How many times do you ted your hay

rick n ohio · May 22, 2021

I have grass hay and usually ted it twice over a couple days anyone else do this

cole in mo · May 22, 2021

(quoted from post at 11:52:05 05/22/21) I have grass hay and usually ted it twice over a couple days anyone else do this

I also have grass hay, ted it once the afternoon I cut it that morning.

JMOR · May 22, 2021

(quoted from post at 06:52:05 05/22/21) I have grass hay and usually ted it twice over a couple days anyone else do this

s little as possible, sometimes none if drying conditions are good, because in every tedding pass, you lose some leaves. Do it enough & end up with stems only.

Keith Molden · May 22, 2021

It depends on the hay. I ted it the day I cut it then the next day, check several places in the field, especially the shaded areas. Flip a bunch over and check what's on the bottom. If it's green and wet, I ted it again. By the way, it depends a lot on what you mow it with, I use a drum mower. Keith

caterpillar guy · May 22, 2021

Don't have a tedder so never ted hay.

rick n ohio · May 22, 2021

Keith how do you like the drum mower ive heard of them but never seen one

Leroy · May 22, 2021

Been years since made hay. All depended on type of hay and then weather conditions. Good drying conditions none, expecting rain yes to try to get it dry enough to bale before the rain. And definatly after rain as many times as needed to save the hay.

stevob671 · May 22, 2021

Don't have a tedder, but do have an old conditioner and will run it over if rained on or heavy dew. Doesn't flip it as well but does fluff it up and spread it out some if raked. Only doing grass hay so leaf loss isn't a big concern.

derwen1959 · May 22, 2021

Not farming now but as already been said depends on
Weather

Keith Molden · May 22, 2021

Personally, I like it over a disc mower. There is only 2 sets of bearings to worry about versus all the sets of bearings on a disc. They do have a drawback, as they put the hay out in a windrow where a disc puts it out on several little ones. Both lets you mow as fast as you have guts to stay in the seat, but I don't cause you can never tell when you're going to hit a ground hog hole or anything else, so I like to go slow enough that I can control it. Some say they mow too close but the top link can be adjusted to mow higher and there is also another bottom that can be put on if you want the cut to be higher. Mine without the other bottom mows about 3 and that's good for me. I don't know of any that cut any more than 7', most cut a 6' swath and that's a draw back for some folks. They are heavy on transport cause they swing around and hang out the back, making some tractors light in the front where most disc mowers raise up and are closer to the rear wheels when transporting. My M6060 Kubota would handle a 7' or 8' if I could find one. Keith

DavidP,South Wales · May 22, 2021

Hi, although saucer mowers are perhaps more popular in the UK now probably down to the fact that wider machines can be made more easily I would still prefer to use a drum mower. We had a PZ CM 165, 5 6 cut on our 135. Could have done with a couple more gears on the 6-speed box. It was said that as long as you could stay in the seat you could cut hay in terms of forward speed. Worked it out once, the blades on our mower were travelling at 190 mph.
For the number of teds- when the weather was warm and settled Id cut about 7am, first ted at about 11am then do it again as soon as you could see the grass drying. All in all probably about 5 or 6 times plus rowing up with the P Z Haybob. My philosophy always keep it moving.
DavidP, South Wales

John T · May 22, 2021

Usually I only tedded once (if needed at all that is) UNLESS it got wet again grrrrrrrrrrr Obviously it depends on weather/moisture/drying conditions/sun/wind etc. WELL DUH lol

John T

rusty6 · May 22, 2021

I've never been sure what tedding hay is but I'm guessing it means raking or flipping the swaths over to dry. Luckily I rarely have to do that. Cut it with the 9 foot haybine and leave it a day or two before raking two or three swaths together to make a decent windrow that will keep the baler full. I don't like to drive like a madman with the baler on rough ground and shake everything apart so I'd rather put a good heavy swath through it at a moderate speed. Say 3 to 4 mph. But I want to be sure and get those big swaths baled before they get a soaking rain on them because then they will need to be flipped with the wheel rake to dry out.

DavidP,South Wales · May 22, 2021

I always set our mower to cut slightly nose-down. Too much up or down will leave stripes. Dont know about you folks but I would be embarrassed if I had left dtripes in a field. To me, when a field is cleared it should be clean.....not looking like a zebra!!!!! First or second high with the 135. Better to keep going consistently than in bursts. Yes, can make a small tractor light on the front but we had an 8 inch box section across the front with as many steel off-cuts as I could put in it. Also have to be careful when turning off left (in the UK) as the mower swings out. Not many car drivers have the foresight to see that that could happen.
DavidP

old · May 22, 2021

Never in the 40 years I have done hay. But I don't own a tedder either just a simple 5 bar IH rake

showcrop · May 22, 2021

Rick, in some parts of the country like here in New England there is usually so much moisture in the ground that it takes tedding twice to get it dry. As rusty 6 said some areas just don't need to at all so some of those dry ground farmers think that we do it only to use up more fuel and time.

495man · May 22, 2021

At least once in my climate. Hard to make dry hay with out tedder here.

Don't generally ted twice unless it got wet...

Destroked 450 · May 22, 2021

I generally mow late in the day and ted the next morning or at lease the next day to break up the stems and spread out the drum mowers windrows.
Depending on weather conditions we usually end up going over the hay again at a reduced rpm to lift and fluff the hay, this helps to reduce ground moisture, that's usually do in the morning before before it's raked for baling

For those that have never seen a tedder in use
You can see the green clumps from the drum mowers mini windrows flying out behind the tedder

mjbrown · May 22, 2021

This is how I used to do it too. I read
somewhere the grass makes sugar in the
sunshine then sends it to the roots
during the night. Cut late in the day
traps the sugar in the leaves. I set my
haybine to make a window then next
morning drive the tractor between the
windows with the redder spreading out
both. Typically the humidity in ny is
such that I might be able to rake the
following day or might need another fluff
then rake and bale. Usually needed 3 good
days. Often got only 2.

MARK ROBKE · May 22, 2021

Here in northern Ky., I like to mow in the afternoon, and then ted the next afternoon. If hay is not drying well I may go over it twice with the tedder, but prefer not to. I usually mow 10 acres or less, so it is easier to do. I watch 3 or 4 TV stations' weather and listen to my NOAA weather radio before cutting and each day while the is down to help make my decisions what to do when! Mark.

ford1956tractor · May 22, 2021

I let the hay cure at least 8 hours before tedding so top hay dried and tedding will flip underside green up.

teddy52food · May 22, 2021

Here in mid Mn. is mostly dairy & alfalfa so no tedding. I don't even know of anyone with a tedder. A lot of 1st crop is cut one day & chopped the next for silage. 2ns crop has a better chance at the weather for baling.

karlinpa · May 22, 2021

watch weather for 3 to 4 days dry cut 1st day let sit 2nd day rake as dew goes off 3rd day bale when done raking usually have tedder only if high ground mosture in 1st cutting early on or if rained on

paul · May 22, 2021

Zero. Dont really see many tedders around here.

Rake, watch the dew, do the final rake pass a few hours before baling. Probably rake just as the dew is burning off so less leaves break off.

We kinda need to get the hay up in the air so the breezes dry it. Flat down on the ground, we have such heavy dew and moist soil any ground contact really never dries.

Paul

Bill VA · May 22, 2021

We cut our hay with a mower conditioner spread wide as it will go. Ted the hay 24 hr later. If conditions are good the next day we ted/rake in one pass and bale.

When I say ted and rake in one pass, our Vermeer TR90, which is essentially a tedder with rear cages to make the windrow. Works pretty slick IMHO. The TR90 is a Lely Lotus 300 Combi in Vermeer colors.

Bill

730virgil · May 22, 2021

that depends on soil condition if ground is dry usually don't have to ted. however if ground is damp once maybe twice. yo need to hay off of ground so sun and air can work for you. fluff the hay up so air can get into hay

chuck machinist · May 23, 2021

I made that mistake as a 9 year old ONCE Dave.CM

Loosehandle · May 23, 2021

showcrop · May 23, 2021

(quoted from post at 15:32:24 05/22/21) Here in mid Mn. is mostly dairy & alfalfa so no tedding. I don't even know of anyone with a tedder. A lot of 1st crop is cut one day & chopped the next for silage. 2ns crop has a better chance at the weather for baling.

Teddy, it looks like you are referring to forage while the OP asked about hay. I find that here in NH that the weather is more hay friendly in June than July/August. Once you get really into summer is when you can get those totally unpredictable pop-up thunder showers.

How many times do you ted your hay

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