What is this??

[BuS_RiDeR]

I saw this interesting piece of farm equipment in a field as I was driving today.... But I am a city boy... Anyone know what this "thing" is/does???

 

[reznap]

Looks like a rake. Like it would be towed behind a tractor or a mule or whatever to pick up dead grass, hay..

I know as much about farming as you though, just a guess.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

That makes sense.

 

[kelli_anne]

Looks like a rake. Like it would be towed behind a tractor or a mule or whatever to pick up dead grass, hay..

I know as much about farming as you though, just a guess.

Paul you are correct! It is an old rake for raking hay. It was pulled by a team or horses or mules.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Thanks Kelly Anne.

 

[Derrel]

More specifically, that is a dump rake. It's quite an old machine, of a style that has long since been abandoned. The metal seats on those rakes as well as on old tractors of that era and the following era, are amazingly comfortable. The dump rake was popular from the mid-1850's to about the end of the 1890's, when the much more-efficient,easier-to-use side-delivery rake was invented. That dump rake in the photo is probably over 100 years old.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Details! I love details.

Thanks Darrel!