Demoed a Vee rake today . pictures

Tried this rake out today, it has five wheels on each side. I had hoped I could put three rows into one with one pass, but no such luck. I cut with a 12 foot swather. So first question , how many wheels would the rake need on a side to give me three into one , in one pass? 6, maybe 7 ??? Is anyone here familiar with this brand of rake, if so tell the good or bad. Any other Vee rakes out there I should look at? This rake worked real slick, and I could go as fast as I felt comfortable. Liked the way the wheels are spring loaded too. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas . Bruce

Can you get power adjusted deflectors for the back of your mower so that you can place three swaths closer together?

If you raked three rows the middle row wouldn't get turned would it ?

How well would the baler/chopper pick the unraked stuff up ?

Not an option, I cut with a John Deere self propelled swather.

All this hay is "wet wrapped"so I don't need the center row moved. I just need the rake to gather lighter 2nd and 3rd cutting so I don't have to make as many passes with the baler.

How far is it from the out side of the three windrows??? Your mowing 36 foot, to rake a full 36 foot in green hay you would need a 16 wheel rake. Your swather will narrow the windrow up some. So you should be good with a 14 wheel rake.

We currently are running Sitrex M16 rakes with the optional 60 inch wheels. The taller wheels have heavier teeth and will rake bigger windrows better. This same rake is sold buy New Holland and M&W. The Sitex brand is a good middle of the road rake. They have good heavy frames. They will hold up much better than the H&S vee rakes.

Your ground looks fairly flat so you made be able to get by with a charted type of wheel rake. They are cheaper than the full winged rakes.
Kuhn has some good newer designed wheel rakes that are charted and work well on flat ground.

It looks EXACTLY like my Hesston rake. I have 16 wheels and have no problem getting three together. It is even big enough to offset it a bit so that center windrow gets fluffed. I wouldn't ever want to go back to any other type of rake.

Two things - get several of those springs and keep them on hand. Granted, mine is about 15 years old now, but I break about two springs a season. Also, those front dolly wheels are easy to pop off the bead if you run the edge of a terrace or something. I replaced mine with airplane tires and if has been great since. If that has the same deal on the top of the front dolly wheels you should tighten those straps down. If you don't, those wheels wobble like a bad grocery cart going down the road.

You would want at least a 16 wheel to do that! I find they work better if it is not spread open all the way.

(quoted from post at 20:35:44 09/16/15) If you raked three rows the middle row wouldn't get turned would it ?

How well would the baler/chopper pick the unraked stuff up ?

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I rake three 9' cuts with my H&S 14 wheel rake with no center kicker wheels. I rake opposite direction(CCW) than my cutter cuts and leave very small amount to no unbaled hay in the field. I agree I think it would take a 16 wheel rake to cover three 12' swathes. Raking width of 16 wheel rake is 32'

I've never seen that brand. I have an H&S 16 wheel I bought new a few years ago, never an issue, never heard of any issues at all with the newer ones either, they have heavier teeth now too. Many older ones on lots do have a weld or two, but not serious, most implement dealers I can think of within at least 120 mile radius carry them. Majority here buy H&S, followed by Rowse. 20 wheel is becoming common, I'll get one when I get the new baler, got some hay now that rakes almost too tall for the tractor to go over (drags, full width of tires with spacing that I use year 'round) so I don't know what people do with the bigger rakes in those areas, could adjust the wheels I guess during hay season.

Didn't see the type of bearings in the wheels in your picture. When I was looking years ago, some had like tapered wheel bearings in them, would need packed and adjusted after long use. Probably not an issue, but I prefer sealed bearings, don't have to mess with them. Most used rakes I looked at back in the day needed at least tightened down, some were left go and very bad (I think M&W used them, but not many around). Maybe the other kind is better for some reason, I just see it as more occasional maintenance. Used rake, look if it's built heavy enough, any repairs, if pivot areas look greased or worn, check if you can find teeth around the area, if price is right, wouldn't worry about it, especially if going over "easy" flat ground. 16 is a nice size, for what you describe I wouldn't want smaller, nice to have a little extra.

You know you can pull a rake behind your swather. If you mount two ,one rakes each way you have a choice which direction you want to throw it. If there mounted like a swath roller HYDROLIC you can lift them off the ground at will. I plan on doing that behind my haybine next year as it is only 9 feet and I never rake my swaths to dry. NO NEED here

I think if you looked hard a most wheel rakes, regardless of brand or color, you'll find they were built in Italy.

If you could figure out what other brands that Faza makes them for you could get a better idea on how good they are and get more opinions and see where else you could look for units and or parts.

I have a 10 wheel v rake, works opposite to the type shown. The factor limiting the size of the windrow is the width of the baler pickup. Mine makes 5 x 5 bales.
I never pay any attention to the direction the hay was cut. Not much point in doing so with my small, odd shaped fields. If I have a rectangular field I like to rake the windrows next to each other which leaves odd shaped piles of hay at the ends as i make sharp turns. At the end of the field I make 2 rows all around the field and bale that first. In doing it this way, I wind up going across the mower swaths anyway so mowing direction isn't important.

KEH