rotary type rakes ?

[neevlk]

Anyone have experience with rotary hay rakes, Kuhn or others?
I"ve used NH bar rake whole life time to up grade.How good of a job do they do{light or heavy crop,grass or alfalfa,uneven ground etc.Would like feedback good or bad thanks.

 

[bill in ny]

neevlk, welcome to tbn. i was in your situation last year. i got tired of the nh 258 and wanted to try something new. i bought a kuhn 4120th rotary rake. you won't believe the difference in your hay crop. no more roping of the hay. nice fluffy windrows. they are very good on uneven ground. get one with tandem wheels. the bales are more uniform also. they also cut your drying time down quite a bit.

 

[zzvyb6]

I have a Kuhn GRS2510 combination tedder and rake. You shift the gear in one of the rotors to tedder or rake. It does both jobs very well. I still use the NH-56 a lot though. Mine I have it set up such that it doesn't rope the hay at all. With the Pat's Easy Change, I don't even have to get off the tractor to hook up, so I tend to prefer it.

 

[JasG]

We have been using a Kuhn for 6-7 years now. Really makes a difference with drying. I would say get hydralic drive and lift if possible. This would over come the only short coming of this type of rake being they don't turn sharp. We still have NH bar rake but if it gets used 3 times a year thats a lot. We only use that if the hay has already been raked once with the other rake and they Kuhn is being used.

 

[jakeb47]

I switched over to a Kuhn rotary rake two years ago, after seeing my amish neighbors use them (I was impressed by the windrows they made). I like it so well that last summer I sold both my rollbar rakes (I kept them just incase). They (rotary) do an excellent job, cut drying time and make a nice fluffy windrow to bale. I would never go back to a rollbar rake again, IMHO the quality difference is as clear as night and day (at lest here in the fingerlakes region of CNY).

 

[Waldershrek]

I switched over to a Kuhn rotary rake two years ago, after seeing my amish neighbors use them (I was impressed by the windrows they made).

Amish using Kuhn equipment!?

 

[jakeb47]

Yep, you see more Kuhn's behind a forecart (with an engine mounted) than you see rope makers, lol. No different than pulling a good square baler the same way. Like a good Amish friend say's "horse's don't care what they are pulling, so you may as well be pulling good eauipment). On a more serious note, I agree with Bill, whatever brand you get, get the tandem wheels, they do a great job following the ground.

 

[Cpt0617]

Need help with parts for Star 340 PTO driven rake. PTO shaft is bent and so far not having any luck finding one. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[jimg]

Ive been using a Pequea HR10 for a few yrs. It makes the field clean, easy to operate and maintain and doesnt take up much space in the barn or on the road. The only problem Ive encountered is it doesnt like to go too fast on uneven ground....wobbles side to side and digs in. I think the newer machines do better. Ive also used my neighbors rolabar rake and liked that too. In my view theyre both good designs. Oh, one more thing...my HR10 is a counter clockwise rake and IIRC the rolabar is clockwise.