…Which is something every tedder needs to be when the weather’s right. Question is, will any of this half-dozen come between you and the job? We explore what it takes to use them
- Claas Volto 1100 T
- Fella TH 11008 Trans
- Krone KWT 11.22/10
- Kuhn GF 10802 TG II
- Lely Lotus 1020 Profi
- Pöttinger HIT 10.11 T
On those blessed days when wilting conditions look good, the first hurdle to clear — apart from hauling yourself out of bed — is hooking up the tractor to the tedder. Between them this bunch exploits all the options, with alternatives sometimes offered to suit the buyer. Of the test machines, Fella and Pöttinger went with a clevis drawbar; Claas, Krone and Lely the tractor’s lift arms; and Kuhn the three-point hitch. The latter takes this route to accommodate a sprung headstock, employed as part of a suspension system to limit any shock loads passed to the tractor.
Those using just the lower links differ in their ease of coupling. The pins on Krone’s drawbar were most readily picked up by the lift arms, whereas the Claas headstock tended to twist and make coupling harder, to the point that finding a mate to straighten it was sometimes necessary. Both drawbar machines (the Fella and Pöttinger) were simple to connect up once coupling heights were matched. The Fella machine didn’t have a holder for pto storage, though it looked as though a hole had been provided for one; the others all had a reasonable home for the out-of-use pto shaft around the linkage or headstock. With the tedder coupled up and lifted, the spring-loaded stands on the Claas and Krone were a boon. Lely operators, though, have to jump out and manually stow a brace of stands.
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