Tractor Rake

a machine for raking mown grass and hay into piles. According to their work principle, tractor rakes are divided into transverse and lateral types: according to the type of their working parts, they are classed as rakes with spring teeth or finger-wheel rakes.

Transverse tractor rakes make the hay into piles placed perpendicular to the unit’s direction. The construction of transverse tractor rakes differs in the basic widths they can encompass. In the USSR the most widely used broad-swath rakes are the GP-14 models, with a work span of 14 m.

Tractor rakes consist of three hinge-jointed rake sections with decurved spring teeth and a mechanism for lifting the teeth, automatic parts, and support wheels. When the unit moves, the teeth rake the hay together. After the box formed by the teeth is filled, the tractor operator turns on the mechanism that lifts the teeth: the cleaning rods then push the bundles of hay to the ground. Then the teeth automatically return to their original position. In small parcels of land the hay is raked together by the middle section only, which is 6 m wide. Transverse tractor rakes can gather grass in the swaths, rake the hay into piles, and turn the piles. The rakes consist of two drum sections supported on independent wheels and oriented at angles of 45° to the direction of the machine’s motion. The drums with spring teeth rotate from the drive wheels. When the machine moves, the drums move the hay forward and to the side; as a result, a loose, doubled-over bale is formed. For raking and turning hay two sections are used: for turning the bale, only one section.

Finger-wheel tractor rakes are designed for the same operations as lateral tractor rakes. Their working parts are rotating wheels with fingers placed at an angle of 45° to the direction of a movement. The rakes can be placed in various positions relative to the tractor.