Haybob 360's. Are they that bad?

[Selectamatic]

Who uses one? Are they as bad as they are made out to be?

Please can we have sensible answers from people who have experience of these implements, rather than "Yes, Haybobs are pants" by someone who has never used or followed one!

 

[hilux]

I'd be interested to know as well. @FonterraFarmer have you got one ?

 

[kill]

Who uses one? Are they as bad as they are made out to be?

Please can we have sensible answers from people who have experience of these implements, rather than "Yes, Haybobs are pants" by someone who has never used or followed one!

It's all down to the operator really.
If you ted slowly with high rev's they will Ted well. But put someone on there that drive's quickly you will have already lost the battle and the war!!!!! First tedding is everything really and this also counts with newer just tedder's as slower gear with more rev's wins. 2 nd tedding when grass is spread without lumps tedding can be done far quicker.
Rowing up is much the same as many never look behind and catch the last row and make a total mess of corners etc and give haybobs a dreadful name. Haybobs have adjustments to be made between tedding and rowing up as there's a sticker on the machine showing this but hardly any stock Farmer will know this.
Still wouldn't want one for anything over 20 acre's tho as life's far to short!!!!!

 

[Mursal]

They are fine, never had any problems, just jeep them well greased. Don't think I ever saw the inside (gears) of one. They can handle some heavy grass, and row heavy crops so a small baler can handle it.
Return springs for the tines are a bit hard to change, other than that ..........
Adjust the top link to just cleans the ground and no more.
Keep turning left ............
Hay?

 

[Cowabunga]

They were a revelation 50 years ago. Yes, 50 years ago. They wiped the floor with the Lely Cock and Golden Pheasant tedders, which also rowed up after a fashion.
It is a fine machine for a small operator that can't get a contractor and can only justify one machine for tedding and rowing up. Do not expect the greatest performance in heavy damp hay crops where repeated tedding will tend to create ever more lumps with wet clumps never seeing the sun to dry out. Don't expect the cleanest sweep or the most consistent swaths when rowing up. It does both jobs acceptably well for the smallholder or with light crops but dedicated machines do both jobs so much better.

 

[FonterraFarmer]

I'd be interested to know as well. @FonterraFarmer have you got one ?

Oh to answer thst question,.... you have to go back in time to the 70's and 80's when young FonterraFarmer spent a few hours in summer with the Super Dexta and the PZ Haybob, going around paddocks in H2, then progressing to the 90's still with the Super Dexta and the Haybob but bigger paddocks that were ex vineyards and now having to ted and rake going over the ridges that were formed from running between the rows of grapes with the rotary hoe, with a tractor with small wheels and a seat with as much give as a concrete block, you soon learnt not to eat or drink before going into those paddocks......
That was up to 5 years ago and while the old haybob still runs those old ex vineyards paddock had taken its toll plus all those ex vineyard paddocks have been cropped and regrassed, so it was time for a replacement and a Kuhn Haybob 360 was purchased and because I only do about 30 ha of hay a year , and I was only going to buy a new machine was why it was purchased rather than a separate tedder and rake either new or used.
Do I have any regrets, no and providing its set up correctly and you don't go like Meatloaf , its more than satisfactory for tedding and actually does a bloody good job rowing up, but.....
in North Island conditions you normally only ever have to ted once and while the crops may be heavy they would be rarely damp or wet for hay, and given the fact the hay is dry and providing you set the rake up correctly, as per the sticker on the frame, rowing up is just as clean or even better than some dedecated hay rakes.
From my experience, I normally do the centre in parallel rows, then do every thing that you have missed at the ends of the rows, by making two rows around the outer sides of the paddock.
As for the only problem that I've had with the Haybob 360, is that the pin that holds the two arms that locates the two rotors has snapped off, either the welder in Geldrop was a bit sleepy when they welded it on, or maybe our topography and irregular shapped paddocks creates more load on the pin than in the flat fields of Europe

 

[ewald]

They are a fairly successful compromise - as previous posters have suggested they are not really the machine for large areas, but if you can't justify two separate machines (and are an operator rather than just a tractor driver) they will do a perfectly adequate job.
If you are making hay on fairly rough fields or even roadsides, they are probably the best bet as they are fairly indestructible.

 

[Gator]

Who uses one? Are they as bad as they are made out to be?

Please can we have sensible answers from people who have experience of these implements, rather than "Yes, Haybobs are pants" by someone who has never used or followed one!

I'd be interested to know as well. @FonterraFarmer have you got one ?

I have one, really good machine when you get the hang of it. Shakes well and makes good rows. If there's not a lot of grass on you can keep going round and make rows as big as you like. I'm on my second 360, love it for our ground.

 

[spin cycle]

must be good or they wouldn't have sold so many......i disagree with the 'slow speed high revs' IMO if the material is going out the back faster than foward speed you're bunching up the swath and any damp/claggy bits get thrown further back

 

[Dave W]

Half the reason people slate haybobs is because they can't be set up properly due to the wheels being seized up and not be able to adjust them vertically.
I used to refurb haybobs in an old job (20 a year most years) and I never saw one that didn't have seized wheels.

Unfortunately there's only one way to free them off and that's to drop the rotor off and pull the wheel out with the outer tube. The whole tube needs to be glowing red hot before you can free it off with big stilsons.

 

[chaffcutter]

Our biggest problem was punctures, used to carry a spare wheel with me,and got through lots of tubes! Did a good enough job if set up correctly as has been said.

 

[balerman]

I bought an older one 7 years ago and used it for tedding and rowing up.For tedding it works the same as a normal haybob and does an ok job depending on forward speed/pto revs/driver competence.Rowing up it does a super job,better than a single rotor rake IMO as long as there is some wilt on the grass.Bought a Lely 675 tedder last year but will keep the 360 for rowing up and odd bits.

 

[FonterraFarmer]

Half the reason people slate haybobs is because they can't be set up properly due to the wheels being seized up and not be able to adjust them vertically.
I used to refurb haybobs in an old job (20 a year most years) and I never saw one that didn't have seized wheels.

Unfortunately there's only one way to free them off and that's to drop the rotor off and pull the wheel out with the outer tube. The whole tube needs to be glowing red hot before you can free it off with big stilsons.

My Haybob 360 came from "down the line', would have been good if on assembly or the first dealer if they had greased the pivots for the wheels, had to grease and deseize both wheels.

 

[multi power]

I have one, it's perfectly good enough for what I want
Teds at least as good as the claas at work
I would think most people who complain about haybobs haven't had to turn much hay with a pitch fork

 

[7610 super q]

Used one for 40 years. Thing is we don't seem to get decent summers any more. A modern tedder, according to TFF cuts a day off haymaking time.... This will be my first year using something else....time will tell.

 

[hilux]

I have one, really good machine when you get the hang of it. Shakes well and makes good rows. If there's not a lot of grass on you can keep going round and make rows as big as you like. I'm on my second 360, love it for our ground.

What do you have to do to change from tedding to rowing up? Do you still have to change the tines around? Never seen one in the "flesh". Enquired at the royal welsh last year and the rep that I was talking to had only ever sold one.

 

[Cowabunga]

What do you have to do to change from tedding to rowing up? Do you still have to change the tines around? Never seen one in the "flesh". Enquired at the royal welsh last year and the rep that I was talking to had only ever sold one.

Change individual tines around and alter the wheel height.
I've seen a few on farms with seized wheel stalks but mine was a very loose fit by the time it was a few years old and never was oiled. Just adjusted a lot and used a lot, seasonally. The deflector tortion bar/spring can fail and eventually the main tube for it will wear out. Same goes for the rear crop deflector which will fail at the bottom corners due to a combination of wear and stones, if you have stones.

The above issues depend on whether the machine is used little or a lot.

 

[FonterraFarmer]

I have one, it's perfectly good enough for what I want
Teds at least as good as the claas at work
I would think most people who complain about haybobs haven't had to turn much hay with a pitch fork

Or an Acrobat.....

 

[multi power]

What do you have to do to change from tedding to rowing up? Do you still have to change the tines around? Never seen one in the "flesh". Enquired at the royal welsh last year and the rep that I was talking to had only ever sold one.

You change the tines and change the angle of the whole machine, but that's easy and quick

 

[hally]

Who uses one? Are they as bad as they are made out to be?

Please can we have sensible answers from people who have experience of these implements, rather than "Yes, Haybobs are pants" by someone who has never used or followed one!

Yes hay bobs are pants ( by someone who has owned one for years and baled behind hundreds ) although a guy who takes his time and has a level of skill can mitigate the ability of a hay Bob to lump every swath it encounters