Small & Mini Hay Rakes: Options for Small Farms and ATV Use

Small and mini hay rakes are ground-driven or pull-behind implements designed for tractors in the 18–45 HP range, hobby farms, and ATV or utility vehicle operators who manage hay production on a scale where full commercial equipment is economically unjustifiable. Working widths typically run from 1.2 m to 5.0 m, covering paddocks of 1–30 ha per cut in a single season.

The market for small hay rakes has grown significantly as landholders managing 5–30 ha of pasture increasingly need a cost-effective way to windrow cut material for baling, without the capital commitment of commercial-scale equipment. The range of available options is wide, and the wrong selection wastes money — either in a machine too large for the tractor, too small for the field area, or built to a quality standard that makes it a maintenance liability from the second season onward.

This guide covers the full small and mini rake category: what defines this equipment class, which types are available, how to match a machine to your tractor and field situation, and what the practical differences are between ATV-tow, compact tractor, and hand-operated options.

What Qualifies as a Small or Mini Hay Rake?

There is no formal industry standard for the term “mini hay rake,” but in practice the category refers to machines with working widths under 5.0 m designed for sub-commercial operations. The defining characteristic is not width alone, but the combination of compact frame dimensions, low weight, simplified hitch geometry, and a power requirement that puts the machine within the capability of compact utility tractors, sub-compact tractors, or ATVs.

A standard commercial finger wheel rake at 6.0–9.0 m weighs 400–900 kg and requires a Cat II hitch on a 40–65 HP tractor. A mini rake at 2.5–3.5 m working width weighs 80–200 kg and operates via Cat I hitch on a 20–35 HP tractor, or via a ball hitch or pintle hitch on an ATV or utility vehicle at speeds of 8–12 km/h. The mechanical principle — ground-driven tined wheels displacing material laterally — is identical. Scale and structural weight differ substantially.

The primary use cases for small and mini hay rakes are: hobby farms and lifestyle blocks managing 2–15 ha of cut pasture; horse properties producing small-square bales for their own stock; market gardens and orchards where grass between rows needs windrowing; and small-scale commercial operations producing round bales for direct sale at volumes under 200 bales per season.

Types of Small Hay Rakes Available

Within the small and mini category, four distinct types are commonly available. Each has a different attachment method, power source, working width, and productivity rate. Understanding the differences prevents buying a type suited to a different use case than your own.

Compact tractor finger wheel rakes (3.0–5.0 m): The most productive option in the small rake category. These operate on the same principle as commercial wheel rakes — ground-driven tined wheels at an angle to direction of travel — but in a compact frame sized for Cat I hitch tractors in the 25–45 HP range. At 3.5–4.5 m working width, a compact tractor rake covers 2.5–4.0 ha/h at 10 km/h and 85% field efficiency. For operations processing 20–50 ha per cut, this output is adequate with a full working day available. The 9LZ-6.0 finger wheel rake sits at the upper end of this sub-category at 6.0 m — it is the entry point for tractor operators who want commercial-grade throughput from a ground-driven machine without PTO complexity.

ATV-pull wheel rakes (1.5–2.5 m): Designed for direct attachment to an ATV or utility side-by-side via a ball hitch. Working widths of 1.5–2.5 m cover 1.0–2.0 ha/h at ATV operating speeds of 10–14 km/h. These rakes are suited to small paddocks of 1–5 ha where a tractor is not available or not justified economically. Frame weight is typically 60–120 kg, within the towing and tongue weight limits of most mid-range ATVs. Quality varies widely in this segment — look for machines with 16+ tines per wheel and sealed hub bearings rather than the cheapest available, which often use open grease-nipple hubs that clog with dust and fail within 2–3 seasons.

Hand-held and walk-behind hay rakes: Manual rakes at 50–80 cm working width are used for very small areas — garden plots, orchard rows, or manual cleanup around obstacles. They are not productive tools for anything above 0.1 ha and are not a viable primary raking solution for any livestock property. Their correct application is supplementary: cleaning edges, headlands, or areas the tractor rake cannot reach. Wooden hay rakes — the traditional farm tool — are sometimes still used for this purpose and are available through farm supply retailers. They are not covered in depth here as they sit outside the commercial equipment category.

Pull-behind small rotary rakes: Some small pull-behind rotary rakes are available in the 2.5–3.5 m range with PTO drive at 540 RPM. These handle heavier material than ground-driven wheel rakes at equivalent widths, but require the tractor to have a functional 540 RPM PTO and sufficient hydraulic flow for implement height adjustment. For small tractors in the 25–35 HP range, the PTO load from a small rotary rake is proportionally higher than on a commercial tractor running a large unit, which can cause PTO slip and overheating if the implement is underspecified relative to tractor output. Confirm rated PTO power demand against your tractor’s rated PTO horsepower at the shaft before committing to a PTO-driven small rake.

Matching a Small Rake to Your Tractor

The most common error with small rake purchases is selecting a machine sized for a larger tractor than the buyer actually operates. A rake rated for 30–55 HP attached to a 22 HP compact tractor produces inadequate results at best and creates a safety hazard at worst — the machine’s frame and wheel resistance can exceed the tractor’s rear axle stability limits on sloped ground.

The correct matching sequence for small farm hay rake selection is: first, identify your tractor’s HP and hitch category; second, confirm whether PTO is available and rated; third, select the maximum working width the tractor can handle stably. The table below provides a quick reference for compact and small tractors across the relevant power range.

Tractor / Vehicle	HP Range	Recommended Rake Width	Drive Type	Approx. ha/h
ATV / UTV	—	1.5–2.5 m	Ground-driven (ball hitch tow)	1.0–2.0
Sub-compact tractor	18–25 HP	2.5–3.5 m	Ground-driven (Cat I hitch)	1.5–2.5
Compact utility tractor	25–45 HP	3.5–5.0 m	Ground-driven (Cat I/II hitch)	2.5–4.0
Mid-range utility tractor	45–65 HP	5.0–7.0 m	Ground-driven or PTO rotary	4.0–6.0

Hitch category is not negotiable. A Cat I pin hole is 19.3 mm (¾ inch); Cat II is 25.4 mm (1 inch). Using a Cat II implement on a Cat I tractor requires an adapter bushing, which adds play at the linkage and reduces implement stability — particularly noticeable with side-displacement implements like rakes where lateral forces act on the hitch pins throughout the working pass. For small rakes on small tractors, use a correctly rated Cat I implement and avoid adapter setups wherever possible.

ATV Hay Rakes: What They Can and Cannot Do

ATV-tow hay rakes are pulled via ball hitch from an ATV or side-by-side utility vehicle. They are fully ground-driven — no PTO, no hydraulics required. The rake wheels spin as the vehicle moves forward, displacing material to the side. At ATV speeds of 10–14 km/h, a 2.0 m rake covers approximately 1.5–2.0 ha/h — enough for paddocks of 5–15 ha if multiple days are available for raking within the drying window.

The practical limitations of ATV rakes are real and should be clearly understood before purchase. First, ATV towing capacity limits how wide and heavy the rake can be — most ATVs can tow 600–1200 kg, but tongue weight limits on the hitch ball are typically 50–100 kg, which constrains the frame weight of usable implements. Second, ATV tyres do not provide the traction or stability of agricultural tractor tyres on slopes above 10°, meaning raking on hills requires careful speed management and may not be viable at steeper gradients. Third, field speed is capped by ATV comfort and stability on rough ground — above 15 km/h on paddock surface, ATV operation becomes uncomfortable and potentially hazardous, whereas a compact tractor can work at 12 km/h on uneven ground safely.

ATV rakes are best suited to lifestyle block and horse property operators who already own an ATV and want to avoid the cost of a tractor for a single seasonal implement. For operations that will grow beyond 15 ha of annual cut area, a compact tractor and matched wheel rake delivers significantly better long-term economics and eliminates the speed and slope limitations inherent in ATV-based raking.

Small Hay Rakes for Hay and Straw: Crop-Specific Considerations

Small and mini rakes are used across multiple crops, and performance varies by crop type. Understanding the differences prevents damage to material quality and reduces machine wear.

Grass hay: The most forgiving crop for small rakes. Grass stems are flexible and tolerate higher tine aggressiveness without shatter loss. Work at 10–12 km/h. Set wheel angle to produce a windrow 60–70% of baler pickup width. Raking is best done when morning dew has dried but before afternoon heat reduces leaf moisture to shatter-risk levels — typically mid-morning to early afternoon in dry conditions.

Legume hay (alfalfa, clover, lucerne): The highest-value and highest-risk crop for raking. Leaf is brittle when fully dry and shatters on contact with tines operating above 10 km/h. Raking should occur when leaf moisture is above 20% — typically early morning — and at speeds of 7–9 km/h on smaller rakes. Leaf shatter losses of 8–15% are common on dry alfalfa raked at full speed; slowing to 7 km/h in early morning conditions reduces this to 3–6% with no other change in equipment or practice.

Straw (cereal crop residue): Heavier, more tangled, and more abrasive to tines than hay. Reduce working speed to 8–10 km/h. Raise wheel height to minimum 50 mm ground clearance to avoid picking up excessive soil with the straw — soil contamination reduces forage value and accelerates tine wear. Straw is less sensitive to leaf shatter (there is minimal leaf to lose) but more sensitive to ground pickup, which creates a contamination and weight issue in the bale.

Silage grass: Higher-moisture material (40–65% DM basis) that is heavier per unit volume than dry hay. Small ground-driven rakes can handle silage grass, but the greater mass of wet material increases rolling resistance and reduces working speed relative to dry hay. If the small rake is used primarily for silage rather than dry hay, confirm the manufacturer’s rated working speed and load at the intended crop moisture level.

Small Hay Rake for Sale: What to Check Before Buying

The small and mini hay rake market includes a significant volume of low-quality product, particularly in the ATV-tow and compact tractor segment. Price is not always a reliable quality indicator at the lower end of this market. The following checklist covers the non-negotiable quality points that determine whether a machine delivers value over multiple seasons or becomes a recurring maintenance and replacement cost.

Tine material and count: Spring steel tines (65Mn steel or equivalent designation) are the correct material for hay rake tines. Mild steel tines bend permanently on stone contact and cannot be straightened reliably — a single paddock pass over rough ground can permanently deform 20–30% of the tines on a poor-quality machine. Minimum tine count per wheel is 16 for adequate material coverage; machines with 12 or fewer tines per wheel leave unraked strips at commercial working speeds.

Hub and bearing quality: Sealed-for-life wheel hub bearings require no maintenance and resist soil and dust ingress. Open grease-nipple hubs in the lower price segment require greasing every 4–8 hours of operation — a requirement that is frequently neglected in practice, leading to bearing failure and hub replacement within 1–2 seasons. The cost difference between a sealed-hub machine and an open-hub machine is often less than the cost of one bearing replacement event including labour and downtime.

Frame construction: Square-section steel tubing of minimum 40×40×3 mm for the main frame members on a small rake. Thinner sections flex under lateral raking load and fatigue at welded joints — typically visible as cracking at the wheel mount weld points after 2–3 seasons of regular use. Inspect weld quality on the wheel mounting brackets specifically, as these are the highest-stress points in the frame under field conditions.

Wheel angle adjustment: Must be adjustable, must stay adjusted under load, and must adjust consistently across all wheels simultaneously (or at minimum in matched pairs). A rake where individual wheels drift out of angle during a field pass produces an inconsistent windrow — one side collects more material than the other, creating uneven bale fill and density variation through the bale chamber.

Ground clearance system: The mechanism for raising and lowering the wheel assembly must hold position reliably. On small rakes, this is typically a screw-adjust or hydraulic-cylinder system tied to the 3-point hitch. A hitch that drifts down during a pass — gradually reducing wheel clearance — picks up progressively more soil as the pass continues. Check that the height-hold mechanism has a positive lock or that the hitch hydraulics hold position without drift.

Maintenance Schedule for Small Hay Rakes

Small rakes are lower-maintenance than large commercial machines, but they are not maintenance-free. The following schedule covers the minimum required maintenance to prevent premature wear and machine failure.

Before each season: Inspect all tines for bends, cracks, and fatigue damage. Replace any tine that is bent more than 15° from its designed angle — a bent tine produces a different tine-tip trajectory than its neighbours, creating a gap in material coverage and increasing wear on adjacent tines. Inspect frame welds at all high-stress points (wheel mounts, hitch attachment, main frame joints). Spin each wheel by hand and listen for bearing roughness or drag. Check all bolt torques on wheel assemblies and hitch attachment.

Every 8–10 operating hours: For machines with grease-nipple hubs, apply specified grease quantity to all hub nipples. Clean debris (grass, chaff, soil) from inside wheel assemblies — accumulated debris compresses around bearings and accelerates wear even in sealed units. Check tine retention clips or bolts and retighten any that have loosened.

After each season: Clean the entire machine thoroughly. Apply corrosion inhibitor or light oil to exposed steel surfaces, particularly hitch components, adjustment screws, and any areas where paint has chipped. Store under cover or with a waterproof cover to prevent frame rust at paint damage points. Inspect and replace any tines that show fatigue cracking at the hub — do not carry cracked tines into the next season.

Small Hay Rake for Sale Near Me: Local vs Direct Supply

Small hay rakes are widely available through agricultural equipment dealers in rural areas, farm supply retailers, and online platforms. Local dealer purchase provides the advantage of physical inspection before buying and access to local service if a warranty issue arises. For buyers in Australia and New Zealand, local dealer stock tends to be limited to a small number of brands, and lead times on non-stock models can extend to 8–14 weeks during peak pre-season demand.

Direct supply from manufacturers — the same procurement model used widely for larger commercial equipment — is viable for small and mini rakes where the buyer can specify a machine by working width and hitch category without needing local assembly support. Shipping cost per unit is higher relative to machine value than for large commercial equipment, but landed price can still be competitive versus local dealer pricing on equivalent-specification machines. Contact [email protected] for a quote that includes container and freight cost to your destination port or address.

For buyers near used equipment markets, hay rake auctions are worth monitoring — small rakes in good condition (intact tines, sound frame, functional hubs) regularly sell at 40–60% of new equivalent price at rural property dispersal auctions. The inspection checklist above applies directly to used machine evaluation at auction.

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What is the smallest hay rake available for a tractor?

Tractor-mounted finger wheel rakes are available from approximately 2.5 m working width for Cat I hitch sub-compact tractors in the 18–25 HP range. Below this, ATV-tow rakes cover 1.5–2.0 m widths. Walk-behind motorised units exist but are impractical for anything above 0.2–0.3 ha per day and are not cost-effective as primary raking equipment for any livestock property.

Can a mini hay rake handle alfalfa without excessive leaf loss?

Yes, with the right operating technique. Rake alfalfa at 7–9 km/h when leaf moisture is above 20% — typically early morning. At these conditions, a ground-driven finger wheel rake produces leaf shatter losses of 3–7%, which is within acceptable range for commercial quality hay. Operating at 12 km/h in dry afternoon conditions produces 12–18% leaf shatter on the same crop, regardless of rake type or quality.

How many acres per hour does a small hay rake cover?

A 3.5 m compact tractor rake at 10 km/h covers approximately 2.5–3.0 ha/h (6–7 acres/h) at 85% field efficiency. A 2.0 m ATV rake at 12 km/h covers approximately 1.8–2.2 ha/h (4.5–5.5 acres/h). These figures assume a reasonably rectangular paddock with manageable headland turns — irregular paddock shapes reduce effective field efficiency and lower actual throughput.

Do I need hydraulics on my tractor to run a small hay rake?

A basic single-acting hydraulic remote is adequate for height adjustment on most small ground-driven wheel rakes. This is standard on virtually all compact utility tractors. If the rake has no hydraulic fold system and adjusts manually for transport width, no hydraulic remote is required at all — only the 3-point hitch lift mechanism, which is hydraulically operated on all modern tractors.

What is a good small hay rake for a horse property?

Horse properties typically manage 5–15 ha of pasture for small-square bale production and have a compact tractor in the 25–45 HP range. A 3.5–5.0 m ground-driven finger wheel rake on a Cat I hitch is the standard recommendation — it requires no PTO, is easy to operate solo, and produces a windrow width suitable for small-square baler pickups at 1.2–1.8 m. The 9LZ-6.0 covers 6.0 m and is at the upper end of what a 35–45 HP tractor handles comfortably — for smaller tractors, specify a narrower rake when requesting a quote.

How wide a windrow does a small rake produce?

Windrow width is adjustable on all finger wheel rakes via the wheel angle setting. A small rake at 3.0–4.0 m working width will typically produce a windrow of 0.8–1.5 m depending on crop volume and wheel angle. Set the windrow to 60–70% of your baler’s pickup width — for a small-square baler with a 1.4 m pickup, target a 0.9–1.0 m windrow. Too narrow and the baler chamber doesn’t fill evenly; too wide and material overflows the pickup and is left unprocessed in the field.