Henty 2018: “Unconventional” hay tedder takes out Australian machine award

Suitable for mowers from three to 5m, Berrima Engineering’s Multi-Ted 12-6 won the Greater Hume Council Award for best Australian designed and manufactured machine at the Henty Machinery Field Days on September 20.

Berrima Engineering director, Martin Morona, said producers had called for a durable, robust and Australian-made tedder, resulting in the Multi-Ted 12-6.

Designed for delicate fodder crops, the Multi-Ted 12-6 has larger diameter rotors with an increased number of tyne arms rotating at a slower speed to result in the gentle handling of material.

Telescopic wings allow the Multi-Ted 12-6 to adapt to varying windrow spacing while the rotor spacing and angle is variable.

SEE ALSO FROM HENTY 2018:

Self-opening hay rake named Machine of the Year

Each rotor has three axis of adjustment of 10 to 15 degrees for different fodder types.

The rotor heads are mounted on rubber suspension, allowing them to float.

Large centre rotors allow for a tractor to fit between the split windrows without having to drive on the crop.

The machine splits the windrow and moves the material either side of the previous windrow on to fresh ground. The result is minimal bleaching due to decreased drying time.

Plants below the cut windrow recover faster, enabling uniform growth in fodder crops cut multiple times.

“This machine is fully hydraulic, has six large rotors and weighs 2.5 tonnes – it is not a conventional tedder,” Morona said.

“It can be used as a tedder where the crop is dispersed evenly across the ground or as a hay inverter/splitter where it moves mower swaths on to dry ground and fluffs the row at the same time a day or two after cutting.

“The application tested on the Berrima Multi-Ted was to move three mower swaths simultaneously off their original cut position onto dry ground and splitting each mower cut into two smaller rows.”

The Berrima Multi-Ted 12-6 is available in working widths from nine to 12m, making it ideal for mower widths of 3.5 to 5m.

Trials earlier this year revealed the Multi-Ted 12-6 reduced drying time by one to two days and significantly reduced bleaching in lucerne.

“This machine handles three mower cuts at a time and makes six small rows – it is easier to rake and the centre rows are wide enough to drive a tractor through,” Morona said.

“This is aimed at drying material quickly and retaining better colour.”

The Multi-Ted 12-5 is shod with four high flotation tyres and features a transport width of 3.5m and transport height of 4.2m.

“An electric over hydraulic controller which sits in the cabin controls fold-up for transport, rotors, wing fold, width and height,” Morona said.

“Once the wings fold up, a hydraulic cylinder tips the machine forward to make it safer to transport.”

Morona said the Multi-Ted doesn’t require plenty of horsepower to run.

“It’s all about hydraulic oil flow,” he said.

“If tedding lucerne, 50-60 litres per minute oil flow will be required.”

He added maintenance is minimal with the lack of drive shaft, gearbox and cams.

The tempered wire tynes are mounted on a natural rubber compound and simply bolt on.

Morona said he is confident the Multi-Ted 12-6 will become known for its durability.

“The rotor design is completely different, it is hydraulic drive and the frames are extremely robust compared to other tedder rakes,” he said.

“The suspension system on the rotors dampens all the shock and I am confident its durability will make it a success.

“All the hydraulic cylinders are Australian made and the frame is all Australian steel.”

Berrima worked closely with Tocumwal hay producer, Phil Snowden, on developing the Multi-Ted 12-6.

Morona said trials using the machine on silage are underway.

“We are also looking to trial it in oaten hay so if there are any growers looking to dry their material quicker, please contact us.

“There is still quite a bit of hay being made in certain areas, including Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia, and the factory has been busy trying to fill orders.”

The Berrima Multi-Ted 12-6 is priced from $65,000 plus GST, depending on the configuration.

Look up tedders for sale

Berrima also used the event to publicly debut the prototype BR1400C Quad Basket, the biggest roller-bar hay rake in the world, boasting a raking width up to 14m.

Morona said producer feedback asking for a machine larger than 12m led to the BR1400C being assembled for the field days.

“We started on this design two years ago but put it on the back burner before restarting on it last December,” he said.

“We have been modelling, brain storming and building prototype frames flat out. We’ve actually had it out working and it was phenomenal with producers flying over from New Zealand to see it.

“Everything is hydraulic drive – safe, smooth and maintenance free.

“The transport width of the BR1400C is 3.2m – the challenge was to make a durable piece of equipment fold up narrow when it is that wide.’”

Morona said the 6.2-tonne BR1400C would be worked solidly for a year before taking it to market.

Featuring four baskets with Timbren rubber suspension, the roller-bar has a raking speed of eight to 16km/h, a transport length of 10m and lends itself well to road transport.

Berrima began building hay rakes in Deniliquin, NSW, in 1995 and now specialises in roller-bar rakes but also manufactures chaser bins, hay accumulators, grain handling equipment and many custom machines.

The team is led by Morona, who has a pastoral and hay production background, and dedicated staff like design engineer Aaron Litchfield.

“The eight staff are involved in contributing to the designs and we like to get them out to drive the machines as much as possible,” Morona said.

“We started off building 8m hydraulic machines, and are a hands-on company working with customers to receive feedback resulting in development.

“That has been the catalyst for us in designing roller-bar rakes to handle material in the most gentle and clean way.”

Effective tedder width: 9-12m

Transport width : 3.5m

Transport length: 5m

Transport height: 4.2m

Weight: 2.5 tonnes

Tyres: 33 x 12.5 R15 LT 108R x 4

Hydraulic requirements: 80l/min

Tedding speed: 8-16 km/hr

Transport speed: Max 50 km/hr

Total number of tynes: 228

Rotors: 6

Rotor width: centre – 1400mm/wings – 900mm

Tyne arms per rotor: centre – 14/wings – 12

Tynes per arm: 3

Hitch type: drawbar

Rotor drive: hydraulic