Sweet seat cover for the tractor and details on my new New Holland Procart 1225 rake vs. the Sitrex h90-v10.

I screwed up and didn't keep track of the pig feed over break and ran out of feed Friday night.  So on my way home from "snow" work Saturday morning I stopped at the local feed mill to get some of their pig feed to get me through till Monday when my regular batch comes.  I really like this local mill and enjoy stopping once in a while because they always keep some old school toys on the top shelf in the main room.  So, as I usually do I walked in and looked up on the top shelf to see what all they had there today and was excited to see a Farmall 706 narrow front on the shelf.  I figured it was not too early to celebrate my July birthday so I got it and brought it home for the kids  They immediately put one of their Lego kids on it and proceeded to have fun!

I had been up most of the night managing ice control at work so when I got home I was kind of zoned out and a little grumpy.  I took a few minutes to let the rain slow down and went out to put the feed in the barn and my wife asked me to bring the seat cushions for my tractor in for her to make a new seat cover.  I then laid down and took a nap.  When I woke up we went out to feed the animals and she surprised me this sweet seat cover!!!!!!   She is awesome!   Now I am even showing my buckeyes gear when I am in the tractor!

On Friday it was beautiful and sunny and a perfect winter temp of 30 degrees.  I went over to help the neighbor with some more cleaning for his auction and he had some wood he needed to store inside so he and Steven helped me clean my shed up and put it in there.  As we were doing so I realized that with a little loader work to remove some excess soil I could possibly get the tractors in there for the winter. 

Sure enough, they fit.....sort of.  I had to take the flapper off of the Farmall muffler and I still barely got it in.  I will probably shorten the muffler top a couple of inches so I don't have to worry about catching it going in and out.  

I found it is easier to back the Kubota in but the loader hangs outside a little.  But it is still nice to have the most of the tractor inside.  I will most likely not take the shed down now till after I or the neighbor get some kind of shed built to keep stuff inside.  

Now, on to the new hay tool!  To start off here is a picture of the old rake unfolded from the back.  The Sitrex has a 21 foot max raking width and to adjusting the raking width requires wrenches and a jack and some help.  To adjust the angle of the rakes requires pulling a pin and pulling or pushing the wings back and forth till you get to the desired angle.

Sitrex H90-V10

And the new one.  The Procart 1225 has a max raking width of 25 feet.  Adjusting the raking width requires pulling a pin and turning a turn buckle.  Adjusting the angle of the rakes requires the push or pull of a lever in the cab.  The angle adjustment is made hydraulically for easy adjustments on the go.  There are also lockout valves on each lift cylinder to lock for transport or to keep one side up when needed.  

New Holland Procart 1225

Here is another big difference, the height of the rake frame and cart.  The lowest point on the Procart 1225 is about 26"-27" above the ground.

New Holland Procart 1225

 The sitrex H90-V10 has a very low 14-16" clearance.  I have, in thick hay had it touch the bottom of the cart.  I have also had problem with thick hay catching up under the frame that holds the rake wheels themselves.  

Here is a picture of them both unfolded from the front 

New Holland Procart 1225

Notice how low to the ground the sitrex sits compared to the New Holland Procart 1225.  You can also see how much cleaner and stronger the mounting system is on the New Holland Procart 1225. 

Here are some of the other features that I could not find pictures of up close on the web when I was trying to find more information before purchasing.  Here is a major new feature on the Procart 1225, each rake wheel is independently mounted to the main frame with an axle and suspension spring.  You can adjust ground pressure at each wheel.  When you go over a sharp grade change or encounter a ground hog mound or dead furrow with the old Sitrex the weight of the entire frame and rest of the wheels is put onto the wheel that hits the bump.  On the Procart 1225 each wheel can move up to  two feet to roll over the bump with only its own weight pushing down on it!

New Holland Procart 1225 suspension spring

My old Sitrex has this same feature but I never used it and it worked a little differently.  However, with the extra raking width, if we encounter as heavy of hay as we did last year in some of the fields we may need to use it this coming season.  You can lock the front wheel on both side up and out of the use to decrease the raking width in heavy crops.   

New Holland Procart 1225 front wheel locked up.

Here is an awesome upgrade that I saw immediately that should have been standard from the beginning!   Grease fittings on every point that moves.  All 13 wheels, all the axle pivot points, the frame pivot points, and the cart wheels all have grease fittings.  

New Holland Procart 1225 grease fittings.

Here is a picture showing the turn buckle to adjust the width as well as the angle adjustment cylinders.  

New Holland Procart 1225 angle adjustment cylinders and width adjustment.

This is the last upgrade the new rake has that the old one did not.  Sometimes when I am raking I do not need to turn the center hay over.  This is usually in heavy crop when it is very thick or when I am pulling two windrows together.  The old rake did not have a way of locking the kicker wheel up when I didn't need to use it.  The New Holland Procart 1225 has a hydraulic cylinder and lockout specifically for the kicker wheel.  It also has it's own suspension spring and my old Sitrex did not.  

New Holland Procart 1225 kicker wheel cylinder and lockout. 

I do want to mention that the New Holland Procart 1225 and the Sitrex QR12 are identical.  They are both made by the same company and the only difference is paint color and stickers.  The price of both are within $50 of each other as well.  The main difference is the New Holland Procart 1225 will hold it resale value longer because of the name.  Otherwise there is no difference.  My old rake was an H90-V10.  There is a huge difference between it and the new one as you have seen here.  Out of all the rakes on the market now the New Holland Procart 1225 and Sitrex QR12 are still holding the top slot for strength and features.  All the other brands I looked at took shortcuts here and there to make them cheaper.  I decided with the number of acres and the mix of hills and rough ground I cover I would rather pay for a long lasting machine than pay for repairs down the road.  

Well, all there is to do now is count the days till I get to make some more hay!!!  This year is going to be great I can just feel it.  I cannot wait to take this baby on its inaugural first pass.  

I hope the pictures and information I posted here help someone else looking for more details and information on this model.  If you are looking for more info or pictures just comment on the post what you want to see or know and I will update.  

Have a great day everyone.  Going to be some nasty cold and snow come through over the next 5-7 days.  Doubt I will be around much till next weekend......ugh....whens summer????

Kenny