Donate a hay rake or tedder, ideally with the rest of the outfit

Where these come from

Small hay producers and horse properties that stopped making their own hay, which is the most common story across the whole hay category.

Farms dispersing a complete outfit: mower conditioner, tedder, rake and baler all at once. That is the best version of this donation and the one we would encourage.

Estates, and producers who upgraded to a larger rotary rake and no longer need the old wheel rake.

The cheapest farm haul there is

Folded into transport position, a rake or tedder is small, light and rides on a tilt-deck trailer, or alongside something larger. It does not need to be operable.

Tell us whether it folds and whether the wheels roll, and whether it has a PTO driveline if it is a powered tedder.

The most useful thing you can do here is group it. If you have other hay equipment going, list all of it on one form. This category is where a single-item pickup makes the least sense and a grouped pickup makes the most.

What decides what one brings

• Type. Wheel rake, rotary rake, bar rake or rotary tedder. Rotary rakes are worth more than wheel rakes.
• Working width and number of wheels or rotors. The defining spec.
• Tine condition. Missing and bent tines are normal and replaceable. A count of how many are missing is more useful than a description.
• Frame and hitch condition. Bent arms, a cracked frame or a worn hitch are the faults that matter.
• Whether it folds. A folding transport position is expected on a wide machine and a seized fold is a deduction.

Makes we accept

Buyers filter on brand and working width.

• Rakes: Vermeer VR and R23, Kuhn SR and GA, Sitrex, New Holland Rolabar 256 and 258, John Deere 700 and 800 series, H&S, Darf, Rowse, Frontier, Pequea.
• Tedders: Kuhn GF and GA, Krone KW, Claas Volto, Sitrex, Pequea, Enorossi, Galfre, H&S, First Choice.
• Also seen: Massey Ferguson and Hesston rakes, Farmhand, Gehl, IH and older bar rakes of all makes.

Manufacturer names appear here so you can find your own machine. No manufacturer sponsors, endorses or is affiliated with this program.

The paperwork, and what you can deduct

Farm equipment is not titled. Ownership is established with the purchase invoice, a bill of sale, a farm asset record, or a lien release if it was financed. Find the serial plate and photograph it. If the machine is part of an estate or a farm partnership, whoever signs needs authority to sign for it.

Giving Center sells the implement and your deduction is the gross sale proceeds on Form 1098-C. Implements in this class commonly sell between $500 and $5,000, where Form 8283 Section A applies and no appraisal is required. Older or heavily worn examples fall under $500, where the deduction is the lesser of fair market value or $500 and we send a written acknowledgment rather than a Form 1098-C. If you donate several implements together each is itemized, and similar items are grouped for the IRS reporting thresholds.

Honest framing for this category specifically: a single older wheel rake will most likely produce a deduction under $500. It is still worth donating if you want it gone and the value to go somewhere useful, and it is genuinely worth adding to a pickup that is already happening. Most farm equipment is a depreciated business asset, which makes a conversation with your accountant worth having before the pickup. Farm business property follows different rules than a personal donation.