Double Hitch Cuts Raking Time In Half

Double Hitch Cuts Raking Time In Half HITCHES Hitches 21-6-9 "I cut my haying time in half compared with what it took using a single wheel rake," says Douglas White about a double rake hitch he built to pull two 9-ft. side-delivery rakes. The Unity, Sask., farmer built the hitch from a 22-ft. Case winged cultivator. White stripped the cultivator down to its frame, re-moving the shanks, harrows and wings and replacing its hydraulic cylinder with a ratchet jack to permit height adjustment from 12 to 30 in. He then put a hitch on each side to pull both his New Idea and Ford rakes. "I then added a pair of truck support wheels for the back rake hitch," he says. With the rear rake overlapping the path of the front one 6 to 8 in., White is able to rake a 16 to 17 ft. swath pulling the rig be-hind his 1965 Deutz 50 hp tractor at speeds of up to 5 mph. "It needs at least 40 hp to work really well," he says. "You could probably use this outfit for raking ditches by leaving one wing on the cultivator and hooking a rake to it." Out-of-pocket expense was about $300 (Canadian), not including the 1960's Ford rake White purchased for $500. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Douglas White, Box 1134, Unity, Sask., Canada SOK 4LO (ph 306 228-3596).

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