Front Mount Swath Turner Converts To Dual Wheel Rake

Front Mount Swath Turner Converts To Dual Wheel Rake HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Rakes (44) 18-6-10 "It lets me rake 18 ft. of swathed hay at a time or combine two 9-ft. windrows into one," says Allan Kowalik, Cherhill, Alberta, who converted a front mount, 2-wheeled Tenuti swath turner into a 9-ft. wheel rake that he pulls behind his 9-ft. New Holland 256 side delivery rake. Kowalik used 2 1/2-in. dia. steel pipe to build an undercarriage and axle for the wheeled swath turner, welding Ford car spindles onto the axle and mounting 15-in. wheels on them. The Tenuti's square tubing frame slides into a 2 1/2-ft. high upright that he welded onto the axle. He mounted an adjustable drawbar hitch on back of the New Holland rake. By pulling the drawbar pin and separating the wheels from the undercarriage he can mount the swath turner back on front of the tractor. "It works beautifully and saves a lot of trips over the field," says Kowalik, who uses his David-Brown Case 990 to pull the two rakes. "It picks up the row left by the New Holland rake and also the next row over. I only needed another 2 1/2 ft. at the end of the New Holland rake in order to move two windrows instead of one. I couldn't see pulling a 9 1/2-ft. rake up and down the field just to move 6 ft. of hay. "I bought the Tenuti for $400 at an auction and spent another $400 for spindles, tires, and wheel rims. I painted it red and yellow to look like the New Holland rake. It looks so professional that some farmers have asked me where I bought it. "It has a fairly long hitch so it makes perfect corners without missing any hay." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Allan Kowalik, P.O. Box 122, Cherhill, Alberta, Canada TOE OJO (ph 403 785-2112).

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