Test: Kverneland 9584C twin rotor rake

By: Mark Fouhy, Photography by: Mark Fouhy

Date: 28.01.2021

Farm Trader puts the Kverneland 9584C twin rotor rake to the test and finds out what's behind its popularity

There is a lot to like about the Kverneland 9584C twin rotor rake, and thanks to Power Farming Morrinsville, I got to spend the day with this nice new shiny bit of kit. Having a solid hardworking machine that’s refreshingly not bogged down with electronic bells, technology, whistles and gizmos was a reminder that machines are built to do a job – efficiently and with minimal complications.

Our test machine for the day belongs to Tony Hart from Hartland Agriculture, who’s the owner of a new Kverneland 9584C twin rotor rake. Richard Clarke and the Power Farming Morrinsville team delivered the rake at the start of the 2020 grass season and by the time I caught up with them, the rake had already rowed up more than 18,000 bales.

Like all of his fleet, Tony aims to keep his gear in peak working condition to ensure consistent workloads and minimise break downs. His replacement policy of the two twin rotor rakes his business operates is three years or 60,000 bales (depending on the seasons, as more or less grass/bales may push the change by six months earlier or later).

Up until recently, Tony has been operating rakes from another manufacturer. However, having received good back-up service and support for his McHale balers from Power Farming Morrinsville, Tony decided to take a look at the Kverneland rake when it came time to replace the old rake.

Although not a lot was wrong with the other brand, Tony has found the Kverneland machines to be stronger in the headstock/mounting – a weakness of the other brand, which could let the machine down over time. Also, when it came time to do a deal on the new rake, the price was competitive, and the Kverneland machines along with good stock of parts was worth considering, given the tricky delivery of international machinery and parts over the last 10 months or so.

Test action

The second Kverneland 8584C ready for delivery to Hartland Ag

After just two months with Hartland Agriculture, this machine has already rowed up around 18,000 bales, which means it averages around 300 bales a day without allowing any days off or taking into consideration the days it’s used in front of the loader wagons.

With a working width of 7.6 to 8.5 metres, it’s wide enough to pick up three mower widths, leaving a nice row for the baler. The new McHale fusion balers have a pickup width of 2.1 metres and the rake will row between 1.4 and 2.1 metres. Tony has found rake width of 8.2 to 8.4 metres in light crops and narrower again for heavier crops works well for them.

In good going, this will allow them rake at 8–12km/hr. Since having the Kverneland rake, the guys at Hartland Ag have put it through its paces with heavy green crops and paddocks with spots that are not 100% dry. However, despite the challenges, it has handled these conditions with ease.

At our time of testing, heavy, and lighter drier grass crops through summer had yet to be encountered, but these conditions should generally be easier rather than more challenging.

Operation

Power Farming are the port of call for sales, parts, and service for Kverneland machinery

The simplicity of the machine also translates to an easy-to-operate machine. There is no big fancy control box to navigate your way around; the small dual toggle control to operate the electric solenoid for the individual lifting of each rotor is self-explanatory.

This model comes standard without individual rotor lift, although, there’s an option to factory fit electronic control or hydraulic lift control if you have enough rear service hydraulic ports for the extra function.

On the day of our test, Hartland Ag had the Kverneland rake hooked to a John Deere 155, which provides plenty of ponies, as horsepower requirements to run a twin rotor rake is minimal. A handy set-up some contractors run is 100 to 150hp rake tractor with a loader to start stacking bales behind the baler if time allows.

With this unit, Kverneland has kept the transport width under three metres, coming in at 2.98 metres, which allows the driver to fit through 10-foot gates with a little to spare.

The strong headstock coupled with the simple active wheel steering system allows turns up to 80 degrees and excellent maneuverability though gateways and headlands.

A downside of being able to grab three rows of grass with a twin rotor is the large diameter rotors required to do so. The rotors on this machine are 3.65 metres, folded up giving a transport height of 4.1 metres, which is getting quite tall, taller than a quadrotor in transport position. However, to get around this, the arms are removable, without tools, bringing the transport height down to 3.45 metres. Alternatively, Kverneland offers some models with a hydro option, which allows you to lower the rear transport wheels and overall height of the machine 40cm, without removing tine arms, or even leaving the tractor seat.

Lifted out of work

Manual mechanical adjusters set the raking height. If you want to add more bells and whistles (plus expense), there’s an optional extra box you can tick for those features, which allows some personalisation of the machines.

A key component of any rake is the rotor and its ability to get grass into a uniform row for whatever machine is following to bale or harvest. I was immediately impressed with the heavy-duty Proline rotor head. The sealed (maintenance-free) drive system with oil-immersed pinion and crown wheels ensures full and permanent lubrication.

The 12 removable tine arms are made of tube steel with enough tensile strength to avoid bending over the course of normal operation. However, should they be damaged, tool-less removal should allow fixing or replacing in short space of time.

To remove an arm entirely requires just three bolts to undo, which is refreshingly straightforward, and allows for an individual arm to be repaired, although, this should be required only once in a blue moon.

The Terralink Quattro system of the wheels ensures clean pick-up of the crop no matter how the rake is sitting: forward, back, left or right. Our test machine was running six tyres beneath each rotor: a pivoting front wheelset and double boggies at the rear. Wheels are mounted as close to the tynes as possible for optimal ground following. For lifting over rows this model has a generous 45cm of clearance.

About Kverneland

12 arms with four double 10mm tines per rotor

Kverneland is one of the big-name players in the European machinery market, with some 125 years of experience building agriculture machines. Today, the company exists through the incorporation of the Accord, Rau, and Taarup all under the Kverneland brand. Behind Deutz-Fahr tractors, Kverneland is the biggest seller for the Power Farming group in New Zealand. Given the wide range of tillage and hay and silage equipment available this isn’t surprising.

The 9584C is part of Kvernelands Profi Line range, which carries a full two-year manufacturers warranty. Power Farming is aiming to get Kverneland equipment out on demo between now and autumn. The display of rakes, tedders, and triple mowers at the recent Harrisville Harvest demo day was well received and generated much interest.

Summary

Folded up, ready to head to the next job

If you’re after a versatile yet simple well-built twin rotor rake, the Kverneland 9584C Proline (or another model from the range) is well worth looking at. There is a lot to like about machines that aren’t loaded down with sometimes unnecessary technology. Maximising output and minimising downtime, which let’s face it, is often down to faulty electronics or sensors, is of major importance to farmers and contractors.

With some straightforward maintenance, this machine is a total workhorse. Just keep the drive shafts greased and check tyre pressures occasionally. Oil-immersed and maintenance-free crown and pinon wheels are features of these higher-spec Proline rakes, and along with slightly thicker 10mm tynes, they are designed to get through large workloads.

And showing that the proof is in the pudding. Hartland Ag has just taken delivery of its second identical machine.

Kverneland 9584C twin rotor rake specifications

Working width	7.6–8.4m
Transport width	2.98m
Parking height	4.1, 3.45 (with arms removed)
Weight	1950kg
Swath width	1.4–2.1m
Theoretical capacity Ha/hr	9.2ha
Tractor attachment	2-point linkage
Rotor diameter	3.65m
Tine arms/rotor	12
Duo tines/arm	4
Tine diameter	10mm
Height adjustment	Mechanical
Rotor tyres	16x6.50–6
Transport wheels	380/55–17
Safety equipment	Road lights and panels standard