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Norden Manufacturing, a provider of quality hay handling products for growers, including Hay Accumulators, Tie-Grabbers, and Standard Grabbers, announces the launch of their new product, the Norden AlfaTed.

The Norden AlfaTed addresses a specific challenge in the hay equipment industry. Preparing alfalfa for baling while maintaining quality has long been a challenge, requiring a balance between speed and gentleness. Reel-type tedders offer a more reliably gentle solution compared to typical rotary tedders. However, until now, these reel-type tedders have come with a significant trade-off: ground speed.

The reel on the AlfaTed features six bars of teeth and an industry-leading cam system, allows operators to quickly fluff windrows while minimizing damage to the hay. "Sometimes, the best advancements come from revisiting what worked in the past," says Kenny Kuhns, Owner of Norden. "We've partnered with John Russell and Wayne Vogel to bring their refined and optimized reel-type tedder design to market in 2025."

While rotary tedders excel at achieving quick dry-down, alfalfa presents a unique challenge. Once it reaches a certain dryness, further handling can cause significant damage, reducing feed quality. The reel design of the AlfaTed moves the window of opportunity for tedding to later in the dry down cycle and promotes further dry-down with minimal leaf loss.

The AlfaTed also features a 10 foot working width, tool free adjustability, a hydraulic drive and rubber teeth.