# How do you use your tedder?



## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Have used a tedder to fluff, spread out, and dry rained on hay a couple of times. It is a great tool for that.

I would like to hear how a tedder is used on a regular basis for making dry hay. Here is a list of some of the specific situations, needs, goals and conditions I would like to learn about.

Location is eastern Missouri a little north of St. Louis. Use a 9.5ft. mower conditioner, V shaped wheel rake, and round and small square bales. Bale alfalfa grass mix and mixed grass (mostly fescue) hay.

Some of the fescue hay is really rough ground. Steep hills and uneven ground.

Timing of tedder pass?

Will tedder pass improve drying enough to consistently bale a day earlier?

If tedded will the unraked hay in the middle of a V rake need turned (kicker wheels never seem to do enough).

Raking a wide (5ft plus) and even windrow for the round baler.

Cost of an extra pass vs. better drying.

Any thoughts and responses are appreciated. Thanks.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

This is probably going to be in the minority, but I usually let hay dry several hours (or even next morning for hay mowed past midday the day before) before tedding. This is all grass hay.

Reasoning: This allows some of the soil moisture to dry. If you ted immediately behind the mower, it will trap your soil moisture. 
Also tedding once the top layer of the hay in the swath starts to dry a bit creates a much fluffier bed of tedded hay as sopping wet green hay lays back down immediately and gets no air in it. That heavy mat of hay will surely need fluffed again.

BUT these things are all dependent on whether you have sunny drying conditions vs breezy drying conditions. Wet ground vs dry ground. Rain coming in two days vs three.

Some cuttings the theory with running the tedder is just to start early and ted your brains out.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

JMT said:


> Location is eastern Missouri a little north of St. Louis. Use a 9.5ft. mower conditioner, V shaped wheel rake, and round and small square bales. Bale alfalfa grass mix and mixed grass (mostly fescue) hay.
> 
> Some of the fescue hay is really rough ground. Steep hills and uneven ground.
> 
> ...


You're in my area. I'm in southern Calhoun, north of St. Peters; Where are you?

Alfalfa gets tedded withing 12 hours of mowing; orchard grass about 24 hours, depending on cutting.

I don't always get a day improvement in drying time, but it certainly reduces it!

I don't have a problem with the hay under the V of the rake. My baler pickups get it all--I think the hay on top helps grab that which is not raked.

I've got my V rake set up to give me two Twinkies laying side by side. Makes round baling a piece of cake. No weaving, nicely formed bales, slight dip in center of bale for shedding.

I ted with a little JD 4710 compact tractor and 4 basket tedder. Can do about 10 acres/hour on moderately rough ground. Definitely worth it!

Hope this helps...

Ralph


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

I do the same basic thing as 8530, if I mow the evening before I shake it out around 9-10 in the morning after the dew has mostly burned off. No sense spreading it onto wet ground. If I mow first thing in the morning I'll shake it out that afternoon. This is with a discbine, when I just had a disc mower I'd shake it out right when I mowed. I don't ted my haylege. That seems to be a 50/50 split around here. My brother and I don't, my father does, and a couple other older farmers I know do as well.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

same as HiTech, I mow one day, ted the next morning with a little dew still on the hay, rake that afternoon and bale.

I've tried the tedding the same day as mowing here, just doesn't gain me much if anything.

I've tedded one half of a field 3-4 hours after mowing, then the other half the next morning. Stuff tedded next day was dry before stuff tedded after mowing. Tried tedding directly after mowing, then the other half next morning. Same results, stuff tedded morning of second day was ready first.

My theory is here in my area is by tedding the second morning I'm knocking some of the dew off with the tedder so its starts drying sooner, its also had the day before to dry out some and is dryer the second morning even with dew so while tedding the tedder tends to leave it fluffier which allows more air to flow thru the hay which leads to quicker drying.

This has worked for me here for years with both stock conditioning rolls and the Circle C's I run now.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

If I mow in the morning well up into the day there is not usually enough hot sun left for a tedding to benefit it seems. I tried it once and by the time I finished tedding it was late afternoon and the dew at night weighted it down so I had to Ted again in the next morning anyway.....the first tedding didn't seem to benefit me. If I could have someone following the mower with the tedder that might be different though. If I mow late in the evening up till dark I still Ted the next morning.....the hay doesn't seem to dry overnight so it is almost like tedding after mowing. So the short answer is I Ted the morning after mowing regardless of what time I mow the previous day. Unless it is heavy hay on wet ground I don't Ted but once.....if I have to Ted a second time like last year it will be the morning after the first tedding. Do I think I save a day of drying time by tedding.....absolutely.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Thats another thing as well thats been mentioned several times, wet ground. Standard operating procedure around here on the heavier soils is to mow but make your row narrow to expose more ground to the sunlight so it drys some. I've had ground wet enough I've mowed then let it sit several days in narrow row so the ground could dry some then tedded it out.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

We do it a little different. We only ted if we are doing square bales and ted usually right in front of the rakes if we have the extra help or we ted that morning and as soon as it's time to start square baling, around lunch time, we start baling. We really don't have a drying problem. Mostly ted to get the even color distribution in the bales. A square bale looks like crap if it hasn't been teddered. Still the same stuff as non teddered hay but it turns off what we call the "trail ridders"


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I usually wait until the top layer of grass has started to dry. Then it is not quite as heavy and seems to fluff up better.

I can see where tending right behind the mower would also help. My goal is to allow the air to circulate through out the hay as it cures.


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