Which four rotor tedder

[Sid]

We have a Pottinger HIT 8.91 which we have done a couple of seasons with, over a 1000 acres per year, and we haven't even broken a tine. Seems a very well built machine, I know it is twice as big as OP looking for but they do 4 rotor machines as well.

We had a 4 rotor krone, it was ok for 2 rows and had to push on to keep up
We now have a 8 rotor pottinger it is miles better and does 3 rows easy

 

[DeeGee]

I will say lely stabilo 6 combi, throw away your haybob

Do NOT throw away the Haybob! Lely Combi is a brilliant tedder but the Haybob will row up much much tidier than a Combi ever will. They make nice fluffy windrows but do not rake cleanly; believe me, I have had both, and even the Lely rep admitted defeat after seeing the Haybob rowing up alongside his own machine that he had spent over an hour trying to get to rake cleanly. They just don’t and they never will!

if you can find a Lely Stabilo 600 it will be as good as, or better than any machine on the market: even the Combi will be good at tedding, but your Haybob 360 is as good as any rake for rowing up, and much better for the small baler.

 

[ffukedfarmer]

Why do you say that a 4 rotor doesn't make as good a job as a 6 rotor? Is rotor size not more important than the number of rotors?

Wouldn't most 4 rotor tedders be around 5.5m working width - 1.37m per rotor? My old Krone was 5.52m and that did a crap job in hay.

far better off with a 6.5m 6 rotor.

 

[bobk]

Do NOT throw away the Haybob! Lely Combi is a brilliant tedder but the Haybob will row up much much tidier than a Combi ever will. They make nice fluffy windrows but do not rake cleanly; believe me, I have had both, and even the Lely rep admitted defeat after seeing the Haybob rowing up alongside his own machine that he had spent over an hour trying to get to rake cleanly. They just don’t and they never will!

if you can find a Lely Stabilo 600 it will be as good as, or better than any machine on the market: even the Combi will be good at tedding, but your Haybob 360 is as good as any rake for rowing up, and much better for the small baler.

We've been here before .....

Totally different setup from tedding to rowing up . read the manual

 

[DeeGee]

We've been here before .....

Totally different setup from tedding to rowing up . read the manual

Yes thank you, I did know that the settings are totally different.
The rep that Lely sent out with the dealer from whom I bought the machine new had, like the dealer, also read the manual several times but even he and the dealer couldn’t make it rake cleanly.
By the time they had finished adjusting this, that and the other and eventually admitted defeat, the tractor with the Haybob had finished rowing up the field.

Lely and their dealer agreed to swap the Combi for a new 600 tedder with the more aggressive tedding tines.
I really wanted the Combi to work that’s why I bought it. Fact is they just don’t.

 

[DeeGee]

We've been here before .....

Totally different setup from tedding to rowing up . read the manual

Yes thank you, I did know that the settings are totally different.
The rep that Lely sent out with the dealer from whom I bought the machine new had, like the dealer, also read the manual several times but even he and the dealer couldn’t make it rake cleanly.
By the time they had finished adjusting this, that and the other and eventually admitted defeat, the tractor with the Haybob had finished rowing up the field.

Lely and their dealer agreed to swap the Combi for a new 600 tedder with the more aggressive tedding tines.
I really wanted the Combi to work that’s why I bought it. Fact is they just don’t.

 

[Pistonbroke]

Lely 600 combi here. Loves a heavy crop in hay or silage but a bit more temperamental in a light crop so you need to play with forward speed and rpm so the tines are working harder.

 

[Pan mixer]

 

[Boohoo]

Wouldn't most 4 rotor tedders be around 5.5m working width - 1.37m per rotor? My old Krone was 5.52m and that did a crap job in hay.

far better off with a 6.5m 6 rotor.

Most 6 rotors will be 7.5-8m to cover three 10ft mower rows. My 4 rotor tedder is 1.15 meters per rotor

 

[Moors Lad]

Those of you suggesting a 6 rotor machine may be 100% right but please read what the man asked about and his query about a DB tractor being able to handle a 4 rotor machine too.

 

[DeeGee]

Selectamatic, if you look at the photograph above from Pan mixer you will see two lovely fluffy windrows. But you will also see lots of small bits of hay left on the stubble. This is proof of what I mean when I tell people that the Combi does not rake cleanly, and never will.

 

[vulcan]

On our 2nd 4 rotor kuhn here does a good job first was bought 2nd hand as old man wasn't keen on a tedder but once we had it was big improvement on the hay Bob (still use it for rowing up)ran it for 3 seasons then traded it in for a new one and got £500 more than we paid for it.we use ours on a 70hp 2wd case 4210 and handles it no bother.

 

[Sharpy]

Hence my pos

Selectamatic, if you look at the photograph above from Pan mixer you will see two lovely fluffy windrows. But you will also see lots of small bits of hay left on the stubble. This is proof of what I mean when I tell people that the Combi does not rake cleanly, and never will.

Hence my post saying he didn't need a combi, one here that does a good job in perfect hay, anything else has issues, poor gather or lumpy swathes. The 360 is a very handy tool. Ideal pairing as far as I can see.

 

[FE35]

That's interesting! I didnt think that you'd need such a large tractor, would a DB990 or 996 be able to handle it? Some ground is a little steeper, nothing drastic though...

I think a 990 would be spot on. Takes no effort to drive the machine.
I’m on the look out for a similar size classic tractor that could take on the job!

 

[Pistonbroke]

I think a 990 would be spot on. Takes no effort to drive the machine.
I’m on the look out for a similar size classic tractor that could take on the job!
[/QUOTE

A 600 combi is 930kg and the weight is back off the tractor so be careful carrying it. Case 5120 with weights here and you know it's there!

 

[Goweresque]

A 600 combi is 930kg and the weight is back off the tractor so be careful carrying it. Case 5120 with weights here and you know it's there!

Yes, I normally have my Combi on the back of an old Deutz DX90, 2WD with front weights, and you need the weights, without them you're getting some lightness on the front wheels. A DB990 is less than half the weight of a DX90, I wouldn't think it would cope.

 

[jonny]

Have a 675 (6 rotor) lely here big advantage is that you are straddling one swath and bringing one each side whereas with a 4 rotor on the first tedding you have to drive with a wheel down the middle of each swath before the Tedder lifts it

 

[Boohoo]

996 doesn't know the 680kg Lotus 460 is behind it.

A 520 is 695kg so it won't be an issue either.

 

[Monty]

I've had our lely 600 (tedder only, no gates) on the back of our 1394 without front weights. You could feel it was on the back but not in the same league as a power harrow for weight. A smaller 4 rotor tedder will be fine I'm sure.

I wouldn't worry about buying a cheap older tedder. Tedders on the whole are reliable machines and cheap and easy to fix if they do go wrong plus you have the haybob as an emergency backup. Our lely is built like a tank. I'm sure most of the main brand tedders are decent machines to be fair

 

[MOG]

I have a Kuhn 4 rotor tedder I bought new back in about 2005/6. I am an owner driver and try my utmost to look after my kit. Fields are generally not rough and not overly steep. Problems over the years have been the pull-levers to change wheel height/direction have seized solid, one rotor came loose in use as a split pin up inside sheared off, (the rotors seem to be held on the shaft by a load of split pins and nothing else!), and the worst one is that one of the flanges and the corresponding frame support bracket on the end of the main tube split all along the original weld line and sheared off. That took a fair bit of fabrication to get it back to full strength. So overall, I wouldn't say the machine is the strongest or best made (unless others are worse), but it does a good job and I am glad I no longer have to use a haybob!