Landscape Rake Build

[mjncad]

Ah yes the squeal of a hole saw on steel, I hope you have the ear muffs handy.

Anyway, the project is looking great and I look forward to seeing it completed and powder-coated before you head off into the dirt to make it earn its keep.

 

[EX3200]

Very impressive. After seeing what goes into building one, I don't feel as bad about the $700 I spent on mine.

Nice work!

 

[jimgerken]

Larry, your pics are great. Glad I could help too. Yes, the rake angled does wonders. It does a great job of sifting out soil and moving rocks, reluctantly, to the side. I have found that going in reverse, with the rake angled also works, even without turning the rake around. Mine does not turn around. As you rake a trail, for instance, lets say its ten feet wide, the first few passes everything flows toward the side pretty well, but then the material builds up and the action becomes sluggish. At this point, angle the rake the other way (do not turn it around though), and back up. It will not sort dirt out in this mode, but the big windrow you made sure moves to the side nicely. When you get to the side of the trail, you can now also offset the rake, and keep moving the rocks off the trail, even while keeping your tire away from the edge of the trail, for safety.

If you dont angle the rake, you are gathering stuff till you have to dump it in a big pile. If you are angling, you are sorting, grading the materials off to the desired side of the trail/road, removing large rocks and leaving inch-minus.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Larry,

wow! it's looking great! as would be expected of your projects.

As far as cylinder geometry goes, I like the shorter extensions.
Keep in mind the longer extensions are gonig to stress the cylinder rod more when fully extended.

Just my two cents, I vote for a shorter/beefier cylinder.

edit: **Larry, also, I may have missed this in your description, but definately keep in mind the ability to add/install height-adjustable gauge wheels at some point.

.

 

[rhett]

greetings Larry,

your project is awesome. one question though.

by welding the tine spacers, doesn't that keep all tines inline for 90 degree settings only?

the reason i ask is i just got a TSC 6 foot landscape rake. after turns with the unit not raised the tines would shift and misalign. though after a few passes all tines realigned.

therfore my question, if an angle is desired during raking, should not the tines be allowed to shift angle for proper spring action?

if pictures are desired to visulize my thoughts, just ask.

Thanks
Rhett

 

[GuglioLS]

Ah yes the squeal of a hole saw on steel, I hope you have the ear muffs handy. Anyway, the project is looking great and I look forward to seeing it completed and powder-coated before you head off into the dirt to make it earn its keep.

MJ - Yea the new camera with sound, got to love that. Powder coated? How much is that going to set me back? I was thinking more like the 96 cent deluxe rattle can finish from Wally World.

Very impressive. After seeing what goes into building one, I don't feel as bad about the $700 I spent on mine. Nice work!

EX3200 - No joke, this project is huge, plus it's starting to get a little on the heavy side. At least it's keeping me out of trouble.

Larry, your pics are great. Glad I could help too. Yes, the rake angled does wonders. It does a great job of sifting out soil and moving rocks, reluctantly, to the side. I have found that going in reverse, with the rake angled also works, even without turning the rake around. Mine does not turn around. As you rake a trail, for instance, lets say its ten feet wide, the first few passes everything flows toward the side pretty well, but then the material builds up and the action becomes sluggish. At this point, angle the rake the other way (do not turn it around though), and back up. It will not sort dirt out in this mode, but the big windrow you made sure moves to the side nicely. When you get to the side of the trail, you can now also offset the rake, and keep moving the rocks off the trail, even while keeping your tire away from the edge of the trail, for safety.
If you don't angle the rake, you are gathering stuff till you have to dump it in a big pile. If you are angling, you are sorting, grading the materials off to the desired side of the trail/road, removing large rocks and leaving inch-minus.

Jim - Great info about operating a rake and what to expect. I was hoping you would chime in with your first hand experience, it's much appreciated.

Larry,
wow! it's looking great! as would be expected of your projects.
As far as cylinder geometry goes, I like the shorter extensions.
Keep in mind the longer extensions are gonig to stress the cylinder rod more when fully extended. Just my two cents, I vote for a shorter/beefier cylinder.
edit: **Larry, also, I may have missed this in your description, but definately keep in mind the ability to add/install height-adjustable gauge wheels at some point.

SkunkWerX - Thanks for the feedback on cylinders, and making provisions for gauge wheels. Not sure I want gauge wheels yet or not, However it would be easy to add them in the future. I'll get the basic part of this working, and if it doesn't fall apart we'll see where it goes from there.

ALL- Thanks for your interest in this project and taking the time to post your positive feedback. I was able to work on the rake project for a couple of hours today, and made some progress. I have a few pics to resize, upload and post. There is an interesting addition where the rake pivots. I hope you all like it and it's not over the top. When I saw these things I could not resist temptation to incorporate them. I hope they work..........

Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

greetings Larry,

your project is awesome. one question though.

by welding the tine spacers, doesn't that keep all tines inline for 90 degree settings only?

the reason i ask is i just got a TSC 6 foot landscape rake. after turns with the unit not raised the tines would shift and misalign. though after a few passes all tines realigned.

therfore my question, if an angle is desired during raking, should not the tines be allowed to shift angle for proper spring action?

if pictures are desired to visulize my thoughts, just ask.

Thanks
Rhett

Thanks Rhett I appreciat that. I think I understand what you are saying / asking, I had the same question earily on in this thread.
Like you said, the tines on my rake are locked in place @ 90*. Take a look at JimGerken's home made rake, he used the two bolt tines and his are really locked into place. I do believe it is correct to have them locked in at 90*. Otherwise the spacing on them would be all over the planet. Does your TSC rake not have the tines locked in at 90*? in other-words, the tines wander and change angle and spacing as the tractor is turned? Would it not be preferable for the tines to always be at a predictable spacing and angle no matter what angle the rake is set at?

When the rake is set at an angle - JimGerken said - "If you are angling, you are sorting, grading the materials off to the desired side of the trail/road, removing large rocks and leaving inch-minus." I think that is what I am looking for when setting the rake at an angle with the tines locked in place, yes there will be side forces, but those tines are tougher than you might think. Now if there were a simple way to adjust the tine angle to always be at right angles to the direction of pull, no matter what the rake angle was set to, that would be way cool.

Larry

 

[mjncad]

MJ - Yea the new camera with sound, got to love that. Powder coated? How much is that going to set me back? I was thinking more like the 96 cent deluxe rattle can finish from Wally World.

Larry

Well, powder coating will set you back more than Mal-Wart paint; but it's not as expensive as one may think, and for all the work you've put into the rake, it deserves a durable finish to match the rake. Just my opinion mind you.

As for cost, I think I paid about $150 for the front posts, headliner, and misc. doodads (e.g. brackets) for the camera system. Although your rake is bigger and heavier than my projects mentioned above, it may be less if you only have one or two major assemblies. Now if you do the tines too, and they are separate, all bets are off since they have string up each part individually. I know I paid $40 for the red powder-coating on my waste oil transfer tank. For the effort I put into my projects, it's worth it to me to powder coat it.

A buddy of mine had his home made recumbent bicycle powder-coated at the same place I use for about $120. He was willing to go $200, so he was pleasantly surprised with the final cost.

If you are near Albuquerque, than there should be a few powder coaters around.

The guy I use gives me estimates via email since I send him photos.

 

[GuglioLS]

MJ,

Yes, I am 25 miles from Albuquerque. No way would I do the tines, but if it's not really all that much, it might be worth coating the main assembly. Does it have to be baked on? as in it goes inside an oven? There will be three main assemblies that can be separated - the rake tine holder, the Boom and the TPH mount. Sounds interesting, I will have to investigate, see who can do it and what's involved to get an estimate. What colors are available? How long does it need to cure?

Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

Progress report for todays work on the rake:
Slight change of plans, I found some big 2-7/16" flange bearings from surplus center. I bought them and proceeded to drill and tap four 7/8" x 9 TPI mounting holes -






What do you think? will it work? I've got to at least give it a try. I can always go back and use the 14 position index plate I had plasma cut (7 forward, 7 reverse).

Larry