Double Rake Hitch

Double rake hitch HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Miscellaneous 13-6-25 Easy-to-build and cheap. That's how Garland Hendren, Bethany, Mo., de-scribes the double rake hitch he built to gang two side delivery rakes together. "It's about as simple as can be. I made it from the center pole of a heavy-duty wagon gear. The pole telescopes in and out at 1-ft. intervals. All the holes were already bored in the pole and were just perfect for fastening to the frame of my New Idea 400 rake. I made a drop hitch out of angle iron at the end of the pole to hook up to the trailing Deere rake. "I mounted the pole parallel to the basket of the front rake. For road trans-port I tow the rear rake from a hitch at the center of the front rake. In the field, I hook up to the tow hitch so I can rake one double windrow," says Hendren, noting that he can adjust position of the rear rake to adjust windrow size. "I mounted the hitch across the top of the frame because I thought I would get a more direct pull from the drawbar of the tractor. Two of my neighbors who built similar hitches mounted theirs lower down on the frame at the rear of the front rake and they work well, too. "I spent about $35 to build the hitch and it works every bit as well as a commercial model." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Garland R. Hendren, Rt. 3, Box 110, Bethany, Mo. 64424 (ph 816425-3808).

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