Rake How to use a rear mount rake

[Heath]

I bought a 6' Frontier rake when I bought my JD 4110 in the spring. This weekend was the first time I tried it out and I'm looking for tips.
I mainly bought the rake for clearing a bunch of branches and misc debris from my timber. My first attempt resulted in a "fair" result. I originally had to adjust the wheels all the way down so the rake wouldn't dig into the ground too much. I did this and it really helped, but I'm still getting more soil than I'd like to. The ground is uneven enough that I really do need to keep the rake on the ground rather than holding it off the ground a few inches. When I tried to hold it up a little bit, the bumps in the ground resulted in the rake digging into the dirt or the rake leaving the ground enough for the debris I was pulling to fall out.
I guess I'm just curious to hear how other people use their rakes. Does anyone push them? Angles? Offsets?
Thanks
Heath

 

[RobS]

Hi Heath, I'm not surprised that your results were only "fair". I've got a King Kutter 6' rake (no gage wheels though) and I wouldn't expect it to handle debris without also taking in some dirt. Think of a garden rake versus leaf rake. The landscape rake is a tractor powered garden rake. More for working the dirt than raking up debris. Maybe others have had better luck, but I don't think it will ever match a leaf rake for manicuring the land /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Henro]

I also don't have gage wheels on my rake. It is also a KK brand...but works pretty good. I may not expect much though... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

One thing I have done when trying to finish an area is drag the rake backwards. Makes it less aggressive and still produces some results.

The angle of the tynes [tines?] can also be adjusted via the top link and this can help make the rake more, or less, aggressive.

Not sure how gage wheels figure into it though, as I don't have any.

 

[BXMMCC]

I get very good results by reversing the rake and driving backwards. I cleaned up about two acres of lawn that was covered by debris and twigs from the hurricane. (Driving backwards also provides therapy for my shoulder and neck pains, believe it or not!)
I found that adjusting the top link was necessary for the final grooming run, so that the tines barely missed the grass. The CFO was very pleased with the results.
Good luck!

 

[BXMMCC]

I cleaned up a few acres of debris, twigs, branches, creek trash from the hurricane's surge that did in the lawn. What worked for me was reversing the rake and driving backwards. (Also, believe it or not, the constant twisting around is good therapy for my neck and shoulder pain!)
Adjusting the top link was necessary for getting close to the grass without digging in.