Question for CCM on Tedders

[farmerjohn]

Hello

I see that you sell several brands of tedders- Sitrex, Tonutti and others

How are they different? It appears that the Sitrex tedder is sold under many different brands. I am interested in a 17' model.

How are the different brands different, quality of materials, availability of parts and price?

Thanks

 

[glover36]

cant say i have ever heard of any of those

 

[Crowderfarms]

They're all Itralian built.

 

[farmerjohn]

bump to the top for Iron Peddler

 

[ironpeddler]

Hello

I see that you sell several brands of tedders- Sitrex, Tonutti and others

How are they different? It appears that the Sitrex tedder is sold under many different brands. I am interested in a 17' model.

How are the different brands different, quality of materials, availability of parts and price?

Thanks

The best way for me to answer your question is to do so by me rating the brands for durability and value.
Most of the major Italian MFG all have about the same features. Sitrex and Tonutti are the best of the Italian MFG's.
New Idea sells a tedder made by EnoRossi.The EnoRossi works good but is not as heavy as the Sitrex or Tonutti. Galfre'/Walton makes a tedder that has not changed in 20 years. The problem is the customers now are demanding more out of a tedder and the Galfre' products have not kept up with the improvements like the other MFG's. DeRoss is a light duty tedder that is average in the 10' or smaller but is too light in the 17' and above sizes.

Last year Sitrex came out with the ST5200 17" tedder, which has a stronger frame than the ST520. The Sitrex ST520 and Tonutti GT520 are very similar. But in my opinion the New Sitrex ST-5200 is superior to the Tonutti GT520. There is nothing wrong with either machine but I like the design of the ST-5200 best.

Now you have the major northern European MFG's such as: Class, Krone, Fella, Vicon, Kuhn, & Lely
These tedders usually cost almost twice as much as an Italian MFG. tedder. No question the best of these are made stronger and have more features than the Italians but are the worth twice the money? If you are purchasing a 21' or larger tedder I would say yes. These tedders are used by commercial operators and need the heavier spindles and drives.

 

[farmerjohn]

thanks for the info. A couple more questions if you don't mind.

No one down here uses them so I don't know much about them.

Do you use it right after you have cut the hay or let it dry awhile first?

How much faster could i expect my hay to dry?

Is a tedder worthwhile only on 3' tall grasses like fescue or wheat or would it be worthwhile for my 18" tall coastal bermuda?

Would it help the sorghum-sudan hybrids dry faster? I only have a disc mower - no crimper..

Thanks again

 

[Stocker Steve]

Hello

I see that you sell several brands of tedders- Sitrex, Tonutti and others

How are they different? It appears that the Sitrex tedder is sold under many different brands. I am interested in a 17' model.

How are the different brands different, quality of materials, availability of parts and price?

Thanks

The best way for me to answer your question is to do so by me rating the brands for durability and value.
Most of the major Italian MFG all have about the same features. Sitrex and Tonutti are the best of the Italian MFG's.
New Idea sells a tedder made by EnoRossi.The EnoRossi works good but is not as heavy as the Sitrex or Tonutti. Galfre'/Walton makes a tedder that has not changed in 20 years. The problem is the customers now are demanding more out of a tedder and the Galfre' products have not kept up with the improvements like the other MFG's. DeRoss is a light duty tedder that is average in the 10' or smaller but is too light in the 17' and above sizes.

Last year Sitrex came out with the ST5200 17" tedder, which has a stronger frame than the ST520. The Sitrex ST520 and Tonutti GT520 are very similar. But in my opinion the New Sitrex ST-5200 is superior to the Tonutti GT520. There is nothing wrong with either machine but I like the design of the ST-5200 best.

Now you have the major northern European MFG's such as: Class, Krone, Fella, Vicon, Kuhn, & Lely
These tedders usually cost almost twice as much as an Italian MFG. tedder. No question the best of these are made stronger and have more features than the Italians but are the worth twice the money? If you are purchasing a 21' or larger tedder I would say yes. These tedders are used by commercial operators and need the heavier spindles and drives.

Who makes the NH and H&S tedders?

 

[ironpeddler]

Stocker Steve
NH tedders are mostly Kuhn but NH's economy disc mowers are made by Sitrex.

H&S tedders are made by Sitrex.

 

[Stocker Steve]

NH tedders are mostly Kuhn but NH's economy disc mowers are made by Sitrex. H&S tedders are made by Sitrex.

Why are we seeing a lot more equipment made in Europe? I would think that the cost of manufacturing it there, and then shipping it over, would be much higher than manufacturing it here.

 

[ironpeddler]

The Large Round baler originated here in the USA. Our climate is different and more diverse than Europe and they developed into 85% Haylage market and USA technology developed to 80% dry hay market. So you see more wrapper technology and haylage technology coming from Europe to the States. Hence you have companies like McHale, Vicon, Claas, Krone and some other baler companies selling duel purpose balers now in the states.

Disc mower and tedder technology started in Europe. USA Patent law's focus and it's enforcement changed in the 1970's and that had more to do with the protection of that technology and why we don't have that type manufacturing here in the USA. In the 70's & 80's you could stack patents on the parent patent and the law would effectively extend patents from a life of 17 years to 25+ years. The migration of those technologies just didn't happen because it was cheaper for the US companies to purchase the technology than to develop and defend against patent challenges.When you look at the patents and see what companies were the trail blazers in hay tool technology you see PZ, Vicon, Lely & Kuhn. We see considerable Italian made equipment in the USA market today but their roots of development are in the northern European companies that developed the haytools technology first. The Italians in the 1990's were just more efficient at manufacturing than the northern European companies. Northern Europe moved their manufacturing around to Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and other economies where their goods could be made at a lower cost. Just check out the New JD Frontier disc mowers are made by Kuhn in the Czech Republic not France. Those current Frontier disc mowers are basically the lighter 80's & early 90's disc mowers Kuhn sold via Kuhn, NH and JD.

In the USA row crop farming is on a larger scale than Europe. We have more cattle than Europe and our commercial haying operations are much larger than in Europe. But 50% of the cattle in the USA are owned by operators that farm 150 acres or less so that opens up using the same size hay tools that are used in Europe. That's means no re-designing to the USA size because that size is being sold in Europe now.