Why Not Chain Instead of Gauge Wheels?

[cuoffroad]

I'm building a landscape rake and have read tons on this site about gauge wheels and their benefit. If I understand it correctly the gauge wheels keep the implement from wanting to "dig in" due to the fact the 3 pt. does not limit down travel.

If this has been asked and answered before pls forgive the repeat question but why not just chain the 3 pt. to the desired height? On my BX1500 I have two holes under the rear fenders above the 3 pt. If I use chain through those holes and around the pins on the attachment to the desired height wouldn't this accomplish the same thing as gauge wheels? Only thing I can think of is it may be more wear and tear on the tractor since the chain is wanting to be pulled down by the implement and the tractor is holding it back and with gauge wheels all the force is essentially being taken up by the gauge wheels attached to the implement...takes the tractor out of the equation.

Adding the gauge wheels is no biggie, just a bit more fab and welding but this has been a question that has been on my mind so I figured I'd ask.

Thanks so much for the time, love this site.

[schmism]

its my understanding that gauge wheels are used to keep from digging in when the front end of the tractor rides up a bump, thus driving the implement on the rear down. when you are on the back side of the bump, front end dropping raising the rear, and dumping the nice "load" of material you inadvertently scraped up at the start of this creating (or adding to an already bump)

so on the next pass it gets worse, rising up an even larger bump, creating an even larger valley behind you etc.

as you can use the implement in the "float" setting, if you add gauge wheels behind, then they prevent the implement from digging in as the front end rises, (taking advantage of the "float" in the 3pt) chains would not limit upward travel only downward (as seen on some older tractors with no position control)

thus thus of gauge wheels and not chains.

[Charlesaf3]

as an aside, a lot of us have position control, or some variation, which does limit the 3pt down travel.

[Egon]

Gage wheels allow you to put the horizontal angle on your attachment and keep it.

[JCB]

CU,

You'll be thankful of the time you invested fabricating gauge wheels.

What happens to the rake when the front tractor wheel go up? Gauge wheels prevent that motion, a chain does not. Gauge wheels nearly eliminate the washboard effect.

Joe

[cuoffroad]

Thanks so much for the replies, makes more sense to me now. Gauge wheels it is.

[Youare]

For what it is worth I have a York rake that did not have gauge wheels and I had a hard time getting a good flat grade with it. I built a set of gauge wheels and the difference is like night and day. They keep the rake from dipping when the tractor front wheels go up or down.

I am thinking gauge wheels would be helpful on a rear blade also at times.

Randy

[RobJ]

Well I still don't see the big need, or at least everything I have done with mine has not been a problem. I posted some pics this morning in the attachments section.

for 1 my rake doesn't dig into ground. I was playing in some sugar sand this weekend and no problems.
If the ground is hard, it won't attempt to even dig into the ground.
Although it will move around a little material, it's not a boxblade.

Even with gauge wheels, if it hits a somewhat solid bump, it'll drag right over it, it doesn't have a sharp cutting edge like my BB to cut it off. A 3pt that locks the upward motion would help a little. But most of the small tractors don't have much float control.

JMO..

Rob

[Gizmo2]

Originally Posted by Youare

For what it is worth I have a York rake that did not have gauge wheels and I had a hard time getting a good flat grade with it. I built a set of gauge wheels and the difference is like night and day. They keep the rake from dipping when the tractor front wheels go up or down.

I am thinking gauge wheels would be helpful on a rear blade also at times.

Randy

Bought my rake without gauge wheels. After spending countless non-productive hours fooling around went back bought the wheels and got some real work done. I also like to have ever other tine removed, works much better for me.

[flINTLOCK]

All depends on whether ground is flat or not. I tried to grade out asphalt millings before my gauge wheels came in. Every time tractor front end dipped, rake came up and so on. Piece of cake with GW's. IMHO