NEW FPM Single Rotor vs 5 Wheel Hay Rakes. Which would you choose?

[@paoemantega8793]

Acrobat rake looks smashing - great presentation and information! keep em coming

[@MachineryNation]

Thank you 👍🏼

[@tinkeringtaylor3053]

Excellent video James, Seeing FPM equipment working they seem to be really good, i have an old 4 wheel acrobat think its a vicon standing in the old farm steading never could get the hang of it😂, we also had a old dump rake but sold that,

[@MachineryNation]

I think a lot of them are lawn ornaments these days or stuck under a hedge haha. It worked well and I was surprised they went out of fashion to be fair.

[@tinkeringtaylor3053]

@@MachineryNation well ours is hidden under nettles 😂😂

[@callumhudson802]

I use a pair of haybob 300's to make hay on my granda's croft in Scotland. They do both the tedding and the raking of 9 acres of hay. We bale with a IH 445 baler and bale sledge and a farmhand flat 8 grab.

[@JonDingle]

Nice to see a new Acrobat rake!

[@MrDbone75]

A very good Thursday evening to you all

[@MachineryNation]

And to you 👍🏼

[@grahamhuxtable6024]

My grandad use to go like the clappers, his was a Viking Acrobat

[@timclarke8565]

as the saying goes... " I know the grandad and I know the acrobat". and I definitely know the grin on they face. 👍🤣

[@MachineryNation]

Hopefully he had a smoother field than us haha

[@Thuy_Dailylife]

❤❤ modern and quality thank you❤❤

[@MachineryNation]

Thank you 👍🏼

[@DanielPurvis-q7m]

Hi James, good video and good comparison between the two machines however I think the best place for the acrobat is as an ornament in a fancy farm entrance I think I’ve only ever used one once many moons ago as a 16 year old boy and I never was in any hurry to use one again 😂👍

[@DJC995]

Hi James Nice one both worked well we have a acrobat in the weeds at the back of the yard 😀😀 like most old farms meant to be good in light crops Thanks again

[@MachineryNation]

Thanks Darran. Yeah I recon it would be much better in a lighter crop 👍🏼

[@jimwadland7728]

We used to have one with the same wheels but wasn’t mounted it was on a frame and wheels, you could have the three turning wheels one side and three the other then it would turn two mower rows over to make the hay then when it was ready to bale you put six wheels in a line and used it to row up, sure it was an icon like the acrobat but just a trailed version instead of mounted

[@MachineryNation]

Being trailed I expect it was easier to keep level?

[@jimwadland7728]

@@MachineryNation they were good for following the ground especially when like us you have a lot of ridge and furrows , yes easier to keep level and use

[@s.kxx1956]

The 5 row thing is old but soo cool !

[@MachineryNation]

It really is 😂

[@leecollett8522]

Awesome video 😊

[@MachineryNation]

Thank you Lee 👍🏼

[@glyndavies591]

Hi James great video again they look well made machines single rota rake for me every time the acrobat leaves the crop in an endless rope and the single rota rake is better for making different size rows depending on the crop

[@grahamkelland]

Acrobat type rakes are very common in the US for raking Alfalfa and more delicate brittle crops.

[@shaun30-3-mg9zs]

Hi James, good job on the field, great work by 5 wheel rake and for £1600 excellent value for money. as always a great video take care

[@Daveydave51]

I sold my old acrobat for £30 quid a few years ago glad to see the back of it

[@MachineryNation]

It’s an awesome product for the money for sure 👍🏼

[@russellpetrie119]

the key thing with 5 disk is speed faster the better why alot of big farms use them in the states

[@MachineryNation]

Yeah this is very true. Our rough field and trying to film certainly restricted our speed haha

[@timclarke8565]

​@@MachineryNation"rough Field slowed me down"..... I'll take... "things teenage you NEVER SAID... for 500 please".

[@russellpetrie119]

@@MachineryNation i know new equipment on loan have to respect it

[@andrewjones-productions]

I'm not a fan of the acrobat rake. Too much faffing around in getting the right settings and even if you do, it creates lumpy, uneven rows as shown in your video. This is fine if using a modern round baler than can chew up almost anything quickly and efficiently, but for a traditional square baler, it can clog easily and more often than not, you need someone to go around the rows with a pitchfork tidying up and balancing out the rows. However, where an acrobat is useful is in doing a final rake on a baled and cleared field to get a few more bales out of the one or two rows that you can get depending on the size of the field. There isn't a perfect rake out there, but the last variant I would choose is an acrobat. They are also a pain in the neck for transporting along narrow country lanes where typically, hill farms and small holdings will be facing onto. They also take a lot of storage space in a shed or any flat ground that is scarce on a hill farm.

[@stephenkelly2067]

There is a reason acrobat stopped being used they turn the sward into a rope like and pulls into baler from way in front

[@MachineryNation]

I had heard this also. I think it depends on the grass as I didn’t find this when I was baling in this grass.

[@jimwadland7728]

With the acrobat and the old side rakes you went round and round the field rather than up and down then if you had tight corners you would rake them up after baling the rest, you never wasted any hay!

[@MachineryNation]

Oh ok, that’s interesting, thank you. That makes sense 👍🏼

[@orkidknog4147]

its a a shame you didnt know how to use the single rota rake to row up you should of then turned round and came back on your self to make a row as for the acrobat they need speed to work but all they do is wind it up into a rope then when baling it keeps pulling to much in hence they were never any good only as scrap metal i cant see why there wasting there time making them things again

[@Mike-k4e2i]

Yes the vicon acrobat