Brush grubber/rake

I’m in the process of clearing an old creekbed at my weekend property where I intend to make a small pond. I’m going to widen the creekbed into about .5 acres of water. I’ve been pulling down the larger trees with a chain (I have horse panel attached to the back of the ROP in case of a chain failure). Now I’ve gotten to the point that I need to remove lots of choke vine and Yaupon bushes around the perimeter of what will be the pond. Eventually, I will be clearing Yaupon from other areas of the property also. Since using the chain would require LOTS of getting on and off the tractor to hook & unhook, I decided to make a grubber/rake attachment. I considered the Ratchet Rake which looks like a well designed and heavy duty piece of equipment. However, I didn’t like the fact it is made to go on the front of the FEL bucket because I have the Kubota Quick Change and I made a carrier for some pallet forks ( http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/198801-what-can-320-about-10-a.html ) that I use to move the trees and brush to a burn pile away from where I’m building the pond. At first I thought about making the rake fit the carrier similar to the way the forks attach but decided against that because it would involve changing back and forth between the forks to move brush and the rake to take it down. So, I came up with the idea to make the rake slide onto the forks, that way I’ll have both at once. I was going to make the rake fit at the end of the forks for more flexibility of angle and reach but decided to make it slide all the way back on the forks giving me more lifting power to pull out the brush. I also welded some 7/8 inch nuts to each tube with a bolt through that will cinch down on the forks to prevent the rake from coming off when I dump a load of brush. I guess if I find a need to, I could slide the rake to the end of the forks and use the bolts to hold it in place. I made it so the small teeth will be up and out of the way for larger bushes but I can turn the rake over and slide it on the forks with the small teeth pointing down for dragging vines and such. OBTW, sorry I didn’t find the need to grind and make it real pretty because I figure it will be digging and sliding on the ground right away anyway. :laughing:

BTW, I'm open to suggestions on how I could have or still could make this work better.

Looks like someone is very handy with a torch! Unfortunately I've never had the pleassure of visiting your Lone Star state, but I have had a buddy bring back some Pearl beer, 'bout 30 years ago, I've been looking for it here on the east ever since and no luck. I'm not shure about what the brush is you're "popping" but I have this vision of 3'-5' brush in a sandy type soil. Would a "tooth bucket" help rake this stuff out? If I didn't have a root rake, that would be my 2nd choice -back east.

Believe me, I've had my share (probably more than my share) of Shiner, Pearl and Lone Star. Shiner is my favorite. However, about 2 years ago I got into brewin' my own. I enjoy experimenting with different variations of recipes. I've made lots of dark ales and added some unusual ingredients to some. A couple of favorites that I've done are a barley/oat with local honey, a barley/wheat with fresh dewberries that I picked in the wild and a dark ale again with local honey. I also brew some standards but again mostly dark ale type. I'm not into the real hoppy brews.

You are correct, I have sandy soil. When you mention a tooth bucket are you talking about a tooth bar or similar? I have a tooth bar on my bucket but when I tried to remove the brush most of it would just bend over and I'd scrape across the top without removing it. I'm hoping the rake will bite into the trunk and pull it out instead of just bending it over.

Yaupon can grow up to 12' tall or more and will basically become a tree if it is out in the open. Mine is between the oaks so it is about 8 feet tall with trunks no bigger than about 3" diameter.

Yaupon: eNature: FieldGuides: Species Detail

As you can see in one of the pics, lots of people cultivate it in their yard. If kept trimmed it can be quite a nice bush and can be trimmed into topiary. It is kinda funny that some go to nurseries to by it and I'm trying to remove it. It can run rampant in the wild, spreading everywhere. One of the problems is that it takes nutrients and water away from the trees.

I am curious about how it works for you. I guess with the teeth closer together you have a better chance of cutting into the brush to keep it from bending out of the way, like it does with your tooth bar. It seems to me you are on the right track, but I also wonder if the teeth should be a bit ( inch or two) longer. Let us know how it works.

Now that's a great innovation!!
My hat's off to you...both for the idea of the rake, combining it with the forks, two kinds of teeth, bolt clamps and the execution.....a winner all the way....should be one of those GREAT tools in your application.

I'm going to have to remember this....maybe I'll make one sometime!

Thanks texasjohn, now I just have to get to my place and see if it works as well as I hope. I'm thinking about going out there Thursday since we just got a "cool front" through and the humidity will be a little lower. It's already been running around 90 degrees with high humidity for the last few weeks. This will probably be the last "cool" day we get in the SE Texas area. :laughing:

davygp38, I thought about getting a piece of 4"X8"X.5" angle the steel warehouse had, but I thought that would be overkill for the smaller brush I plan on removing. Plus, the 4" side wouldn't have been big enough for the side with the small teeth I wanted to have. I chose a piece of 6"X6"X3/8". The large teeth are 3" wide at the opening and are 4" long and the small teeth are 1.75" wide at the opening and 2" long. For brush with trunks larger than 3" I will use the chain. Or, I'm thinking about making a large single opening grubber to fit the 3pt; with an opening for trunks up to 5". That way I could have both on the tractor at the same time. The 3pt will have greater lifting force anyway.

OK...so, you are planning on multiple occasions to hook up to an immobile object....front and rear....so, something's got to give.

Make SURE you have sufficient weight, front and rear, to keep your tractor on the ground while you are applying the FULL lifting capacity via either FEL or 3ph.

This means, you want the hydraulic relief valve to start hissing when lifting before you get air under your tires:confused2:

That's gonna be a lot of weight...only experience will tell you how much....but unless you achieve the ability to keep your wheels on the ground while working, you will not be applying the full capability of your tractor to the problem at hand....but, then, you knew that

No, no, NO; I don't plan on hooking up and using both the 3pt and the FEL at the same time. That would require multi-tasking and I don't have the intelligence for that. :laughing:

I miss-stated in my last post. I'd probably just leave the larger bushes behind while using the rake on the FEL and come back and remove them at a later time.

For FEL counter weight, I have a 3pt quick hitch and welded brackets out of angle iron onto it at the top where I hang 4 suitcase weights that are intended for the front of the tractor. When I need lots of FEL counter weight, in addition to the suitcase weights, I also put my old rear scoop on and fill it with sand. Actually, this method comes in quite handy when moving dirt longer distances on the property. I fill the scoop then fill the front bucket, move to the area I need the dirt, dump the front bucket then the scoop. Makes each trip back and forth more efficient.

But back to the topic at hand; when I would use the 3pt grubber to try to take out the larger bushes, I'd probably want the bucket on the FEL and full of dirt.

And a final point, I don't really intend to just try to hook onto bushes and use only lifting force. I'm going to try to hook the brush and use both lifting and drive force, hopefully taking the brush out by the roots. My idea is; when using the rake, I'll drive forward with the rake skimming the ground. As the teeth engage brush, I'll continue forward and at the same time use the lift to try to pull the brush out. When using the 3pt grubber, I'd back toward a bush and as the teeth engage the bush I'd then use the 3pt lift as I continue backward. Of course both of these will be done with the transmission in low range. This will give my old feeble mind enough time to react if something doesn't look right.

Good to know you're going to keep your focus on one thing at a time!

And to know you have plans for extra weight...I predict you will need it.

And, you have plans for low/slow gear, always a winner.

Sounds like you've thought it through, be careful out there and let us know how it goes:thumbsup:

You asked for a report, here it is. IT WORKS!!

The teeth of the rake bite into the trunk of the brush/small trees and remove it with the roots. I can take out several bushes at a time by driving into them with the rake skimming the ground, then when I have a few bushes moving along with me I use some lift along with curl. The curl keeps the bushes locked into the teeth so I can back out and put the pulled bushes on a pile nearby. I can then go back and pull out some more and repeat. When I have a pile I think is a load, I use the forks to pick it up and move it to the burn pile. It's all working as I hoped. This is in sandy soil, I'm not sure if it would take out bushes as easily in harder ground. They might just break off instead of coming out with the roots still attached.

I'm definitely glad I decided to make it with both the rake and forks on the fork carrier at the same time. Doing it that way really streamlined the operation.

The first pic below shows the type of brush I'm removing; the trunks of some of the yaupon are about 3" in diameter. The second pic shows what 3 passes with the rake will do.