# What Kind Of Tedder To Buy?



## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

I,m Looking for a Used tedder...What type of tedder will do the job and not break the bank.

I have 40 acres of hay, But I just do 20 acres at a time

I have a Kuhn Rake #GA4120...

Thanks


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

are these any good?


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## johndeerefarmer (Jun 22, 2009)

That's not a tedder, it's a side delivery rake.
A tedder is used for fluffing up and spreading out the cut hay. A rake is used for raking it into windrows so that you can bale it.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

johndeerefarmer said:


> That's not a tedder, it's a side delivery rake.
> A tedder is used for fluffing up and spreading out the cut hay. A rake is used for raking it into windrows so that you can bale it.


Like I say I have a rake...they are advertising that rake as a tedder

I have never used a tedder

Any suggestions on tedders?


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

I found another 1 Its call a H&S Haymachine 2

Any of you guys hear about them? they wany 2900 for It
http://www.hsmfgco.com/teddermain.cfm
Its the machine right on the bottom


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## johndeerefarmer (Jun 22, 2009)

We don't use them here in Texas but Kuhn makes the Gyrotedders that are heavy duty.

If you can get by with a light duty one, look at Rossi, Lely, Fella, Morra or Sitrex. They are all (I believe) manufactured by the same company.

I have not heard of the one that you just mentioned.

This guys sells several different brands:

Carter and Carter Machinery, Hay Equipment Headquarters


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## Krone (May 27, 2009)

Don't forget to look at Krone.


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## Hayboy1 (Jul 19, 2008)

I just saw a Krone tedder for the first time the other day, nice looking tedder, and built well. But I am partial to the Pequea only because I bought one. They are not the cheapest and I believe that Frontier (JD) is now painting them green and selling them as their own line now. It is definetly the heaviest built tedder you will find out there right now and it does a heck of a nice job. I have some pics on here in the photo gallery if you want to see it. Or you can our website as well, there are pics of it on there too. Good luck


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## Greyhorse (Jun 22, 2009)

I got a 10' from these guys. Welcome to UFI INFO at www.ufi-info.com Seems to be the same as Sitrex and several others, seems to be pretty well made. Only problem I've had was a weld broke on the bracket the adjustment crank goes on, welded it back and it should be better than new now.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

Would This Tedder rake 3 rows?

Do you ever drive inetween rows or do you allways stradel 1 row

Thanks


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

That might work, it all depends on the size of your mower. Most of the time, a four basket tedder will cover 2 rows if a 9' mower is used or a row and a half on 12 or 13 foot mowers. I use a NH 169 that is a six basket tedder and it was built to ted three 9' rows. Right now I have a 12' haybine and will be trading very shortly for a 13' foot discbine and the six basket tedder works jsut fine with either machine.

Personally and depending how much you want to spend, for 40 acres a 2 basket tedder will get you by just fine. I say this as I used to ted 150+ acres with a two basket tedder, start earlier and drive faster, it gets done.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

mlappin said:


> That might work, it all depends on the size of your mower. Most of the time, a four basket tedder will cover 2 rows if a 9' mower is used or a row and a half on 12 or 13 foot mowers. I use a NH 169 that is a six basket tedder and it was built to ted three 9' rows. Right now I have a 12' haybine and will be trading very shortly for a 13' foot discbine and the six basket tedder works jsut fine with either machine.
> 
> Personally and depending how much you want to spend, for 40 acres a 2 basket tedder will get you by just fine. I say this as I used to ted 150+ acres with a two basket tedder, start earlier and drive faster, it gets done.


Thanks....My Discbine Cuts 10'-4"
I have a Kuhn dealer near by willing to give me a good deal on a new one
What If any Is the advantage of a trailed unit to a 3ph unit?

Looking at the GF 5202 OR THE GF 5001 Or maybe just the 2 basket.??







...It would be alot cheaper


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

10' huh? I'm not sure if a four basket would get both rows if you had them laid out wide. Once upon a time I did measure from outside of one row to the outside of the next so I would know how wide a tedder I would really need. The manufacturer really should be able to tell you if the ones you are looking at would work or not. I think Claas or Krone even had a chart once upon a time so you could match your mower to a tedder.

I've never owned a three point model before but I would think a trailed is much easir to hook up. The only drawback to a two basket tedder is if the hay is raked and gets rained on, I've found sometimes more than one pass is required to get that row broke up and spread out nicely where a four basket will usually get it the first time.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

Yaa my D bine Is a 1411 NewHolland 10-4" ...I hear Yaa on the 3ph hook up can be a bit of a pain sometimes with other equip..... so maybe the trailed would be the way to go If I get a 4 basket

I have never used a Tedder....and I'm always just making It to get the time In that I'm at 15% moisture
Its tough up north here to get 4 straight days of sun


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Daner said:


> I have never used a Tedder....and I'm always just making It to get the time In that I'm at 15% moisture
> Its tough up north here to get 4 straight days of sun


4 days huh? I can't guarantee it, but with the proper use of a tedder, you can prolly shave at least a day of your drying time.

I normally start mowing about 9 or so after the dew has started to burn off, then ted it the next morning about the same time then if it's a good drying day, I can be baling by that afternoon.

This spring has been so wet though, I've either had to reted it the third morning because of dew, or on some of the fields with heavier ground, I've been laying the rows out narrow and letting the ground dry out between them and ted it the third morning and most of the time get it baled that afternoon.

Fluffing the rows up and spreading it out can make all the difference between making good hay and getting it rained on for a week.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

If I do just 20 acres at a time, Do you think a 4 basket Tedder Is a over kill?
And I should be looking for a twin basket Tedder??

There,s not too many used 4 basket tedders around here...But there are a few 2 basket tedders

What speed do you Ted at...and how long would It take to do 20 acres...roughly with the small Tedder ???

Thanks


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## Greyhorse (Jun 22, 2009)

It takes me a little less than 1.5 hours to do 10 acres with the two basket, so around 3 for 20 acres. I could go a little faster but my field is rough where hogs have been in it, this is coastal bermuda.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Daner said:


> If I do just 20 acres at a time, Do you think a 4 basket Tedder Is a over kill?
> And I should be looking for a twin basket Tedder??
> 
> There,s not too many used 4 basket tedders around here...But there are a few 2 basket tedders
> ...


It's been several years since I used that two basket so I can't recall exactly how long it took. But I could almost always ted faster than I could mow, but I'm using a twelve foot haybine yet. I usually mowed at 6-6.5 mph and could ted up to nine mile an hour.

_If_ you can justify the cost and find one, I would certainly go with the four basket. The two basket was just a suggestion. If the two baskets are cheap enough you could always buy one of those and use it until a four basket could be located then sell it. I just sold my NH trailed two basket tedder this spring to a neighbor for $200 more than I paid for it 5 or 6 years ago. Course I bought it from an older gentleman that only had fourteen acres of hay and rarely used it. I bought it, used it 2 or 3 seasons then it's sat in the barn for the 3 seasons ever since I bought the six basket tedder.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

Going back to a question about the 4 basket machine....My back tires on my tractor span across 7'
If I drive In Between the rows with a 4 basket tedder, my back tires will be on the windrows....not by much...maybe1 foot max for a 4 foot windrow...but I will have to drive on the hay a bit...Is this Ok?

I was just thinking a good Idea would be If the Tedder was off set to the right, then you could straddle 1 windrow and ted the 2 right out side rows.

If the unit Is a trailed model could you offset the draw bar over to one side and straddle one row?

My biggest concern Is driving on the hay


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## hayfarmer (Nov 9, 2008)

I have used the Fella tedder for the last six years. It has been very dependable. Its design will make it easy to repair and work on. I tedder three to four times before baling, so I use my tedder rake more than any other hay equipment. Bermuda grass is very hardy and is not damaged by the teddering. In south Louisiana we fight extremely high humidity. Most of the times, we only have three days to get the cutting in.
The kuhn tedder seems to be a better unit than what it was several years ago. 
Parts and service avaiblity should also be considered.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

You don't have to be concerned with driving on the hay right in front of the tedder. You'll have to set the thing so that the teeth of the tedder just pick all of the hay off the ground, yet not hit the ground. The big deal with driving on the hay is that if you would drive it down today, and then not look at it for 2-3 days, the stuff you drove over and packed to the ground wouldn't be near as dry. But if you're going to move the hay right after you drive on it, that's fine. I've never used a 2 rotor tedder. The 4 rotor tedder won't be much of an advantage if it won't do 2 rows out of your haybine. If you can only do 1.5, you always have to guess (and maybe miss) some of the hay on the half of a row. I like it when you have a machine that will do 2 rows out of the haybine. That makes for easy math, and you don't always have to guess where the tedder was at on the previous round.

The first picture you had was a side delivery rake, and it must have been a hydraulically driven one - if they are run in reverse, some guys claim that they are 'tedding' with them.

Rodney


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

If I cut with my 10'-4" Discbine and leave a 4' windrow there should be 6' 1n between windrows
If my math Is right the 2 windrows should be 14' wide ,from outside to outside
so a 17', 4 basket tedder should catch all the hay In Its path ,so It would be an advantage


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

That math looks correct to me, and the 4 rotor will have the tedding done about twice as fast as a 2 rotor.

Rodney


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I picked up a Vermeer TR90 tedder/rake combo. When my side delivery rake broke I was happy I had it. It does a good job for both functions and I'm pretty pleased with it.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

There's a Sitrex 19' 4 basket up for sale now

If my math Is right cutting with a 10'-6" D bine and If I drive right down the middle of the 2 rows The center of the baskets should be about bang on

Any of you guys have any experience with Sitrex??

What rpm do you ted at?

Thanks for the tips guys......much appreciated


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I've yet to own a Sitrex tedder, but my HT154 rake was made by Sitrex for New Holland and just has the New Holland paint on it. I'm not sure if anybody else has this problem, but I've complained two years in a row now to the local dealer about the paint going to hell already on the rake. I bought it brand new in 2004, and it's been shedded between cuttings and gets put away immediately after raking the last bit of hay in the fall. It would be one thing if its sat outside it's entire life, but it hasn't and I'm not happy about it at all. If I wanted a faded out rake with crappy paint, I'd bought a used one. I told the dealer if I don't get a answer very shortly, I can guarantee the next will most likely be a Tonutti as they are powder coated and anybody that will listen is gonna hear about my displeasure with the paint on the NH rake..


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

I'm looking at another that Is for sale now

Its a toss up between the Sitrex 58 = 19' overall
Claas 52 = 17' 0verall

The claas Is a 3ph almost brand new The Sitrex Is about 3-4 yrs old


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## Hayguy (Jun 4, 2008)

I've had a Rossi for 4 yrs. Not very heavy duty, lots of repairs. The rotor arms are flat 1/2 bars compared to the thick walled pipe on some heavier units. I've welded or replaced many of these arms- they always break right at the outside mounting bolt. I just finished repairing the frame that holds the adjustment crank, and was shocked that anyone would use that thin of square tubing on a structural member. I haven't had any experience with a 3pt unit, but I think it would be an advantage to be able to pick the unit up out of the hay on the ends and when making sharp turns. A pull behind unit will leave a barespot when making a tight turn and pile some hay on top of previosly tedded hay.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

Thanks for your help on this guys...Today Is Canada here and every thing Is closed...but tomorrow I'm going to take a run up north and check out that Claas...Looks like a nice machine and I think the 17' will suit me better than the 19' Sitrex...the windrows from the mower will be more centered between the baskets...and like Hayguy was pointing out the 3ph will be easier to move around
This Is The Class I'm going to see.


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## Ridgerunner (Jul 10, 2009)

Just remember that you will break/lose tines and the hardware that attaches them. Check the availability and cost of these parts. If you have to special order them, they can be VERY expensive. I have a fransgard tedder that is extremely heavy duty but due to the rolling land in my area, I am always hitting the ground with the tines. I am looking into modifying it to use New Holland tines just so I won't have order the expensive fransgard stuff.

Overall I can't complain because I bought it used for $400 and except for the tines, it has never failed.


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## Daner (Jun 18, 2008)

Hey guys I ended up buying that Claas In the picture above....they threw In a extra tyne just In case I do break one.
I'm very happy with It...and It dident take long to get the hang of It....Fast Fast
I run It at a bout 1800 rpms C range 3rd and 4rth gear

I cut all the outsides of my fields 6 rows wide...then Tedded and raked ended up with 5 rows to bale...Its the way to go Cut ,Ted ,Rake and bale...I also wonder how I did hay without this machine

Cheers


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## KJohns (Jul 29, 2008)

My only suggestion is if you get a used tedder and it folds up instead of behind, fold it up then fold it back to go to the field and if it isn't hooked up to a tractor take two different baskets that are side by side and turn them toward each other and see if the fingers touch. If they do run away from that thing quickly. As my father-in-law told me once there is no such thing as a good used tedder. Unless you borrowed it from a friend and used it a while then bought it.


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