Wheel rake vs. side delivery rake

ryanwheelock · Jul 9, 2014

Whats the pros and cons with a wheel rake? I've been thinking of buying one and wanted your input. I've always used a side delivery rake but its getting worn out and doesn't do too good in one of my fields that is a grass mix with no alfalfa.
Can you up the speed a bit with a wheel rake? Leaf shatter? Hilly ground? Sharp corners? Dirt in windrow? Does it pick up all the hay really good? My side delivery rake will leave a bit of hay in a thin crop (not missing any teeth). What wheel rake would be best with a 9 foot cut haybine? I want to rake 2 windrows into 1 with one pass, takes 2 passes with my side delivery. How many wheel rake for that 9' cut? Also it must be a trailer type, don't want a 3-point set-up.
I posted this down in implement alley but thought I might get a few replies from people that don't look don't there.
Thank you

1130Leo · Jul 9, 2014

I have a Vicon V wheel 3-point hitch with 4 wheels on each side, I hate the darned thing, it plugs up allot. I would recommend staying away from this type, See plenty of others that are trailer type that appear to work pretty good. I only use the one I have because it is what I have, would like to get something better.

Roger in Iowa · Jul 9, 2014

Are you baling or chopping for silage. Don't use a wheel rake for silage, if you have rocks!

cole in mo. · Jul 9, 2014

I bought a new Kuhn speed rake this spring, works ok in average hay, but in heavy stuff if I had enough gas to do a good job I'd burn it. In heavy stuff my old jd 850 four bar will beat it all hollow.

waltdavies · Jul 9, 2014

Like anything the wheels have to be adjusted with the correct ground clearance. I have two New Idea rakes and often the rear wheel will clog up in heavy hay, I just remove it and no more problem. You can actually put two together with one following the other and double the size of the rake.
Walt

rrlund · Jul 9, 2014

Wheel rakes won't turn corners. I won't give mine up,but you have to cut straight back and forth.

bison · Jul 9, 2014

I have borrowed/used all kinds of side delivery and wheel rakes,...never found one that did a good job so i never wasted the money on one.(they work the best in thin crops)
Other problem with raking is when it starts raining before the chance to bale it then one is hooped.
I use a 14' haybine and bale right out of the swath.
When my hay gets rained on i use a combine pickup on wheels behind the tractor to lift the swath and fluff it up,..i can do that more than once and still have an intact swath that i can bale without losing hay.

My 1c,...the other cent went to the tax man.

Bigdaddy4430 · Jul 9, 2014

We have a 12 wheel Tonutti rake .Its one of the best pieces of equipment i own.With a 12 wheel i can put 3 9's together.It will rake anything and everything but like the one guy said"it doesnt do good on corners.Its not a big deal we usually carry a fork and clean up the corners a little.

JohnDeereJimOhio · Jul 9, 2014

We have a brush hog 10 wheel rake. I really like it but it is a learning curve compared to our bar rake.Our wheel rake has springs on each wheel so they will float with the ground it also is high clearance in the rear frame so it will not plug with hay. We are able to pin a wheel up on each side to make it an 8 wheel and it also has valves where we can lock one side up to make it a 4/5 wheel and run one side. It works well because it has so many settings. We baled a field last week that with 5 wheels was super thick. Also we round bale almost everything so it takes a larger quantity of hay. We will always keep a bar rake for our old baler as well as flipping windrow's if we need to...

MikeinKy · Jul 9, 2014

Make sure that the rake has the framework outside of the wheels. I have a Sitrex MX10 and it will rake anything I have tried. My neighbor has a John Deere (don't know who made it) with the frame inside the wheels and it will plug in heavy hay. Also another neighbor has a Vermeer with wheels outside the frame and it plugs too. In heavy hay a 10 wheel is enough for most balers to take. I use a New Holland 575 square baler and in heavy hay I bale in 2nd gear with either a 4020 JD or a 766 IH.

David G · Jul 9, 2014

I think they tend to plug in heavy hay, but have not tried one with the wheels out.

Case Nutty 1660 · Jul 9, 2014

I really like mine as well, make sure you get the high capacity version they will roll two 14' windrows well even in 3 ton to the acre hay, I agree with the turning but with a steady hand you can make curves just not sharp ones, the pic above shows about a sharp as you want to do a nice even job with mine any way, this is right at 2 ton per acre hay

Jason S. · Jul 9, 2014

(quoted from post at 16:29:55 07/09/14) Whats the pros and cons with a wheel rake? I've been thinking of buying one and wanted your input. I've always used a side delivery rake but its getting worn out and doesn't do too good in one of my fields that is a grass mix with no alfalfa.
Can you up the speed a bit with a wheel rake? Leaf shatter? Hilly ground? Sharp corners? Dirt in windrow? Does it pick up all the hay really good? My side delivery rake will leave a bit of hay in a thin crop (not missing any teeth). What wheel rake would be best with a 9 foot cut haybine? I want to rake 2 windrows into 1 with one pass, takes 2 passes with my side delivery. How many wheel rake for that 9' cut? Also it must be a trailer type, don't want a 3-point set-up.
I posted this down in implement alley but thought I might get a few replies from people that don't look don't there.
Thank you

I own both types. I have a Massey wheel rake and a Ferguson side delivery rake although both of mine are 3pt rakes. Personally I prefer the side delivery rake. The wheel rake is faster but I have a lot of oddball shaped fields and with the side delivery it is easy. Rake the field the way it was mowed...ends,corners and all. Can't do that with my wheel rake. It's that learning curve as was mentioned earlier. Everyone's fields and techniques is different but for me and my odd shaped,steep hillside fields,the side delivery works better.

John T · Jul 9, 2014

I just prefer a side delivery rake but cant give you any fancy technical reasons. There's nothing sweeter then raking with a Two Cylinder Tricycle Deere in 4th gear at an idle and hearing the gentle swish swish swish swish VERSUS the cling clang bing bang annoying wheel rakes lol

To each their own however, rake with whatever yall please, I wont try to convert you if you don't me........

John T

Ted in NE-OH · Jul 9, 2014

Some side delivery rakes will also tedd and wheel rakes can't.

rusty6 · Jul 9, 2014

You might laugh at the antique wheel rake I use but it works on my small time haying system. It is an old Pollard . I have an IH bar type rake but it has sat in the trees for years as I seem to prefer the wheel rake. You can watch it at work and see how the wheels float over mole hills and follow the contour of the uneven ground in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovcoV2QM2yI
this video

Anonymous-0 · Jul 9, 2014

we have a 10 wheel high capacity new Holland and I wouldn't trade it for anything. saves time and fuel over a side delivery. its nice to be able to gather more hay when your in thin hay and then narrow it back when your in thick hay its also nice to have a perfect width windrow all the time

Tx Jim · Jul 9, 2014

(quoted from post at 15:20:41 07/09/14) I really like mine as well, make sure you get the high capacity version they will roll two 14' windrows well even in 3 ton to the acre hay,

Case Nutty 1660
Sorry but your rake isn't a true hi-capacity wheel rake because the pipe frame is in front of rake wheels limiting hay flow but this H&S Hi-cap is and it will definitely rake around a corner. I've owned one of these since 2002 and haven't found any hay it won't rake.

Nick m · Jul 9, 2014

I have an old gehl wr206. Not a v style. It's great. Only downsides are headlands are kind of a bear(do them last), it doesn't like turns, straight back and forth is best, do not like damp heavy hay. If you get a wheel style, make sure it's the finger type and not the rake tooth type. They leave grass. Best style are the gyro type, but I can't afford one of those. Mine is adjustable width. Something like 6ft-10ft. No matter what you buy, you have leaf shatter issues if it's dry. This does seem to be a little gentler on the alfalfa than the other types, but I still try to rake it before the leaves are brittle. One more downfall I thought of, you need hydraulics to lift a wheel rake.

Case Nutty 1660 · Jul 9, 2014

I know they make them with more capacity than mine, but this one has 8" taller wheels than the 8 wheel I had before, when I bought this new it was the highest capacity I could find, it does very well after I set it correctly but I know the ones like yours do handle more hay with less bunching,
cnt

Traditional Farmer · Jul 9, 2014

Tried a wheel rake but didn't work for me with lots of smaller odd shaped fields nothing beats my NH 256 I've ever tried.Also the wheel rake will pull every rock out the ground in a field.

IH2444 · Jul 9, 2014

(quoted from post at 15:20:41 07/09/14) I really like mine as well, make sure you get the high capacity version they will roll two 14' windrows well even in 3 ton to the acre hay, I agree with the turning but with a steady hand you can make curves just not sharp ones, the pic above shows about a sharp as you want to do a nice even job with mine any way, this is right at 2 ton per acre hay

I could not rake my hay with that. The windrow would be so big that it would push halfway up the front of the 6000. An old NH side rake gathers all my roller will suck up.

hermit · Jul 9, 2014

Rusty6, I spent a lot of time pulling one kind of like that years ago. The one we had, the centers were covered with tin or aluminum or something of the type. To transport it, you raised up each individual wheel and hooked a chain to hold it up. I remember one of the men after moving fields, dropped one of the wheels down with his foot in the wrong place and one of the tines went all the way through his foot.

Don-Wi · Jul 9, 2014

We just picked up a New Idea 402 bar rake this year and it works pretty good so far, but you do go a little slower than we did before with our 5 wheel farmhand style rake. I know lots of guys swear about that style wheel rake but after I bent the tongue so the rake itself was parallel to the ground it really does a good job.

Each wheel has a wire threaded through all the teeth so if it loses the tooth with coil attached it stays on the rake until we replace it, which we try to do as soon as we would notice it. I think for double raking, the wheel rake will work better. Might just try adding a hitch to the back of the new idea though and see if I can't pull them tandem and save some time.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Jim Phelps · Jul 9, 2014

We had a wheel rake, but it would not rake our bean and millet hay so we had to buy a side delivery. Both worked fine and had some advantages over the other.

Mike Aylward · Jul 10, 2014

I have an H&S wheel rake much like Jim's. The raking width is adjustable. You can take a very narrow swath or a wide one or anything in between. They will rake on contours without any trouble. The rear raking width is adjustable as well. I've raked light and heavy hay, straight and on contours. I can't fault the rake for any reason. It sure speeds up the process and lets you rake when the hay is right. Mike

Wheel rake vs. side delivery rake

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