is a landscape rake right for this?

[rdblan2]

Greetings folks! First post for me here.

I bought 63 acres of wooded land last year and the seller had a 2003 New Holland TN65 with 75 hours on it he needed to get rid of. Knowing nothing about tractors, I did a little research and bought it from him. I have a box blade, pallet forks, front loader with grapple bucket, rotary cutter, and post hole digger with it. On to my actual question...

I'll be having some dozer work done this coming spring to clear 5ish acres that I'll be putting a cabin on and planting in grass and something for the deer to eat. Anywho, once I have the dozer work done I expect to have a lot of rocks, limbs, etc laying around. Now with anything big I'll be able to push away with the dozer or pick up with the bucket.

Is the landscape rake the right tool for the job of cleaning up rocks and such post dozer? Also seems like the rake would be useful flipped around to toss a little dirt over the grass seed once I spread the seed. From my searching and reading here, it seems the rake may be what I need. I have a number of Tractor Supply stores around but from what I've learned, the rake they sell is light duty. I kinda feel like I'll be doing light duty work and am leaning toward purchasing from them.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks folks! I'm still searching and reading!

 

[jeff9366]

Anywho, once I have the dozer work done I expect to have a lot of rocks, limbs, etc laying around.

Is the landscape rake the right tool for the job of cleaning up rocks and such post dozer? Also seems like the rake would be useful flipped around to toss a little dirt over the grass seed once I spread the seed.

I have a number of Tractor Supply stores around but from what I've learned, the rake they sell is light duty. I kinda feel like I'll be doing light duty work and am leaning toward purchasing from them.

Amazing what people find and/or run across. A 2003 tractor with just 75 hours on the clock! I would have all the fluids and filters changed before running it more than five minutes. Have the battery checked too.

I looked up the specs for the New Holland TN65: TractorData.com New Holland TN65 tractor information

A grapple with a root rake is very good for cleanup. When you write "grapple bucket", is that what you have?
LINK: RBG


TN65 is a good size tractor with a Category II Three Point Hitch. I would not buy a Category I Landscape Rake for a tractor with a Category II Three Point Hitch. I expect you will bend up a CountyLine/Tarter Category I Landscape Rake in less than one day. I would shop tractor auctions, Craigs List and eBay for a used Category II Landscape Rake. You are in Maryland, there ought to be York (brand) Category II Landscape Rakes available in your area.

York Rakes, Dethatchers & Landscape Equipment | York Modern Corp.

I have an everytfhingattachments.com Category I Landscape Rake, which I excellent behind my relatively small tractor. Excellent quality rake. ETA makes a heavier Category I/II Landscape Rake too: Everything Attachments Landscape Rake, Root Rake

Landscape Rakes are used mostly on an angle, so if you decide to buy, you want one 24" (+/-) wider than your rear tire width, outside-to-outside.

So, yes, you can use a Landscape Rake for all the tasks you have specified however more specialized individual implements/attachments will be more satisfactory.


I have found my Ratchet Rake bucket attachment far more efficient for piling brush than my Landscape Rake. It would be equally good collecting surface stones, however I have zero stones in the soil where I am in Florida. Ratchet Rake is also good for minor grading/levelling and unexcelled at tearing out brush.
TSC is a vender for the Ratchet Rake, however TSC is sporadic about inventory on the two larger sizes of Ratchet Rakes. The TBN store, button at top of this page, is also an agent for Ratchet Rake, delivery by FedEx.
VIDEO: ratchet rake - YouTube
TBN ARCHIVE: https://www.google.com/#q=RATCHET+RAKE+site:tractorbynet.com

Many small seeds require sunlight to germinate. Research before covering the grass seed you plant. Covering my reduce the germination rake. Impossible to generalize. Rolling in is always good, as distinct from covering.

If you are more specific than MD in identifying your location, another member may contact you with information on a used Category II Landscape Rake near you. Such help happens regularly here.

 

[Thomas]

Landscape rake are very useful for the finally touches also driveway.
There many models which offer attachments,,,drop down grader blade,end boots,blade adjustment from side to side, etc.
If you decided to purchase buy heavy duty rake.

 

[CADplans]

A landscape rake will not do much more than a 5 foot handled garden rake,,,
except it is MUCH wider.

It is the last tool you will use,,, like for seed bed prep,, MAKE SURE TO GET THE GAUGE WHEELS!!

Get the widest one you can afford, I use my 7 foot rake behind my little JD 650 for leaf removal,,
a couple Saturdays ago, I could have packed an 18-wheeler with the leaves that combo moved into the woods.

It is not the tool to use after a dozer is finished,, possibly the box blade for that.
If you want to spend money,, a landplane is perfect for use after a dozer.

 

[Wildfire]

I think you'll use the loader bucket to do a lot of rough smoothing once the dozer leaves, but the rake should work well to clean up the sticks and rocks. Put it at an angle and it should windrow those for you, then use the bucket or back the rake into those rows to consolidate them.

Nice tractor by the way. I had a TN55 and it treated me well.

 

[jenkinsph]

I would wait until the dozer work is completed and assess the situation then. A good operator with enough time can leave it in good shape. A lesser operator and you may need heavy tools for clean up.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Just my opinion , but this is a perfect time to use a wider (72"-84") root grapple. Sifts & levels the material and picks up material easily for removal. Your tractor is large enough to handle this well.

Works great running the leading edge along about 6" in the ground. First picture has the tines at to steep of an angle, really should be more like the second picture.

I have cleaned up several acres in this manner and it has worked well for me.

 

[rdblan2]

All great input, thank you all very much. I'll be renting a dozer from Sunbelt. My dad will be my operator, he's got 40ish years experience so I'm hopeful he'll do a good job or I'll have to fire him.

For the "grapple bucket" I have, it looks like this...so basically, just a bucket with a thumb on it...
Edit... I can't post a link yet until I have 5 posts. It's a regular bucket with two thumbs on top.

 

[Brazos by Nemo]

You may look up rock buckets. I have a bunch of rocks to move and they look like they will work great. Luckily I have a friend that has one I can borrow. I can pick them up very good with my regular bucket and pick up a bunch of dirt in the process.

 

[jenkinsph]

You may look up rock buckets. I have a bunch of rocks to move and they look like they will work great. Luckily I have a friend that has one I can borrow. I can pick them up very good with my regular bucket and pick up a bunch of dirt in the process.

Rock buckets are good for some things but are not as good for clean up as I would like. If you get enough spacing between the tooth bars to allow the dirt to flow through easily you will find that a lot of rocks will fall through too.

I have a rock bucket with 3 inch spacing and it works fine for the larger stuff in clean dry dirt. If you have grass clumps or other trash you can't get the dirt to fall through.

While it may be much slower and work intensive I have found that windrowing the smaller debris and using a 6 tine pitch fork to load a standard bucket yields the best results. A debris grapple works good for the bulk of the clean up with larger junk.