[Kroshto]

Does anyone know if the four wheel hay rake from agri supply is any good or at least good for the price? Its $635.95

Or what brand could i look for that would be in that price range? Starting out and starting small, thanks for any advice.

 

[deadmoose]

Buy a cheap used rolabar or farmhand wheel rake. Then when you figure out what you really want or if you dont want to hay at all you can sell it and get most of your money back.

 

[somedevildawg]

I'm inclined to agree.....course the 4 wheel will work, somewhat, OK, I had a lot of fun with mine.....one thing about it, it's probably not gonna lose ya much money less ya clip a if pence post, then it's toast....

 

[urednecku]

If it's a 3ph I'd stay away from it, unless your fields are - and you can keep them - glass smooth. I was given one, ( with the purchase of some other equipment), and the last time I tried using it I swore the next time it was connected to my tractor would be to load or move it. If a front tire goes in a hole, the rake will come up & miss a wad of hay. Then when the rear wheel gets to the low spot, rake will dig dirt. And I couldn't get it to do anything but make a mess of some hay that had gotten washed.

At least that is MY experience with a 4-wheel rake.

I went to a carted 10-wheel I found used @ almost stole it, worked real good unless the crop is pretty thick, & it doesn't like turns. I'm now using a rotary rake I love, but it costs more.

I guess bottom line, what deadmoose said!

 

[Tim/South]

I had a 4 wheel rake thrown in on some equipment I was buying. I made one pass with it and unhooked. During that one pass I stopped to adjust it several times.

I sold it to a guy who said he would figure out how to make it work. He spent an afternoon making a mess of his windrows, parked it on a hedge row and it has not moved since.

 

[dubltrubl]

+1 what deadmoose says. I tried one a few years ago. I had a guy that came to help me do a field in squares and he brought it over hooked to his Ford 3000. I was gonna be the rake guy that day. I ran it down 2 rows about 1100' long and promptly drove tractor and all back onto his trailer as I finished the second row. That was enough time with that POS to know I never wanted to touch another one.

 

[CaseIH84]

I started with old four wheel rake. Received for nothing from old time farmer friend. It was in pretty bad shape. Had to rebuild whole thing. It got us by for a couple of years. They definitely work but not the greatest. They seemed to drag quite a bit of debris into hay.

Started using a roll a bar a few years back and now a rotary. Rotary definitely way to go in my opinion. Seems to gently sweep hay were you need it, leaving nice big fluffy row for air to sweep through and finish drying. Wheel rake seemed to make tight twisted row.

 

[Fowllife]

I must be the odd man out then, because I kind of liked the 4 wheel 3 point I used to have. It really does depend on how your fields are setup though. Nice straight runs they work good, turns & hills are a pain though. They really don't pick up any more trash than any other wheel rake, its all on proper cut height & rake setting. Mine was a Sitrex, I don't know about the brand you are looking at. The 4 wheel was a good match for my 9' haybine. I much prefer my carted 8 wheel I have now, but the 4 wheel was nice in tight spots being 3 point.

 

[Kroshto]

Thanks for the advice

 

[MtnHerd]

I had one and switched to a rolabar and wished I had bought one to begin with. Mine is 3pt hitch and works great for a lot of my small irregular fields where I have to pick it up to cross windrows. You can fine good used ones fairly reasonable.

 

[treymo]

What is a 4 wheel used for? Flipping windrows? I'm looking for a 20 wheel...

Trey

 

[Fowllife]

What is a 4 wheel used for? Flipping windrows? I'm looking for a 20 wheel...

Trey

Usually small square's for heavy first cutting. There is no way a small square baler could eat a windrow from a 20 wheel in 3 ton/acre hay. You on need a 2 wheel to flip a windrow.

 

[CBarM]

I agree last year I did a job where our church needed squares for an event they was having. Well it was a patch of Bermuda along side of a Milo field where I was baling stalks. I had my 14 wheel hi cap there and couldnt justify dragging another rake over. My rows was 3 foot tall and 3 foot wide. The church only needed 40-50 bales. I cut 1\2 acre and got 146 sqaures. After unplugging and replacing shear bolts over a dozen times I put a valve on one wing so only one side would lower for future use. So long story short bigger isn't always better. Its good to have a small one laying around as you never know when you'll need it, even for a good deed that turns into a PIA......

 

[FarmerCline]

I could see where some of these really big wheel rakes would make a windrow for a small square baler too big in heavy hay but a 4 wheel just seems way too small even for that. I use a 12 foot rotary rake and can make a double windrow in heavy first cut hay(120-130 bales an acre) and don't have any trouble square baling it.....my ground speed will be very slow when baling a windrow like that however.

 

[Fowllife]

I could see where some of these really big wheel rakes would make a windrow for a small square baler too big in heavy hay but a 4 wheel just seems way too small even for that. I use a 12 foot rotary rake and can make a double windrow in heavy first cut hay(120-130 bales an acre) and don't have any trouble square baling it.....my ground speed will be very slow when baling a windrow like that however.

It's also about matching all of you equipment. A 4 wheel works real nice with a 9' mower, as does my 8 wheel. A 12' rotary would not be ideal with a 9' mower, but would be doable. Granted if you ted it out it doesn't really matter though. With a 12' rake I would be fighting to always move all of the windrow to fresh "dry" ground. With a wheel rake splitting windrows is a pain, maybe not as bad with a rotary. A 4 wheel is about the same size as the roll bar rakes that people love so much.

As I said, it all about matching everything up. Having your mower, rake, baler and tractor sized right is what it's all about.

 

[urednecku]

With a wheel rake splitting windrows is a pain, maybe not as bad with a rotary.

I will agree 100% - with a wheel rake splitting windrows is almost impossible, from my experience.

With the rotary rake, it's about as easy as splitting a hot dog down the middle with a sharp knife, and leaves as neat an edge, too.