While hay rakes are more commonly seen and used in hay operations, a fairly new contraption called a hay merger is slowly gaining prominence for its ability to quickly produce windrows of better quality hay thanks to its lifting mechanism instead of sweeping.
Austrian brand, Reiter, begin producing hay mergers in 2007 and has not looked back since. Its latest and largest model- the Respiro R9, was recently put on display at the Henty Machinery Field Days 2022 in September by local distributor, Megamac Equipment.
According to Megamac's Steve Deppeler, the machine is more geared towards the contractor who are swathing a lot of hay day in, day out.
"The advantage of this machine over a rake is, its has rounded tines that gradually lift the grass and flick it on to the belt, which then carries the grass across to make the windrow rather than sweeping it across the ground.
"As a result, we get much less rocks and soil into the hay to make a much better feed value mix."
The Reiter Respiro R9 has a working width of 9m and is capable of producing windrows up to 2m in width in various swath placements, including centre swath, side swath, half side swath and more.
Watch the video to find out more about the innovative machine.