Selecting the correct hay rake for your operation

What is the best hay rake for my operation?

We hear this question regularly so I thought this may be of benefit for your consideration. Different producers have different objectives in their forage programs and some have different limitations as well. These factors will have a determination on what hay rake suits your needs best. The objective of this article is to discuss the strengths and limitations of these styles of hay rakes and not to promote a specific brand(s) of rakes. That is for a different time and place. There are several features within each category that producers should familiarize themselves with prior to making a purchase so they can best match the hay rake to their specific needs.

There are three categories of hay rakes that we deal with in our trade area in Kentucky: bar rakes, wheel rakes and rotary rakes.

Bar Rakes:

There are different manufacturers of bar rakes with the most common style being powered by a drive wheel but there are some models that are powered by pto pump or pto driveline. These rakes can range in price depending on whether you have a single basket or double basket and whether you incorporate a hydraulic drive. These rakes are known to produce a fluffy windrow that enhances drying time. Since the tines are not designed to be in contact with the ground they should deliver a moderately clean crop to the baler. These rakes can have tall hay ‘rope’ as it moves across the bar. This means the hay is loosely wrapped but the baler can continue to pull hay into the pickup even when the baler has stopped for a tying cycle. These rakes tend to do a very good job of cleaning the ground provided the ground is even. Bar rakes powered by drive wheels do not require a tractor that has rear hydraulics so it provides flexibility to use smaller and older tractors.

Wheel Rakes:

There are many manufacturers of wheel rakes with some being mounted but more popularly finding them as carted or in a bi-fold configuration. These are ground driven, meaning the tines on the wheels are in contact with the ground and that is what makes the wheels turn. These tend to be more economical to own with lower maintenance costs. Since the tines are ground driven there can be more dirt/ash in the hay crop. The biggest advantage of these rakes is that they cover more ground quickly which is important to many forage producers that are in a time crunch during hay season. Most models can be adjusted to a raking width dependent on the heaviness of crop. Some also can be adapted to adjust the width of the windrow which is beneficial to those using small square balers or round balers with smaller pickups. Carted wheel rakes will require tractors that have rear hydraulic remotes in order to fold/unfold the rake.

Rotary Rakes:

Rotary rakes are less popular than bar rakes or wheel rakes but are produced by several manufacturers. These are available in single or double rotors which gives some flexibility on how much ground is covered in a single pass. Most of the double rotor rakes will permit making one larger windrow or two smaller windrows in a single pass. The tines of a rotary rake are not designed to contact the ground so it is gentle on the crop without introducing more dirt/ash. The tines usually have the appearance of a pitch fork so it picks up the crop and delivers it into the windrow in a gentle method which is important in leaf crops like clover and alfalfa and works well even in high moisture crops. The limitations of these rakes is that they tend to be slower and are not ideal in rough ground conditions. These are usually powered by pto driveline but hydraulics are usually required to raise/lower the rotor.

There can be exceptions based on specific manufacturers and models but based on the most common models I encounter I offer you this chart for simplicity in your decision making.