The older pinwheel hay rakes and issues

JOCCO · Apr 2, 2019

First I am not talking about these new ones of today. But the older ones 1960's etc. Farm hand, Morrel, and John Deere, the old 5 wheel type. They did not go over to big around me I had a Deere and it was disaster!!! A good friend said "seems funny there all parked behind the barn and there using a bar rake" (new Holland) Big issue was they did not seem to rake the hay well. There was a few other raked that did not do to well also. Any of you have them or use them?

coshoo · Apr 2, 2019

I had one in the '70's. Don't remember which brand, never could get it to rake. Sold it at the next consignment auction, went back to an old JD bar rake.

rrlund · Apr 2, 2019

I had a New Idea. The tines were bolted around the wheel band. They had fiber bushings in the hubs. Those bushings would start to wear so the wheel tipped forward at the top and the tines would start to bend back so they just slid over the hay. The new wheel rakes have a larger diameter tine that goes all the way to the center of the wheel and they have taper bearings. They have a slight angle to the wheel too so they kind of get under the hay to lift it up.

DeltaRed · Apr 2, 2019

I have a Farmhand 2 wheel front mount. It works great for turning windrows.dont know wow it would work in 'preraked' hay.

jamstra · Apr 2, 2019

The Vicon versions here in the UK worked pretty well and were very common, but were inclined to make certain kinds of swathes into twisted 'ropes'. They were very common here until replaced by the almost ubiquitous 'haybob' type. Jim

Case Nutty 1660 · Apr 2, 2019

Here there was and still is LOTS of them used,, work good for throwing two-three windrows together, but worthless for making a uniform windrow for round balers for that I use a Vee wheel rake,, mine is a 3pt 10 wheel unit, works well for me as I have few corners to deal with the way i cut hay,, a trailered one is the next thing I would like to get but I have had this one since new and have used it since the 80's, some here have the twin roll bar rakes, they work fine other than on rough fields you have to go pretty slow compared to what I am used to as I rake in the 8-9 mph range, all the ones you speak of here were mostly Farm Hand brand,, I did see a jd once in a great while,, all the Farmhand ones here rake fine as long as they have all the teeth except when a heavy down pour pounds the windrow in the dirt then they will skip pretty bad,, maybe that was the issues where a lot more H20 is the norm

rusty6 · Apr 2, 2019

I like my old Pollard six wheel rake. I think it is late 60s vintage. I've had an IH bar rake sitting in the trees here since the late 80s but always use the wheel rake. Its better flexibility over the uneven ground and I think tends to miss less hay than the bar rake. You can watch it work in this video I shot a few years ago. I added the hydraulic lift as originally it had only a lever.
Pollard Rake

John in Md. · Apr 2, 2019

Greatest thing since sliced bread, when they were new. I had a New Idea, we raked with a pickup a few times. When they started to wear the stars would tilt back and they started missing a lot. They were good in alfalfa because they rolled gentler and didn't knock the leaves off, but they didn't hold up.

JOCCO · Apr 2, 2019

I think a lot depends on your conditions. And the picture is of those newer ones.

JOCCO · Apr 2, 2019

Yes rusty that is the kind that I was talking about.

Part Time Pete · Apr 2, 2019

Most of them around here were Farmhands. The guys I worked for all had side rakes but I heard that the up side of the wheel rakes were that you could go as fast as you could stay in the seat, and that they picked up the hay a little better. The down side was that they made a tighter windrow and would pick up more rocks etc. I knew a guy that had just raked a field with one, and noticed an old piece of scrap iron about 18" long that the rake had picked up, laying on top of one of the windrows.
Pete

Texasmark1 · Apr 2, 2019

If we are on the same page, one of the things is that you had to grease the wheel axles. Today they use sealed bearings. MIne have been sitting out in the weather since 2012 and still good as new.

paul · Apr 2, 2019

I have a 5 wheel of this newer type, 3pt.

It?s not very impressive. Not much capacity, in first cutting grass or in straw it packs material up on the axles, won?t pass through.

Can?t make corners.

Have to really angle it so it?s very narrow to get it to pick up moist hay.

On my swamp where the grass gets as tall as my tractor, it won?t pick up the hay at all just no bite to it.

Really seems appropriate for lawn sweeping is about all it can handle easy.

Use it for rough stuff now and then, but always go back to the NH roll a bar, that will actually rake hay and straw!

I hear the old style is even worse than these new wheel rakes, fortunately I?ve never used one then.

I hope the really new style with the axles on the back side do a little better than my new style. They seem popular anyhow.

Paul

caterpillar guy · Apr 2, 2019

I've got a Gehl and a Hesston both work fine. The Gehl was a vee rake 3pt. I turned the left side over and then moved it back so I can rake 2 separate swaths at a time each round. Yup they suck for corners. I just pick it up back into the corner sort of like plowing head lands, then pull out across the end. After the headland is done the rest goes fast with 2 at a time.

C.Amick · Apr 2, 2019

Had an old MF wheel rake. They push the hay into the windrow, whereas the bar type rake rolls the hay. The rolled hay was always easier to pick up off the ground with the baler. Went through a lot of rake teeth. The teeth on it always wore at the band that held them in place.

Bernie/MA · Apr 2, 2019

I"ve been using a pinwheel rake since 1971. It was Darf, made by/for JD. The teeth were on the rim about 6" long. One would break on a rock or hump making it bounce which broke more. Probably broke enough teeth to have paid for another rake, could only rake at 3-4 MPH. Found another rake with tines that went to the center of a 10" hub, could rake at 10 mph if the field was smooth enough to stay on the seat. I only use 3 wheels to flip the windrows. The moco leaves them 4-5 feet wide.

SVcummins · Apr 3, 2019

We had an old two wheel farmhand that mounted on the front of the tractor it wouldn?t hardly comb yer hair

Jim Phelps · Apr 3, 2019

We had an old 5 wheel, did a good job in grass hay but my grandfather did some bean and millet that was too heavy to turn so we had to buy a bar rake, end up selling the 5 wheel as there was no need for 2 rakes.

PJH · Apr 3, 2019

I have a 5 wheel Farmhand with the teeth bolted to the rim. Had it for 30 years. It has wheels on it and lots of adjustments, and I've tried every combination of adjustments to get it to rake clean. It will not rake clean. If I rake the same area twice, it is still not as good as once with a bar rake. I never had any trouble with it shedding teeth like some folks say. It's sitting in the edge of the woods. Don't offer me a hundred dollars for it - I'll hurt myself getting it quickly hooked to your pickup.

I also have a 4 wheel, three point Vicon, with the long teeth bolted at the center of the wheel. It does much better than the old Farmhand, but still leaves a lot of hay on the ground. I keep it around for a spare in case something breaks on my good rake.

BarnyardEngineering · Apr 3, 2019

The old wheel rakes were slap wore out. That's why they didn't work.

Still have an old 5-wheel Farmhand out back. It got parked about the time I graduated college and Dad bought a tandem rake hitch and a second New Holland 258 so one person could rake hay.

The older pinwheel hay rakes and issues

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