What Rake

Reggie.

Giving serious thought to upgrading to a twin rotor rake next year. What rakes are ye guys running or recommend.

2nd hand ones are mad prices imo so with a little more €€ I could go new. I'm exploring the new market atm unless a real fresh one appears that is.

visatorro

Reggie. wrote: »

Giving serious thought to upgrading to a twin rotor rake next year. What rakes are ye guys running or recommend.

2nd hand ones are mad prices imo so with a little more €€ I could go new. I'm exploring the new market atm unless a real fresh one appears that is.

Contractor reckons you won't get a clean second hand one. Presume the one you have is too slow now?

Reggie.

visatorro wrote: »

Contractor reckons you won't get a clean second hand one. Presume the one you have is too slow now?

Yeah pretty much. Single rotor here is due to be replaced and rather than get a new one in leaning to a twin rotor due to bring faster plus it leaves a better row

larthehar

Reggie. wrote: »

Yeah pretty much. Single rotor here is due to be replaced and rather than get a new one in leaning to a twin rotor due to bring faster plus it leaves a better row

What are you raking in? The lely rotende 510 would grab two 10ft cuts and turn in on dry ground into one row... much cheaper than the big rakes.. tbh if you are following with a baler 20ft swarth is enough.. 30fts are too heavy on a baler.. grand for a harvester alrigh!

Reggie.

larthehar wrote: »

What are you raking in? The lely rotende 510 would grab two 10ft cuts and turn in on dry ground into one row... much cheaper than the big rakes.. tbh if you are following with a baler 20ft swarth is enough.. 30fts are too heavy on a baler.. grand for a harvester alrigh!

Yeah my first thought was one of them. looked at a few of them but look very light around the reel where the tines are attached. Every one of them break the mounting there. Plus lads tell me you have to constantly adjust the lift arms with them. Every secondhand one was traded in for a twin rake.

Mainly raking for balers so looking at an adjustable one from about 6.8 to 7.8 so that I can work with balers plus I have the option for a harvester if needed

davidk1394

Have a Kuhn rake here. Rakes up to 22ft ideal for the baler. If I was going again I'd buy a Lely rake. The new ones are well built and easy to adjust in an out

Reggie.

davidk1394 wrote: »

Have a Kuhn rake here. Rakes up to 22ft ideal for the baler. If I was going again I'd buy a Lely rake. The new ones are well built and easy to adjust in an out

Currently looking at all major makes. claas, Massey, lely, kneverland and krone. I like the look of the krone but money wise atm the kneverland is out in front but haven't really bargained yet

tanko

Most contractors buying a new rake around here are buying a kverneland.

Reggie.

tanko wrote: »

Most contractors buying a new rake around here are buying a kverneland.

Seems to be the same here. Like to look of the krone but it's a good 3k more and the claas are very expensive

Mooooo

Contractor has 2 one is a 30ft lely dunno what the other is. Follows 2 fusions

rs8

any harm to ask you what prices your getting? i priced a 20ft krone , it was 16.5k! friend of mine bought a class linear 2700 (catches 30 ft swarts) for 17.2k !! for two rotors and a frame there a very expensive machine! look at a few second hand and id say its near inpossible to get a very clean one!! i know when i do go to buy one im getting halos on the rotors!!

Reggie.

rs8 wrote: »

any harm to ask you what prices your getting? i priced a 20ft krone , it was 16.5k! friend of mine bought a class linear 2700 (catches 30 ft swarts) for 17.2k !! for two rotors and a frame there a very expensive machine! look at a few second hand and id say its near inpossible to get a very clean one!! i know when i do go to buy one im getting halos on the rotors!!

Was priced so far. Krone or Massey fixed 20ft were 18k all in. Class 20ft fixed was 15.5k plus vat and knverneland was 17k all in for an adjustable to 25ft.

Reggie.

rs8 wrote: »

any harm to ask you what prices your getting? i priced a 20ft krone , it was 16.5k! friend of mine bought a class linear 2700 (catches 30 ft swarts) for 17.2k !! for two rotors and a frame there a very expensive machine! look at a few second hand and id say its near inpossible to get a very clean one!! i know when i do go to buy one im getting halos on the rotors!!

Where do you get the halos?

White Clover

larthehar wrote: »

What are you raking in? The lely rotende 510 would grab two 10ft cuts and turn in on dry ground into one row... much cheaper than the big rakes.. tbh if you are following with a baler 20ft swarth is enough.. 30fts are too heavy on a baler.. grand for a harvester alrigh!

I would be of the opinion that a 30ft or even bigger rake would be more suitable for rowing in front of a baler. Most lads making bales now are going for much lighter cuts therefore the bigger rake makes a more suitable row for a baler whereas when it's being pitted the crop is usually heavier where a smaller rake may be more suitable depending on the harvester. I have seen a claas 860 on its knees trying to get heavy 20ft rows back through it.

cute geoge

If you are raking after a ten foot mower,the most suitable rake would be a small rake so to catch the two rows and pull them on to the dry ground in the centre. 20 foot is more then enough for any baler,i can not understand wide rakes unless you are raking toppings.I have raked with 20 foot raking heavy 1st cut(not conditioned) with tractor on its kness crawling .I even think the smallest class is it 2600 is plenty wide for any baler

MF290

Reggie. wrote: »

Was priced so far. Krone or Massey fixed 20ft were 18k all in. Class 20ft fixed was 15.5k plus vat and knverneland was 17k all in for an adjustable to 25ft.

Is the Massey just a rebadged fella?

Reggie.

MF290 wrote: »

Is the Massey just a rebadged fella?

That's right

Reggie.

cute geoge wrote: »

If you are raking after a ten foot mower,the most suitable rake would be a small rake so to catch the two rows and pull them on to the dry ground in the centre. 20 foot is more then enough for any baler,i can not understand wide rakes unless you are raking toppings.I have raked with 20 foot raking heavy 1st cut(not conditioned) with tractor on its kness crawling .I even think the smallest class is it 2600 is plenty wide for any baler

This is true but I want the option of working in front of a harvester if the needs arise

visatorro

200hp driving fifty foot rake around here. He reckons it's just about enough to drive it!!

Panch18

When I purchased a new mower this year I got 0% finance from Kverneland and they were doing the same on rakes, although my budget didn't stretch as far as getting a rake as well at the time
don't know if they were still doing the 0% finance deal, it was a 1 + 2 annual

Reggie.

Panch18 wrote: »

When I purchased a new mower this year I got 0% finance from Kverneland and they were doing the same on rakes, although my budget didn't stretch as far as getting a rake as well at the time
don't know if they were still doing the 0% finance deal, it was a 1 + 2 annual

Yeah lots of finance deals out there atm. Krone atm have something like 4 years 0% finance

Panch18

Reggie. wrote: »

Panch18 wrote: »

When I purchased a new mower this year I got 0% finance from Kverneland and they were doing the same on rakes, although my budget didn't stretch as far as getting a rake as well at the time
don't know if they were still doing the 0% finance deal, it was a 1 + 2 annual

Yeah lots of finance deals out there atm. Krone atm have something like 4 years 0% finance

If I can get the cash together next year i'll try to get a rake myself, I'll probably go with a Kneverland as the dealer is close by
The deals can have a pretty big impact on the cost of a machine overall - what model Kneverland is that price?

Limestone Cowboy

Contractor I worked for had a claas 2600 and there was welds cracking all over it in its first season. Traded it for a small pottinger and there's a few cracks coming on that too in its second season. Travelling a lot of rough road in fairness but neither would have been dogged at the same time. Definitely wouldn't go near a claas after seeing it anyway.

Reggie.

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Contractor I worked for had a claas 2600 and there was welds cracking all over it in its first season. Traded it for a small pottinger and there's a few cracks coming on that too in its second season. Travelling a lot of rough road in fairness but neither would have been dogged at the same time. Definitely wouldn't go near a claas after seeing it anyway.

Hearing too many stories like that unfortunately

Keepgrowing

Demo'd a Massey/Fella last summer, not fond of them very light engineering as far as I could see but a tidy machine. Demo'd a Krone, very impressed with it. Really well built and robust. Both 20' machines. Didn't purchase as a local lad bought a 20' Krone and does all our taking for €8/acre.

Reggie.

Panch18 wrote: »

If I can get the cash together next year i'll try to get a rake myself, I'll probably go with a Kneverland as the dealer is close by
The deals can have a pretty big impact on the cost of a machine overall - what model Kneverland is that price?

I think it was the taarup 9472

Reggie.

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Demo'd a Massey/Fella last summer, not fond of them very light engineering as far as I could see but a tidy machine. Demo'd a Krone, very impressed with it. Really well built and robust. Both 20' machines. Didn't purchase as a local lad bought a 20' Krone and does all our taking for €8/acre.

Yeah the krone always look well built

larthehar

Reggie. wrote: »

Yeah the krone always look well built

How many acres you expecting to do? @17k over 7yrs is €2478/yr you would have to do 300ac/yr to pay for the machine alone @8/ac.. rake maintenance, tractor running and maintenance, labour all to be added... say average 10ac/hr for a 20', tractor costing 35/hr that's another 1050.. you are up to 450ac/yr before you start to make a few pound...

Reggie.

larthehar wrote: »

How many acres you expecting to do? @17k over 7yrs is €2478/yr you would have to do 300ac/yr to pay for the machine alone @8/ac.. rake maintenance, tractor running and maintenance, labour all to be added... say average 10ac/hr for a 20', tractor costing 35/hr that's another 1050.. you are up to 450ac/yr before you start to make a few pound...

Im just upgrading mate. A single rotor limits your work. I won't be spending 17k unless its a biggish rake. I've a couple of machines to trade in and get rid of so that will bring the price well down. Also it will be well minded and from what i can see it should still be worth over 50% its value in 10 years. Not too much maintaine on the rakes once they are looked after well and greased.

Muckit

larthehar wrote: »

How many acres you expecting to do? @17k over 7yrs is €2478/yr you would have to do 300ac/yr to pay for the machine alone @8/ac.. rake maintenance, tractor running and maintenance, labour all to be added... say average 10ac/hr for a 20', tractor costing 35/hr that's another 1050.. you are up to 450ac/yr before you start to make a few pound...

Reggie has a pot of Gold. So all your fancy figures mean diddly squat! That twin rotor rake will be bought no matter what!!

Reggie.

Muckit wrote: »

Reggie has a pot of Gold. So all your fancy figures mean diddly squat! That twin rotor rake will be bought no matter what!!

Ah muckit........

lakill Farm

Muckit wrote: »

Reggie has a pot of Gold. So all your fancy figures mean diddly squat! That twin rotor rake will be bought no matter what!!

This is the most honest and truthful post on boards EVER

C0N0R

Contractor I do a bit of work for has a Claas 2800 I think, has completed 2 seasons so in excess of 5000 acres, it doesn't get dogged but there would be a few different drivers, myself included, does work on some rough ground at times and would spend a good bit of time on the road too and I can't recall it giving any bother, to be fair they seem to be the rake of choice round here, a lot of contractors using them and if we were upgrading that's what's we would be going for again. Adjustable width so will take in over three rows at times and can still make a narrow row for a baler but wouldn't be ideal for making 20fts.

Limestone Cowboy

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Contractor I worked for had a claas 2600 and there was welds cracking all over it in its first season. Traded it for a small pottinger and there's a few cracks coming on that too in its second season. Travelling a lot of rough road in fairness but neither would have been dogged at the same time. Definitely wouldn't go near a claas after seeing it anyway.

Just to add to this reggie, not sure what the roads are like around your area but they are mostly narrow and twisty around here. The class 2600 was 9'5" wide at the outside of the wheels and an absolute pig on the road when meeting buses and the like. Pottinger is the same width as the tractor. Might be something to factor in to whatever you purchase. They are ignorant enough on the road with the steering axle.

Reggie.

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Just to add to this reggie, not sure what the roads are like around your area but they are mostly narrow and twisty around here. The class 2600 was 9'5" wide at the outside of the wheels and an absolute pig on the road when meeting buses and the like. Pottinger is the same width as the tractor. Might be something to factor in to whatever you purchase. They are ignorant enough on the road with the steering axle.

Yeah I heard that about the steering alright. Malone have one in development atm that locks the steering hydraulically while on the road. Won't be available till Jan 18 tho

Muckit

Jan 18?? F**k that for a game of soldiers That's WAY too long a wait!!

Reggie.

Muckit wrote: »

Jan 18?? F**k that for a game of soldiers That's WAY too long a wait!!

Ha. they have 3 prototypes out atm but will be working them this year so won't be going into production till end of year. They reckon anyways

Reggie.

Just going back to this again. Hoping people might have more opinions after the few shows that were just had. Currently stuck between the kverneland 9472C approx 17k incl...waiting for final price tomorrow. 6.5m to 7.2m
Lely 715CD exact same as above.
SIP 650T €16,600 5.8m to 6.6m
CLAAS 2600 €16k +vat.... most expensive so far
6m fixed rake

Kverneland have upgraded the rake from last year and now come eletronic as standard but not sure if this is a good thing tho.

SIP are the new kids on the block but they use the old kuhn/kverneland system of holding on the arms halfway up the shaft with a pin which I think most makes have gone away from.

LELY and CLAAS haven't changed from what I can see.

Heard lely has a problem of lift height on the rotors and not being able to clear rows of heavy grass. Anyone comment on this?

lab man

Was at the show in punchestown the other day a new krone is 15k at 1660 half year for 5 years does 2 x10 or 3x8 rows I think it's great value and away stronger than any other make there

Reggie.

lab man wrote: »

Was at the show in punchestown the other day a new krone is 15k at 1660 half year for 5 years does 2 x10 or 3x8 rows I think it's great value and away stronger than any other make there

Was that the new TC 640 rake. Wasn't sure about that one as there is only 3 tines per arm and no steering on it.

9935452

White Clover wrote: »

I would be of the opinion that a 30ft or even bigger rake would be more suitable for rowing in front of a baler. Most lads making bales now are going for much lighter cuts therefore the bigger rake makes a more suitable row for a baler whereas when it's being pitted the crop is usually heavier where a smaller rake may be more suitable depending on the harvester. I have seen a claas 860 on its knees trying to get heavy 20ft rows back through it.

We were baline about 20 acres of a heavy first cut for a chap one day off 10 ft swarts.
Rain due that evening and we had a breakdown.
Customer rings another baler man to come as soon as he could before the rain.

We got going before the other lad arrived. He brought a rake and 2 balers welger 235 and a mchale.
The chap on the rake arrived first and raked 5 or 6 acres in 30 ft swarts.
The welger n mchale were on their knees picking the 30s . Row was too big and wide.
End result was they stopped for about 45minutes and had a massive argument and they sent the man on the rake home.
In the mean time we finished the field picking 10s with a jd578.

davidk1394

20fts is more than enough for a baler. I was looking at the takes up there. In terms of build quality I'd be going for the lely. Plenty of steel in them. Neighbour runs 2 of them and never had any trouble. I'd stay away from electrics as they'd be no benefit. Claas make a good row but tend to be weak in terms of build quality and tend to break at the welds if they're rough handled

White Clover

9935452 wrote: »

We were baline about 20 acres of a heavy first cut for a chap one day off 10 ft swarts.
Rain due that evening and we had a breakdown.
Customer rings another baler man to come as soon as he could before the rain.

We got going before the other lad arrived. He brought a rake and 2 balers welger 235 and a mchale.
The chap on the rake arrived first and raked 5 or 6 acres in 30 ft swarts.
The welger n mchale were on their knees picking the 30s . Row was too big and wide.
End result was they stopped for about 45minutes and had a massive argument and they sent the man on the rake home.
In the mean time we finished the field picking 10s with a jd578.

I completely agree with what you're saying. My point is most farmers now are not allowing crops to bulk up for bales cause the quality goes through the floor then. A narrow rake doesn't leave an ideal row for baling in crops under 5 bales /acre therefore a wider rake is more suitable in these conditions as you get a better row.

Mooooo

Depends on your customers reggie. Will they mainly be light crops of excess grass/ silage grown for 6 to 8 weeks or will they be lads who'll leave silage bulk up for 10 + weeks?

Reggie.

Mooooo wrote: »

Depends on your customers reggie. Will they mainly be light crops of excess grass/ silage grown for 6 to 8 weeks or will they be lads who'll leave silage bulk up for 10 + weeks?

Kinda all over the place really. Dairy men with light crops and then the same day I'd have Auld Lads with monster cuts

Reggie.

davidk1394 wrote: »

20fts is more than enough for a baler. I was looking at the takes up there. In terms of build quality I'd be going for the lely. Plenty of steel in them. Neighbour runs 2 of them and never had any trouble. I'd stay away from electrics as they'd be no benefit. Claas make a good row but tend to be weak in terms of build quality and tend to break at the welds if they're rough handled

Yeah. Lely man got back to me today and he's looking good atm. Just waiting on the kverneland man now.
Does your neighbour run into any bother with the rotors and the rows?

lab man

Yes it was the tc 640 what do u mean by 3 tines

Steering is optional the one at the show was steering type

Reggie.

lab man wrote: »

Yes it was the tc 640 what do u mean by 3 tines

Steering is optional the one at the show was steering type

Only 3 tines per arm rather than 4

C0N0R

Excuse my ignorance, I've only used a steering rake, but why would you buy one without steering??

lab man

Reggie. wrote:

Only 3 tines per arm rather than 4

Will that make a narrower row then do u think Reggie or would it make a difference . The guy said the 640 have the same frame as a 30 ft krone rake

Reggie.

lab man wrote: »

Will that make a narrower row then do u think Reggie or would it make a difference . The guy said the 640 have the same frame as a 30 ft krone rake

No idea but I noticed on some YouTube clips that some operators removed the outside tines on thier rakes. No matter what the make is