# NH 254 Rake/Tedder Good Machine



## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

Hey guys i've been wanting to pick up another rake for spare and also been looking for a 2 star tedder, to upgrade from my HS 8 fluffer/tedder. I have yet to go look at the NH 254 but guy only wants 500, everything else he has for sale is super cheap, it's an older gentleman getting out of farming. I know the one farmer out the rd. has 2 of the NH 254 they love um and have been using them for years, i guess they let one set up to rake and one to ted, i figure this would be nice to have for me being a small timer atleast i have the option as a back up for a tedder and rake all in one. I have a NH 56 rolabar right now and it does well for what i'm doing, i do loose some 2nd and 3rd cut on the OG hay.

What's you guys' take on a small time hay maker for myself think of this NH 254 being worth it even if it needs some work? Cheapest one i've saw was $1500.00


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## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

I've never been a big fan of combination units! They typically will do both jobs adequately, but neither job real well! Two drawbacks that come to mind are that it would be narrow when used as a tedder, and would be difficult at best if not impossible to double windrows, when raking, as it delivers to the center. A friend had one, and traded it off for a pre-owned JD roll-a-bar rake & a pre-owned Kuhn 4 srar tedder. One other issue that may bother some is that they are 3 point hitch.
JMHO, HTH, Dave


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

I just talked to guy it's a NH 255. He was telling me it works great been using it the last 2 years and loves it compared to his rolabar. He said you can adjust it so wide that it will throw 2 rows in to one? Says it's teds great, like i said i only have about 10ac of my own to ted and additonal 2 acs i picked up out the road. All just grass hay, and i have done 2nd cut on a neighbors 20 ac timothy field that usually come up w/ grass/foxtail for a 2nd cut. Problem i have with my rolabar is i loose a lot of the fine grass in my 2nd and 3rd cut O grass fields.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

Welp, i paid for it this morning got it for $550.00, and thing looks mint. Paints not even faded on the things nor did it appear the tines were even wore. I believe i got myself a good deal, i think it should work good for my small operation.

If you any you all have had any experience with this please let me know some pro's and cons.

Thanks


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

If its in good shape, just use it careful. Search google for rodinns, nh 254, and ytmag and you'll get a blow by blow of all the repair points on a heavily used one.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

Yea, i'm up in the air, i guess it can't hurt to try out this summer and see what happens. Guy i bought from liked it alot and neighbors out the rd do way more hay then i do. I'm thinking as new as this one looks, i'm hoping it will work well for me once i get it figured it out. I always have the NH 56 and my HS 8 Fluffer/Tedder to fall back on, but at same time if i sold it for what it's worth i could probably pick up a 2 star tedder. Welp time will tell, once i get it home i will check it out a little more and go over the manual. Thanks guys


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

You should like it, Hope you have an owners manual as there are a number of hints in it.

The height adjustments are made with a pin through a hole system. No problem as long as you can get the adjustments you need one inche at a time. 
The pin that goes through the holes I used a grinder on so it had a point rather than square. I also kept one extra arm for each side, as it takes time to replace the little wheel & bearings in each arm.

Don't neglect the grease.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

Yep, i got the owners manual, i've been looking it over, seem like a lot to learn with it. I will post a picture once i get it home saturday hopfully.

I'm pretty good about keeping up with the grease, i usually go every piece every time i go to use it. And i'm only ever doing a few acres at a time.

Am i right when i looked a parts diagram at Messics that the arms you are talking about are just a little over 100 bucks? Lots of parts haha.

Dang shame Hay Making is still 6 months away or better.


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## cmd (Oct 26, 2012)

I have one and have for awhile. Read the owners manual and obey the PTO speed limits, that is the most important thing you can do. Watch the roll pins that hold the arms in, mine will get replaced with bolts before this season starts. They are an awesome rake, so so tedder. You will want to lower the wheels to angle it more forward when using the aggressive tedd. Soft tedd is barely worth your time and wears on the rollers more so I don't use it. You cannot merge windrows, that is the worst thing, but in 1st cut I tedd everything so it doesn't matter, it will build more than enough windrow for my 326 NH baler. I just got a new 4 star tedder so I won't be using mine as much but will use it to rake with for another year. I will probably get a 9 or 11 foot rotary next year. BTW they are only like 900 lbs but they can be a handful on a small utility tractor when you lift them up and cut a hard turn. I've read all those rodinns *SP* posts on yt, I don't know what his deal is but I've hurt mine more in groundhog holes than anything. They aren't made to do 300 acres a year but they are the ticket for a small timer.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

Yea, i know i read all them to and kinda set me back a little, but i will just run it slow, check manual over, and keep and eye on what i'm doing. I came to find out there's atleast 4 other 254 and 255s in just my small valley, all have said great rakes just a little maintaince here and there and they all hay much more then i do. I have yet to see it in person but my buddy that checked it out said he checked all the bushings and it's in great shape. Now in the spring i just need to get my 30x40 equip. shed up to get all my hay equip in and out of the weather. I have all my good stuff stored in but it's tight and taking up space in my fathers pole barn and my little 24x24 pole barn.

It stinks living/haying on a hill haha.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I've been in his fields and have looked over his 254 a few years back. He's got a fair bit of ground to cover. Our ground up here is fairly rough like his and our yields are a lot higher that dry climates. Tedders get beat up quite a bit and don't last long.



cmd said:


> I've read all those rodinns *SP* posts on yt, I don't know what his deal is but I've hurt mine more in groundhog holes than anything. They aren't made to do 300 acres a year but they are the ticket for a small timer.


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## cmd (Oct 26, 2012)

slowzuki said:


> I've been in his fields and have looked over his 254 a few years back. He's got a fair bit of ground to cover. Our ground up here is fairly rough like his and our yields are a lot higher that dry climates. Tedders get beat up quite a bit and don't last long.


Here, with that small of a tedder, I would not try to do much over 10 acres a day if I was tedding it the second time, It has a small swath and just takes too long to do and we only have so many hours of good drying in a day. If your going like a bat out of hell trying to cover a pile of ground then you deserve to break it when there are much better machines out there for larger operations.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I don't think he tedded with it. Just wore out cam followers and cam tracks raking. A friend of mine had similar trouble with a small claas rotary rake. Just couldn't keep cam followers in it.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

I typically do not do more then 5 ac at a time. I'm self employeed so i dont like to take on to much at one time, due to loosing the hay if something comes up.


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## cmd (Oct 26, 2012)

Let me say this, you could not dream of owning mine for $500, it has way more value than that.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

Well that's good to hear, im going early in a.m. to pick the rake up so i will hopfully get a pic or 2 tomorrow on here at some point. Thanks all for all the great advice.


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