|
Eastern Iowa | So this year I am switching from a 11'6" Deere MoCo to a 15' NH self propelled windrower. Productivity and waterway turnarounds mowing in cornfields were among the reasons, and I had looked for a 13' model for a long time before deciding on a 15' one. My current rake is a 12 wheel bi-fold H&S that should probably be upgraded, but I don't really know whether to move to a 14 wheel rake, or buy an appropriate tedder and maintain the current raking width. I've never tedded before, but I haven't met anyone with one who didn't love it either. Other than that I have no idea about those. I don't think the H&S rake is built well enough, but it is nimble and can get into corners/waterway heads that a hi capacity 14 wheel carted rake won't be able to, based on what I've seen looking at them online. The way I figure, I have 3 options:
1. Ditch the worn out 12 wheel H&S and go with a 14 wheel replacement rake. Lots of opinions in AgTalk search, but if you had to rake up into field waterways as well as cover ground in alfalfa, which would you want?
2. Keep the H&S and buy a tedder, raking back into uniform 12 wheel windrows--but where do I start on those, what size, what kind? From looking at just Kuhn's TractorHouse listings alone they've got more models than I can tell the difference between. Adding another operation to haymaking eliminates most of the time savings I had from going self propelled in the first place, but I probably make better hay with a tedder.
3. Get rid of the 15' mower and buy a used 13'. 13 foot cutters aren't that common around here, but I think I can still order one. Keep the H&S for now or replace with another 12 wheel.
| |
|
hay equipment change needed. What would you do?
