DIY Build PTO Hay Rake - Tedder

[bmaverick]

OK, while browsing Youtube I found this video. AMAZING work this person did. It looks professional.

DIY Hay Rake - Tedder - YouTube

Anyone ever think of making a hay rake or hay tedder with simple hardware?

I looked for a hay rake, but there are two things very odd. Many are made for the BIG Ag doing oodles of acres. I just need one that putters around on 4 acres.

Now, I'm looking for practical more than the wow, you need to go into production with that thing. Even bicycle rims that spin with the spokes on the outside like a 6-wheeled hay rake would be nice to make. Cost would be well under $300.

I've search the web and even this forum through the past two years.

Our farm is on a shoe-string budget. I'm tempted to call our farm the shoe-string farm too. lol

If I find more, I'll post here.

 

[R W]

Thanks for the link to the video.
I know of 2 HM conditioner/crimpers, so there shouldn't be any reason why there can't be a HM rake. Take a look at the simpler machines on the market and work from there.
I would go for something heavier than bike rims.

 

[bmaverick]

Well, if I got a brushhog 5-ft mower, then a rake or tedder would be ideal to do the conditioning.

Not sure what a HM actually is. So, I'm lost on that advice.

 

[Clint S]

I am guessing HM = Home Made

 

[R W]

HM = HOMEMADE

 

[DT86]

Have you thought about a 3pt wheel rake?

 

[bmaverick]

Sure, anyone have plans so I can build one?

I had seen a person make something like push reel mower, but it did not cut. It was like a Mississippi paddle wheel. It picked up the cuttings, toss it over and out the rear through a shoot that stacks the hay in a very nice row for a baler. It was connected via the 3pt and PTO. It was about 12-ft wide and 4-ft tall in the video. It was made in a foreign country that I could not understand what was said. Neat idea though.

I just need something to toss the cuttings into rows. A rake or tedder DIY would be nice.

80/20 extrusions with PVC piping could make a tedder. I just need to figure out how to make a rotary and drive it by the PTO. That is one method.

Another method is a product called the "Estate Rake". It's rather too small of a rake for a compact tractor like mine. Thus, the idea of using 20-inch bike rims with the spokes bent outward. Just one rake wheel cost $130 before shipping. OUCH. Bike parts in town are FREE on the curb. I only need 3 or 4 of them to make a DIY driven hay rake.

There are illustrations all over the web for the hay rake. Most do not need the PTO.

 

[DT86]

Shop around for those wheels, that's actually the highest price I've ever heard for them. I paid less than $80 each for a new set not long ago. A two wheel model could work for your size field / tractor.

Also, do you realize how much crop loss there is cutting with a bushhog?

 

[bmaverick]

A bushhog on our 4-acres made 155 square bales of hay. It lasted us all year.

I had to rent a rake and baler. Not cost effective.

 

[petes]

I'm all for building things from scratch - something I really enjoy. For my hay tedder/rake I took 2 dead Kuhn GRS-21 tedder rakes and made one good one. Total cost was $900, but I was in a hurry to get something for that season. It's very similar to the one in the video you linked, just a little bigger, and the tine arms rotate to switch from tedding to raking mode. I recently picked up 2 ground drive side delivery rakes, a John Deere 640 and a New Holland 260 for $350 total. The JD needs a tine bar bearing replaced, the others cleaned and re-greased, and a little bit of welding on the hitch. The NH needs new bearings in the gearbox, but I should have both up and running for another $100 or so. All that to say that you may be best off finding something that needs work, but was a proven functional design.

Bike wheels and spokes won't be strong enough to sweep the hay. The wheel rakes discussed above have finger/spokes about 1/4" diameter and are some type of spring steel so they're hard and don't bend easily.

If I was going to build some type of PTO rake from scratch, I'd consider a belt rake, similar to belt rake - YouTube. It could be made with belts or chain, doesn't need a gearbox since it's all in the same rotational axis of the PTO shaft. Construction looks pretty simple.