Back dragging with a piranha tooth bar

[aerojunkie]

I have looked through multiple threads comparing these two and cant find this answer so here goes. I am buying either a piranha tooth bar or a ratchet rake, my question is can you back drag with the piranha and get the same effect as a ratchet rake? My main thing is getting rid of various vegetation but I like what a tooth bar does to help with digging. So how does it stack up in that respect?

 

[oldballs]

In my experience the PTB is good for back dragging loose material like dirt or gravel. If there was a lot of vegetation/roots I'd look for the RR to do a better job....even though I have never owned a RR.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

I have no experience with the ratchet rake but do have a piranha bar. It does a nice job back dragging and does help with digging as you stated. Hopefully someone will chime in about the ratchet take.

 

[teg]

I have a ratchet rake but not a piranha tooth bar. Ratchet rake does grab stuff and levels dirt nicely. My GUESS is piranha tooth bar is better at cutting stuff (especially below grade) but *may* lack ability to drag a bunch of brush (I'm sure it should level dirt somewhat).

What I don't like about the Ratchet Rake is the loss of use of the loader bucket... where a piranha tooth bar, you can still scoop up stuff.

 

[Michael Aos]

I have both. So far, I would say you need both.

 

[trihounds]

I have both and would also suggest both as their uses are different. Yes, you can back drag nicely with the Piranha and leave either some lines from the teeth or flat/smooth from the base. It will not accumulate brush while back dragging like the RR will nor are the "grooves" in your soil going to be as consistent as the RR.

 

[rdinatal]

Different animals.

I have the PTB and it lacks grabbing brush while backdragging. Forward it works great, grabs, digs, etc.

The RR is specifically for grabbing and smoothing, not digging.

-R

 

[aerojunkie]

Thanks for all the info. I liked the idea of the piranha since I could still dig with it and not have to remove it. But I would like to clean up a few areas without digging out the dirt and even get some bald spots in my yard ready to re-seed so looks like the ratchet rake will be the better choice for me for now.

One other thing I have read about with the ratchet rake was the need for a grapple to gather up everything, but some even stop using the ratchet rake and use the grapple for everything. I figure for the time being a ratchet rake and switch to my pallet forks for cleanup will do just fine, just thinking out loud.

 

[rt014]

I have used both a grapple and bucket with PTB to move forward and rip out brush and saplings. I use the Piranha back dragging either loose dirt or to groom my trails in the winter by packing the snow down with the bucket in float.

 

[teg]

...getting rid of various vegetation....

Do you have a photo of the area, is it mostly vines or small bushes?