[AT] Question on a hay Rake

[Larry Goss]

Umm.  I doubt that, Rupert.  Horse-drawn hay rakes never had front wheels that small -- too much rolling friction, too likely to slip in the field, too much mechanical disadvantage to power the reel, and the existing structure is too light to take the torque to swing the rake around behind a team.  If we look closely, we may find a PTO drive to power the reel.

[Reminiscence mode]  George Gilleff was a neighbor who still had a team of Belgians next door when I was growing up.  He borrowed the John Deere side delivery rake from us on a regular basis because Dad left the rake set up for horses, rather than to shorten the tongue for tractor work.  George was raking "first cutting" alfalfa with his horses in his bottom lands and fell asleep in the driver's seat.  The left front wheel fell off, but George didn't really rouse himself until the horses stopped.  By that time, he had plowed a furrow about 100 feet long as the horses had dragged the whole rake across the field.  They quit because that was more work than they were used to, or really wanted to do.  We laughed about that incident for years.  We never were sure how much of George's "sleepiness" was natural and how much was alcohol-induced -- George was also the local brew master for the Macedonian community and "kept a buzz on" most of the time.  Those were the days.  :-)

Larry


----- Original Message -----
From: Rupert <rwenig2 at xplornet.com>
Date: Sunday, April 4, 2010 23:23
Subject: Re: [AT] Question on a hay Rake
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>

> 	My opinion on why it has a drivers seat is the rake was 
> originally 
> built for pulling with horses. The pole and double tree have 
> been 
> replaced with a hitch to pull it with a tractor.
> 	I have no idea on the make or model.
> Rupert
> 
> On 4/4/2010 6:11 PM, Larry Goss wrote:
> > I'm not an authority on that, Bill, but I recognize it from 
> the 50's.
> > There are things about that rake that I have never fully understood.
> > It's designed for being towed by a tractor, so why does it 
> have a
> > driver's seat on it?  I remember seeing it advertised in 
> Successful> Farming.  It was red with yellow lettering 
> painted on the steel, and
> > it was a brand like Massey-Ferguson.  That's what I 
> remember, but it
> > could be all wrong.
> >
> > Larry
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill
> > Thompson<billt at agiftofmaine.com> Date: Sunday, April 4, 
> 2010 18:33
> > Subject: [AT] Question on a hay Rake To: Antique tractor email
> > discussion group<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> >
> >>
> >> I found an old hay rake out in a field.  Nobody seems to know
> >> anything about it.  I looked it all over and I can't see any
> >> markings on it.  It would need a little work and some 
> "powder and
> >> paint" but all in all I think it might be a nice little 
> project for
> >> me.  Anybody got an idea on what make it is and what its 
> worth?>> The link is below.
> >>
> >>
> >> http://www.agiftofmaine.com/bills_old_hay_rake.htm
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks, Bill Thompson Sherman Mills, Maine
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________ AT mailing list
> >> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> >>
> > _______________________________________________ AT mailing list
> > http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG -
> > www.avg.com Version: 9.0.800 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2790 - 
> Release> Date: 04/04/10 07:31:00
> >
> 
> -- 
> 
> yvt
> 
> Rupert Wenig
> Camrose, Alberta, Canada.	
> 
> email: rwenig2 at xplornet.com
> 	
> http://users.xplornet.com/~rwenig/Home/
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>