Suggestions finding the right tedder

[Hay Dude]

I am selling my Pequea TT-6100. It teds about 26’ wide.
My disc cutters cut about 11’ each, so I cut about 20’ wide per pass (there’s a littlew overlap between mowers)
I like to “lay out” my hay as wide as possible to get it to dry, so 26’ is a tough working width.

Also, I find the Pequea tedder I have to be terrible to pull down the road. It’s very squirrelly. It borders on being dangerous.
In fact, Pequea must have listened to me because they redesigned their new tedder to be much more stable.

Esch makes a 20’ tedder, which I could live with, but no road transportation wheels, just the tiny tires.
A new 30’+ tedder is $35,000 and I don’t want to spend that kind of coin on something that I don’t need to use very much.

Thoughts on a possible replacement?

I’m thinking about a used 30’+, but wondered if anyone made a 20’ tedder that is stable towed down the road?

 

[Farmer495]

I would buy a Kubota one again.

I have a 4 rotor one (17' 1") now and I am very happy with it. It has smaller tires but roads fine. I actually pulled it home from the dealership with a pickup.

Kubota has a 24' 11" model. TE6576CD, that model has the larger transport wheels and all.

 

[Hay Dude]

That would put me right back in the same problem/situation. The size would be wrong.
I need a 20’+ or 30’+ tedder. My mowers cut 10’ wide and I want to keep the crop spread out 10’ wide

 

[Farmer495]

That would put me right back in the same problem/situation. The size would be wrong.
I need a 20’+ or 30’+ tedder. My mowers cut 10’ wide and I want to keep the crop spread out 10’ wide

I'm in the same boat if I get a bigger mower, I can do three small swaths perfectly, tractor tires never drive on the untedded hay first pass.

I used to run a small two rotor, did a swath and a half at time. Might be an option, not sure how often you ted, but the price jump from the 4 rotor is huge when you jump up to 6 and 8 rotor models.

Orange 30 & 40

 

[LHF2019]

I will recommend Pequea all day long. Move up to the 8 rotor if wanting wider. I haven't had the same issues yet with my tedder on the road. The road locks are much better now. No cables, all linkage now. They have drastically beefed up the entire tedder as well as sped up the gearbox 23%. During my ordeal I would have taken the Pequea owner's offer and upgraded my tedder had I been in a better position financially and it wasn't such a poor hay year.

Pictures I took of the tedder before returning. Compare with your tedder. I could feel the weight difference. There was nothing I didn't like about the new models. I would challenge you to find a heavier built one.

 

[Hay Dude]

I don’t get nearly the rain you do (or so it seems). Not much 3rd cutting done here, either.

I use a tedder just a handful of times per year, so although heavy built is always preferred, I don’t think I need one built like my Pequea. No doubt the Pequea was built heavy, but going down the road, I was worried I would damage a car or worse….

I do think the new Pequea looks great, much better road gear.
But IMO, it’s crazy to spend almost $30,000 on a hay tool that gets used maybe 5 times per year.
I had even thought about renting one, since it just sits so much.

I did find one of the Italian named tedders. More lightly built. They make about a 30’ tedder and it had road gear. There was one on FBM, but I couldn’t buy it because mine hadn’t sold yet. Maybe it was Enrossi or Tunutti?

I might actually go to a 20’ esche tedder and just do more passes. A new 20’ tedder is $10K. A new 30’ tedder is $30K.
For $20K, an extra pass might be worth the cost. However, there’s the roading. I don’t see those tiny tires being very stable at road speeds.


Anyway, the Pequea TT6100 went out the farm driveway for the last time yesterday. Now it’s on to figuring out my next tedder….who knows, might be another Pequea.

Please keep the topic/suggestions going.

 

[Hay Dude]

I'm in the same boat if I get a bigger mower, I can do three small swaths perfectly, tractor tires never drive on the untedded hay first pass.

I used to run a small two rotor, did a swath and a half at time. Might be an option, not sure how often you ted, but the price jump from the 4 rotor is huge when you jump up to 6 and 8 rotor models.

Orange 30 & 40

View attachment 1690899View attachment 1690900

Yeah those are 35 grand.
I don’t even want to spend 35 grand on a tractor, not to mention a tedder.

I’ll probably be buying something used, but it needs to tedder 20’ or 30’, not 26’ or 35’.

 

[LHF2019]

Rereading this. I see what you’re trying to do. You’re not going to find a 20’ with road gear. Your saying the pequea did not spread it nicely due to your mower width? I wonder if smaller but more rotors would solve your issue. Kuhn has a bunch of diagrams in their literature that might be of assistance in see available options.

 

[Farmer495]

Yeah those are 35 grand.
I don’t even want to spend 35 grand on a tractor, not to mention a tedder.

I’ll probably be buying something used, but it needs to tedder 20’ or 30’, not 26’ or 35’.

Used market might have better pricing options for sure.

Kuhn

 

[Farmer495]

I don’t get nearly the rain you do (or so it seems). Not much 3rd cutting done here, either.

I use a tedder just a handful of times per year, so although heavy built is always preferred, I don’t think I need one built like my Pequea. No doubt the Pequea was built heavy, but going down the road, I was worried I would damage a car or worse….

I do think the new Pequea looks great, much better road gear.
But IMO, it’s crazy to spend almost $30,000 on a hay tool that gets used maybe 5 times per year.
I had even thought about renting one, since it just sits so much.

I did find one of the Italian named tedders. More lightly built. They make about a 30’ tedder and it had road gear. There was one on FBM, but I couldn’t buy it because mine hadn’t sold yet. Maybe it was Enrossi or Tunutti?

I might actually go to a 20’ esche tedder and just do more passes. A new 20’ tedder is $10K. A new 30’ tedder is $30K.
For $20K, an extra pass might be worth the cost. However, there’s the roading. I don’t see those tiny tires being very stable at road speeds.


Anyway, the Pequea TT6100 went out the farm driveway for the last time yesterday. Now it’s on to figuring out my next tedder….who knows, might be another Pequea.

Please keep the topic/suggestions going.

For 10k and very little use you can make a few extra passes. I am actually tedding 20 feet of hay with my 17 footer the way my swathes lay. 10 acres an hour travelling 5 MPH.

The Italians build a lot of hay gear, some gets badge engineered. I know both Agco and NH badge engineered some Italian hay gear, might be worth looking at for lower use.