A tedder is a machine used in haymaking. It is used after cutting and before windrow

Windrow

A windrow is a row of cut 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 mower machine or by scythe into a row, or it may naturally form as the hay is mowed...

ing, and uses moving forks to airate or "fluff up" the hay and thus speed-up the process of hay-making. The use of a tedder allows the hay to dry ("cure") better, which results in improved aroma and color.

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 New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

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

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 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

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

."

The action of the tedder is described, in the late 19th and early 20th century, as being used to "stir

Stir

- Formation and major label signing :Stir was founded in 1994 as a three piece band at the University of Missouri, and consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Andy Schmidt, bassist Kevin Gagnepain, and drummer Brad Booker...

" or "scatter

Scatter

In ordinary English, to scatter is to distribute randomly. Scatter also has the following meanings:*In physics, scattering is the study of collisions, especially of waves and particles...

" 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 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

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

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

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 to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids and to back up the natural aids . The spur is used in every equestrian discipline...

 wheel and a pinion

Pinion

A pinion is a round gear used in several applications:*usually the smallest gear in a gear drive train, although in the case of John Blenkinsop's Salamanca, the pinion was rather large...

, 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 Garfield, by Mudgett, and by Bullard (Ezekiel W. Bullard of Barre, Massachusetts

Barre, Massachusetts

Barre is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,398 at the 2010 census.-History:Originally called the Northwest District of Rutland, it was first settled in 1720. The town was incorporated on June 17, 1774, as Hutchinson after Thomas Hutchinson, colonial...

, 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 Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 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 shuffled the hay in a manner similar to the tedder. The acrobat could be used also for turning and for rowing hay up ready for baling

Baler

A baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport and store...

.

Tedders are produced by such manufacturers as Massey Ferguson

Massey Ferguson

Massey Ferguson Limited was a major agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Canada before its purchase by AGCO. The company was formed by a merger between Massey Harris and the Ferguson tractor company in 1953, creating the company Massey Harris Ferguson. However in 1958 the name was...

.

Use and importance

Its development was of great importance to agriculture, since it saved labor and thus money: using a tedder, a man and a horse could do as much work as fifteen 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

Eastern United States

The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...

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

Alfalfa

Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...

 and clover

Clover

Clover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the leguminous pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes...

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

Brands

• Bush Hog
• Claas
  CLAAS
  Claas is an agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in 1913, now based in Harsewinkel, Germany, in the state of North Rhine Westphalia. Their agricultural products are usually sold under the Claas name, except in North America where combines are distributed under the Lexion brand by Caterpillar...
  
  
• Fella
  Fella-Werke
  Fella-Werke GmbH is a German forage harvesting company based in Feucht, Germany; . It was established in 1918 as a harrow manufacturing company, but since then has been through a lot of changes....
  
  
• Krone
• Kuhn
• Lely
• Maschio
• Massey Ferguson
  Massey Ferguson
  Massey Ferguson Limited was a major agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Canada before its purchase by AGCO. The company was formed by a merger between Massey Harris and the Ferguson tractor company in 1953, creating the company Massey Harris Ferguson. However in 1958 the name was...
  
  
• Pöttinger
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