fast we can get it done.
For instance, if it's a weekday and I'm taking time off from work to rake - I'd say no more than 3mph.
I'd much rather be raking than working.
But a big field, with more important things to be doing, I'd be pushing 5mph in most cases.
Depends on the rake being used too. Old IH 4 Bar rake is never much over 4mph. JD 850 or IH 35 can do 5.
We do several smallish fields, all square bales. So not really in it for mass production. A few thousand bales a year. So, never really any need or desire to push the speed envelope to see how fast we can get it done.
Michael Soldan
Well-known Member
I like your answer,just what I was thinking,the type of hay dictates how fast you can roll it.I had a lot of Timothy in my hay fields and you could roll along,but clover hay was a different story as the leaves would get knocked off with anything more than a fast crawl
Yes ! LOTS of variables. This is dry country, we have to wait until the Dews on. Best time is to start the rake is generally mid morning & start 1/2 hr or so ahead of the baler, If I have good 'dew' moisture, I'll run 6 or 7 mph but as the hay starts to dry, I'll slow things down both to save the leaves and let the baler catch up. Might be down to 4 or less then. One of the exceptions is baling at night, have to catch the dew setting on, start out slow, I just try to match speed with the baler & just stay ahead of it. We cut with a swather and use a Vermeer vee rake to roll two windrows together for baling.
Interesting - must be nice to have to WANT a little moisture.
I've made the mistake of baling at night once (in Mass.) due to some equipment problems and an impending rain storm.
It was actually very nice, nice and cool. But with the dew, nothing but 100 pound bales - like big sponges.
I've made the mistake of baling at night once (in Mass.) due to some equipment problems and an impending rain storm.
It was actually very nice, nice and cool. But with the dew, nothing but 100 pound bales - like big sponges.
I raked hay for years with a horse drawn rake that Dad cut the tongue off after the horses were sold. I use a three point New Idea rake now and run about the same speed the horses walked. When I have tried to go faster the hay would bunch up at the end of the rake.
I see the new pin wheel rakes out raking running like a bat out of hateys. I would guess you will figure out what your rake will do at different speeds in a short time.
I see the new pin wheel rakes out raking running like a bat out of hateys. I would guess you will figure out what your rake will do at different speeds in a short time.
Wheatfarmer
Member
Every person I help has something different and different speeds even in different fields. Just have to see what is happing behind the rake. This is only three of five I run.
Wheatfarmer
Member
I am retired, so I have time for three full time job, and then help haying for the fun of it. LOL.
It is all about tractor time.
It is all about tractor time.
As others have stated: Way too many variables to say for sure crops are all different and bar rakes vary greatly too in design.
In my case: I have 2 John Deere 594 hay rakes. Even though the rakes are identical model numbers they are different. One of the rakes is around a 1937 model year and has a different gearbox ratio as compared to the other one which is around a 1948 model. The older one is designed more for horse operated speeds or very early tractors that were likely on steel wheels with 3 speed trannys all under 4 mph so slow ground speeds. The later is more towards a tractor speed that would have been found on tractors of the day - still not fast though.
On the Farmall h: I typically rake in 4th gear on the Farmall h at anywhere from 2/3 to full throttle (4th gear is 5.1 mph max at WOT). If I had another gear available besides road gear then I would use it and throttle down more to achieve same speed of 4 to 5 mph. That said the Farmall h is still relatively economical to run considering the technology use here. Pulling a rake does not require much hp. (I also have a Farmall m but have not used it to rake with yet, but my guess is the gear speeds will be just like the h only use more fuel doing it).
If I use my John Deere A: Then I typically use either 4th gear and a lot of throttle (4.5 mph at WOT). 5th gear is too fast with my rakes unless I run at minimal throttle which I have also done. My tractors do not get a lot of use so it depends do I want to idle it or run at some throttle just to get it some work?
Kubuta L285 diesel: 6th or 7th gear and minimal throttle to achieve 4 to 5 mph or so. The Kubota is a real fuel miser and runs on fumes, but the little tired tractor does not ride as smooth over a rough field as those big wheeled tractors do. So the question is do I want to save a little fuel or save my body's back?
In my case: I have 2 John Deere 594 hay rakes. Even though the rakes are identical model numbers they are different. One of the rakes is around a 1937 model year and has a different gearbox ratio as compared to the other one which is around a 1948 model. The older one is designed more for horse operated speeds or very early tractors that were likely on steel wheels with 3 speed trannys all under 4 mph so slow ground speeds. The later is more towards a tractor speed that would have been found on tractors of the day - still not fast though.
On the Farmall h: I typically rake in 4th gear on the Farmall h at anywhere from 2/3 to full throttle (4th gear is 5.1 mph max at WOT). If I had another gear available besides road gear then I would use it and throttle down more to achieve same speed of 4 to 5 mph. That said the Farmall h is still relatively economical to run considering the technology use here. Pulling a rake does not require much hp. (I also have a Farmall m but have not used it to rake with yet, but my guess is the gear speeds will be just like the h only use more fuel doing it).
If I use my John Deere A: Then I typically use either 4th gear and a lot of throttle (4.5 mph at WOT). 5th gear is too fast with my rakes unless I run at minimal throttle which I have also done. My tractors do not get a lot of use so it depends do I want to idle it or run at some throttle just to get it some work?
Kubuta L285 diesel: 6th or 7th gear and minimal throttle to achieve 4 to 5 mph or so. The Kubota is a real fuel miser and runs on fumes, but the little tired tractor does not ride as smooth over a rough field as those big wheeled tractors do. So the question is do I want to save a little fuel or save my body's back?
uncle henry
Member
farmall c in 2nd pulling a ih no. 15
redforlife
Well-known Member
I rake with a 5 bar rake on either an H or M in fourth gear about 3/4 throttle. Would like to go a touch faster but don't like running a tractor at WOT. 5th gear to fast so 4th is the highest gear to go in. Neighbor rakes his hay about twice as fast on newer tractors. I think that is way to fast, not only is he beating the heck out of his hay, but also his hay rake. As others have mentioned, different era's of rakes were designed to be pullled with tractors of the same era etc.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Hay does vary how dry ect and variety just dont go so fast you knock the leaves off you can easy end up with stems and no leaves.
chuck machinist
Well-known Member
In my younger days, dad told me if I run the JD 4 bar rake faster that 5mph ,he would take the balance out of my ars!. You ever had it taken off your ars? Chuck
Tx Jim
Well-known Member
- Location
- Coyote Flats, Texas
The only rotary rake I've witnessed raking made a skinny,tall windrow that I would hate to rd bale. I make my windrows 4.5 ft wide and relatively flat for my Mega-wide PU 4 ft wide rd baler
(quoted from post at 06:55:02 05/24/14) Every person I help has something different and different speeds even in different fields. Just have to see what is happing behind the rake. This is only three of five I run.
Wheatfarmer, where abouts is this that you live. Beautiful country.
First time, I used my Farmall h to rake the conditions were good and I was running the Farmall h in 4th gear at WOT throttle which was necessary to get some speed. I did not really like doing it either simply because I thought my gas consumption would suffer badly. Surprisingly fuel economy was not bad at all and I was impressed for the technology used here. Like you though, if I had another gear besides road gear, then I would gear up and throttle down accordingly.
Do not be afraid to run the tractor at WOT, they were designed to do it for 24 hours a day/7 days a week at WOT.
Plus if you think about it, Not really much difference running that ole h at 1650 engine rpm's at WOT compared to running a newer tractor that has a 2200 to 2500 WOT engine at 2/3 to 3/4 throttle. (To keep the math easy: 2/3 throttle on a 2400 rpm engine is 1600 rpm). If you look at Nebraska tests even at full throttle the h did not use much fuel under light loads.
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