Hay rake

Friend of mine saw this at his friend's place. Texted me asking if I wanted it. Asking $200. Good deal?





I don't need it......

"I don't need it." Then why buy it? Being a Sears Roebuck parts will be near impossible to find except for the (hopefully) generic teeth.

It's only a good deal if it's worth $400 in scrap.

If it works,heck yes. Any rake that works is worth 200.00. That 200 dollar rake could save a crop worth hundreds(or thousands) of dollars

Dad had a David Bradley like that in the early 60s. If you went down the road at more than about 6 mph, the SOB would start whipping back and forth, all over the road. Doing hay like you do, away from home, I would call it a leaver right, as in leaver right there.
Not even much as a collector item, compared to the old high wheel side rakes.

I'd pass on it. I remember there was a similar New Idea here when I was a kid and it was not impressive compared to more modern rakes. You could probably find an IH 35 or NH 56 for not much more money as even the Amish are demanding more modern rakes than a side delivery. There are quite a number of Pequea's here that kind of flop the hay to the back of the rake.

I have parts and pieces of 2 of those. That was the type of rake I started out with years ago. If you know how to do it it will fit in a pickup truck

You can find side delivery rakes cheaper than that. One concern would be the tires. If they are common sizes then not too bad for price. If they are an odd size than big bucks. I looked at an Oliver rake one time back in the 90's. Was interested as we had the same model when we had the farm in the 60's. Rake was in good shape but the tires were odd size and $200 per tire back in the 90's. If you have to tow a side delivery rake down the road they all sway bad at road speed.

Dad had a David Bradley rake. I can remember it made a click, click, click, sound as it turned a corner. Like most everything else it ended up in the iron pile, when he stopped farming. Stan

Save your money. Those things rope the hay real bad. Had one, never again. Yard Art.

(quoted from post at 09:48:07 09/29/20) If it works,heck yes. Any rake that works is worth 200.00. That 200 dollar rake could save a crop worth hundreds(or thousands) of dollars

Click to expand...

LOL That thing isn't even close to being usable.

Looks like $200 lawn ornament to me

I'd say it's a great deal. The question is, for you, or for him? My guess is him.
My old boss used to greet me with" what's the deal?"
My reply was always" I'll sell you two for the price of three."

When I saw the first picture I knew it was a David Bradley. Yes, in light hay they would rope the windrow but is that really a problem? In heavier hay they wouldn't rope. The one we had was a little newer than that one. The frt tires are plain old 15" car tires. I never pulled ours faster than 6-1/2 mph, 4th gear on Super H or Super M-TA. Much nicer rake than the high steel spoke wheel on our old New Idea rake dating back to horse-drawn days. The D-B rake had been given a Du Pont overhaul, fresh coat of paint on everything. I greased it every time I used it, every 20 acres of hay or every 40 acres of straw which I hooked both rakes together. The old New Idea was missing more than a few teeth, the D-B only a couple. My Brother-in-law's Dad bought it at Dad's first auction, and he's fussy about stuff. Brother-in-law still uses it. I hope he put a new tire on the left frt wheel, something tore a hole in the center of the tread, the inner tube was showing, why the tube never blew is a miracle, I never had to even air any of the tires up.

I wouldn't pay $200 for that rake unless you REALLY REALLY need it, but something between $50 and $100. In the 1960's you could still get some parts maybe, in 2021, you'd have to make the part or find a really similar D-B rake.

Save you money and wait till a good NH 256 or 258 comes up for sell.