Rake ABI TR3 Rake - Multipurpose Implement - REVIEW (Version 1)

[jeff9366]

ABI TR3 Rake - Multipurpose Implement - REVIEW 1.0

I received this previously owned ABI TR3~6.5~Command~Rake December 18, 2017. Photo #1.

TR3 "Command Series" is ABI's commercial model TR3 rake, with six hydraulically operated scarifiers plus tooth sections fixed on the leveling bar.

While the Command Series is focused on the pro Landscaping market, more broadly ABI markets its various iterations of the TR3 to horse arena owners.

Why? Because this is a costly implement. Original owner, a builder in Clinton, New York, paid ABI $5,790, plus freight, in April 2015. I purchased the TR3 from the original owner for $3,000 plus shipping via eBay. I shipped NY to FL via uShip.

"uShip, Inc. is an Austin, Texas-based Internet company that operates uShip.com, an online marketplace for shipping services." The telephone quote I received from FedEx ground was $1,100. I shipped with Roadrunner Transportation for $260.53, including uShip's commission. TR3 took eight days to arrive in Florida in undamaged condition I will use U-ship again; entirely satisfactory.
LINK: uShip | The Online Shipping Marketplace


TR3 Rake weighs about 800 pounds, stabilized by a pair of foam filled gauge tires, with four closely spaced wheel height options. TR3 width is 78".

My 37-horsepower, heavy chassis, kubota L3560, 4-WD, R4 tires, with HST/PLUS transmission pulls the TR3 in HST High/low or HST Medium/high easily. Tire spread is 60".

My soil is Florida sandy-loam.

LINKS (2): TR3 Rake - 3D Spin - YouTube

TR3 Command Series - Grading & Landscape Rake - YouTube

 

[jeff9366]

Like other implements, the TR3 is adjusted via Three Point Hitch: BITE/SCIVE fine adjustment with Three Point Hitch Top Link, LEVEL with the Three Point Hitch Right Lifting Rod and TILT, for producing a road crown, by moving pin in stacked pin holes on the Three Point Hitch Lower Links.


The TR3 Rake has several adjustments on the rake itself.

Photo #1 Rake has upper and lower pin positions for Top Link pin and Lower Link pins. ABI recommends initially positioning pins in the lower holes for both Top Link pin and Lower Link pins. As you see in Photo #1 I conformed but in ABI's videos the tractor/rake connections vary by user. (I believe in reading instructions.)

Photo #2 Gauge wheels/rake center pivot point. Wheels pull off after removing a standard lynch-pin retainer. There are five frame hole choices, through which the wheel axle fits, offering five increments of implement float. ABI suggests starting with the wheel axle in the center hole. The lowest hole, on the right, offers the most rake support, therefore the least sciving effect. The topmost hole, on the left, maintains the wheel above earth contact most of the time, therefore the most sciving/dirt movement occurs.

Photo #3 Wheel removed to show six scarifies extended. Scarifiers: 9" length standard, cuts to 7" depth; 12" length optional.

Photo #4 From this balance point FINE scive adjustments are made with the Three Point Hitch Top Link. Shortening the Top Link raises the rear finishing rake and lowers the course cutting leveling bar, which has 2" teeth on ground contact edge. Lengthening the Top Link lowers the rear finishing rake and raises the leveling bar. A long Top Link deploys only the rear rake in ground contact, for final smoothing. For most work, both the floating leveling bar and the rear rake should be in ground contact. A 1/2 turn of the Top Link makes fine adjustments between the two ground contact points.

The heavy leveling bar is tensioned with big springs. When leveling bar encounters a mound it scives the mound, pulling dirt along in front of the leveling bar as a reservoir to fill low spots. Leveling bar movement can be limited through pin adjustments. Photo #5.
As leveling bar passes over a low spot, carried dirt drops in, filling low spot.

Locked down, the heavy leveling bar functions as a heavy, low capacity Box Blade; low capacity because drag bar is only 6-1/2" high. Drag bar on my model TR3~6.5 is 78" wide, including forward angle skirts. Photo #3.

Heavy leveling bar routinely takes out packed mounds. Remarkably hard mounds may require lowering hydraulically operated scarifiers.

VIDEO: TR3 Rake - Detailed Walk-Through - YouTube

 

[jeff9366]

TR3 Command Series is marketed to Landscape services. This one implement replicates functions of several ground contact implements, reducing implement space occupied on trailers and implement changes in the field.

TR3 Command Rake weighs somewhat over 800 pounds. Weight is your friend in ground contact implements.

Landscape Rake with gauge wheels (80%) (( TR3 does not gather tree debris, cannot be operated on an angle. ))
Chain Harrow and Spike Tooth Harrow
Land Plane/Grading Scraper
Box Blade (80%) ((soil carrying capacity limited))
Disc Harrow for leveling and smoothing (secondary tillage)
Disc Harrow for fire break maintenance (secondary tillage)

TR3 Rake - KIOTI 3054 - POSTED MARCH 2005
(Edited for clarity.)​

I have a TR3 rake that I use in my landscape business. I also have a box blade and landscape rake I haven't used since I bought the TR3.

TR3 is the best non powered implement I have used for landscaping. I use it to install new lawns, grade sites, install and rehab crushed stone driveways and the same for gravel drives. I have put it through its paces and it has worked flawlessly for me. In wet soil it works good to open up the soil to dry and once it is fairly dry I can do the finish work.

I have a sub that has a Harley rake on a skid steer that once did my raking but since I bought the TR3 I haven't used him. The TR3 loosens deeper than the Harley rake and pulls all the debris into a pile. No windrows to go back and scrape up. I live in New England you can go over site ten times with a power rake and not get all the stones out. The TR3 does a great gob raking and the very small stones it doesn't get it buries.

Is TR3 as fast as a power rake? No. Is TR3 faster than using a power rake, box blade and pulverizer? Yes, by far. The TR3 is all the implements in one and performs all three functions in one pass.

Now the disclaimer. I am in no way knocking a power rake they are great tools and EVERY tool has its place.

 

[jeff9366]

TR3 MODUS OPERANDI​

With the TR3 and Tractor on a hard flat surface, and the scarifiers lifted out of play, adjust the TR3 using the Top Link so the Leveling Blade/Floating Drag Bar and the Finish Rake contact earth at the same time.

Once the Leveling Blade and Finish Rake touch at the same time; lift the TR3 and set it back down. This will ensure everything is properly adjusted. The Top Link may need to be adjusted multiple times before TR3 is level. Raise and lower the TR3 after each adjustment.

Use the TR3 with a small reserve of soil in front of the Leveling Blade and a second small reserve of soil in front of the finish rake. See Photo. Reserves fill small holes with each pass, Finish Rake flattens output.

On soft ground, pull the TR3 a few feet to create reserves. On hard ground, lower the scarifiers half way, 3", which causes the TR3 to squat, engaging Leveling Blade and Finish Rake firmly with the soil. Pull the TR3 a few feet to create soil reserves, retract scarifiers to eliminate scarifier draft force resisting tractor forward motion.

Extend scarifiers to loosen notably hard ground.

Use hydraulic Three Point Hitch control to feather-drop residual reserve soil by lifting implement.

 

[jeff9366]

Could the TR3 Rake be used as a satisfactory, if imperfect, substitute for an Unverferth "Perfecta" Cultivator in secondary cultivation??????

I do not know.

(I have always wanted an Unverferth Perfecta.)


VIDEOS (2): TR3 Rake - Rolling Basket Option - YouTube

Cultivating with an Unverferth Perfecta - YouTube

 

[Old Red]

Re: ABI TR3 Rake - Multipurpose Implement - REVIEW 1.0

Why? Because this is a costly implement. Original owner, a builder in Clinton, New York, paid ABI $5,790, plus freight, in April 2015. I purchased the TR3 from the original owner for $3,000 plus shipping via eBay. I shipped NY to FL via uShip.

"uShip, Inc. is an Austin, Texas-based Internet company that operates uShip.com, an online marketplace for shipping services." The telephone quote I received from FedEx ground was $1,100. I shipped with Roadrunner Transportation for $260.53, including uShip's commission. TR3 took eight days to arrive in Florida in undamaged condition I will use U-ship again; entirely satisfactory.
LINK: uShip | The Online Shipping Marketplace

My 37-horsepower, heavy chassis, kubota L3560, 4-WD, R4 tires, with HST/PLUS transmission pulls the TR3 in HST High/low or HST Medium/high easily. Tire spread is 60".

My soil is Florida sandy-loam.

LINKS (2): TR3 Rake - 3D Spin - YouTube

TR3 Command Series - Grading & Landscape Rake - YouTube

I would actually like to hear more about Uship and how that process went down. Did the eBay seller offer it or did you approach the seller about it or what? Just curious. I have found countless pieces of equipment across the country like this but had no way to get it.

 

[jeff9366]

After I shared discouraging FedEx freight quote with the seller, the seller suggested uShip to me.

I simply filled in the uShip blanks for requested information, waited a few minutes while freight quotes processed, then selected Roadrunner Transportation from the shipping company alternatives offered. Roadrunner offered the cheapest freight rate but also the slowest delivery time. Other shippers offered three or four day delivery. Roadrunner offered seven days. In actuality, Roadrunner took eight days to deliver the rake. One pays freight in advance.

Low and slow was fine with me.

Beyond suggesting uShip, and printing out the Bill of Lading, the seller had no input into freight arrangement.

Did you open the uShip LINK?

 

[Old Red]

After I shared discouraging FedEx freight quote with the seller, the seller suggested uShip to me.

I simply filled in the uShip blanks for requested information, waited a few minutes while freight quotes processed, then selected Roadrunner Transportation from the shipping company alternatives offered. Roadrunner offered the cheapest freight rate but also the slowest delivery time. Other shippers offered three or four day delivery. Roadrunner offered seven days. In actuality, Roadrunner took eight days to deliver the rake. One pays freight in advance.

Low and slow was fine with me.

Beyond suggesting uShip, and printing out the Bill of Lading, the seller had no input into freight arrangement.

Did you open the uShip LINK?

I sure did....even referred a friend of mine who owns about 75 coal trucks to take a look. They do some over the road stuff. I'm sure he probably already knew. I went to the ebay information page as well and browsed around a bit. Looks good.....I like it.

 

[Steave]

Thanks for the review. I've looked at the TR3 for years now but the price keeps my dreaming in check. I've heard of the uship way of shipping but haven't heard until now about someone actually using it. Sounds like a great way to ship and that broadens the area of finding implements or in my case junk that needs repaired.

I'll find out more when I go to uship site but did the seller have to prepare and load onto a truck?

 

[jeff9366]

I'll find out more when I go to uship site but did the seller have to prepare and load onto a truck?

The seller is a builder, presumably with equipment. Seller told me he could load the palletized rake into a freight trailer without a lift gate.

Freight is almost always FOB = Freight On Board. It is the shipper's responsibility to load, not the truck driver's responsibility to load.

That said, for $100 you can order a lift gate equipped truck to pick up your shipment, which is an easy way for shipper to "load" the truck. Tipping the driver $10 would not hurt.