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Rake-Bale Combo Unit Eliminates Second Field Pass
Wouldn’t it be slick if a guy could rake hay and roll bales in one pass? That’s the question Bruce Peden pondered one day 5 years ago while raking hay. He thought to himself, “A machine like that could cut out a trip across the field and save on tractor wear and expense.”
    It wasn’t long before Bruce and his brother Don were in their Glasgow, Ky., metal fabrication shop designing and fabricating the first Rake-N-Roll. It’s a patented 12-wheeled, V-shape rake that fits between a tractor and baler. The implement also eliminates that extra pass in the haying operation.
    “It saves time, fuel, labor and money,” says Bruce, who harvests his own 150 acres of hay and also does custom “rake and rolling” for other farmers in the area.
    Bruce Peden says the toughest part of the engineering was figuring out how to make the 27-ft. rake fold into an 11-ft. transport width. In operation, the Rake-N-Roll can rake three 9-ft. swaths into one windrow that feeds the baler. Diverting baskets on each side can shift the windrow from one side to the other. The outer rake wheels raise and fold using hydraulic controls in the tractor cab.
    The Pedens designed the Rake-N-Roll for a New Holland baler, though the existing design could also fit a Deere baler with minimal adjustment. Bruce Peden says that he’s willing to develop a custom model for other baler brands, too.
    The Rake-n-Roll required extending the baler hitch to 12 ft. and affixing the pto shaft to the hitch. The design allows the operator to pick up and adjust the rakes for operation on hillsides.
    The first model they produced worked okay but was too wide for problem-free transport. Their second attempt solved the transport width problem and Bruce says he’s been using it, with little adjustment or maintenance, for five seasons on his own land and for custom work. “I produced about 2,800 rolls last year with the Rake-N-Roll and my New Holland baler,” he says.
    A video of the Rake-N-Roll in operation can be viewed on the company’s website: pedenequipment.com. Bruce Peden exhibited the Rake-N-Roll at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville this year. The company sells the machine for $28,000.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bruce Peden, Peden Equipment, 1319 Coral Hill Lecta Rd., Glasgow, Ky. 42141 (ph 270 678-5950; www.pedenequipment.com).



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2015 - Volume #39, Issue #3