Ratchet Rake - ever seen/used one?

StrangeRanger · Oct 30, 2009

Ken45101 said:
Are you telling us that it doesn't work in heavy mud?

Ken

No, it does not work in mud very well at all. Best results are obtained w/ dry or drier soil

jebster54 · Nov 7, 2009

I bought the Ratchet Rake and must say so far it has really amazed me! I got delivery just as they said and the quality is great! Today I put 4 hours on the rake and it can kick some serious butt! I have a JD 3032E with 31.5 Hp and a 60+" FEL and got the 68" rake. It will do far more than my skill level so I have to throttle back a bit as I almost screwed up a few times! It is a powerful tool to knock down some serious trees and shrubs and pull up some big *** roots! I can tell that having a little bigger tractor helps and this may be a compact but it delivers! I will put up some photos tomorrow showing some of the debris I put down and some shots of my tractor!

One more thing, you have to be careful with an attachment like this because it will knock down things your FEL can't do even with teeth, so the risk of getting a limb or tree jammed into the undercarage and hurt things is real. I got a limb jammed into my fuel filter and luckily I stopped and removed it! It could have been avoided by taking things a little slower! No harm was done...except to the tree!

dirt clod · Nov 8, 2009

How would this product compare to a toothbar????

Ken45101 · Nov 8, 2009

dirt clod said:
How would this product compare to a toothbar????

I don't think there is any comparison. A toothbar is for digging, the RR is for raking, stripping, smoothing.

Ken

dirt clod · Nov 8, 2009

I've used my toothbar mostly for digging brush rather than for digging holes.

Ken45101 · Nov 9, 2009

dirt clod said:
I've used my toothbar mostly for digging brush rather than for digging holes.

I think the RR is more designed for pulling out smaller brush without digging holes. OTOH, a RR may not take out the bigger stuff (like 8" diameter trees).

JOHNTHOMAS · Nov 9, 2009

Had a tooth bar. Sold it. Have a Ratchet Rake, it's not for sale. Both are the pits when trying to move a pile of dirt but the RR comes off and back on in 2 minutes with no tools and the toothbar required wrenches to get off and on. The tooth bar is heavier duty but the RR is very sturdy. I mostly use RR for leveling and toothbar was used for popping up rocks which the RR will do up to a certain size. The toothbar is more for agressive working and the RR, to me is more of a finishing tool. In fact today I need to put RR back on my B3200 to level out and sow grass seed on a septic tank job I did last week. I had taken RR bar off and moved several bucket loads of dirt to cover the job and back drug bucket but now need to finish the job with RR.

IslandTractor · Nov 9, 2009

You guys have just about convinced me to add a RatchetRake to my armamentarium. I've been using a grapple and 4n1 but I can see that the RR fills an important gap for fine work and finish work that would make prep for smaller lawns much better and easier. Cheaper certainly than a Harley rake and finer than either a 3pt rake or box blade. It also looks like a great tool for grubbing brush out from around "keeper" trees and close to structures, fences etc.

gerford · Nov 9, 2009

I bought a RR a while ago and its great for finishing work. Its not a tooth bar for digging, but think of it is a really large rake for smoothing dirt and gravel. It's like having a hand rake that's 5 feet wide and has 1000 lbs of force on it. I used it for smoothing my driveway and even my wife was impressed at how it smoothed out the surface. High spots go away since its a 5 foot straight edge and high spots get all the force while the low spots get filled in. I have 2 loads of gravel coming today to spread on the driveway and I'll use the RR to spread the gravel. Much easier than back dragging with the loader edge.
I had to replant some grass seed and I back dragged the lawn with the RR and spread seed. I then used a old fashioned hand rake to cover the seed with the soften top soil.
It's a no brainier attachment since it has no grease fittings!

AHNC · Nov 12, 2009

From what you all have said about the RR I think it is the right tool for my job, but thought I'd seek some confirmation prior to ordering.

I'm taking delivery of a new 2660 and need to get after some blackberries that have been left for to long and are about ready to take the place over. I'm going to bush hog the area and then plan to backblade as JT describes to get at the roots. So, do you think this will work properly? Suggestions much appreciated!