New Holland 254 rake/tedder

[Gregg Mauldin]

Just got one of these rakes from a buddy.I don"t know much about them. Any help would be appreciated. I need to get a manual for sure.

 

[DeltaRed]

Work in grass but tend to beat the crap out of alfalfa.Get the book at your NH dealwer for about 30 bucks.

 

[JDseller]

I hope you did not give much for it. The NH 254 had a lot of issues. The cams and bearing would not last long. Many of the little brackets and such that allow you to switch back and forth would crack and break. The the arms would hit each other and break more stuff. The replacement NH 255 was a little better but not much.

Then the biggest problem was that they really did not work well. The combination rake/tedders really don't do either very well. You maybe fine if you are not using it on many acres.

To use it for raking you let the arms down so the cams work. It looks like the arms are set to rake in the picture. Then you slide the baskets apart to set windrow width. The frame telescopes.

To ted you have to lock up each individual arm. Then slide the baskets clear together so they run inter twined. Then you shorten the top link to set the ground height.

 

[Hay hay hay]

You may soon be reevaluating the term "buddy".

 

[RodinNS]

Ya know... I have one of them and I wouldn't sell it to anyone I considered anything more than a sworn enemy.
If you can keep cam followers and arm hangers on it it will work OK. The big 'IF'.... is wether or not you can keep parts on it.
I find it does a respectable job of tedding if you lock the arms in their upper position out of the cam. It also goes through fewer parts in this mode. So lock them up... then tip the baskets ahead on the crank as far as necessary and use the top link to finish the job if you have to. Keep greased what will take grease and cross your fingers.
As a rake... I always liked the rows it made. They baled very nice. The problem is that when you widen the frame out to it's maximum width it does not move the hay between the rotors. This is not a big factor IF the hay has been tedded already. If the swath hasn't been moved then the baler will generally leave some of that hay behind... So we always made a point of running the frame in it's narrowest position for tedding then widen it out to maximum for raking. That made sure that all hay got moved at some point.
I wish you lots of luck. You're going to need it. I'd also keep an eye on your buddy after this....

Rod

 

[donjr]

I just sold my old 255 for a good price. As for the job they do, if they are set up right, they do a tolerable job, either raking or tedding. One of the biggest secrets is to slow down the PTO speed, about 1/2 to 2/3 throttle for raking and give it time to work properly. Always set the tilt so the front tines are just above the ground, And, keep them greased. There's a lot of parts that are sealed, and a large number that are not. As far as tine arms, when the rolled pins broke or wore out, I replaced them with a hardened bolt- 5/8 x 6-1/2- if I remember right. They made it easy to remove the tine arms for maintenance. You'll also have to learn how to rake differently.Do your outside windrows last after your inside windrows are finished. And build up a roller, drive pin and tine inventory as soon as you can. There are a lot of moving parts that can ruin a cutting of hay if they break at a bad time.

 

[cd1]

Operate it like the owner's manual says and they aren't too bad. I like mine, if it could be set to side deliver it would be even handier. Good for a small time guy I think. You can destroy about any rotary rake if you don't know what your doing, running them in the dirt, etc.

 

[Gregg Mauldin]

Do you have a copy of the manual you could email me a copy of?

 

[cd1]

I do not, your NH dealer can get you one. Yours looks to be an older one as it has the narrow tires.