Got the Hay Rake Home and only a little blood was spilled

Took me a little over an hour to tow the hay rake back to the Small-Hold this morning. I timed it just about perfect for low traffic although I still managed to stress out a few semi and work trucks along the way. There were a couple of bridges that proved interesting as well since they had no shoulders on them.

I had the fly wheel for the ground drive disengaged and I made sure the wheel bearings were greased before I left. The rake and my head suffered only minor damage too.

I had the rake carriage set too high up as I was afraid of the teeth hitting the pavement and instead managed to rub the top of the carriage a few times on the support bar when the rake bounced ont he road. Guess I will have a new rust spot there now.

While I was trying to get the hitch pin through the hole so the gentleman who sold it to me could pull it out of his shed the jack we used to lift the rake slipped out and whacked me on the temple. It bled a lot. Enough I was kinda worried about it until I looked in the mirror on the truck and saw it was nothing.

God my the skin around my temple looks OLD. That's like grandpa skin or something. Like the CreptKeeper type skin. Wrinkles ewww.

So this is an old Ford 513 hay rake. Some people love em, some people don't. The real point of contention is the belt and fly wheel assembly you see above. When the slip clutch is engaged on the axle it turns the rake carriage with that long serpentine round belt. The belt costs about $150.00 to replace and is kinda a pain. However they are reported to last decades and the guy who sold me the rake claims he put this belt on it only two years ago. In truth the belt looks almost brand new, not a crack on it, so I believe him. He said the original belt lasted him almost 30 years raking over 100 acres a year twice.

All the teeth are in perfect condition. The only negative I saw was the old white FORD lettering has worn off.  Supposedly the belt drive does have a tendency to slip if the hay is really wet and heavy which was the main downside I read while researching this model. It's actually made by New Line implement company and was sold under the Ford name and as near as I could tell all the parts are still available for it. I plan on using the 8N with a crossbar to pull this rake which will allow me some height adjustment from the tractor and give a bit more clearance from the back wheels when turning.

So this is another implement that I need crossed off the list. All that remains is a baler, plow and a disc. although eventually I hope to put an after market front end loader on one of the old Ford tractors. More than likely the 861.

Now maybe if I am lucky it will dry out enough for me to actually mow and rake some hay. The forecast seems to say otherwise though.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!