Let's talk tedders

I've got an old walton 2 basket pull behind tedder. I bought it new about 15 years ago for about $1200. It's been faithful but it's starting to get troublesome. So I've been looking at new ones, either 2 or 4 basket. So do I go cheap again? I've got access to to ranch rite, enrossi, sitrex, and maybe tonutti. Cheapest is probably the ranch rite, $1600-$1700 for a 2 basket or around $4000 for a hydraulic fold 4 basket. I've found 4 basket hydraulic fold enrossi for around $4500. 2 basket for around $2000. Frontier 2 basket is around $2500 and 4 basket hydraulic fold is either $6500 or $7000, I can't remember right off. New Hollands and Kuhns 4 basket runs around $8000. I've heard some good things about Pequea's Turbo Tedders, but they're the most expensive. 4 basket is about $8500, 2 basket was $3000-$3500. I can get by with a 2 basket, but a 4 sure would be nice. Cheap or high dollar??
 
Casey, I can't tell you what to do, but look at it this way. Your last tedder cost you about $120 a year. Two round bales or about thirty squares a year. The question is, "How much hay can you lose but not getting it dry enough to bale in time?" I have a Pequea and it's one of the best investments I have made over the years. Mine is a TT4000, and it's a trouble free unit. I am also thinking about selling it and getting a newer 4100 while the 4000 is still in prime shape and will make a good trade. But, being broken down with hay on the ground is not my favorite thing. You can lose several thousand dollars in one afternoon if you can't bale it.....
 
Did you have any issues with the 4000? Didnt they have some driveline issues? Kinda thinking of getting a 4 basket Pequea but didnt make the commitment yet...
 
Double check, but when I looked, the Frontier was a Kuhn-made tedder, just like the New Holland 4 basket, but there may be some differences that make it less expensive, or you may just have a dealer not marking them up as much? We just purchased a new tedder to replace a 20+ year old manual fold NH 163 4 basket. We purchased a Krone KW5.52/4x7T tedder (I know their numbering system seems odd, but it really does make sense, 5.52 meters wide, 4x7 tine rotors). It is a much heavier unit than the rest of the bunch we looked at (Frontier and Kuhn) and cost the same or less than a new one did. Not sure if you have any Krone dealers nearby, but if you do, give it a look over. I think you will be impressed.

Hurst
 
(quoted from post at 22:32:37 06/15/15) Casey, I can't tell you what to do, but look at it this way. Your last tedder cost you about $120 a year. Two round bales or about thirty squares a year.


You must live where hay is really expensive.
 
If a new Kuhn is out of your budget, I would look for a good used one. As far as two basket vs. four - when you have hay on the ground you want to be able to cover as much ground, as quickly as you can. I would go with a four basket.

Pete
 
i bought a new 4 basket sitrex and it does a good job. it was 5500 dollars two years ago. no open yoke drives to give trouble like a Kuhn.
 
Local Deere dealer is trying to sort thru the Frontier tedders for me. The TD13, which we think is the same as the Kuhn 502, is $6950. The TD24, which we think is the same as the Kuhn 5202, isn't on his price lists anywhere and he's trying to find out more about it. And the TD34 which we think is the same as a Pequea TT4100, is at just under $8300. I'm really curious where the TD24 falls in with a price.

Local Kubota dealer has a new Kubota brand(Vicon) four basket for $7700. They're also offering 0% for 60 months...Don't know anything about the Vicons though...
 
Hay is close to $200 a ton around these parts for good hay, and with all of the citidiots taking up space and air, there is a lot less ground producing it. Yes- it's pricey. But they pay it or feed the horsey in the backyard snowballs......
 
No driveline issues, but an axle issue when I dropped it into a roadside ditch and snapped a wheel off. I called Pequea and they sent out a new shaft, no charge. Kinda learned that ya cain't do thet chit.....
 
I had a new idea 4 basket for around 12 years, it was a tonutti made I think (one of the Italian sounding names anyhow). Just not much there. It did a good job but had a lot of down time with it. Last winter I bit the bullet and bought a new NH. Like night and day. Old tedder brought 2000 which wasnt bad considering 12 years ago I gave 3300 for it. Yes, the NH is expensive but it is massively built. Much much more machine and a much better machine. No regrets.
 
I don't know about the smaller Frontier's but the larger ones are made by Pequea. I've got the 6 basket model. It's Ok but nothing to write home about. If I was looking again it would most like be either Kuhn or Claas. The rest are junk as far as I'm concerned.
I also wouldn't go with less than a 4 basket.

Rod
 
Didn't you get lucky... When I broke a spindle on mine last summer, Deere said sorry... it's outside warranty. I think it was less than 30 days outside warranty too. I will remember that for a LONG time.

Rod
 
The TD13 looks to be a Kuhn. The TD24 series are Pequea... the 34 series I'm not sure but I think are Kuhn...

Rod
 
So you think the Kuhns are better than the Pequea's? I honestly think the td13 in a 4 basket will do my fine, but I'm trying to weigh all my options. My dealer wasn't sure what was what between the td24 and td34, but Im more inclined to believe you are right on the 24 being a Pequea and the 34 being a Kuhn. Krone seems to come highly recommended, but they're pricey and not much dealer support..
 
I like the looks of the NH ProTed's, and I've got good dealer support, but they're well over $8000. I can't help but wonder if they really are that much better the Kuhn 502/Frontier TD13...
 
I can absolutely guarantee you that the TD24 series tedders are made by Pequea. There's no doubt about it when you look at the TD2427 that I have because that lift design is quite unique. When I look at the TD34 series I am inclined to say that is a Kuhn because it seems to have the digi-drive finger couplings rather than double cardan universal joints that Pequea uses in the hinges.
I'm just less than impressed with the TD2427 that I have... I guess I expected more of it. I was soured the first season because it would constantly bind up with hay on the caster wheels. Now that I'm running it on a larger tractor (which I didn't want to do) it seems to work better... I was also quite disappointed when it broke a spindle last year. The hydraulics on it are also a bit wonky... and it doesn't always fold correctly. It really wants a tractor with big hydraulic capacity and I prefer to run it on old tractors that don't move a lot of oil... so just a multitude of little things have soured me on it. So if I was buying again it would probably be a Kuhn since it was cheaper at the time and I generally view Kuhn to be more robust after having this thing. I've got a gyro rake that's never had more than basic maintenance and one flat tire...

Rod
 
My 2 basket tedder is a New Holland 156 - which is a Kuhn painted red with NH logo's.

Maybe I'm missing the forest for the trees, but when I look for the Kuhn parts diagrams, it's 100% frustration. Same with the cheaper Itialian tedders. That NH 156 (even though it is a Kuhn) has a VERY easy to find parts list on the NH website and while the NH version of the Kuhn is probably more expensive - I would consider a NH over a Kuhn just for the ease of the parts list alone!

Certainly my 156 is a stout tedder. I would not hesitate to buy a Kuhn or New Holland based on my 156's construction, but if the NH price is close, I'd go with it vs the Kuhn.

Good luck,
Bill
 
Cant say for sure, not sure I've seen the Kuhn up close and personal. I'll be honest, I didnt even look at anything else. More and more I'm going to everything just alike, same brand, same model in things I have duplicates of, same dealer. I needed to buy something end of the year and asked them about a tedder for spring delivery, they said 7750 and I bought it.

Big 3 in Bloomfield priced one yesterday to a customer for 8000 even at the counter when I was for what its worth.
 
I started selling a tedder that is made by EHE Hay Equipment and it is a well built machine if you live close to east texas I would be glad to show it to you we arent having any trouble with them and they are a smooth running machine the 18 ft model which is 4 rotors is $7000.00 let me know if interested
 
Where is your wearout mechanism? I have a 2 basket Morra and the only thing that wore out in 15 years was the drain plug fell out (why I don't know)....cost $2.50 plus shipping, had it in a few days from ASC. Oh I broke a few tynes off but that was backing out of the shed and forgetting to lift the 3 pt before I did it. Finally I learned to turn off the tractor, drop the 3 pt, and pull the lift lever back up. Then I don't have to remember, it lifts on it's own!

Low cost on mine for example means that they use grease on the basket gears/bearings, rather than an oil filled gearbox which is used at the main drive. Guards are angle iron rather than box or tubular steel. Tynes are tynes, a wash I'd say. Arms are pipe, a wash there too.

Unless you are a high production operation with a heavy stemmed crop like Haygrazer sudan-sorghum, or corn stalks, I don't know why you need to spend a lot of money and I don't know if a lot of money will buy anything to speak of. On 2 or 4, that's up to you and besides being less than half the money, you have less than half the parts and easier to handle on and off the field with the 2. Just what is your time worth?
 
(quoted from post at 06:14:11 06/20/15) Where is your wearout mechanism? I have a 2 basket Morra and the only thing that wore out in 15 years was the drain plug fell out (why I don't know)....cost $2.50 plus shipping, had it in a few days from ASC. Oh I broke a few tynes off but that was backing out of the shed and forgetting to lift the 3 pt before I did it. Finally I learned to turn off the tractor, drop the 3 pt, and pull the lift lever back up. Then I don't have to remember, it lifts on it's own!

Low cost on mine for example means that they use grease on the basket gears/bearings, rather than an oil filled gearbox which is used at the main drive. Guards are angle iron rather than box or tubular steel. Tynes are tynes, a wash I'd say. Arms are pipe, a wash there too.

Unless you are a high production operation with a heavy stemmed crop like Haygrazer sudan-sorghum, or corn stalks, I don't know why you need to spend a lot of money and I don't know if a lot of money will buy anything to speak of. On 2 or 4, that's up to you and besides being less than half the money, you have less than half the parts and easier to handle on and off the field with the 2. Just what is your time worth?

At this point it's just been little things...but it keeps being little things. Tires, wheels bearings, rims, there was pin that shear in one of the axle arms that holds the wheels straight, and the other the day the pin that holds the leveling crank sheared off, dropping the spacers and everything mid field. It's seen a lot of hay. I can't really complain. But I would like to move to a 4 basket. I can still get something out of my old tedder, frames not cracked anywhere, so I should be able to get $500-$100 pretty easy. Most of the 4 basket cheap models are between $4500 and $5500. I can get Frontier td13, which is the same as the Kuhn 502 for $6950. At this point, that's where I'm leaning...
 
If you are talking about Morra, made in Italy, Agri Supply handles them and they do a great job of service after the sale. I didn't have a part number for my tedder part I recently needed, just part of the model number of the machine and Morra (whom I contacted thinking that this part would not be handled by a dealer) sent the request to their US distributor I guess, sole source, ASC and they found the exact drain plug I needed in no time flat.

Found out that my original, made 15ish years ago was plastic and apparently pressure built up and blew the top off it causing the leak, where I thought it vibrated loose and wondered how, after this many years, did it decide to do that. Threads were still in the gearbox. New one is aluminum. So I guess they all are now. No idea as to when the upgrade.
 

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