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Central MN | How do you use them? We have a new holland ht152 v rake right now but I am curious if a rotary rake will solve what I am trying to do. What I usually do is cut in the afternoon and ted it apart in the evening (unless the ground is wet, then let it sit in a tight windrow for longer). Then it sits till the day it gets raked and baled. I have been told to only rake the same day you plan to bale, and that is what I have been sticking to, try to rake as the dew is coming off in the mornings. Dry hay is the goal, if it gets rained on, I guess we just play with the cards dealt. We raise grass/alfalfa mix and meadow hay so a fluffy windrow in the meadow would be a huge plus as our v rake almost makes too large of a windrow in the meadows.
Goals:
Can I rake the night before baling, or even a night earlier (when the dew sets in and gets tough)? If they make fluffy windrows, the air should be able to get through and take a little toughness out.
I would be interested in a single rotor. Can I rake one direction, turn around and drive over part of the windrow to effectively move the entire swath of hay? I would much prefer putting 20' of hay together vs 10' to cut down on baling time.
We have a fair amount of corners in our fields, our v rake does not exactly shine when it comes to pulling the hay together around corners. I would assume the rotor rake would solve that problem.
I have read about the downfalls of being too hard on alfalfa but we shoot for 60% grass and 40% alfalfa. After tedding I am still pleased with leaf retention.
My biggest concern is goal 2: being that we ted, I want to make sure when we rake that the entire swath gets moved. I don't want a small strip of wet hay that never dries. Can I accomplish that with a single rotor and still pull together 20'? | |
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Those of you with rotary rakes
