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Larry in AB

Posted 7/20/2013 02:17 (#3218476)
Subject: A better hay swath fluffer??

Alberta, Canada

I have a Pequea swath Fluffer/tedder and it does work pretty good at fluffing up a hay swath. However it doesn't get all the bottom stuff which is the wet stuff. It always leaves some of it depending on the conditons. I only cut with a 9ft disc mower/condtioner as with make'n little squares it works well with our climate as we make the swath as wide a possible so it still fits the balers. If we get good weather it drys down just like that pretty well. If the crop is a little lighter we rake two together with a V rake

If the Pequea would grab "all" the hay it would be very handy for hitting certain spots of a feild that need a little "help" in drying when is real heavy so that those areas are ready to go when the rest of the field is. .

Those little 2 basket fluffers do they just tedd the hay ( throw it apart) or do they make them with shields or something so it wolud still keep it in swath you could bale with out raking it back togehter?

Edited by Larry in AB 7/20/2013 02:20

smilin jack

Posted 7/20/2013 04:56 (#3218494 - in reply to #3218476)
Subject: Re: A better hay swath fluffer??

SW North Dakota

I have an H&S 8 foot reel type ... works well, especially this year http://www.hsmfgco.com/TedderMain.cfm

Larry in AB

Posted 7/20/2013 09:28 (#3218829 - in reply to #3218494)
Subject: Re: A better hay swath fluffer??

Alberta, Canada

It looks a lot like mine but the way mine is designed it with the teeth it doesn't get all of the hay off the the ground. I see the one model they have has a wheel rake in front now that would work good in certain cases. On real heavy rained on hay after I flip it with my old NH bar rake I run over it with the fluffy right after to tear it apart and fluff it up better as the NH bar rake sometimes will just sort of roll it over pretty tight when its damp like that.

Mine is like this just its green as I see they changed colors.

iseedit

Posted 7/20/2013 06:44 (#3218571 - in reply to #3218476)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

central - east central Minnesota -

Larry in AB - 7/20/2013 02:17 I have a Pequea swath Fluffer/tedder and it does work pretty good at fluffing up a hay swath. However it doesn't get all the bottom stuff which is the wet stuff. It always leaves some of it depending on the conditons. I only cut with a 9ft disc mower/condtioner as with make'n little squares it works well with our climate as we make the swath as wide a possible so it still fits the balers. If we get good weather it drys down just like that pretty well. If the crop is a little lighter we rake two together with a V rake If the Pequea would grab "all" the hay it would be very handy for hitting certain spots of a feild that need a little "help" in drying when is real heavy so that those areas are ready to go when the rest of the field is. . Those little 2 basket fluffers do they just tedd the hay ( throw it apart) or do they make them with shields or something so it wolud still keep it in swath you could bale with out raking it back togehter?

I was talking with an older guy that was running his grass and alfalfa hay through a older NI conditioner to airate it and fluff it. He said it worked great and what he had on hand.

JohnW

Posted 7/20/2013 08:45 (#3218765 - in reply to #3218476)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

NW Washington

Would a New Holland windrow inverter work? Google will find one.

bcboy

Posted 7/20/2013 09:25 (#3218823 - in reply to #3218765)
Subject: Re: A better hay swath fluffer??

I sure like the results of the NH 166 invertor. I use 2 in tandem to flip 2 12' rows at once and have a 2 more that run solo.

Larry in AB

Posted 7/20/2013 09:40 (#3218846 - in reply to #3218765)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Alberta, Canada

That flips it over on its back and I have rakes for that. With only a 9foot cut and and spread fairly wide I don't have room to flip the swath unless I flip the first one onto another swath besided it. Whats handy with this fluffer I have is you can just sort of sneak into spots and just fluff it up in swath. Then you can still come behind and bale it with out raking it.

At times I can have 50 acres of hay to bale and ... there is about 3 acres here and there that are not quite ready. So I would just drive in with the fluffer in those lower spots and fluff away but as mentioned it doesn't quit get all that bottom stuff off the ground the way the teeth work.

Sometimes I go in wth the big V rake and flip 2 swaths together and if your carefull you can do so the bottom is in the air. This really can speed up dry down before baling if conditions are good. But ... I only do this if I know it will bale later that day for sure. Trouble is we make hay dodging thunder storms every day it seems so one never likes to rake the hay too much in advance as you never know. Another thing that would work even better would be - low humidity, wind and 4 days with no showers!!

rank

Posted 7/20/2013 09:33 (#3218833 - in reply to #3218476)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

SEON

Sounds like you need a single rotor pto driven rake. It moves the swath over one width and turn it over.

smilin jack

Posted 7/20/2013 09:49 (#3218857 - in reply to #3218833)
Subject: Re: A better hay swath fluffer??

SW North Dakota

The h&S has an adjustment to change the pitch of the teeth and the depth of the teeth....you can rake rocks if you like. I set the depth just below
the cut line and it picks up well. you need to find a happy medium between pto speed and ground speed to get the results you want

Lefty11

Posted 7/20/2013 09:59 (#3218870 - in reply to #3218476)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Coaldale, Alberta, Canada

In the past we have used a kirchner swath fluffer, from kirchner machine in lethbridge. Very good machine, they come in ground drive and hyd drive. We had a ground drive, and it would fluff nicely without spreading the swath too much or flipping it and losing color. Would be my machine of choice,

Howard

Larry in AB

Posted 7/20/2013 10:14 (#3218896 - in reply to #3218870)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Alberta, Canada

I have to have a look at it, if it gets it all off the ground and fluffs it up a bit thats all I want.

Found a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwu9AXeXosw is this what your talk'n about? Hard to see just how it works but it seems to get it all off the ground.

Edited by Larry in AB 7/20/2013 10:28

JD4250

Posted 7/20/2013 10:31 (#3218912 - in reply to #3218896)
Subject: Re: A better hay swath fluffer??

eastern ontario canada.

ground speed and pto speed are big factors in getting it all of the ground

batcat

Posted 7/20/2013 12:50 (#3219093 - in reply to #3218896)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Central Nebraska

We had a fluffer that looked and worked like that that our local machine shop made, probably copied that one. Ours was ground drive and worked great. The sprockets were picked so the tines ran just a touch slower than ground speed so it kind of dragged the hay up and then it released the hay to fall back down. Ours was made too light and it didn't hold up. That model looks stronger.

Lefty11

Posted 7/20/2013 13:44 (#3219163 - in reply to #3218896)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Coaldale, Alberta, Canada

Yes, that's the one. The ground drive is better in my opinion because then you don't have to set it. The basket runs backwards to a pickup and slightly slower, and the hay pokes on it and then it lets it go. Very gentle machine. Talk to Dwayne or Chris at Kirchner, I think this is a very good machine for what you want to do,

H

Larry in AB

Posted 7/20/2013 15:11 (#3219294 - in reply to #3219163)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Alberta, Canada

The fluffer unit I have has its place. Works real well for say when we get hit with rain on double raked big heavy swaths. I flip them with the old rake then fluff them up real good with it. .

But for non rained on hay in heavy 1st cut that just needs a little lift off damp ground to speed up drying a few hrs that Kirchner rig may do the job. Years ago we had an old square baler that was rigged up to pick up and set down grain swaths one wet fall. We used it for hay a few times and it was surprising how much of a difference it made in speeding up drying. July's like this just few hrs. believe it or not makes a HUGE differance some days between getting the hay off the field or being hit with rain.

Edited by Larry in AB 7/20/2013 15:13

Lefty11

Posted 7/20/2013 23:57 (#3219995 - in reply to #3219294)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Coaldale, Alberta, Canada

Hope you get it up nice. We have some pure alfalfa on the ground right now, we cut with an older Hesston and it doesn't have the most aggressive conditioner, so we are probably taking a bit to much time to dry. We generally try to not mess with it so it keeps its color, but sometimes that backfires.
We especially don't like to invert it, as then we lose a lot of color, but conditions dictate everything. Sometimes we lose. That is why we like the fluffer concept. I think it also is very dependent on where you are, central Alberta is completely different, as is closer to the foothills.

H

Larry in AB

Posted 7/21/2013 01:07 (#3220020 - in reply to #3219995)
Subject: RE: A better hay swath fluffer??

Alberta, Canada

No I don't like to flip it unless its teh day of baling otherwise it will loose color. All my hay is sold for horses/pets so of course color and condition is key. Young hay still make good feed even if it gets a little rain but you know who it goes green hay sells better. Just got hit again tonight with another 1/4" ( west Edmonton) .... just can't find any windows in the weather to get up no rain hay so far.

Edited by Larry in AB 7/21/2013 01:08

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