Hay Rakes For Sale in Ireland

Agricultural Rakes - An Overview

The rake will also tease up the cut crop and turn it over to allow for better drying. A rake can be utilised at night time to protect the crop from dew and then a tedder can spread the hay in the morning for better drying to be achieved.

Early rakes were simply branches, and these evolved into wooden hand-held rakes with teeth. These in turn developed into the earliest horse-drawn rake, known as a dump rake. This was a two-wheel machine with iron or steel curved teeth, operated from a driver’s seat mounted on the rake and a lifting mechanism operated by lever.

The dump rake operated at right angles to the windrow, with the operator raising the rake, turning it around and dropping the hay on the windrow. This was often combined with a sweep rake, which could lift the windrowed hay and drop it on to a wagon.

This was followed by a mechanical version of the dump rake, called the side delivery rake. This unit featured a reel with gear or chain drive mounted at a 45-degree angle against the window. This allowed the hay to be gathered and pushed to the side of the rake as it progressed along the field. The side delivery rake could be drawn longitudinally in respect to the windrow by either draught animals or a tractor.

This removed the more labour-intensive dump rake processes of raising, lowering and repeated raking. The side delivery rake created the spiralling continuous windrows common to 20th-century farms.

Later models of wheel rakes, also known as star wheel rakes, followed. These adopted a far more sophisticated design. They had between five and seven (sometimes more) wheels with spring teeth mounted on a frame. The implement was powered by the forward movement of the rake.

These rakes were marketed as being simpler mechanically and cheaper and easier to operate than earlier rakes. They were also reckoned to be gentler on the crop than the side delivery rakes. Today the most common rake being used in Europe is the rotary rake.

Rotary, or rotor, rakes can be single- or multi-rotor units. Single-rotor rakes are more compact implements, suitable for use with low-horsepower tractors and offering working widths of up to four metres or more. These can be simple trailed machines or with a pivoting connection to the three-point linkage. They are light and flexible and able to be easily manoeuvred on smaller farms.

Multi-rotor rakes are suitable for more high-performance applications and can have working widths of fifteen metres. Machines can have four separate rotors or more and are designed for large coverage. Manufacturers include CLAAS, Fella, Krone, Kuhn, Kverneland, Lely and Vicon.

Rakes are essentially simple implements with robust mechanicals and would make a suitable second-hand purchase. Field-testing a used rake on your own land and with your own tractor is always wise, but a well-chosen used rake should give years of good service.

All About Tedders

The tedder, sometimes known as a hay tedder, is a common implement in haymaking. It is deployed after the crop is cut and before windrowing, using moving forks to lift and aerate the hay and thus speed up the haymaking process. The fundamental concept behind the tedder is to allow the hay to dry, or cure, more effectively by allowing the passage of air around the crop. This in turn leads to a better colour and aroma of hay.

Tedders began to appear in the late 1800s. These original tedders were mounted on two wheels and drawn by a horse. The rotational force of the wheels was converted by a gear to operate arms with fingers or tines at their ends. These tines picked up the hay and dispersed it. Most models had an adjustable height mechanism to alter the level at which the tedder lifted the hay.

Early tedders were first made in the UK and then exported to the US, where they were widely adopted. A variety of systems was tried, including a spur wheel and pinion driving rake wheels on which were mounted eight rakes, which could pick up and distribute the hay. A later British model used a pair of separate cylinders attached to reversible rotating forks which could lift and then gently lay down the hay to maximise exposure to air.

US companies further developed these ideas and the 'grasshopper' used a revolving crank and rotating wheels to move forks up and down and lift the hay. Some more advanced units enclosed their rotating tines in a solid case to maximise the force that could be applied to the hay.

The tedder was an important agricultural advance. It was a great labour-saving device, and a man and horse with a tedder could complete as much work as perhaps fifteen labourers in a single day. It was also a more economical system, turning grass into hay in just one day. It could also deal with hay that had been flattened by horses or soaked by rain.

This fast operation was also vital in maintaining the nutrients in the hay, which would otherwise be reduced as it got wet after rainfall. This was an important factor in the typically wet UK farmlands and also in the east of the US. It allowed hay to be made from green grass, which produced hay of far greater nutritional value.

Today there are many agricultural equipment companies producing good tedders. These include Class, Deutz-Fahr, Krone, Kuhn, Kubota, Massey Ferguson and New Holland.

Generally speaking, the tedder is a simple mechanical machine that is hard-wearing and easily maintained. A visual inspection will reveal much about the condition of the tedder, and the informed farmer should be able to ascertain the tedder’s state of repair fairly easily.

If at all possible, it is always worth arranging a trial of the machine, especially on your own land. Care should always be taken to ensure that the tedder is compatible with the tractor being used and suitable for the soil conditions on the farm. A simple trial will quickly achieve both goals.

Hay Bobs - An Overview

Finally, the classic hay bob is a useful and simple piece of hay making equipment. It uses revolving tines to turn and form the hay into winnows, ready to be made into bales.

The hay bob may be PTO driven, taking its power from the tractor to do its work. This machine can achieve a number of different tasks, including spreading, tedding and raking, so it is a useful piece of kit to have around the farm. It is also relatively simple in operation, so the hay bob tends to be a reasonably rugged and reliable piece of machinery. Service costs should be low too, and the simple mechanism means that basic maintenance tasks can be performed by the user.

The most frequent point of failure in a hay bob is the tines themselves, which can often get caught in the ground or be broken by hitting a foreign object on the field. Broken or missing tines, however, are easy and inexpensive to replace. When buying a used hay bob, it is advisable to check that the turning mechanism is effective and works smoothly. The springs of any spring loaded tines should also be checked out. It is advisable too to have a look at the PTO connection to make sure that it is in good order and suitable for the intended tractor.

As always, a test run with such a piece of equipment is the best way to ensure a good buy. More generally, you should look for signs of corrosion or stress on the frame and for any sign that the hay bob has been twisted or damaged in a way that might prevent good operation. There is a good choice of used hay bobs available from a number of major manufacturers and in a variety of working widths to suit a wide range of conditions. With a little care, therefore, finding the right used hay bob for your farm should be a straightforward task.