BIG KUHN TEDDER ELIMINATES TRACTOR, DRIVER, RAKE

For about seven years he ran a 4.0m tedder and a couple of years ago decided to up-grade to the 8.0m Kuhn GF7702. “Now instead of sending out two tedders, we send out the one. It saves a driver, a tractor and a rake,” he says.
Ken Moratti Contracting has been running for nearly 50 years and it is a huge operation. It has 25 seasonal staff, 800 clients and a full range of services from cultivation through to harvesting hay, and making maize and grass silage. It also cleans out effluent ponds and mulches hedges.
Billy has plenty to do keeping track of the staff, clients and the four mowers, three ploughs, 11 balers and 17 tractors. It’s a distinct advantage being able to cut down the numbers of tractors and staff required for a job. The operation runs a 6.0m mower. After it gathers the grass in, the big Kuhn tedder can grab three rows. “It blows through it and can do 150 acres a day,” Billy says.

He also likes the fact that it’s great at following contours. He had some concerns it would struggle in the rough paddocks but it pivots and closely follows the ground. “The secret is the small beaters – they all flex up and down. Some of the old tedders have big arms and break tines. These small rotors on the GF7702 don’t hit the ground; they get under the grass and flick it better. It doesn’t leave anything,” he says. The big tedder isn’t light, and Billy designates an 80hp tractor to pull it. “It travels very easily across the paddock; it’s just the weight of it when driving on the road. If you had a lighter tractor it would do head stands.” The GF7702 is on the three-point linkage and has big rams that keep it well suspended. Maintenance is easy too. It only has a few grease nipples and everything else is sealed in oil. Billy thinks the oil makes a better job. Billy’s expecting this Kuhn tedder to last five years, and with regular maintenance from their own mechanics it shouldn’t be hard to keep getting the best out of it. He prefers to buy new gear to get the warranty, and to minimise problems in the season when they don’t have time for breakdowns. “You’re not buying someone else’s problems,” he says.

He has a lot of Kuhn gear, including a six-row maize planter, a four-furrow reversible plough, a 3.0m rotary hoe and a 5.0m power harrow. Moratti Contracting has four tedders and when the next one retires Billy will be replacing it with another Kuhn.