Test: Massey Ferguson RK 802 TRC Pro

By: Mark Fouhy, Photography by: Mark Fouhy

Date: 24.01.2022

The Massey Ferguson RK 802 TRC-Pro rake is finding favour for its straightforward operation and quality raking

Sharp-looking Massey Ferguson combo

Add to the changeable spring forecast, a lack of drivers due to COVID regulations and travel restrictions, and local contractors have been even more pushed than usual. As a form of problem-solving, a couple of Matamata guys teamed up with a nearby farmer to provide another option for round baled silage for local farmers.

Between them, they had the tractors, mower, and baler required; the one missing bit of kit was a rake, which they had been temporarily borrowing from another neighbour. While this worked most of the time, it also proved a bit of a hassle to organise in terms of when it was available and not already being used. So it seemed like an ideal time to test drive the Massey Ferguson RK 802 TRC-PRO – the demo machine being run by Piako Tractors in Morrinsville. A twin rotor rake working out to eight metres proved pretty much ideal in front of the baler.

Demo machine supplied by Piako Tractors Morrinsville

Operation

As mentioned above, a lack of skilled workers available from the northern hemisphere has created a driver shortage within the agricultural contracting industry. This has forced contractors to employ local and train them as they go to get them to the level required. Raking is often seen as one of the ‘bottom of the rung’ jobs in the contracting team, however, it still needs to be done, and done well to save the baler or chopper driver time and effort.

So if a newbie is on the rake, this particular model is a good option, requiring only two sets of remotes: one for setting rake width and the other colour coded with +/- hydraulic flow to make sure everything goes in the right ports and also with no need for the cable tie system to identify what goes where.

A clean paddock and a straight row. Two thumbs up!

A basic pull string system locks the rotors in place for transport mode. Once in work mode, simply engage the PTO in 540, with operating speed between 420 and 480rpm being optimal. Lifted out of work mode, the rotors provide plenty of clearance for crossing over headlands and the like.

Positives of this simple rake are its ease of use, with nothing too complex or complicated to worry about. This rake can be operated with a mere 48hp: e.g. a lifestyle block tractor; however, I personally would suggest 100 to 120hp; still a small tractor by contractor’s standards but equipped with a front-end loader so it can stack bales at the end of the job if time allows.

Operational details – PTO speed/RPM on the headstock

Initial set-up involves checking the height of the tines – you want them set to collect the grass, not see how much dirt you can scratch up into the rows. Manual adjustment sets the height on each rotor, so once set, it’s good to go.

Individual rotor lift control is available as an optional extra and this would make raking irregular/non-square sided paddocks easier. The downside with the individual lift control function is that since it’s electronic, it presents the off-chance of something potentially going wrong, which we don’t have to worry about with this base machine.

Design

This Massey Ferguson RK 802 Pro model comes with features such as hydraulic width adjustment (lower-spec models are manual tool-free adjustment) and uprated drives, which should ensure greater longevity of the machine.

Bolt-on tines for easy replacement

The tangentially arranged tine arms allow quicker operation across paddocks and help give neat tidy rows, which operators look for, collecting and ejecting the fodder.

Each of the 12 tine arms per rotor have four tines attached. On this model, the design is for a bolt-on tine. This is said to minimise the collection of grass on the fixing point, along with the fact that should an inner tine break; you don’t need to remove the three outer tines to replace the broken one. Round tube steel is used for the tine arms held in place with a lynchpin-type set-up, which is good for when you want to put the machine into a shed, as you can carry tine arms on the frame to decrease the overall height.

Piako Tractors is the largest supplier of Massey Ferguson product in the North Island

Test

Collecting the demo rake from Piako Tractors in Morrinsville with the Massey Ferguson 7718 tractor, they sure looked sharp together, although, we may have been a little overpowered with the 180hp tractor. On the road, it towed well and comes as standard with safety panels and road lighting. The forward-facing white marker lights come in handy getting through gateways after dark. Safety chains attach the rake to the tractor at the top linkage point as an extra safety precaution.

Being two-point linkage mounted, you get the manoeuvrability there as well as the ‘steer guard’ system, which operates steering of the rake wheels. The beauty of this system is that it’s protected within the frame, with minimal moving parts for long term reliability.

Farmers 80-100hp tractor would be fine for this job, but you can never have too much hp

With two small jobs lined up for our test day, there were a few rows to be made so we could check out the functionality of the MF rake. The first job was quite a heavy crop and needed a little extra wilting with the rake set most of the way in we could turn two rows right over to form one to allow the grass that was on the ground some air and sun to wilt before baling. The baler driver wasn’t so chuffed at having to weave his rows more than usual to fill the bale chamber and give an even bale. Our second job was a lighter cut with a greater degree of wilting, which gave us the opportunity to extend the rake out to take in three mower widths from the 3.1-metre mower – conditioned and left in tidy swaths. It was noted that at whatever width we ran it at, the Massey Ferguson rake left a nice uniform row for the baler and clean paddock behind it.

Pro versions have heavier-duty gearbox components on rotors

I liked what they call the jet effect of the two rotors. As you may have guessed, this drops the rear boggie wheels of each rotor, like a jet plane landing, to minimise damage to rotor tines and prevent extra dirt from being thrown into the rows should the front drop first. One of the improvements with the TRC-PRO model of rakes is its heavier drives, so it should handle the not-so-smooth paddocks that are sometimes offered up for mowing and baling. That being said, there were a couple of spots in one paddock when we were testing that need the rotor spike or something to level them out, which the rake did not like; having to row around the lumps and hollows and still having to lift the rotors to stop the slip clutches going off, which I thought was understandable.

Summary

In terms of the job done, nice rows for the baler, paddocks clean of cut grass it was hard to fault the Massey Ferguson rake. In relation to useability, it also scored highly in my opinion: it’s easy to get underway with basic set-up and operation. These rakes would be well suited to a contractor or large-scale farmer to row up in front of small to large square and round balers.

Plenty of lift to clear rows on headland

With the price of steel having gone up significantly in the last while, it’s priced somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000, so it takes a fair amount of bales to make to get a return on your investment, but the same applies to most quality ag machinery. However, as all farmers and contractors will no doubt agree, having good-quality gear that’s reliable and performs well is a worthwhile investment that enables getting the job done in tight time frames around unpredictable weather.

Massey Ferguson RK 802 TRC Pro specifiactions

Working width	7-8m
Swath width	1.2-2m
Hydraulic requirements	2 sets of rear remotes
Mounting	2-point linkage with safety chains
Rotors	2
Arms/rotor	12
Tines/arm	4
PTO speed	420–480rpm 540 max