6 Best New Holland Rotary Tedders For Homesteaders on Small Acreage

You’ve just cut five perfect acres of hay, the sun is shining, but the forecast shows rain in two days. This is the moment where good hay becomes great hay, or it becomes moldy cattle feed. A rotary tedder is the tool that makes the difference, turning a stressful race against the clock into a manageable process.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Why a Tedder is Key for Small-Scale Hay Quality

A rotary tedder might seem like an extra step, but it’s the single best investment for improving your hay quality. Its job is simple: it gently lifts, fluffs, and spreads out the cut hay from the mower’s windrow. This simple action exposes the damp underside of the crop to sun and air, dramatically speeding up drying time.

For a homesteader, that speed is everything. Our weather windows are often short and unpredictable. Shaving a full day off your drying time can be the difference between baling dry, sweet-smelling hay and losing a cutting to rain. Faster, more even drying also preserves nutrients, especially the delicate proteins in legumes like alfalfa and clover.

Furthermore, tedding eliminates the dense, wet clumps that refuse to dry in a standard windrow. Those wet spots are where mold and dust begin, ruining bales from the inside out. By creating a uniform, airy mat of hay, you ensure every stem dries at the same rate, leading to cleaner raking, tighter bales, and ultimately, better feed for your animals.

New Holland 163: A Reliable, Budget-Friendly Find

If you see a simple, two-rotor tedder sitting in a farmer’s fencerow, there’s a good chance it’s a New Holland 163. This is the classic, ground-driven workhorse. Its beauty is its simplicity; with no PTO shaft and no hydraulics, there are far fewer things to break.

This model is perfect for someone with just a few acres of hay and a smaller tractor. Because it’s ground-driven, it doesn’t demand much from your tractor‘s horsepower. It just needs to be pulled. You can find them on the used market for a very reasonable price, making them an accessible entry point into better haymaking.

The trade-off is performance. A ground-driven tedder’s rotor speed is tied to how fast you drive, which can lead to less consistent fluffing in heavy spots. But for 2 to 5 acres, its reliability and low cost are hard to beat. It’s a machine you can fix with basic tools on a Saturday morning.

New Holland ProTed™ 150: Ideal for Compact Tractors

The ProTed™ 150 is the modern answer for homesteaders running compact utility tractors. This two-rotor, PTO-driven tedder offers a significant performance jump from older, ground-driven models. It’s light, maneuverable, and designed to work efficiently behind tractors in the 25-40 HP range.

Being PTO-driven is the key advantage here. You can maintain a consistent, optimal rotor speed regardless of your ground speed. This allows you to slow down in thick, heavy patches of hay to do a thorough job without losing fluffing action. The hydraulic lift also makes turning at the end of a row and transporting between fields quick and easy.

This model is for the homesteader who values efficiency and precision. If you’re managing several small, oddly shaped fields, the maneuverability and consistent performance of the 150 will save you time and frustration. It represents a smart investment in modern reliability without being oversized for a small operation.

New Holland DuraTed™ 420: Modern, Efficient Tedding

Stepping up to a four-rotor tedder doesn’t have to mean a massive machine. The DuraTed™ 420 is a modern, compact four-rotor tedder that brings a new level of efficiency to homesteads in the 5-10 acre range. Its design focuses on durability and low maintenance, which is a huge benefit when your time is limited.

The DuraTed™ series features fully enclosed, grease-filled gearboxes. This means you aren’t spending precious time before every use greasing multiple points. The tine arms are also built to be exceptionally tough, reducing the chance of a breakdown in the middle of a field.

Four smaller rotors often follow uneven ground better than two large ones, resulting in a cleaner lift and a more uniform spread. This model is about working smarter. It provides the width to get the job done faster but with the modern engineering that minimizes your time spent on maintenance and repairs.

New Holland 166: A Wider Cut for Growing Acreage

The New Holland 166 is the four-rotor big brother to the 163. Like its smaller sibling, it’s an older model known for being tough and relatively simple, making it another fantastic find on the used market. It’s the logical next step when your hay operation expands beyond a few acres.

With a working width of around 17 feet, the 166 can cover ground much faster than a two-rotor machine. This is crucial when you’re trying to ted 10 or 15 acres in a single afternoon. Most models feature a hydraulic fold mechanism, allowing you to quickly transition from working width to a narrow transport width from the tractor seat.

This tedder is for the homesteader who is getting serious about their hay production. It requires a bit more tractor—think 40 HP or more—to handle it safely, but the time savings are immense. It turns an all-day job into a half-day task.

New Holland ProTed™ 170: Four-Rotor Performance

The ProTed™ 170 is a modern, high-performance four-rotor tedder that brings professional features to a manageable size. It’s designed for the homesteader or small farmer who needs to cover 10 to 20 acres quickly and with maximum control over the final product.

What sets the 170 apart are its adjustment capabilities. You can easily change the tine pitch, allowing you to be more aggressive for fluffing damp, heavy grass or gentler to prevent leaf loss in delicate crops like alfalfa. This level of control directly impacts the nutritional quality of your finished bales.

This machine combines the width of the 166 with modern engineering for a smoother, more reliable operation. It’s a significant investment, but for those who depend on their own high-quality hay to feed valuable livestock, the ProTed™ 170 delivers the performance needed to protect that investment.

New Holland DuraTed™ 530: For Larger Homesteads

For the homesteader managing 20 or more acres of hay, or perhaps doing some custom work for neighbors, the DuraTed™ 530 is a serious tool. It offers a wider working width than the 420 while retaining the same low-maintenance, heavy-duty design philosophy.

This tedder is built for productivity. Everything from the heavy-duty frame to the enclosed gearboxes is designed to handle long hours and tough conditions. The wider reach means fewer passes across the field, saving you fuel, time, and compaction on your soil.

Let’s be clear: this machine is overkill for a 5-acre hobby farm. But if your homestead is scaling up and hay is a critical part of your operation, the 530 provides the capacity and durability to manage larger acreage efficiently. It’s about having the right tool to get a big job done right, and done fast.

Matching Tedder Size to Your Tractor and Acreage

Choosing the right tedder isn’t about getting the biggest one you can find; it’s about balancing three key factors: your tractor, your acreage, and your budget. Getting this balance right is key to an efficient haying system.

First, consider your tractor. A small, two-rotor tedder like the 163 or ProTed™ 150 is a perfect match for a compact tractor under 40 HP. Stepping up to a four-rotor tedder like the 166 or DuraTed™ 420 really requires a tractor with at least 40-50 HP, not just for the PTO power but for the weight and stability to lift and handle the implement safely.

Next, look at your acreage.

• Under 5 acres: A two-rotor tedder is all you need. It’s efficient, nimble, and won’t feel oversized in small fields.
• 5-15 acres: A four-rotor model becomes a major time-saver. The wider working width drastically cuts down on seat time.
• 15+ acres: A wider four-rotor like the ProTed™ 170 or DuraTed™ 530 is almost a necessity to get the hay turned in a timely manner.

Finally, weigh the new versus used tradeoff. An older model like the 163 or 166 offers incredible value and is simple to repair. A new ProTed™ or DuraTed™ model costs more upfront but provides modern efficiency, greater reliability, and features that can produce higher-quality hay. Your choice depends on whether you have more time and mechanical skill, or more capital to invest.

Ultimately, a tedder is a tool of control, giving you power over one of the most unpredictable variables in farming: drying time. By honestly assessing your scale and equipment, you can choose a New Holland tedder that fits your homestead perfectly, ensuring you put up the best possible hay every single season.