Tedders cause more leaf loss than rakes, especially in alfalfa hay, which is partially dry. However, tedders do allow for a quicker drying rate because of the wide swath in which the hay is placed.
Simply so, What is a hay Turner called? A tedder (also called hay tedder) is a machine used in haymaking. It is used after cutting and before windrowing, and uses moving forks to aerate or « wuffle » the hay and thus speed up the process of hay-making.
Can you bale hay without a tedder? “In warmer, dryer parts of the country, hay producers can get by without owning a tedder. The ground is dryer, so the crop on the bottom of the windrow typically isn’t being exposed to additional moisture,” Vrieze said.
Subsequently, How do I know if my hay is dry enough to bale?
How many times should you turn hay?
Hay should be cut when dry at the end of a sunny day when sugar levels are at their highest and tedded immediately after cutting. In good weather the grass is tedded twice daily and in very good sunny, breezy weather haymaking should be achieved in 3 to 4 days.
What is Ted hay? A traditional European technique, tedding is the process used by growers to cure mown hay, particularly in cooler climates where drying hay thoroughly can be a challenge. Tedding speeds up drying of hay and other forage through physical manipulation: Mixing helps rotate dry grass with green.
Can you Ted hay too much?
Tedding increases drying rates with only a 1 to 3 percent loss in yield when done carefully. Tedding performed on hay with less than 40 percent moisture, however, causes leaf losses; the lower the moisture percentage, the greater the losses. Tedding dry hay can result in losses of 20 percent or more.
What is a basket tedder? Tedders speed up the curing time for forage by spreading a windrow across the field’s surface. Tedders stir and fluff the forage to aerate the swath and allow sunlight to dry it out more uniformly.
Can you Ted hay with a rotary rake?
The rotary rake will speed drying but by a limited amount. If you need to ted three days in a row you can do that a lot easier than re-raking in an attempt to fluff your hay back up.
What do you do with hay that got rained on? With severely rain damaged hay, it may better to leave it on the field, chop it up with a rotary mower to speed decomposition and minimize shading of the next crop.
Do you tedder alfalfa?
To dry quickly, alfalfa should be laid in as wide a swath as possible, Undersander says, and tedders will do that. Tedding alfalfa shortly after cutting, when the crop is typically about 75% water, helps minimize leaf loss. Once that level drops below 65%, leaves are too likely to shatter if tedded.
Can you cut and bale hay the same day? In a trial at the University of Wisconsin Arlington Research Station (Figure 2) where alfalfa was put into a wide swath it reached 65 percent moisture in about eight hours and could be harvested for haylage the same day as cutting.
How many days does hay need to dry?
It basically takes about three days of good weather to cure hay. This can be a challenge in late May or early June. A good strategy is to mow just before or right after a rain, because of the likelihood of good weather for the next few days.
Can hay dry in two days?
Proper dry matter content for chopping haylage can often be achieved within 24 hours as compared to three to four days for dry hay.
What time of day is best to cut hay? Though starches and simple sugars accumulate during the day, a substantial amount of these carbohydrates are used up during the night for growth and maintenance (via the processes of respiration). Therefore, cutting the crop at night will likely maximize the sugar in the crop, at least at the time of cutting.
When should I cut my hay?
On average the entire process of mowing, raking and baling hay takes 3 days—in good weather. Therefore, pastures should be cut when a window of at least 3 days of sunny, dry, hot weather can be expected. Some farmers cut on the last day of a rainy spell in order to maximize the number of hours of drying time.
Can you tedder alfalfa?
Tedders are commonly used to spread out grasses and speed drying. But many growers won’t use them on alfalfa. If the hay is too dry, tedding can knock off leaves, which robs the crop of much of its protein. … Tedding alfalfa shortly after cutting, when the crop is typically about 75% water, helps minimize leaf loss.
Can you windrow hay with a tedder? To work effectively, you would want a tedder that could cover two windrows at a time–23′ (and a little more) and be able to blow it out over the whole 30′. Now, since your hay is spread over 30′, you would want a rake that could reach as close to 30′ as possible. My 10’6″ mower drops windrows about 8′ wide.
How does a tedder work?
Tedders use a rotary motion to grab the hay with spinning tines and cast it out the back of the machine. Because tines are the only part of the machine to come into contact with the hay, the type of tine used can greatly impact machine performance, dry down time and machine maintenance.
What does a tedder look like?
How do you adjust a hay Tedder?
What is a belt rake? The Belt Rake—An Exceptional Choice for Small-Farm Hay Production. … A belt rake works by moving a series of tines perpendicular to the tractor’s direction of travel, just above the ground surface. The tines are mounted to two large belts that are driven by the tractor’s PTO.
How do you do a Ted hay with a wheel rake?
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