lely cock pheasant

Two Tone · Jul 9, 2016

It had its good points, but also its limitations. Getting the wheels set at exactly the right height to pick all the grass up was a nightmare first time through. Constant punctures and wheel bearing failures were enough to make a shepherd shag his dog!
The gear box was too weak and prone to failure. The haybob was a revolution the killed it stone dead. Then the likes of the Lely stabilo yet another revolution.

Cowabunga · Jul 9, 2016

gone up the hill said:
Ha ha a haybob,, are you for real?? they are the worst machine ever invented for turning or rowing up grass!

Shows how much you know! While the Haybob certainly isn't perfect, it was enough of an improvement on the Cock Pheasant to kill its sales stone dead and most Pheasants ended up in the nettle patch within very few years of use.

Derrick Hughes · Jul 10, 2016

Cowabunga said:
Shows how much you know! While the Haybob certainly isn't perfect, it was enough of an improvement on the Cock Pheasant to kill its sales stone dead and most Pheasants ended up in the nettle patch within very few years of use.

They are crap and always have been for Tedding but at the time there was nothing that good for rowing up .the spider wheels like acrobat used to be dreadfull . Some clown got his facts mixed up and went for a jack of no trades hence the hay blob

Cowabunga · Jul 10, 2016

Forage Trader said:
They are crap and always have been for Tedding but at the time there was nothing that good for rowing up .the spider wheels like acrobat used to be dreadfull . Some clown got his facts mixed up and went for a jack of no trades hence the hay blob

You seem to forget that the Cock Pheasant was a jack of all trades too. But inferior at everything and only slightly better than a steel cart-wheel ground drive Nickleson. Also the Haybob undisputedly killed the Pheasant. It was that much better. You can't change history.

Two Tone · Jul 10, 2016

We replaced our Cock Pheasant and Vicon acrobat with a NH 254 Rake and Tedder. It was brilliant for a couple of years till it started to wear out. It was in fact the forerunner to all the dedicated tedders and rakes we have today, but all in one machine.

Haybobs are a compromise but far more reliable as an all in one machine than the 254. They are also faster.

But that 254 was a very clever invention at that time.

glasshouse · Jul 10, 2016

Happy said:
Haybobs get a hell of a kicking on here any time they are mentioned.
Did people really find them that bad?
Cock pheasants were pretty much all gradually replaced by haybobs back in the day.
Must have been a good reason for that and why there were and are so many copy cat versions of the haybob made to this day while the cock pheasant sits in a gap in the hedge.

Cock pheasant tines just the job for holding wool sacks in corners of packing frame though

haybobs were a revelation at the time, just because they are superseded now doesnt make them crap.
haybob cost £1000, moden tedder and rake cost 15,000

Red Fred · Jul 10, 2016

Two Tone said:
We replaced our Cock Pheasant and Vicon acrobat with a NH 254 Rake and Tedder. It was brilliant for a couple of years till it started to wear out. It was in fact the forerunner to all the dedicated tedders and rakes we have today, but all in one machine.

Haybobs are a compromise but far more reliable as an all in one machine than the 254. They are also faster.

But that 254 was a very clever invention at that time.

I liked using the NH 254 type as a rake, and it also did a good job of tedding if I had a small paddock to do and didn't want to bring the proper tedder home. Eventually, ours became too worn in the cam tracks and rollers so I replaced it with a Kuhn rotor rake in 1997 which has been faultless.
We went from a Bamford Wuffler/Acrobat to a Kuhn 4 rotor tedder in the early '70s when Kuhn were painted yellow. The early ones had metal struts with r-clips to hold the arms out rigid, and I remember on the very first day, mum lost an r-clip and the whole thing folded up while working, which wrote it off.
The later Kuhn tedder from the '80s is exactly like a Fahr Centipede, and I often wondered if they are really the same machine with different stickers. Would anyone know if that is true?

jendan · Jul 10, 2016

Cowabunga said:
You seem to forget that the Cock Pheasant was a jack of all trades too. But inferior at everything and only slightly better than a steel cart-wheel ground drive Nickleson. Also the Haybob undisputedly killed the Pheasant. It was that much better. You can't change history.

By ,eck.This threads a reet trip doon memory lane.Always remember my brother getting up at 4.30 in the morning to "wuffle" some hay with a single row bamford.Did about 30 acres by tea time,and came in with a sore arse (couple of hessian bags folded up on a metal seat on the Dexter)......and then it started to pee down,for the rest of the night and all the next day.Had to be careful not to laugh. We used to put it on a white 990 and in high (1000) pto.Really fluffed it up good.......until it broke. PZ zweegers haybob after that with dutch instructions that no one could understand.

Derrick Hughes · Jul 10, 2016

Cowabunga said:
You seem to forget that the Cock Pheasant was a jack of all trades too. But inferior at everything and only slightly better than a steel cart-wheel ground drive Nickleson. Also the Haybob undisputedly killed the Pheasant. It was that much better. You can't change history.

I just did but the books not out yet so watch this space
Fact . A lot of history is hand me down tales . People like a nice story so turn their back on facts .when my wife has finished the book I will send you a copy

Grassman · Jul 10, 2016

The hay bob was miles better than anything else available at the time.
Changing the settings from tedding to rowing up was important and often neglected. This required top link extention, tine adjustment and wheel height adjustment. Really simple to use and did the job for years and still available new now.
Why the hay bob gets bad reviews is generally down to bad operators and trying to use it for what it wasn't intended. Mainly following mowers that are too wide.

smcapstick · Jul 10, 2016

I have only seen somebody using s Haybob properly (for Redding) once, with the wheels at full height and top link wound in. Most tend to leave it on the middle hole and just turn the tines.

Happy · Jul 10, 2016

Grassman said:
The hay bob was miles better than anything else available at the time.
Changing the settings from tedding to rowing up was important and often neglected. This required top link extention, tine adjustment and wheel height adjustment. Really simple to use and did the job for years and still available new now.
Why the hay bob gets bad reviews is generally down to bad operators and trying to use it for what it wasn't intended. Mainly following mowers that are too wide.

Spot on. Bit like how single rotor rakes get bad reviews too. Down to bad operators.
Most that complain about Haybobs seem to be young un's that never used anything before that.
Yes today's tedders and rakes do a better and faster job but haybob was a great improvement over anything else at the time.
Would happily buy one today if we were doing less than 50 acres of hay/silage.

Selectamatic · Jul 10, 2016

Two Tone said:
. Constant punctures and wheel bearing failures were enough to make a shepherd shag his dog!

A little bit of Weetabix came out of my nose when I read that!!

KMA · Jul 10, 2016

I'd agree that getting the best out of a haybob is an art and you have to be prepared to get off your @rse to set it up properly and make the necessary adjustments, can't count how many I've bought as scrap stripped down to their and cannibalised. While they're fine for a small conventional baler they're a PITA to round bale behind but it can be done if both operators know what they're doing but nowhere near as good as a swather and neither are rakes.

My son actually likes the old haybob he got off the scrappy to rebuild and while he likes the new new holland baler he loves the old Jones T20 :scratchhead:

Derrick Hughes · Jul 10, 2016

A standard fordson was an improvement over a horse
A land-rover better than walking
A light bulb better than a candle

Derrick Hughes · Jul 10, 2016

But a Hayblob was a gear down over a centipede

smcapstick · Jul 10, 2016

Forage Trader said:
But a Hayblob was a gear down over a centipede

Not when it came to rowing up.

Derrick Hughes · Jul 10, 2016

smcapstick said:
Not when it came to rowing up.

They were good at rowing up but the miget rows did not quite do it for me

smcapstick · Jul 10, 2016

Forage Trader said:
They were good at rowing up but the miget rows did not quite do it for me

They did for everybody else.

ajcc · Jul 10, 2016

As I remember in about 1975 Cock pheasant is a good tool for tedding hay but you really need an acrobat as well for rowing up. Haybob was a revolution in one tool did both jobs albeit not such good tedding.
But this thread highlights well the shortcomings of transport and weight and side pressure over little tyres and wheel bearings and road steerage and negotiating gateways a trip down memory lane! But the OP seems to have much of that sorted.

lely cock pheasant

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