# Another rake question



## crzybowhntr (Jun 25, 2013)

Trying to decide between a galfre 8 wheel like this https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/24867419/galfre-ag320-8 or a Kuhn speed rake sr108 gii.

I only do 300 rounds a year of grass hay and am trying to decide if the cost of the Kuhn vs galfre/wr20/tonutti/etc is worth it.

I can buy 3 of the cheaper ones to 1 Kuhn.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Once the Galfre has raked many acres the frame hinge points gets worn then windrow width will vary a lot.


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## crzybowhntr (Jun 25, 2013)

I'm willing to pay the price if the Kuhn is going to last and be more functional than the others... thoughts..


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

The Kuhn GII is a much better rake.

Regards, Mike


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

crzybowhntr said:


> I can buy 3 of the cheaper ones to 1 Kuhn.


I think you answered your own question right there as it will probably take three of the cheaper to last as long as a Kuhns.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

crzybowhntr said:


> Trying to decide between a galfre 8 wheel like this https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/24867419/galfre-ag320-8 or a Kuhn speed rake sr108 gii.
> I only do 300 rounds a year of grass hay and am trying to decide if the cost of the Kuhn vs galfre/wr20/tonutti/etc is worth it.
> I can buy 3 of the cheaper ones to 1 Kuhn.


Are they both brand new? Comparing apples to apples, the Kuhn speed rake is a quality rake. But the other one looks purty good too....for me and my money, and 300 bales a year, I'm buying the one that I can buy the cheapest.....putting dead grass/Lucerne into a row ain't that big of a deal. The rotary vs wheel rake has some profound differences, but in this case we're just talking about the difference in build quality and wheel suspension. At 300 bales a year, the galfre should last 10 yrs or more without much attention if treated well and decently smooth fields. Like Jim said....the unit will wear a bit because of the design, but the unit can be repaired very easily in that event and it shouldn't b a problem for years if doing 300bpy.....
But you can't go wrong with the Kuhn, should you get ready to sell it, it will hold its value good.....the galfre, provided it's still in decent shape will bring about 1k in a few years, so at that point it didn't cost you much at all to put dead grass into a row, and that, my friend, is what will keep you haying.....good luck


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## Idaho Hay (Oct 14, 2016)

how much hay per acre are you raking? And, what kind of hay are you doing? The Kuhn is a high clearance rake, where the Galfre is not. If you're raking much more than 2 ton per acre (crop type depending), you may have bunching/plugging issues with the Galfre. If your yield is light, then it would be fine.


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## crzybowhntr (Jun 25, 2013)

I'm not sure about tonage. It is just regular WV hay. Lol. My buddy takes it with a vermeer wr20 and had no issues last year with plugging up.

I'm leaning towards Galfre and if it doesn't work I'll most likely get 80% of original purchase price on resale...


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## Idaho Hay (Oct 14, 2016)

crzybowhntr said:


> I'm not sure about tonage. It is just regular WV hay. Lol. My buddy takes it with a vermeer wr20 and had no issues last year with plugging up.
> 
> I'm leaning towards Galfre and if it doesn't work I'll most likely get 80% of original purchase price on resale...


If that rake worked good for you, them I'm confident that the Galfre rake will suite your fancy just fine.


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## TJ Hendren (May 12, 2017)

Remember you will get what you pay for. I have used every kind of wheel rake know to man from the 3 pt. ones back in the late 70's to what I have now, a hi-cap and it is by far the best design for a wheel rake, and a good used one can be had for not much more than you are going to pay for that brand I've never herd of. A good rake will either make your day go smooth or be a nightmare as far as round baling goes.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I 100% agree with TJ. My H&S hi-cap rake is the best rake I've ever owned. I even like it better than the Vermeer R23 I bought new in '92.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

A low profile rake will work well on non-terraced ground. An 8 wheel is not as likely to clog than a 10 wheel would.

Where the shorter, low capacity wheel rakes give me problems is I am not able to raise the wheels and cross over windrows, the frame catches the raked hay. Almost all my hay ground is terraced and I finish raking in the middle of each terrace. It is a challenge on the last pass in the middle to turn around with out dragging through a windrow.

I had forgotten how convenient a jacked up wheel rake was until I raked for a friend with his old Vermeer. It got the hay in a decent windrow, just made me pay more attention.

If a person can go back and forth across a field then the less expensive rake will probably do them well.


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## crzybowhntr (Jun 25, 2013)

Thanks everyone. I'm still undecided. That new Kuhn sr108 is looking really nice but so is the price of the galfre. Waiting on a call tomorrow from the Galfre dealer to find out if they have an 8 wheel left.

I wish these decisions were easier.


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## crzybowhntr (Jun 25, 2013)

Is it safe to assume the Kuhn would outlast the Galfre if taken care of? I'm not finding a source for parts for the Galfre and that worries me a bit. Although, I can't imagine rake wheels and bearings differ too much.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

crzybowhntr said:


> Is it safe to assume the Kuhn would outlast the Galfre if taken care of? I'm not finding a source for parts for the Galfre and that worries me a bit. Although, I can't imagine rake wheels and bearings differ too much.


No parts, RUN don't walk away... Save a buck now, regret it forever... Don't ASSUME that it's all "common" and easy to come by/will fit...

I was in a local NH dealer years ago looking for rake parts for my NH rake... Guy comes in the door like the cops are after him, out of breath, and runs up to the parts counter and asks Adolph (the parts man) "You got parts for spinner spreaders?" Adolph looks at me and I just nod-- I'll wait since I just got there and wasn't in a hurry... "Yeah" he says, "Whaddya need?" The guy plops a busted shaft onto the counter-- "busted PTO shaft". So Adolph looks it over, cocks his head to one side and then the other, flips it end for end, and raises an eyebrow... "What's this off of?" "I told you-- my spinner spreader!" "Yeah, but I mean, WHAT BRAND?", Adolph asks... "I dunno", the guy said. "Where'd you get it?", Adolph asked... "TSC", the guy said.

"Oh", Adolph replied... "I see... Well, sorry, can't help you. We can't get parts for those..." "WHAT??", the guy about flips out... "you just said you had parts". "Yes", Adolph said, "But those are for the ones we sell, and for major brands like Herd seeders and stuff like that... Those TSC ones are off-brands and we don't have parts for them and can't get parts for them... You'll have to go to TSC for parts..."

"They don't sell parts for them", the guy sheepishly replies...

"Well, then you're out of luck" Adolph said... "I can sell you a new one..."

"But yall are $150 higher than the TSC one was-- that's why I bought the TSC one in the first place..." the guy kinda smugly replied...

"Yeah, that's true", Adolph said, "BUT WE CAN GET PARTS FOR WHAT WE SELL!" as he handed the busted shaft back to the guy...

He grabbed it and slunk out of the store like a whipped puppy...

I just looked over the counter at Adolph, we both shook our head, and went on with our business...

My Dad was the type "never fix it right for $10 today if you can jury-rig it for $5 and get back to work..." Course the thing was, the jury-rigging would blow up in your face tomorrow in the middle of crunch time, and then you'd have to spend the $10 to FIX IT RIGHT ANYWAY, plus be out the $5 for jury-rigged repairs plus the time of having to do it TWICE rather than once... Always drove me nuts. With the proliferation of "cheap Chinese knockoffs" of everything he started getting a lot of that JUNK and crowing about how it was "half the price" of more mainstream stuff, but then he'd end up with his @ss in a sling because when it needed parts or service, he was SUNK... nobody knew how to fix it, and nobody could find parts for it... Right now we've got a cheap Chinese side-by-side sitting next to the shop that my brother is looking for a clutch for because it decided to melt itself down and spit molten aluminum out the cooling air port in the housing and nearly catch the pasture on fire, because no parts are available... Had it worked on had to take it three different places before someone would agree to "tinker" with it and actually got it going (sort of); one guy said he didn't even want it on the place LOL I TOLD my Dad, "Just get you a second-hand Mule or EZ-GO golf cart-- something you can get for the same money and yet still get parts and service for!" but I might as well have been arguing with a brick wall-- "BUT THIS ONE'S *NEW* for the same price!" What can you do... I just shook my head and walked away...

Been there, done that, got the scars to prove it...

Later! OL J R


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## Idaho Hay (Oct 14, 2016)

crzybowhntr said:


> Thanks everyone. I'm still undecided. That new Kuhn sr108 is looking really nice but so is the price of the galfre. Waiting on a call tomorrow from the Galfre dealer to find out if they have an 8 wheel left.
> 
> I wish these decisions were easier.


Have you looked at the Kuhn SR50-08? Would be a little cheaper than the SR108, but still high quality.

Does the Galfre dealer carry parts their rakes?


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## crzybowhntr (Jun 25, 2013)

Idaho Hay said:


> Have you looked at the Kuhn SR50-08? Would be a little cheaper than the SR108, but still high quality.
> 
> Does the Galfre dealer carry parts their rakes?


I can get parts for the Galfre, just not locally. Thanks for the input!

Here's a better pic. 8 wheel is $2100 and 10 wheel is $2800.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Just remember the old adage of "you get what you pay for"....

Regards, Mike


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## woodland (May 23, 2016)

If parts are hard to come by today wait 10 years when you really need them and then it might just get pushed in the bush. We’ve been burned a couple of times like Luke mentioned and now it’s got to be “mainstream “ or forget it here.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

Just buy the cheaper rake for 300 bales a year it will still last you a life time. Even the cheaper low clearance wheel rakes work very well once you learn to adjust them right. I use a cheap Gehl that I bought new over 20 years ago on 250 - 300 acres a year and it was years before I needed to do anything to it. Like an earlier post stated, it’s not rocket science getting into a row and that expensive rake ain’t gonna pencil out for that volume


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## joeberg (Jun 8, 2011)

Where does price fall in your decision?

I've owned an H&S 8 wheel V rake and a 10 wheel V rake with kicker. I didn't like the way they performed ( roped hay, to much chaif, and it ran on the ground - beat up my plants).

So I bought a Kuhn GA 6632. I really like it. It gives me a ton of options.

Price was not an issue.


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