Rake Can a rake do this?

[farmboy12]

Ok, we have been looking at cattle for a while and been getting help on countrybynet.com, but want to know if a york style rake can rake dung into rows to make it easier to collect. Like angle the rake, and get closer in every pass. Do you know if they would perform this task? Has anyone tried this?


Kyle

[john_bud]

Never tried that trick, so you will have to try it and see. I think it would just bust it up and spread it fine. Who knows? Give it a whirl and let us know.

jb

[farmboy12]

We don't have cattle yet, so can't try it. Maybe somebody else has. But if you put it just above/barely resting on the ground it might work. Hope someone tries it b/c the cattle deal may not follow through, but I still want to know the answer.


Kyle

[dirtworksequip]

You might be able to rake frozen cow chips into a windrow or pile with a landscape rake, but I doubt it will work that well on fresh stuff.

Sincerely, Dirt

[farmboy12]

Yeah, it probably wouldn't work. But I was thinking, maybe breaking it up would be good. Being able to fertilize, but without the clumps of "what did I just step in" lying around. If we were to take it out, we wouldn't spread, but compost, that's why I wanted to rake them. Any input on someone who has tried it please let us know! Thanks!


Kyle

[ToadHill]

Look at a chain link drag, it should do the trick for you.

[farmboy12]

Look at a chain link drag, it should do the trick for you.

As I said, I do not want to break up clumps. I want to put them in a row to make it easier for clean up. Now that I thought about it, instead of fertilizer in the garden, if I break it up, I'll fertilize the pasture.


Kyle

[amashinga]

You know that cattle dung was used as a flooring material in a traditional African adobe hut ?. Why is that relevant ?. Because you are talking about a substance that varies in consistency from soft and mushy to hard and round, so raking it will be tough.

[KHNewman]

probably tough to do if it is mushy but at the least you would need gauge wheels to not collect a huge pile of dirt along with the cow patties...

[bjcsc]

I use my rake to windrow horse manure and move into compost piles. It works great. You'll want to angle it all the way to get it to move along the rake. I don't see any reason it wouldn't work for cow...