I bent my York Rake!

AndyMA · May 20, 2009

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

Andy

Knight · May 20, 2009

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 · May 20, 2009

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

Knight · May 21, 2009

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 · May 22, 2009

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 · May 22, 2009

DennisMI said:
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 · May 22, 2009

DennisMI said:
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.