"My brother bought a brand new Deere baler a few years ago to put up ditch hay, but he didn't want to ruin it by driving in those ditches," says retired Iowa farmer Virgil Davis. "So I used an old Deere grain elevator for a frame and made a special rake that brings the road bank hay into a windrow on the side of the road."

Davis attached the rake frame to the 3-pt. of his brother's tractor, using a pivot mounting and an auxiliary cylinder so the outside of the rake can lower into the ditch. The cylinder can also raise the rake to almost vertical to avoid mailboxes and other obstacles. Hay was pulled up the bank to the road with spring teeth from a drag attached to the elevator paddles.

"The ditch rake worked so well that I built 2 more, one for a nephew and one for another fellow who makes a lot of hay for horse owners," says Davis. "He was baling one day with his and a guy passed him on the road, stopped, backed up, then drove by again. The guy went to the Deere dealer in town and said he wanted to buy a rake like the one the guy was using outside town. When the dealer said "they made that rake," he couldn't believe it."

Davis has since made a 4th rake, this one for his own use. It uses some parts from an old IH field cultivator, pipes from a spring tooth harrow, spring teeth from a drag and a hydraulic motor from a 6600 Deere combine. The rake bars attach to end plates made from 5 planter disk openers. One round blade is in the center and 4 others are cut apart and welded to the center disk to mount each bar. Some of the teeth are from an actual rake and others are from a field cultivator.

The frame mounts to the 3-pt. on Davis's 3020 Deere, which raises and lowers it about 18 in. As with his other rakes, an auxiliary cylinder lowers the outside of the rake into the ditch and raises it to vertical. A small gauge wheel near the tractor and another on the outside edge keep the teeth from digging into the ground and bringing gravel into the windrow.

Power to operate the rake comes from the hydraulic motor that used to run the platform reel on Davis's 6600 combine. He configured the variable rate control system into his setup so he can increase or slow the rake speed to match hay conditions.

Because the rake mounts to the 3-pt. of the tractor, his 14T Deere baler, which he paid just $600 for at auction, attaches directly to the tractor hitch. Says Davis, "this is a great setup for ditches, and it also will work in a regular field. The rake will handle a 10-ft. swath from a diskbine and bring it into a nice, tight windrow in front of the baler.

Davis says he doesn't have a lot of money invested into parts because just about everything comes from old equipment he has around his farm. "They're not too hard to build, so I might even consider building others if someone is interested," Davis says.