# Rotary Rakes - Help Me Understand.....



## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

I've got a nimble 7ft 3-pt mounted John Deere 350 rollabar rptype rake - so far, it's been great!

As we move forward, we are eyeing 9ft equipment to shave off some time around the fields, especially after working the day job.

I've kind of had my eyes set on a 9 ft New Holland 258 - if/when a deal comes along, but have been reading much about rotary rakes.

I see several single wheel rotary rakes that make from 9 ft to 11 ft, like the Pequea HR930 and HR1140 models, windrows.

Those of you that use a rotary rake or are familiar with them - if you don't mind, a few questions.

1. Are you I using the rotary rake for drying - vs rake and bale immediately after raking? If for drying, are you letting the windrows set more than one day - rake one day, bale the next to take advantage of the drying?

2. I've read that's it's easier to bale a windrow from a rotary rake than a rollabar rake. I would have thought the opposite in that the rope the rollabar rake makes helps pull hay into the pickup?

3. How are the rotary rakes when it comes to flipping/turning hay that's had some rain or heavy dew? With my rollabar rake, I can let the top of the windrow dry, if it get a sprinkle, hit it with the outer edge of the rake and roll the windrow over, exposing the bottom for more drying.

4. How are the single rotary rakes when it comes to combining multiple windrows? I had one field last year that on the last cutting, the hay was so thin, we probably raked 4 or 5 tiny windrows together. We kept pushing them to the side, picking up the hay next to the rake until we hade a good sized windrow to bale. Is this possible with a rotary?

5. Uneven ground, how do the rotary rakes perform on lumpy, uneven ground with the large diameter of sweep.

6. Longevity - my old JD rollabar rake is at least 50 years old and still going strong. I'd like to get 10 years minimum out of a piece of equipment. I'm pretty confident if I bought a new - New Holland Rollabar 258 rake, my kids would be using it long after I take up the porch and rocking chair. How durable are these rotary rakes?

I appreciate the info - just looking for every drying advantage I can get, it all adds up.

Thanks!
Bill


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

leeave96 said:


> I've got a nimble 7ft 3-pt mounted John Deere 350 rollabar rptype rake - so far, it's been great!
> 
> As we move forward, we are eyeing 9ft equipment to shave off some time around the fields, especially after working the day job.
> 
> ...


Bill, I been there, done that, exactly. If I don't answer all your questions, let me know

I started with a NH56, 50 years old having used a steel wheel NI side delivery knot maker and a NI 5 wheel rake with my dad. Knew that if I just got a NH rollabar, life would be sweet. It was for the most part but the metal fatigue in rake bars, well, I decided to up grade. Sold my 50+ year old 56 and bought a brand new 258 with dolly. absolutely knew life would be the best. I wanted the 258 because the additional width gives you options. Except the dang thing would cavitate if you went too fast and I don't mean rock and rolling down the field. Sooo, when I went to upgrade my NH 163 tedder to a real Tedder made by Krone, I asked the dealer to make me a deal on two trades (the 258 and the 163) on trade for a krone 4 banger and 38T rotary. Would never go back, not ever.

the 38T rakes faster, better, no ropes, each time you hit a wad with the rake it gets better-more spread out-where as with the rollabar, each time it gets worse, the windrows out of a 38T stand the hay up on end for better air flow, they are vertical windrows instead of horizontal (highly adjustable with ground speed, pto speed, and curtain setting. They just treat hay with more respect than a rollabar. No problem on uneven ground unless you are trying to de thatch which is not the intended purpose for a hay rake. I have had 0 issues with baling the rotary windrow. For thinner hay, I rake it into the field until I get the windrow size I want then switch directions and kick it out one pass around. If part of the field is thick, I can issolate that area leaving a partial windrow and keep going. the lift feature on the rotaries is really nice for crossing windrows without making a mess. Go shop at the Krone store, skip the 258 or a NH rotary. This from someone who used to say they would never own hay equipment that was not red with yellow wheels.. just sayin, rick


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

oh, and one other thing, a NH 1409 is the 9 foot and inches machine, forget the new number, and the tedder and 38T are wonderfully matched for that cut width.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

The rotary rake action stands the "wads" up on end in the windrow. If you run over it again it tears the wads apart and restands them up. It is not a perfect action like a windrow invertor if you are trying to flip a rained on windrow upside down.


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

Bill -

I grew up using NH bar rakes (256) and have raked plenty of hay with them. Thought I needed to upgrade and bought an 8 wheel carted Tonutti rake one year. Hated it for the same reasons as discussed on this forum many times - balled up in heavy hay, couldn't adjust raking width and windrow size independently, etc. After about two years it was parked and we went back to the 256, then eventually sold the wheel rake and bought a 258 and ran the two bar rakes for several years. Generally happy with these rakes but they were still slow and started looking at rotary rakes for additional capacity and drying time. After several years of thinking, pondering and shopping finally bought a new Kuhn 4221 two years ago and sold the 258. Kept the 256 as a backup but in two years and hundreds of acres of hay it has only left the shed one day - and that was only because we had a lot of acres down and were trying to beat the weather running two rakes at the same time.

We have been very happy with the Kuhn rake. It is a 10.5 rotor width I believe and actually was a little big for the NH1410 we just traded off, if raking un-tedded windrows. Should be about right for the NH7230 we just bought. But really doesnt matter much in that regard for us since we ted most everything anyway. Kuhn makes a smaller diameter rake but I think it is also more of an economy version compared to the 4220/4221 models. For a smaller rake I'd suggest the Krone 38T like Hayman has. We were actually down to a Krone 42T vs. the Kuhn 4221 but went with the Kuhn because of price at the time.

1) Yes, we use the raking process as part of the drying process. No, we do not rake a day prior to baling. We start raking as soon as the dew is off (typically) on baling day. Rotary rake windrow is taller, fluffier and seems to get more air moving through it which usually means we can start baling sooner. If you have a field of hay raked up on a breezy day, and have a rotary raked windrow side by side with a bar rake windrow you will see what everybody talks about as far as air moving through the hay and drying it better.

2) Have not noticed a huge difference either way here, except that rotary rakes "bunch" the hay more than rope it. Both feed fine into my round or square baler, but in rotary raked windrows when you stop the round baler when the full bale alarm goes off, the hay also stops going into the pickup. With a bar rake it will continue to pull several feet into the baler typically. Not a big deal but it could be a problem and gum up the twine/wrap in some cases (not that it has any impact on your square baler).

3) Works great for this. You can either drive so you just flip the windrow over (based on where you place the rotor and have the RPMs running), or you can completely break it apart and form a basically new windrow - and getting more air moving through in the process. As slowzuki mentioned it won't be exactly like a bar rake, but I'd argue the result is better.

4) Combines multiple windrows just fine. No real difference here than a bar rake. Except again with the roping - the more you run a bar rake over a windrow typically the more roping you will get. Not an issue with the rotary.

5) Have not had an issue with this, but we also take care of our equipment and run it easy around rocks, ground hog holes, ditches, etc. We also typically have pretty smooth hayfields, but do have quite a few places that are not even by any means. I have never had any issue, although one field that has a sharp, steep gully in it and we have to rake crossways I do bump the rotor up slightly going through just to be safe. Then come back after the field is baled and run parallel with the ditch to clean up any leftover bits. Keep it adjusted properly and use some common sense and this shouldn't be a huge issue.

6) No experience on this yet. That was honestly one of my concerns (probably the only one) with a rotary. We like to keep equipment longer term also, at least until any major repairs start popping up. Have had no issue with my rake so far and I see it lasting quite a while given the acres we cover. In your situation and current acres I would think a new rotary rake would last a very long time.


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

Pictures are worth a thousand words...

Two of these pics show some first cutting windrows, and the other shows some second cut that has been half raked, combining three windrows together into one eventually.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Thanks for the replies!

Very helpful info!

I window shopped a Krone 3 pt mounted 38 rake and a 42T trailed rake this weekend. I'm thinking about moving away from 3 pt equipment to eliminate the wrestling match when I hook up these implements in favor of drawbar pulled equipment.

Also window shopped a Krone 5.52 tedder, - 4 basket. Looked very heavy duty.

Another Krone item was a disc mower conditioner, Krone EasyCut 2801 CV with flails.

I considered buying a Krone disc mower last fall/before the end of 2015, but in the end felt I needed some kind of conditioning system, so I passed.

Even though around my neck of the woods Krone doesn't have much of a presence and IMHO dealer support and off shelf parts might be on the light side, I have a lot of confidence in Krone products.

I've never seen a company with so much online information, brochures, operators manuals, parts lists, etc., in PDF format - readily available for free download. IMHO, Krone is very proactive on forwarding info to the end user - which from a DYI standpoint and lack of dealer knowledge, makes it much easier to be informed as to what you're buying, how to operate, service and repair..

If I get a rotary rake and likely a heavy duty tedder, probably go Krone.

Thanks again for you're helpful advice.

Bill


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

You won't be sorry, just remember to remove your 3pt arms during hay season or leave them as low as you can get them. Saves pto shafts.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Wish I had known you were looking for a rotary rake.....I just traded a 2 year old Krone 46t.....took a heck of a loss. I know I'm the odd man out but I wasn't crazy about my rotary rake.

I was not pleased with how it preformed on uneven ground like you mention. It was either missing hay or digging into the dirt. The pto driven rake would kick a lot more dirt into the windrow when it hit a high spot than a ground driven rolabar or wheel rake would.

I grow a lot of oat hay and the rake wasn't good about picking up the hay that fell between the rows of cut stubble after being tedded......grass hay this wasn't a problem because the hay would be resting on the sod and I got a much cleaner raking job.

I will give it the fact that it made a nice fluffy windrow in grass hay that wasn't lumpy or knotted. But I hated the rake in alfalfa. Unless I raked the hay really wet with dew I would have a lot of leaf shatter. The problem was I was having to rake so damp in the morning it would hardly get dry enough to bale by the evening.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

FarmerCline said:


> Wish I had known you were looking for a rotary rake.....I just traded a 2 year old Krone 46t.....took a heck of a loss. I know I'm the odd man out but I wasn't crazy about my rotary rake.
> I was not pleased with how it preformed on uneven ground like you mention. It was either missing hay or digging into the dirt. The pto driven rake would kick a lot more dirt into the windrow when it hit a high spot than a ground driven rolabar or wheel rake would.
> I grow a lot of oat hay and the rake wasn't good about picking up the hay that fell between the rows of cut stubble after being tedded......grass hay this wasn't a problem because the hay would be resting on the sod and I got a much cleaner raking job.
> I will give it the fact that it made a nice fluffy windrow in grass hay that wasn't lumpy or knotted. But I hated the rake in alfalfa. Unless I raked the hay really wet with dew I would have a lot of leaf shatter. The problem was I was having to rake so damp in the morning it would hardly get dry enough to bale by the evening.


Are you still looking at upsizing your tedder?

For those southern prices on nice used tedders I could pay you for delivery... 

I was about ready to buy a new one. Kept putting it off. Thinking now another year of my 2 basket will do me for now.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

deadmoose said:


> Are you still looking at upsizing your tedder?
> 
> For those southern prices on nice used tedders I could pay you for delivery...
> 
> I was about ready to buy a new one. Kept putting it off. Thinking now another year of my 2 basket will do me for now.


After buying a tractor, new rake, and still have to buy a mower before hay season I am just about broke. The tedder ended up being low on the list to upsize this year......maybe next year I can deliver it to the great frozen north  .


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

I'll agree with all the good experiences above. Will also add that in the rare case you do happen to get a windrow bigger than you wanted, it'll split it down the middle like a sharp knife splitting a hotdog into 2 windrows, leaving it nice & clean between them.


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## Widairy (Jan 1, 2016)

I've had all three types of rakes myself. For round baling the v style wheel rake is hard to beat. In my opinion a good rotary rake would be the best for making dry hay for baling. No roping windrows and they tend to stand the crop up nicely. Bar rakes are good for alfalfa and are more forgiving than the rotary in rough spots. The only problem with the rotary would be if you have some rough fields. I had a Miller pro 900. I mainly kept it around for rained on crop after getting the wheel rake. The only reason I sold mine last year was due to the framework for the wheels/lift mechanism was wore out. We had even tried to cobble it back together but it was getting pretty shook. I have smooth fields so the next piece of dry hay equipment on my wish list is a good rotary, probably an 11 foot model this time. I actually would plan on running the v rake around, let the hay dry for a couple of hours and then use the rotary to rake them over the catch the small amount of hay untouched by the v rake in the center. For your operation the only hold up would be if your fields are too rough. Otherwise there are a lot more upside than the downfalls of the rotary. Also rotary rakes don't work for corkstalks, trust me on that.... good luck and I hope the advice is helpful.


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

I have 2 rotary rakes a Miller Pro 1150 11 foot that is over 10 years old and only replaced one arm a PTO shaft caught 3 point arm and replaced all the rake teeth once also have a Kuhn GT 3200 9 foot like both would never go with 3 point. If you are getting dirt in your hay you need adjustment hieght if you take care of the equipment by greasing it it should last. The only problem I have found is grease zerks have plugged on the sweep arms


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

FarmerCline said:


> Wish I had known you were looking for a rotary rake.....I just traded a 2 year old Krone 46t.....took a heck of a loss. I know I'm the odd man out but I wasn't crazy about my rotary rake.
> I was not pleased with how it preformed on uneven ground like you mention. It was either missing hay or digging into the dirt. The pto driven rake would kick a lot more dirt into the windrow when it hit a high spot than a ground driven rolabar or wheel rake would.
> I grow a lot of oat hay and the rake wasn't good about picking up the hay that fell between the rows of cut stubble after being tedded......grass hay this wasn't a problem because the hay would be resting on the sod and I got a much cleaner raking job.
> I will give it the fact that it made a nice fluffy windrow in grass hay that wasn't lumpy or knotted. But I hated the rake in alfalfa. Unless I raked the hay really wet with dew I would have a lot of leaf shatter. The problem was I was having to rake so damp in the morning it would hardly get dry enough to bale by the evening.


What kind of rake did you get after trading your rotary rake?


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

leeave96 said:


> What kind of rake did you get after trading your rotary rake?


 Twinstar hydraulic basket rake. https://northstarattachments.com/hay-rakes/twinstar-g2-hay-rake-7-bar-series/

I should have mentioned in my first reply that although I was not happy with my rotary rake in very uneven ground conditions I don't expect the Twinstar rake to be very good in those conditions either......I'm no longer farming those particular uneven hillsides so it was not as much of a concern anymore.

My reason from going away from a rotary rake was because I was unhappy with how it preformed in alfalfa and oat hay which are a majority of what I grow. If I only grew grass hay I probably would have been happy with the raking job of a rotary......still would have wanted to upsize to a center delivery double rotor because the single rotor was just too slow for me.


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## longmeadow farm (Jun 26, 2009)

I owned a JD 350 3pt PTO driven rollabar rake for many years. My dad bought it new in 1954 -55. Rebuilt it many times over. What I liked about the 350 was that you could 'feather" the speed with the throttle and produce rather good windrows... without beating the hay up too much. The new holland ground driven rakes are what I call "hay beaters". I tried a wheel rake but I found that it wasn't that much better than my neighbors New Holland rollabar that I borrowed. I finally settled on a S&H 11 ft rotary rake.. with tandem axel .. I believe at the time I bought it it was a Miller Pro.. nice rake. My neighbor tried a wheel rake, but elected to go with a tandem new holland rollabar ... annually he seems to comment on my rather high fluffy windrows... he uses a tedder ... I don't.... don't have to ...with the rotary in my neck of the woods. Use a MoCo or Haybine, etc that will spread the hay as wide as possible...some Deere products are rather poor at doing this. You can buy an adaptor that runs off the rear of the haybine that helps spread the hay. Rake when the top is dry and let it dry/cure in the high fluffy, airy windrows that the rotary produces. The guy who sold me the rotary told me I would cut a day off my drying time.. he was right!!! A rotary rake is somewhat finicky to set up properly. I used a concrete pad..and use the same tractor for raking. I rake some uneven ground, but the tandem axel and the proper adjustment keeps me from "leaving" residue. I rake up to 50% clover and or alfalfa with ryegrass /timothy/brome/orchard mixed in... depending on the field. leaf loss is minimal as I rake before the hay is bone dry..as per above. I would caution anyone to read the manual ... 2-3 times and send an e-mail to the manufacture if you have any questions.. the product guys are generally knowledgeable and well versed regarding how their machines operate. But then again, my old friend who runs a Deere dealership told me many years ago... " no one reads the manual... no one"... over the years I've come to the understanding that his comments based on many years experience in the farm machinery industry ...was rather astute ... but then borne of real experience.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

longmeadow farm said:


> I owned a JD 350 3pt PTO driven rollabar rake for many years. My dad bought it new in 1954 -55. Rebuilt it many times over. What I liked about the 350 was that you could 'feather" the speed with the throttle and produce rather good windrows... without beating the hay up too much. The new holland ground driven rakes are what I call "hay beaters". I tried a wheel rake but I found that it wasn't that much better than my neighbors New Holland rollabar that I borrowed. I finally settled on a S&H 11 ft rotary rake.. with tandem axel .. I believe at the time I bought it it was a Miller Pro.. nice rake. My neighbor tried a wheel rake, but elected to go with a tandem new holland rollabar ... annually he seems to comment on my rather high fluffy windrows... he uses a tedder ... I don't.... don't have to ...with the rotary in my neck of the woods. Use a MoCo or Haybine, etc that will spread the hay as wide as possible...some Deere products are rather poor at doing this. You can buy an adaptor that runs off the rear of the haybine that helps spread the hay. Rake when the top is dry and let it dry/cure in the high fluffy, airy windrows that the rotary produces. The guy who sold me the rotary told me I would cut a day off my drying time.. he was right!!! A rotary rake is somewhat finicky to set up properly. I used a concrete pad..and use the same tractor for raking. I rake some uneven ground, but the tandem axel and the proper adjustment keeps me from "leaving" residue. I rake up to 50% clover and or alfalfa with ryegrass /timothy/brome/orchard mixed in... depending on the field. leaf loss is minimal as I rake before the hay is bone dry..as per above. I would caution anyone to read the manual ... 2-3 times and send an e-mail to the manufacture if you have any questions.. the product guys are generally knowledgeable and well versed regarding how their machines operate. But then again, my old friend who runs a Deere dealership told me many years ago... " no one reads the manual... no one"... over the years I've come to the understanding that his comments based on many years experience in the farm machinery industry ...was rather astute ... but then borne of real experience.


"If in doubt, read the manual"...

Words to live by. Later! OL J R : )


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