the basics of raking & tedding hay

In this video, the second in our hay making series, I cover the basics of raking and tedding hay. I talk about the best times in the drying process to do each and the different types of rakes and tedders, along with their advantages and disadvantages. We go out to the fields to ted hay with a Farmall 504 tractor and a 2 star tedder, and rake hay with an International 656 tractor and a New Holland 258 hay rake. I also show you a pattern for raking I developed which results in straight windrows that are easy to bale.
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[@TwoFarmBoys]

If one were to give an example of the right way to make someone stick around until the end of a KZbin video, you would be that example! You explain things with just the right amount of detail at just the right speed. I've learned more from just a few of your videos than I have from anyone else's videos in the last month. Another thing you do is move your camera shot a lot. I feel like that is a very overlooked video trick that I wish more people would try. This is definitely one of my new favorite channels! These kinds of hay equipment videos are right up my alley too considering I've gotten into making my own hay within the last year. The neighbors used to do it before I started doing it myself. Thanks for all of the helpful advice! I've been around old hay equipment my whole life but you still managed to cram a lot of new knowledge into my head. Keep up the great work and have a great rest of the day - Everett

[@johnmatthews501]

0p

[@jeffreyhicks4651]

I really like how well you explain each part and how every step works thanks for your videos

[@kiboiem]

I have never seen an easier explanation for haying. Thank you for the videos and keep them coming.

[@jaybee2344]

He talks you like a friend... 😊

[@ron7187]

I last put up some hay with a sickle mower and a dump rake helping my Dad on our childhood hobby farm 40 years ago. I most probably won't ever be in the hay business again. But I can't stop watching and learning from your videos! You have a gift of communication and teaching, my friend. Keep up the excellent work that you're doing. I'd watch your teaching video of advanced jet propulsion if you posted one!

[@DrDon67]

I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about haymaking--mowing, tedding, raking, baling, or storing. I'm watching KZbin videos both out of curiosity (my dad was an Illinois farmer LONG ago) and in doing some backstory research for a film script I'm writing. Thank you SO MUCH for the informative videos. You cover a lot of detail, but in a way that is actually entertaining to someone like me with zero experience. I really appreciate the way your videos have a beginning, middle, and end like a compelling story. Who knew windrows and baling twine could be so interesting!

[@anitaculp683]

Have had horses all my life and wondered how to do hay. Thank you 😊

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

You're welcome Anita!

[@philgriswold2133]

It's obvious that that you take pride in your hay work and that you truly enjoy it. While I was watching, I was thinking about Grandma telling how she makes biscuits. It's like a pinch of this and a bit of that and add buttermilk until they're just right. You then put them on your favorite biscuit sheet and when the stove is just about right, you put them in. After you let them cook awhile, you pull them out when they look done.

[@kisselectronics8360]

I grew up on a dairy-farm in CT, everything was horse drawn, did a lot of tedding by hand. Great videos, brings back a flood of wonderful memories.

[@donaldmack7213]

You really explain things well. Very informative and easy to understand!

[@mr.matthews67]

Yes sir I agree! well done!🤠

[@royhill9892]

I am new to haying, although I did it as a young person, mainly lifting the small bales to the top of the barn and walking the fields. It is amazing how far haying equipment has advanced with the large round bales and the tedders. After watching your video it has inspired me to tackle my 200 plus acres of hay rather than lease the property out again. You sir, are very articulate and are truly amazing the way you explain everything. With much appreciation from South Alabama.

[@chrisfoulk4715]

I've done a lot of raking on the seat of a 656. Used to use my great grandpa's International steel wheeled side delivery rake. I now use Kuhn v-rake to rake with. Awesome video!

[@AaricHale]

With you being a architect I think you would know the best way to rake your field . I have watched a lot of hay making video and you are by far have been the best at explaining things . I can't say this enough about how I love watching the Farmall tractors .

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Thanks Aaric!

[@tinkerinbruce6560]

Nice job!

[@halomaster2205]

Thank you for making this video, the rancher I help out is having me rake his fields tomorrow and I want to get a good idea of what I’ll be doing. Very informative thanks again.

[@hallieharker4384]

I came to this video with the idea of showing my husband what a hay rake looks like. He grew up on a farm, and they had a tractor with a spike and a brush hog, but I guess they never had a hay rake. I grew up on a farm, too, with a tractor, a hay rake, a sickle mower, a brush hog, a spike, a square baler, a round baler... but I was today years old before I knew that there was a such thing as a tedder! We were talking about this tonight because I just found out that my Dad and my brother experienced a hayfield fire and their tractor, two rakes, a mower, and a over hundred round bales burned.

[@dalenjurgens6751]

I started with your first haying video. I started playing MS Farming Simulator a couple months ago. It's getting me interested in all this yard work, windrowing, baling and harvesting and stuff like that. Thank you for showing us the real world of these processes!

[@clarkmann4736]

Thank you for an excellent series on how to cut,tedder and rake a field to make the bailing process easier and affective. This is my first year at haying and thanks to you lm off to a great start. Thank you great series.

[@icTroy]

I never knew about tedding. I only saw side rakes rolling rows over to dry the bottom. Very informative. Thanks for all the great vids

[@tallcedars2310]

Always wondered how to use tedders. We don't have many up here in northern Canada but have seen them at heritage demonstrations further south. Good to know they are used with hay that is not too dry, makes them useful in my mind now:)

[@NoName-tx5gn]

We are about to close on 34 acres in central Texas that was used to grow hay. We escaped the Atlantic northeast to leave the city life. Your videos have been extremely helpful in getting our little operation going!

[@tommcghee5339]

My brother and I started with 39 acres and 13 cows. Bought another 80. We learn as we go. Spray for weeds, aerate and fertilizer. Took 30 calves to sale barn in January. Best time to sell here in Missouri.

[@scottadams1061]

Wow! It’s about time! My dad had a fluff Tedder on the farm back in the 60’s. You’re the first person I’ve heard talk about a tedder or even know what it is. Thank you. 😊

[@Bouvtraining]

Hi Pete, Watched you video before heading out to rake a 6 acre piece of a neighbors field. I have a small sheep farm and had trouble getting someone to bale, so we decided to purchase some equipment and using a 25 HP & a 38 HP Mahindra we started learning. Today was my best day preparing the field to bale tomorrow. Thank You! BTW I am using a mini baler by Yanmar and produce 55 pound round bales. Having a love hate relationship because I love the size but cannot use a hat elevator to get it in the loft. I'll be following you more often now.

[@funnrun3399]

My father has a New Holland 256 hay Rake and a new Holland 133 hay inverter

[@DanKlein_1]

:-) you are correct. each farmer has their way when it comes to raking. I always say in some fields the guy raking also needs to be a bit of an artist as well, or engineer maybe. I like splitting the field in half so you aren't traveling the entire width of the field ends doing nothing just to get to the other side of the field. I just found your site but love it. you have all the same concerns and solutions I have as a small acreage farmer.

[@MaynardFamilyHomestead]

Thank you for making this series, it is very interesting! We just cut our own hay for the first time and have a lot to learn still. I look forward to seeing more of your videos in the future!

[@fraser5032]

Great video. Well put together. Thanks 👍

[@melvinbyrd8609]

Spot on again Pete!! I really do enjoy your videos they are so detailed and informative. Great work!!

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Thanks for watching Melvin!

[@patrickm3534]

Once again I loved this video. My brother that I partner with bought what I consider for us an expensive buy, a 4000 dollar V wheel rake. It was a change from our old side delivery take, but I love this rake ..

[@ayeriirl8695]

Great series!

[@toddsherfey6236]

When I was a kid that was our first tractor job ranking hay if you was strong enough to hold the clutch down you were big enough to drive a tractor and rake hay . It's loved taking hay I thought I was grown up. Didn't love handling square bales as much.good videos. God speed

[@biglittlefarm5137]

Just found this channel. What a great video! Articulate and to the point. Great camera work! 13 mins of knowledge that applies to my small farm THANKS!

[@mountaindreamer7883]

Yes , another very informative video. Looking good

[@user-io3hy4zb4s]

Thanks for all your awesome vids. I love your style of teaching. I've learned a lot about Dexters. Makes me less nervous about getting them soon.

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

You're welcome J! Good luck with your Dexters!

[@rickityrandy4156]

I like how your raking is like a football play and you break it. Down step by step

[@simr7856]

Great Video Presentation. knowledgable and not pretentious, offering both sides of the coin, but sticking with what works - Availibility and Realiability are the BEST abilities to have. i trust what you say. good too meet you Old Timmer.

[@Alpha1Farms]

Hey Pete! I remember watching this video when you made it but would love to see you doing the raking pattern from your new drone to getting an overhead view. Your explanations are always the best with the seemingly small but critical details.

[@torrespearls381]

Love the straight talking knowledge you put out. Cheers to you and your family and farm.

[@curtissheppard1996]

Great videos man. Keep them coming. I'm learning a lot.

[@crslyrn]

Nice job explaining the tedding & raking process. My raking method isn't like yours but, both methods work. Stay safe.

[@DavidRScott-lc9ce]

Thank you for the very informative videos, you do a great job!

[@ronzezulka6646]

Ya know,,,when we were farming, I raked and baled when grandpa said so. NOW,,,I know why he kused restraint on me. Thanks,Pete.

[@notthatguy4515]

Your explanation sounds like a architect explaining how the rake hay. 😂 Thanks for the knowledge. I really appreciate it.

[@stefflus08]

Found you yesterday and these are wonderful videos so I've been binge watching. I'm surprised how brown the sun makes the hay. In my cold and wet climate of Norway the traditional (and labour intensive) way was to dry the hay on temporary wire fences (called hesje), which left the majority of it untouched by the sun and beautifully green and nutritious. Now it's almost all baleage with all the plastic that involves.

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Hi Steffen, I have never heard of drying hay that way. It's amazing how much labor we save in agriculture today. This hay was browner than usual because it took 5 days to dry. Hay made here in July and August only takes 2 days to dry, and it stays much greener (but never as green as baleage!)

[@kennethbailey2616]

I am enjoying your videos.

[@cavemandancer]

Great video,. Thank you for making this.

[@vinylrevolutions9718]

I'm not a farmer, just interested. I've learnt a lot. Thanks for your clear explanation of hay making.

[@crazycoyote1738]

Thanks Pete!!

[@roddypryce454]

Very interesting video. Making hay is a lot more complicated than I thought.

[@darylcjackson]

Really good video. Very informative and excellent video quality.

[@downhilltwofour0082]

Thanks for sharing!

[@theburnhams2925]

Yes Sir! Hay in the barn is worth more than "money in the bank!"

[@pibble3962]

Thank you Pete! Great information!

[@DarrenMalin]

would you believe I come to your vids because of the game farmSim 22 :) it lead me to real farm vids on youtube , I am now fascinated by farming , who know :)

[@brianscott3021]

We always called it fluffing reguardless

[@huntingsurvival]

What a beautiful area you live in!

[@donaldthomas5852]

Yes, it's up too each farmer on what works for him how to rake. I have two rakes a New Holland 56 roller rake very similar to yours with the front dolly wheels. And I have a 10 wheel V- speed rake that has the 11th wheel to turn the center. The V-rake is 3 times faster then the NH roller rake. The V rake you can travel at a faster speed and I takes only once pass , as with the roller rake it takes two or three passes for one win roll at a slower speed. I like using the roller rake in a small field and for turning the winrolls over to dry the bottom when needed.

[@jacqueswaibel5237]

Funny to see you haying compared to us hay in Germany. At our place, every little farmer with a few acres has a mower with 6-8 meter working width and a 6-10 star tedder. But i love seeing you work with these old small machines 😉

[@raincoast9010]

How much government money is pumped into those farms? If they had to stand on their own two feet they would go broke in a week !

[@hakkhngyeo7763]

Great Sharing especially on the costing (Maths) in previous video.

[@luckyluke1730]

Absolutely beautiful mate for someone new like myself 🙏

[@7viewerlogic670]

Great video!

[@G.W_JUNK]

Great video.

[@timperry2648]

Great job! God Bless!

[@NTECIreland]

Hi Pete.Greetings from the Emerald Isle! Congratulations on your very engaging vlogs.Thank you! Stay safe!

[@joeydalia2572]

Once again great video, your going to be the next big KZbin homesteading channel with the way your going.

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Wow, thank you!

[@rogeriopaiva4892]

Thanks Peter for sharing your thoughts and knowledge I have learned a lot from you and today I proudly cut my first hay !!!

[@rogeriopaiva4892]

Excellent video Sir!

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Thanks Rogerio!!

[@dirtcop11]

When I was a kid, I raked hay with a sulky rake. It took some practice to get straight windrows but I got pretty good at it.

[@possumholler05]

Interesting rake pattern and great looking windrows. I’d lose my mind waiting 4 days to bale hay. Pretty rare for us to get 4 weather days in a row during first cutting timeframe. I cut 10 acres yesterday and 10 more today after tedding the first 10. Will bale the first 10 tomorrow and if the forecast holds will cut another field tomorrow before I bale in the afternoon and then ted todays cutting. Usually 48 hours after cutting I’ll have it baled unless it turns off cloudy or worse, it gets washed. Since we’ve gone away from bar raking in favor of V raking, we don’t flip windrows anymore, very hard to do accurately with a v rake like you can with a bar rake. If I have help available, I have them rake 3 rounds around the outside (bigger fwa tractor takes some turning radius) and I roll those up and then they will rake straight rows as you demonstrate and I’ll fall in behind. If it’s just me I rake the 3 rounds, bale those and then rake the rest and go back to baling. Typically by myself, that’s the reason for cutting no more than 10-12 acres at a time, easy to get caught with your pants down by a bad forecast.

[@johndeeregaming4653]

Just found your videos and I really like them

[@DH1942]

Nice job enjoyed watching

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Thanks Darin!

[@jeepxj]

Great channel.

[@themichiganwoodsman1372]

Great info sir. Thank you

[@gustavoesteves7076]

Parabéns!! Estou gostando muito dos seus vídeos. Seus tratores antigos são muito bem conservados.

[@oldtireman4665]

All this brings back serious memories. Back in the late 60’s one of my uncles had a 7 or 8’ sickle bar on I think a 560 and pulled a conditioner directly behind. My cousin would cut in the morning while we unloaded the baled hay from the previous day. When that was done, someone would rake the hay cut the day before with a Farmall 200 while empty wagons were hauled to the field. Break for lunch and bale from about 1:00 until supper at 5:00 and then onto the barn for milking. Sometimes if we got behind and the hay was nice, my aunt would leave the dishes on the table and we’d head back out and twist up a couple more loads. Square bales, hooked off the chute and hand stacked, usually 6-7 layers high just so we’d fit under the overhead in the center bay. Bale throwers were a luxury! Another thing about sickle bars and separate conditioners; it seemed there were a darned sight more rabbit and pheasant around come hunting season! The mower might destroy the nest but the hen would often survive to nest again. I saw more than one hen missing her lower leg scooting through a cut hay or grain field, often with a flock of chicks about her, seemingly none the worse for wear. Good times but maybe we didn’t know that then.

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Hi Old Tireman, that's a long day! But when you're young you can do that stuff. There's still a few of those old crimpers/conditioners around here, and our IH 120 sickle bar mower has a hitch on the back to tow one behind, so it conditions the previous pass while you're mowing the next pass.

[@jaceshepherd539]

the way we rake hay is way better for us, im not all about how you rake hay but great explaining video

[@dougrobison1156]

Hey Pete! Love your channel :-)

[@toddcaskey9984]

Good job

[@JokeeGA5]

It's the dream, right there.

[@jaybee2344]

Yes! No traffic, no Virus, just you and your side kick! It can be quite the therapy for a busy drama filled day job...

[@allanbarsness6076]

love this

[@photojones1]

Good channel great content!

[@MrVailtown]

Thanks Pete 😇

[@ironworkerfxr7105]

Nice work, always have to keep in mind when raking not to let the winrows rope up, or you get a stuffed bale chamber. .

[@travisw9130]

Cool video

[@bl688]

Best thing to do to help your hay dry is make sure your mowing it with a mower that has conditioner rollers

[@donaldwhite2744]

When I was growing up we had a Grimm Tedder that worked just like the Pequea. You showed another great video Pete. Oh and I tedded a lot of hay using our Oliver 70 in 5th gear if I remember correctly. And our farm was up in Pulaski, NY.

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Hi Donald, maybe you knew some relatives of mine that farmed in Pulaski: Richard & Barbara Mandigo.

[@donaldwhite2744]

@@JustaFewAcresFarm Yes, Pete, Mandigos were our neighbors, we had a McCormick Threshing machine and we threshed their oats for them. Richard has passed away, but Barbara is still living in Florida and is now 105 years old! They had 5 sons and youngest is Daniel, a year older than me and we went to Cornell together, lived in the same co-op. Anyway, both theirs and ours were dairy farms. Oh, and the boys and I were all in 4-H together. Thanks for your reply, it sometimes is a small world knowing folks like that!

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

@@donaldwhite2744 yes it's a small world! I still correspond with Aunt Barbara, she is still sharp and has good memories of growing up down the road from our house, and visiting with my great grandmother here.

[@ebnservices1058]

Thanks again!

[@pauljayperez840]

You have been a big great help for myself and family. We all have learned so much infact we are still working on it. Except I have couple of questions, you mind if I ask?

[@HeritagePonds]

I have equipment similar in size to yours, except this will be my first year using a tedder. I like to cut four "end rows" around the perimeter of the field (just going in circles) before I cut straight rows. When I rake it, I prefer to double up everything, but I save the inner two perimeter end rows for last so I can clean up any curling tails on the straight rows.

[@locusthollowvt5096]

How much time do you take to prepare for your videos? You always seem like you know what to say and have great explanations and data. Very well done

[@pocketchange1951]

👍👌🇨🇦❤, new sub, gr8 stuff, well done, weather forecast, if I am haying, it rains

[@Allan79789]

I love that tractor as I spent many summers swathing wheat from a 756. I also suffered hearing damage from the same tractor,, please wear hearing protection.

[@don66hotrod94]

We always try to rake just as the dew is coming off in the morning or just before it comes on in the evening. Baling the same, saves much of the leaves.

[@tomservo5347]

One thing I've never seen here in Missouri is farmers ever bothering to use tedders. Not sure how true but grandpa claimed field conditioners, tedders, anything with a reel knocks out seed that's a good source of protein, and red clover is one of our main hay makers. We just mow it down, let it sit for a couple of days and when we rake it usually does the job of flipping the hay over to dry out anything not cured. A couple of hours in Missouri summer heat usually does the job-you can literally see the heat waves coming off the windrows as they dry out-making that pungent but pleasant smell of freshly cured hay that I'll always identify with summer. (Along with getting covered in itchy chaff that sticks as you sweat.) Getting ready to do some big round baling today actually.

[@JustaFewAcresFarm]

Hi Tom, cattle can't digest most small grass seeds unless they're milled. Clover seed will pass right through them and wind up sprouting in the pasture. The best way to get maximum protein out of hay is to plant plenty of legumes, and cut before they get overmature and go to seed. If I could avoid tedding I would, but it's too humid most of the time.

[@davidmott3938]

Pete: I just discovered your videos. Have several more to review. 1. Do you have 2 bulls instead of one because of a compressed time frame? 2. Do you retain your same hay fields or do you rotate them into pasture? 3. Do you self-video your videos or do you have a photographer.? 4. When my father farmed in the 40's in Dryden, N.Y. (I was born in Cortland) --I think they had silos and silage. I believe it is your opinion that that is a "no-no." 5. Have you considered selling mail order (with dry ice) for some of your products or do you believe that it would put too much of a market demand on your current production levels? excellent agriculture program. Does it offer you online courses when you want to drill down on a focused subject issue?

[@powerram92]

We need ours right after we cut it and it saves us a day of drying.

[@danstevens2204]

Jay Leno’s farming brother

[@bum153]

what a nice guy

[@georgeshotrodbarn2113]

Thanks

[@hellmst6820]

here is an instant idea of mine for that first windrow. Mark it with a cone or stick and flip it back one workingwidth so you scoop up all the hay to dry.

[@kinneycarlton5087]

I smile watching your videos. Very good explanation. I am curious as to why you don’t take your second pass back into the first. You’re having to come back and pull the unraked back into the wind row and it seems to me you’re not flipping the mowed hay but mixing it making it necessary to re-rake. Just curious and as you say, everyone takes a little different.