I bent my York Rake!

[MikeB64]

I took my stupid pill today......I was using my County Line 6 foot york rake today and as I was backing up.......I cought one of the guage whels on a landscape timber.......I bent the wheel down about 4 inches. I tried to just bend it back up with a floor jack....oh it went back up but came right back down. So, my question is has anybody else been as dumb as I was today?

How do I go about fixing this mess? I was toying with heating the top U channel, but wasn't 100% sure on that idea. I assume it is some sort of spring steel, not regular old mild steel???

This puppy isn't that old, and I know experience isn't priceless

My wife asked me if it was under warranty....nope, sorry, I own this one......

 

[AndyMA]

My wife asked me if it was under warranty....nope, sorry, I own this one......

I was just laughing and told my wife about your wife's comment. Her response is what's so funny, wifes don't know all that stuff.

Andy

 

[AndyMA]

As far as the rake goes, I would probably just take it apart and have a welder weld on a new section. Since you didn't post any pictures it's hard to tell if it can be straightened easily but I'll bet that replacing the piece or all of the piece might be easier and then you could use a slightly thicker grade of steel or U channel too make the unit stronger.

Andy

 

[deputyrpa]

I have an eight-foot Tuff-Line that I've bent, but usuall I twist the angle iron fram and the gauge wheels go up. What I do to bend it back is use a jack, block and chain. I wrap one end of the chain over the end of the wheel beam, then on the ground under the jack, and hook the other end to the front of the rake frame. Then I put the block on the jack and jack against the angle iron. It pulls it back nicely, using significant leverage.

I don't see any reason why that would not work with the rake flipped over to pull the gauge wheel up. Good luck.

 

[AndyMA]

One thing this shows is the difference between light duty equipment and heavy duty equipment. I have been running my heavy duty Ford 8 foot rake for over 20 years and have hit stumps going both forward and reverse that have stalled the tractor yet not bent the frame at all. I still say that reinforcing the frame would help a lot in the long run.

Andy

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Your not the only one...I bought a 7' County Line Rake to get some "emergency" landscaping done and in 15 minutes it was "slightly tweaked" and within 2 hours it was bent to unuseable heck..I was being what I consider "real gentle" on it too..Brought it back to TSC and they gave me my money back...I knew better then to buy it, but I wanted to get the job done and didnt want to spend on a quality unit because I have a power rake 80% ready to go...

 

[Knight]

I took my stupid pill today......I was using my County Line 6 foot york rake today and as I was backing up.......I cought one of the guage whels on a landscape timber.......I bent the wheel down about 4 inches. I tried to just bend it back up with a floor jack....oh it went back up but came right back down. So, my question is has anybody else been as dumb as I was today?

How do I go about fixing this mess? I was toying with heating the top U channel, but wasn't 100% sure on that idea. I assume it is some sort of spring steel, not regular old mild steel???

This puppy isn't that old, and I know experience isn't priceless

My wife asked me if it was under warranty....nope, sorry, I own this one......

Take it to a welder, He will heat it up and bend it, then have him reinforce it with metal.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

You are not the only one. Those TSC rakes are total crap. Try to get your money back.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/122362-new-farm-force-rake-bent.html

Rusty

 

[irwin]

Not the first TSC rake (with gauge wheels) bent to heck story I've heard.

I think you either bring it back and ask for credit on something else,...or.. when you straighten it out.. you then reinforce it.

I've been researching rakes, unfortunately I'll have to cough up big money for a HD model.

Hope this works out okay for you.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

IMO the "problem" with reinfocing the TSC Rakes is not the finished product but ESPECIALLY if you have to pay Labor & Parts for someone to do it, by the time your done with it you probably could have gone out and gotten a Woods, Land Pride or other quality rake for the same money...

The 7' unit is $500 bucks....not too long ago I found a used but VERY nice shape 6' Land Pride rake WITH Gauge Wheels for $750....

 

[AndyMA]

I paid $1500 for my 8 foot Ford rake 21 years ago. Still working with original teeth.

Andy

 

[Knight]

I was wrong, You cannot straighten if it's twisted. I just tried on my rake.
You need to cut and install a box metal, like 2x4 rectangle box and weld that on first. The 4" channel used will just twist again.
I can give you a pic if you like.

 

[MikeB64]

Went to TSC tonight and with a little arm twisting, got a new one. Let's see how long this one will last.......

 

[Knight]

I was going to straighten my rake, but after reading about rakes bending on this forum, I decided to fix it permanently.
So if you buy a new rake or if you have an unbent rake i would beef it up now, because it will 10x easier than fixing it later and you'll have a rake that lasts for years without spending big dollars.
I would use angle heavy angle and reinforce the pivot area. Like in the first picture.
I had to cut out my bent piece and install box metal. 2nd and 3rd pic.

 

[DennisMI]

I'm not familiar with the York, but I checked out their web site and looked at pictures. I would email York Landscape Rakes, Rotary Brooms, Stone Rakes, Sweepers, and Scarifiers Manufactured by York Modern Corporation and tell them what happened and ask if it should bend like that. Then I would ask if it's covered or if they have a repair they would suggest. Ask if it's an ordinary steel, and if it's available. From your description it looks like it's welded on. If the piece that's welded on is the piece that's bent, and it's a mild cold rolled or hot rolled steel it can be fixed a couple different ways. You can grind out the welds and make a new piece and weld it back in, or you can cut the piece that's there and straighten it and weld the cuts back closed and even weld some strips of steel over it to reinforce it. Lastly, you can get some spray paint from York and cover up some of the mistake after it's repaired.

 

[AndyMA]

I'm not familiar with the York, but I checked out their web site and looked at pictures. I would email York Landscape Rakes, Rotary Brooms, Stone Rakes, Sweepers, and Scarifiers Manufactured by York Modern Corporation and tell them what happened and ask if it should bend like that. Then I would ask if it's covered or if they have a repair they would suggest. Ask if it's an ordinary steel, and if it's available. From your description it looks like it's welded on. If the piece that's welded on is the piece that's bent, and it's a mild cold rolled or hot rolled steel it can be fixed a couple different ways. You can grind out the welds and make a new piece and weld it back in, or you can cut the piece that's there and straighten it and weld the cuts back closed and even weld some strips of steel over it to reinforce it. Lastly, you can get some spray paint from York and cover up some of the mistake after it's repaired.

Dennis , the rake he bent is not a York Rake. York invented this style of rake and makes a quality product. What he bent is a Country Line Rake, an inexpensive light duty rake similar to the true York Rake. Many manufactures clone York rakes but unless you get a heavy duty one which typically sells for in excess of $1200 you don't get York quality and risk the consequences. I've been using true York rakes for over 40 years and they work great. The frames are heavy and the tines vibrate at speed spreading the soil evenly. Lower quality rakes use ligher duty frames and teeth.

Andy

 

[Knight]

I'm not familiar with the York, but I checked out their web site and looked at pictures. I would email York Landscape Rakes, Rotary Brooms, Stone Rakes, Sweepers, and Scarifiers Manufactured by York Modern Corporation and tell them what happened and ask if it should bend like that. Then I would ask if it's covered or if they have a repair they would suggest. Ask if it's an ordinary steel, and if it's available. From your description it looks like it's welded on. If the piece that's welded on is the piece that's bent, and it's a mild cold rolled or hot rolled steel it can be fixed a couple different ways. You can grind out the welds and make a new piece and weld it back in, or you can cut the piece that's there and straighten it and weld the cuts back closed and even weld some strips of steel over it to reinforce it. Lastly, you can get some spray paint from York and cover up some of the mistake after it's repaired.

You cannot straighten a piece of twisted channel in a reasonable amount of time and effort. That is why I cut it out and installed a heavy piece of rectangle stock that resists twisting.
Like I said before, If you currently own a county line rake and it is not bent, then reinforcing it with heavy angle would be easy now, than fixing a twisted channel.

 

[DennisMI]

Sorry, I misread the post.