A tedder (also called hay tedder) is a machine used in haymaking. It is used after cutting and before

windrow A windrow is a row of cut (mown) hay or small grain crop. It is allowed to dry before being baled, combined, or rolled. For hay, the windrow is often formed by a hay rake, which rakes hay that has been cut by a mowing machine or by scythe into ...

ing, and uses moving forks to aerate or "wuffle" the hay and thus speed drying before baling or rolling. The use of a tedder allows the hay to dry ("cure") better, which prevents mildew or fermentation.

History

The tedder came into use in the second half of the nineteenth century. While Charles Wendel claims in his ''Encyclopedia of American farm implements & antiques'' that the machine wasn't introduced to the United States until the 1880s, there are enough indications that the tedder was in use in the 1860s—''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reports on its efficacy in 1868, and in that same year the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

comments on the American-made Hubbard's hay tedder, which had been on the market since 1863; according to the Maine report, in 1859 the machine was "an implement lately imported from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

." The action of the tedder is described, in the late 19th and early 20th century, as being used to "stir" or "scatter" cut hay in the field.

Operation

The original tedder is a farm tool on two wheels pulled by a horse; the rotation of the axle drives a gear which operates a "number of arms with wire

tines Tines (; also spelled tynes), prongs or teeth are parallel or branching spikes forming parts of a tool or natural object. They are used to spear, hook, move or otherwise act on other objects. They may be made of metal, wood, bone or other hard, ...

or fingers at the lower ends." The tines pick up the hay and disperse it; usually, the height at which the tines pick up the hay can be adjusted. In an early, simple hay tedder described in 1852 and manufactured in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

by the company of Mr. Slight, the two wheels, via a

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

wheel and a

pinion A pinion is a round gear—usually the smaller of two meshed gears—used in several applications, including drivetrain and rack and pinion systems. Applications Drivetrain Drivetrains usually feature a gear known as the pinion, which may ...

, drive a set of light wheels, the "rake wheels"; on these two rake wheels are mounted eight rakes, which pick up and disperse the hay. A later "English hay-tedder" uses two separate cylinders with rotating forks that can be reversed to lay the hay down lightly for improved exposure to air. American machines, such as those made by companies such as Garfield, Mudgett, and Bullard (Ezekiel W. Bullard of

Barre Barre or Barré may refer to: * Barre (name) or Barré, a surname and given name Places United States * Barre, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Barre (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town * Barre, New York, a town * Barre (ci ...

, Massachusetts, is credited in one source with the invention of the machine, nicknamed "the grasshopper"), typically used a system with a revolving crank in the middle of the arm and a lever at the upper end, or a system whereby rotating wheels moved the forks up and down. The first tedder widely available on the American market was the already mentioned ''Bullard's Hay Tedder'', which had forks moving up and down on a compound crank, working in a motion described as "the energetic scratching of a hen." The ''American Hay Tedder'', made by the Ames Plow Company of

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and described in 1869 as a "new machine, remarkable for its simplicity and perfection of working, was more like the British machine in its rotational operation. Some tedders have the rotating tines enclosed inside a solid structure to increase the force applied to the hay. Other similar machines included ''the Wuffler'' and ''the acrobat''. The Wuffler shuffles the hay in a manner similar to the tedder. The acrobat may be used also for turning, and for rowing hay up ready for

baling The Baling District is an administrative district in southeastern Kedah, Malaysia. Located about 110 km from Alor Setar, it borders Perak and Betong, the southernmost town of Thailand. Name The name Baling can be traced to a series of ...

Centrifugal rakes

On two opposing horizontal gyroscopes, which are pto-driven, are mounted obliquely downward standing tines. These refer to the green waste and throw it back. Due to the rear-mounted collecting baskets a windrowing is as possible with a Rake. Their distribution is low because of the limited job performance.

Use and importance

Its development was of great importance to agriculture, since it saved labor and thus money: using a tedder, one person and one draft animal could do as much work as fifteen manual laborers. It also resulted in greater economy, since cut grass could be turned into hay the same day even if it had become wet or been trampled by horses and before its nutritional value could be reduced by repeated soaking from rain. Especially in humid areas (such as the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

), the invention of the tedder added greatly to improved hay production from such crops as

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as ...

and

clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

, and allowed for haying while the grass was still green which produced hay of much higher value.

References

External links