Which straw rake?

[Brisel]

Which straw rakes should I look at? I have 3100 acres to crop via strip till. I already have a 8.2m Carrier for moving the top soil. I'm after something that will spread lumps of straw so the drill doesn't block up. Any view on makes?

I have 370 hp available if necessary but would rather have it done by 190 - 220 hp. How much pulling does a 12m one take? Weaving & Sumo quote 250 hp+ for theirs. Claydon quote 180 hp+ for their 15m one. I'd be looking to do each field at least once & am thinking that a 7.5m or 8m will have to do. I have some very steep hills to pull it up.

For those using rakes & strip till, how long do you leave the stubble? I tried a long stubble in wheat stubble ahead of spring barley & had to plough it because I couldn't get it through my min till cultivator. Even then it didn't want to flow through the mouldboards.

 

[BSH]

Why not just use the carrier v shallow ?

 

[DrWazzock]

Bit of an aside, but we use a Spaldings tined weeder with the tines in backwards. Five or six rows of tines. It will gather a heap and let it out gradually. Hundred hp pulls 6m as fast as you like.

I find the cranked tines in the weeder, (imagine trailing your toe along the ground with your ankle bent at 45 degrees) to be much more effective at progressive release of heaps than straight tines.

It does an excellent job in chopped OSR or cereal straw as long as it isn't damp.

Biggest problem I find is getting time to do it.

 

[Feldspar]

Which straw rakes should I look at? I have 3100 acres to crop via strip till. I already have a 8.2m Carrier for moving the top soil. I'm after something that will spread lumps of straw so the drill doesn't block up. Any view on makes?

I have 370 hp available if necessary but would rather have it done by 190 - 220 hp. How much pulling does a 12m one take? Weaving & Sumo quote 250 hp+ for theirs. Claydon quote 180 hp+ for their 15m one. I'd be looking to do each field at least once & am thinking that a 7.5m or 8m will have to do. I have some very steep hills to pull it up.

For those using rakes & strip till, how long do you leave the stubble? I tried a long stubble in wheat stubble ahead of spring barley & had to plough it because I couldn't get it through my min till cultivator. Even then it didn't want to flow through the mouldboards.

We have an 8m Weaving rake and it can be pulled with 160hp but 200hp is needed if you angle the tines near vertical and try and move some soil with it. There is a limit to how far a rake will move straw. It will clear piles where the combine has stopped. It won't, however, help if your combine is spreading to 20 feet rather than 30ft - it will not bridge the gap.

In some conditions where there is plenty of tilth you can move the top inch or two. In harder conditons (particularly behind OSR I find) the rake will not penetrate the surface and just skates on top. In those instances a Carrier would be better I guess. I have not seen a difference in weed germination between raked and unraked areas.

I think there is a place to use a rake after a strip till drill, particularly in lighter soils, to finish off if conditions aren't ideal.

The Weaving seems to break tines quite often (like one per 50 acres). That's when you are trying to use it aggressively and it is made worse if the field is uneven.

I would certainly err on the side of longer straw. Less chance of N lock-up, slugs, acids due to straw breakdown. The rake can block if you leave it really long though and the rake uproots it.

 

[Rob Holmes]

I agree with the Weaving and tine, i think we broke 13 in the 2 years we had one, had a Claydon for 3 years and not broken one yet,
We pull it with 160 hp, and it knows it has it on, but i have used 140 hp to good effect... and you dont need to go the 20 kph quoted, i find 12 does an equally adequate job

 

[Louis Mc]

Claydon raked all fields this year. Seemed to have done a job on slugs as we used no slug pellets this year but neighbouring farms did.
Jury still out on weed germination. Volunteer barley didn't germinate overly well, may be more successful with small seeds like brome. There is huge variation between fields in terms of the tilth created.
It does do a good job preparing fields for a strip till without disturbing much soil so fields dry quickly after rain.
Important to get in asap after combine as if stubble dies too much it can pull up and create lumps (a bloody mess) we found wheat stubble with bad take all a disaster for this.
150 hp was plenty for a 7.5m at full time aggression as fast as you could sit in

 

[parker]

I always shallow disc and rake to get wheat germination before winter barley just to move a bit more soil but still minimal, I find the claydon rake fantastic in every other situation before and after drilling

 

[tw15]

Recon you want to be tight up behind the combine before too much moisture is lost . Anyhow does anyone know the price of straw harrow tines .

 

[Brisel]

Why not just use the carrier v shallow ?

I need something to try & move the worst lumps of straw around a bit. Something that gets lots of acres done more quickly too. I can send the student out first thing in the morning before combining starts & they would be able to get a fair chunk of the previous days' cutting raked out.

The Carrier just rides over the lumps & takes a surprising amount of power to do a half decent job at an inch deep. Still a very good tool though.

 

[tw15]

Well if doing it each morning a 7 . 5 mtr one should fit the bill he would have approx 100 - 130 acres to do each morning.

 

[T C]

Watch the humidity when using a rake. Not had much experience but what I have suggests the straw needs to be dry otherwise it will roll lumps. I think the advice is to use it when you have combining conditions.

 

[Robert]

Be wary of expecting to get it done pre combining each morning, we really find that for cereal straw it needs to be as dry as combining conditions. What about Vaderstad's own rake that fits to front of the carrier, only 2 or 3 rows but should make a very flexible tool occasionally lightly using discs as necessary?

 

[parker]

I never use when the straw is damp as I find it clumps together and leaves big lumps everywhere, but if you just want to move straw you can get away with it by just lifting it slightly of the ground and reduce forward speed to give it time to shake the damp straw a part and spread

 

[nick channer]

DO NOT BUY A WEAVING!!!!!!
15 m Claydon
Turney group have one in stock they'd do good deal on
Wish I'd bought it now but bought the 7m one
Was worried I wouldn't pull it if using it on top drilling .
But that was last season when using a paddle board and one row green tines!
And on our Stoney land couldn't run the boards how they should be run to do any good as flints kept blocking !
Fitted another row green tines and haven't raked any drilling since .

 

[Rob Holmes]

I need something to try & move the worst lumps of straw around a bit. Something that gets lots of acres done more quickly too. I can send the student out first thing in the morning before combining starts & they would be able to get a fair chunk of the previous days' cutting raked out.

The Carrier just rides over the lumps & takes a surprising amount of power to do a half decent job at an inch deep. Still a very good tool though.

Watch the humidity when using a rake. Not had much experience but what I have suggests the straw needs to be dry otherwise it will roll lumps. I think the advice is to use it when you have combining conditions.

I never use when the straw is damp as I find it clumps together and leaves big lumps everywhere, but if you just want to move straw you can get away with it by just lifting it slightly of the ground and reduce forward speed to give it time to shake the damp straw a part and spread

The straw/stubble needs to be bone dry to work effectively, a heavy dew could be too much[/QUOTE]

 

[Niels]

Not only surface moisture but be aware of green straw. Struggled terribly last season with barley straw that was green as grass. Simply won't spread. As @Feldspar mentions it won't be a magic machine and spread straw from 20 to 30ft but surprising what it can do. 7.5m Claydon at the most aggressive setting on our flat land makes a T7.200 or CVX 195 work flat out at 20 kph! Won't agree with what @Rob Holmes says. Big difference between 12 and 20 km/h. Usually goes as fast as possible without breaking suspension.

 

[Rob Holmes]

Not only surface moisture but be aware of green straw. Struggled terribly last season with barley straw that was green as grass. Simply won't spread. As @Feldspar mentions it won't be a magic machine and spread straw from 20 to 30ft but surprising what it can do. 7.5m Claydon at the most aggressive setting on our flat land makes a T7.200 or CVX 195 work flat out at 20 kph! Won't agree with what @Rob Holmes says. Big difference between 12 and 20 km/h. Usually goes as fast as possible without breaking suspension.

I'll agree to disagree, with only 160 hp on tap and some fields only being 1 ha we can't get up to 20 kph, but still makes a reasonable job

 

[Douglasmn]

130hp here with 7.5 metre Claydon rake. Is it really that big a deal if you're down to 12-14kph when you're going up hill? Maybe for some people, but I like having a smaller, lighter(and cheaper) tractor

 

[average farmer]

Bouncing around all day at 20kph sounds like a horrible job to me. I usually travel at a speed that suits me and the tractor.

not had any problems with a weaving makes a good job, but think I'd keep the carrier and try without a rake for a year or two. If you buy one get it as big as you can but cheap, can't see these things being worth much in a few years time

 

[Badshot]

You can get straw harrows for the front of a carrier
I have no idea what they are like or if they are effective.