Made a fool of myself with a spring rake in my lane.

[wetstuff]

After bouncing around for about an hour: when the front went up - the rake dug in. I could hold some motocross races here. I have a JD-1070 on turf tires and was pulling one of these.

I have a proper, pull-behind, Road Grader but every thing is basically flat now so I was simply dressing the top with (I think he called the stones) 75s. The drive is 1/4mi + so I made a right mess of it.

I dumped the rake and rigged a Drag with a section of chain link fence with a pair of 6x8's at either end. I found they floated over the 'whoops', so I started to add some 12x12 concrete pavers in the middle. ...that was better.

I suspect one of you will wonder where the grader is? ..it's here, but it needs a second person to play Tonka Toy on the grader and does not have front wheels, so the grader is not totally independent of tractors gyrations. ...and with a FEL in front and the grader well out back, it is long as **** and no fun to back-n-turn. My drag just requires some Polish determination and about a 6 foot radius.


I am here because I'd bet one of you has already wrestled with this, so I've come for some insight. Thanks.

Jim


...btw - if you have a long drive, look for one of these old graders sitting in some woods. More fun than drill with a light in it. I drove by this one for 20yrs before I bothered to ask.

 

[Renze]

Does your MF 40 have the Ferguson system ? (top link sensing draft control) It does a great job of following the land contour.

 

[/pine]

Not sure what type of road (gravel wise) you have but if the rake is heavy enough and you set it on an angle it will tend to level out the waves,wash boarding, whoop-dee-doo's etc. etc...
Best to work most gravel (especially with fines) when it's a little wet...if the rake is not working try adjusting the top link...

Good Luck

 

[woodlandfarms]

I use one and have the same issue. Caveat is that mine is front mounted. I would say you are probably going too fast. I don't understand the physics of the oscillation but I get it, and if I slow down, it works out a lot better. My road is a mile long and it is a PITA road to maintain. Also, the wheels are an added bonus in keeping the vibration down and things much more smooth and level.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I use a 5 ft rake on my drive and it does great. Angle it a bit to the center of the road and keep it adjusted from digging in to much and have at it. When you have gone both ways turn it back to straight and finish up. I just have to make sure I don't dig in too far.

 

[CalG]

After bouncing around for about an hour: when the front went up - the rake dug in. I could hold some motocross races here. I have a JD-1070 on turf tires and was pulling one of these.

I have a proper, pull-behind, Road Grader but every thing is basically flat now so I was simply dressing the top with (I think he called the stones) 75s. The drive is 1/4mi + so I made a right mess of it.

I suspect one of you will wonder where the grader is? ..it's here, but it needs a second person to play Tonka Toy on the grader and does not have front wheels, so the grader is not totally independent of tractors gyrations. ...and with a FEL in front and the grader well out back, it is long as **** and no fun to back-n-turn. My drag just requires some Polish determination and about a 6 foot radius.

I am here because I'd bet one of you has already wrestled with this, so I've come for some insight. Thanks.

Jim

Those are called "trash rakes" in some circles. Good for raking off trash before getting down to fine work.

Add a set of gauge wheels (Like York Rakes do) and you have a usefull tool. I've fitted a hydraulic cylinder to the depth control on the little one I have. Works a treat taking the ripples off the roadway up "the hill".

Google Image Result for http://www.wikco.com/images/YorkTA1B.jpg

 

[Kernopelli]

I built a "Ladder" rack out of angle iron with cross members that form 4 trays. Each tray is sized to hold a "heavy" 35# 8x8x16" cinder block. It bolts on, above the length of my 6' rake and I can add blocks/weight to the rake as needed......2 in the center or one on each end or 4 total covering center to ends. I makes a world of difference on both how aggressively the rake cuts and how smoothly it floats. The added weight ( up to 150# including rack) hasn't caused any damage to the tines. The only thing I have found better for dressing my drive was my sons 8'/ 800+ lbs box blade....it was quite a strain on the tractor and impractical/unusable for almost anything else behind my small tractor.

 

[bulldogshotgun]

I built this Pull Type Drag Box from a Box Blade works great, the long tongue has the the same effect as the long wheelase on a road grader.

I need to get some better pics of it, and some action shots to show what it does.

One like this will also eliminate the washboard

 

[npalen]

I built a similar rig a few years back but used a regular blade. Each end had a bolt-on plate to simulate a boxblade and a gauge wheel attached behind to the plate. No cylinder though, used the 3PT drawbar to raise and lower and adjust cutting depth. Used it for leveling our large lawn prior to seeding and must say that it worked incredibly well. Of course, like a fool, I sold it.

 

[jenkinsph]

Here is what I use for this type work, a 4' and 8' landplane grader scraper built these myself for about $100/ft. Would think a 5' or 6' would work for a 1070