# Any owners of an H&S bifold V rake? Questions on setup



## fastline (Mar 2, 2013)

I gave this rake a try for the first time since buying. I was straight up pissed! Plugged up constantly while trying to row up two swaths. It really seems like the frame of the machine is a big issue. Hay gets between the frame and wheels towards the back. As well, all the hay trying to exit at the last wheel on each side really clogs the wheels and they want to stop turning.

I had no choice but to set all wheels to dig into the ground a bit to keep them turning. IIRC, you are supposed to set the wheels to just ride above the ground but they did not want to turn.

I am looking to setup or tuning ideas. I ended up reducing how wide the rake went which changes the wheel angle to closer to drive path and spin better. I have some ideas to fix these problems but won't be easy. The frame needs lifted about 12" to fix all this. I see now why some machines have no real frame at all. It is in the way!

I am working with Oat hay which is stemmy compared to grasses so maybe it would work better for that. The hay was also right on the edge of damp. Certainly not wet to the touch but still a bit tough. Will be dry tomorrow. Not sure if that was causing this. Started to run better later in the eve.

It also seemed to miss hay. I will have no choice but to bale, then rake again, and bale again to get probably another 20% of the hay!


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## Bob M (Feb 11, 2012)

I have a 20 wheel high compacity H&S rake. We use mostly for chopping and later cuttings of hay. I have not had any major issues with ours. I don't run much pressure on ours. Sometimes if hay is damp it will skip going around a contour in a field, I will just back up and sguare off and it rakes fine. Also when raking damp aflalfa somtimes the hay will wrap on the hub of the rear rake wheel, not bad just have to get off tractor and clean off once in a while. One very important thing is make sure your rake frame is level, if not this can cause problems. Bob


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I have a Hesston 8 wheel that will wrap around the last wheel when raking stemmy dry grass hay.

Solution: slow down and let gravity do its job when the hay starts to wrap around a wheel.

Took me a while to get it set up the way I wanted and to learn how to best operate it.

One thing I've learned over the years is not to be learning new equipment when I'm under time pressure. That's when I've made some of my biggest (AKA expensive) mistakes. Break in a new piece of equipment when there's a small task, little time pressure, and not very much at risk if something doesn't work as expected.

Ralph


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

I have one of these rakes it will not rake a heavy swath bit if it was spread with tedder it will rake it


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Sounds like it is not a high capacity rake with frame on back side?

Trade it off for a high capacity rake. 

Set it so front of rake is as narrow as possible so the wheels turn easier.

How many wheels 8-10-12? Width of cut and width of windrow?


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

> I have a Hesston 8 wheel that will wrap around the last wheel when raking stemmy dry grass hay.
> 
> Solution: slow down and let gravity do its job when the hay starts to wrap around a wheel.


Putting 1/8" thick plastic on the crop side of the rake wheel, inside the ring, does wonders to improve the function of wheel rakes.


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## Fowllife (Sep 10, 2010)

swmnhay said:


> Sounds like it is not a high capacity rake with frame on back side?
> 
> Trade it off for a high capacity rake.
> 
> ...


I agree. This was my first thoght as well. Those rakes will do ok in lighter cuttings, but a heavy first they can have issues.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Gearclash said:


> Putting 1/8" thick plastic on the crop side of the rake wheel, inside the ring, does wonders to improve the function of wheel rakes.


post pictures


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## simmy (Apr 12, 2013)

Are the tines on the wheels facing towards the front of the rake sounds to me you have the same problem I had with my frontier .it came from the dealer set up wrong . I was ready to return it when I realized that the wheels were backwards. Put them on properly and it works great now


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

See if this works. Very first effort at posting a picture here.
Wind panels or wind boards are available from the rake mfrs, but I was quoted about $50 each for them. Made my own out of 4'x8'x1/8" plastic using a Dremel on a circle cutting jig and a hole saw for the center hub hole.

On edit, picture worked but is sideways. Oh well.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

> On edit, picture worked but is sideways. Oh well.


No problem here, my wife loves to turn her camera sideways to take pictures, so I had to learn to turn my head sideways too!


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## AndyL (Mar 9, 2013)

urednecku said:


> No problem here, my wife loves to turn her camera sideways to take pictures, so I had to learn to turn my head sideways too!


lol, Hey *******. Ya know you could turn your screen sideways to get an unslanted view. Easy if you have a laptop. Just thought I'd mention..


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Gearclash said:


> Putting 1/8" thick plastic on the crop side of the rake wheel, inside the ring, does wonders to improve the function of wheel rakes.


Any chance this would help the hay slip thru against the frame when there is just too much hay? I have a JD 702 10-wheel. If/when the hay gets too thick it'll wad/ball up under the frame and between the tire & rake wheels, making a big wad of hay until I pick the frame up or it just rolls over the pile.


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

I had an H&S 12 wheel that I Liked. it worked in all but the heaviest hay. Traded it for a new H&S High Capacity 14 wheel rake. Biggest pile of crap I've seen. Fought it for a year and traded for a Vermeer VR1428. Now that's a rake! Wouldn't mind finding a regular H&S 12 wheeler to get into smaller places though. The 14 wheel high caps are awfully long wheel based.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

> Any chance this would help the hay slip thru against the frame when there is just too much hay? I have a JD 702 10-wheel. If/when the hay gets too thick it'll wad/ball up under the frame and between the tire & rake wheels, making a big wad of hay until I pick the frame up or it just rolls over the pile.


It should help some, though it won't make a hi-cap rake out of it. WInd panels serve two purposes: One is to provide a smooth area to prevent the hay from "climbing" on the wheel too much. The other is to reduce the effect of the wind blowing against the crop and being a general pain. 
To put wind panels on correctly on a carted rake, you'll have to take each rake wheel off to get the wind panel over the hub. That's not all bad becuase then you can't lose a panel like I did last fall.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Gearclash said:


> It should help some, though it won't make a hi-cap rake out of it. WInd panels serve two purposes: One is to provide a smooth area to prevent the hay from "climbing" on the wheel too much. The other is to reduce the effect of the wind blowing against the crop and being a general pain.
> To put wind panels on correctly on a carted rake, you'll have to take each rake wheel off to get the wind panel over the hub. That's not all bad becuase then you can't lose a panel like I did last fall.


I haven't had any problems with wind here. I could maybe get away with just putting 'em on the last 3 or 4 wheels. As for taking the wheels off, I've decided to replace the greesable bearings on them with sealed bearings anyhow. I figgure the grease I save in a season would nearly pay for the bearings, not to mention the time to grease 'em.


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## fastline (Mar 2, 2013)

simmy said:


> Are the tines on the wheels facing towards the front of the rake sounds to me you have the same problem I had with my frontier .it came from the dealer set up wrong . I was ready to return it when I realized that the wheels were backwards. Put them on properly and it works great now


That is the first I have heard of that. I would REALLY like to see pics or a vid comparing this. As it is now, the tines are facing forward at the bottom of the wheel which will hook the ground and force them to spin I suppose. I can see where facing the other way would be more gentle but I am not really interested to flip 12 wheels just to see it not work. Can we hash this out?


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## Fowllife (Sep 10, 2010)

To me it sounds like your wheel are backwards. The bottom should be facing to the back. If it is facing towards the front then the hay will somewhat stick between the teeth & get caught. Switch them around & it should be better.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

fastline said:


> That is the first I have heard of that. I would REALLY like to see pics or a vid comparing this. As it is now, the tines are facing forward at the bottom of the wheel which will hook the ground and force them to spin I suppose. I can see where facing the other way would be more gentle but I am not really interested to flip 12 wheels just to see it not work. Can we hash this out?


As the wheel turns the points are pulling away from the hay,if on backwards they would be pointing into the hay.I don't think it would work at all if on backwards.


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

What kind of teeth are those


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## fastline (Mar 2, 2013)

I just looked on youtube and an ad for a brand new Kuhn shows the points facing forward at the bottom..

Could someone offer a pic for verification?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

bluefarmer said:


> What kind of teeth are those


Wheel rake teeth.Shaped like a Z kinda.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

fastline said:


> I just looked on youtube and an ad for a brand new Kuhn shows the points facing forward at the bottom..
> 
> Could someone offer a pic for verification?


search for "hay rake" on bing, click on one of the pictures, it'll come up with a pile of different pictures.


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## fastline (Mar 2, 2013)

And they are ALL mounted just like mine. Why would I flip them and waste the 3 hrs without confirmation that the flip is worth it?


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