Single rotor rake which to buy?

scott363

Well-Known Member
Hi, looking for a good single rotor rake for next season! What is the best on the market? Going for single because of costs of buying a decent twin and also for some smaller fields. Cheers
 
have a Krone here, well built and rakes well. Fold up tine arms are much handier than the take out types too. only big problem with it is the locking mechanism is crap, but could be down to father breaking it as much as anything!
 
I have a fella and the cost of parts for it are crazy so stay away. I think Krone parts are pretty cheap compared to fella parts. One thing i have noticed is clearance off the ground. For straw the longer the tines the better so you are not dragging straw around with the rotar.
 
Kuhn 4321 here since earlier in year, it's an 06 and not a hole lot of wear on it yet apart from the plates that hold on the time arms have a small bit of wear from the linch pins. Width wise it's tight enough to get 3 3m swarths in for baler pick up but no problem for harvester. Good heavy axles on the bogies aswell.

Before we got it we had the use of a krone 460, certainly not a bad rake in fairness, the extra bit of width was handy alright, but I didn't like the curtain as it had a habit of jamming on the slide. Wasn't overly gone on the folding arms either, didn't think there was a whole lot in it time wise as you only need to remove about 5 arms, and if only going field to field i just throw enough arms out through the gate to get it through.
It also leaves the take awfully long both on the road and in storage...
 
Have a Kuhn 4321 here as well.
A good machine well able to handle rough terrain with the bogies even across wet tramlines. it does a good job and great for turning over wet straw.
It has got a nice bit of going and no issues so far.
 
We had a kuhn before this one too, to be fair it was a good rake. Sadly it didn't appreciate hitting a tree, twice.... but then no rake would!!! One major bonus for the Krone over the kuhn is that the longer PTO shaft allows it to be lifted clear of big swaths of straw/hay at the headlands.

When your looking, the more tine arms the better also! Our kuhn had 10, this has 13 (I think!) makes for a faster machine and better sweep in short dry stuff.
 
Hi, looking for a good single rotor rake for next season! What is the best on the market? Going for single because of costs of buying a decent twin and also for some smaller fields. Cheers

for straw or silage have you much work to do for it?
 
Hi, looking for a good single rotor rake for next season! What is the best on the market? Going for single because of costs of buying a decent twin and also for some smaller fields. Cheers
Smaller fields are no more work with a twin rotor than they are with a single, possibly even easier to do imo. Have used both over plenty acres wouldn't go back to the single for anything.

Kuhn 4321 here since earlier in year, it's an 06 and not a hole lot of wear on it yet apart from the plates that hold on the time arms have a small bit of wear from the linch pins. Width wise it's tight enough to get 3 3m swarths in for baler pick up but no problem for harvester. Good heavy axles on the bogies aswell.

Before we got it we had the use of a krone 460, certainly not a bad rake in fairness, the extra bit of width was handy alright, but I didn't like the curtain as it had a habit of jamming on the slide. Wasn't overly gone on the folding arms either, didn't think there was a whole lot in it time wise as you only need to remove about 5 arms, and if only going field to field i just throw enough arms out through the gate to get it through.
It also leaves the take awfully long both on the road and in storage...

Would need a tractor with a pto brake on to get away with only removing some of the arms. Used to use a single rotor Krone on an MF 690 could occasionally get away with leaving arms in but usually it would start to turn just as you were trying to get through the field gate.
 
We had a kuhn before this one too, to be fair it was a good rake. Sadly it didn't appreciate hitting a tree, twice.... but then no rake would!!! One major bonus for the Krone over the kuhn is that the longer PTO shaft allows it to be lifted clear of big swaths of straw/hay at the headlands.

When your looking, the more tine arms the better also! Our kuhn had 10, this has 13 (I think!) makes for a faster machine and better sweep in short dry stuff.

naughty tree jumping out at you:thumbdown:
 
Smaller fields are no more work with a twin rotor than they are with a single, possibly even easier to do imo. Have used both over plenty acres wouldn't go back to the single for anything.



Would need a tractor with a pto brake on to get away with only removing some of the arms. Used to use a single rotor Krone on an MF 690 could occasionally get away with leaving arms in but usually it would start to turn just as you were trying to get through the field gate.

The Kuhn locks when in transport, so no bother only removing some of the arms.
The twin rotor rakes are not near as handy in straw
 
naughty tree jumping out at you:thumbdown:

We had a nasty bale of silage jump out in front of ours, I wasn't driving, only bent a couple of the rotors, brought them down to the local forge and all sorted. I can't even tell which ones it was now, "auld lads" no respect for anything always breaking up everything :lol:
 
We had a kuhn before this one too, to be fair it was a good rake. Sadly it didn't appreciate hitting a tree, twice.... but then no rake would!!! One major bonus for the Krone over the kuhn is that the longer PTO shaft allows it to be lifted clear of big swaths of straw/hay at the headlands.

When your looking, the more tine arms the better also! Our kuhn had 10, this has 13 (I think!) makes for a faster machine and better sweep in short dry stuff.


Can't say Id notice any difference with lifting either, biggest thing is to set the top link in the right holes so that it cranks forward well, means you can lift a bit higher without rattling the knuckles

Smaller fields are no more work with a twin rotor than they are with a single, possibly even easier to do imo. Have used both over plenty acres wouldn't go back to the single for anything.



Would need a tractor with a pto brake on to get away with only removing some of the arms. Used to use a single rotor Krone on an MF 690 could occasionally get away with leaving arms in but usually it would start to turn just as you were trying to get through the field gate.


Realistically you need a good pto brake for any single rotor. They all have some sort of locking mechanism, the krone is just a little flap that folds around either side of an arm, if it hasn't gotten bent up/broke off... The Kuhn(and I think a good few others use the same set up) has a pin that drops down into the main gear when you fold the curtain and rail on other side up.
 
naughty tree jumping out at you:thumbdown:

Not me! The cousin thankfully, then after it was fixed he lent it to a neighbour on my behalf! Who's drug fuelled worker (well I recon he was anyhow) reversed down a field without noticing and hit a hedge!
Either way a big chunk of the track must have cracked, eventually came off, resulting in the machine shaking itself to death!

Anyone who drives the rake now has a strict warning, if you hit anything hard enough to bend an arm or two, keep hitting it! Cos i don't want anything other than an insurance write off on my hands!!
 
Not me! The cousin thankfully, then after it was fixed he lent it to a neighbour on my behalf! Who's drug fuelled worker (well I recon he was anyhow) reversed down a field without noticing and hit a hedge!
Either way a big chunk of the track must have cracked, eventually came off, resulting in the machine shaking itself to death!

Anyone who drives the rake now has a strict warning, if you hit anything hard enough to bend an arm or two, keep hitting it! Cos i don't want anything other than an insurance write off on my hands!!

i put a demo twin rotor krone on a tractor years ago when i was working for a contractor
i raked with it for a few hours no problem until the gaffer had 10 minutes on it
straight up a 14 acre field with 1 yes 1 pole in it and twatted all the arms on 1 side:D:D:D

my fault tho:eek::rolleyes:
 
local contractor had a brand new twin rotor, Hitched her up and went for the first job, father of the firm driving, 50k down a lane, machine had not been checked properly at the factory, or the rams were full of air or something. Either way he hit a rough patch, the safety latch failed and she opened on the narrow lane!! Whilst he was doing 50k! He hadn't noticed till he hit a nice thick bit of the hedge..............
 
The Kuhn locks when in transport, so no bother only removing some of the arms.
The twin rotor rakes are not near as handy in straw
Still rather have the twin in. If straw gets wet a run with the tedder first helps. If you have a single you end up turning rows towards each other, where as twins you are turning all one way
 
I would never let a tedder near straw.
The single rotor rake will gently turn the straw over and onto dry ground without breaking it up.
 
When we have wet 35ft straw swaths our single rotor rake has all on to deal with them, and ends up making the swaths tighter and denser. This then prevents wind blowing through, making matters worse especially if it rains again. We find it best to spread them with a 6m tedder then rake back up when dry with the twin rotor.
 
When we have wet 35ft straw swaths our single rotor rake has all on to deal with them, and ends up making the swaths tighter and denser. This then prevents wind blowing through, making matters worse especially if it rains again. We find it best to spread them with a 6m tedder then rake back up when dry with the twin rotor.

Yeah, I can see how a 35ft row of heavy straw would be way too much for a single rotor rake alright.
I'd only be dealing with small combines here, a 16ft and an 18ft and the single rotor rake does a very good job on them.
Had to do some after a 10ft this year and a twin rotor would have been a gift there right enough, but that was only a once off job thankfully.
 
Yeah, I can see how a 35ft row of heavy straw would be way too much for a single rotor rake alright.
I'd only be dealing with small combines here, a 16ft and an 18ft and the single rotor rake does a very good job on them.
Had to do some after a 10ft this year and a twin rotor would have been a gift there right enough, but that was only a once off job thankfully.

tedders are fine in straw as long as your not running over 300rpm

my tedder fits the combine swaths:D
 
Deal with a 22ft head on the combine, the only way to handle the straw if it gets wet is to spread it. You could turn it for a week with a single rotor rake and the wet lumps will stay in the middle of the swath. If it was any way damp being cut we'd do the same, an hours sunshine makes all the difference to it when it's spread
 
I have a fella and the cost of parts for it are crazy so stay away. I think Krone parts are pretty cheap compared to fella parts. One thing i have noticed is clearance off the ground. For straw the longer the tines the better so you are not dragging straw around with the rotar.

Have a fella here, have to say am very happy with it. Granted I haven't had to buy any parts for it but I know a friend of mine has a fella Tedder and parts for that were cheap compared to similar parts for my krone tedder. The key to any single rotor rake is to realise that you need someone who is more than just a driver to work one properly. Different crops need different speeds to make a nice swath with the single rotor and a bad operator will not get on good with a single rotor compared to the twin rotor which is more forgiving and easier to achieve a good result.
 
Looking for a curtain for a 15 ft single rotor rake, it's a Taarup 9146 they were also sold as kverneland. Is there anybody making the like of these or is it main dealer only?IMG_20200710_090234777_HDR.jpg
 
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