Rake York Brand 8' Rake Used - Is $400 good price?

[MossflowerWoods]

Craigslist - Old farmer says it is peeling paint but a real York brand. Missing one tine, can't get picture from him.

It is over 1 hour 1 way and he is FIRM on the $400 price.

So... given this scant info, is this worth it?

Thanks in advance,
David

 

[LD1]

Probabally if you are in the market for a rake. Does it have guage wheels?

Probabally not if you are looking to clean up/fix and resell for some money.

Last summer I picked up an 8' JD brand rake W/guage wheels for $200. It was painted ford blue to match his 3000 and he didnt know what he had. I didnt either until asked on here.

Anyway, I cleaned it up and re-painted appropriate color and sold it for $450.

So $400 is probabally in the right ballpark provided it isnt abused and beat up.

 

[Carl_NH]

I sold a nearly new 6' HD rake two years ago with gauge wheels for $600. $400 in my opinion is a fair price if in decent condition for an 8' rake - they are probably $1200 new.

For what you are doing or planning to do in your pasture (grinding stumps and clearing) the york rake is invaluable for gathering up all the loose rocks and leftover sticks before you have the stump grinders come in. Its real hard to get the debris separated from the chipping from grinding so thats why I would york rake first then grind.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

LD1,

Paint is gone, so is 1 tine (fork?).

No gauge wheels I believe because he said no tires when I asked about wheels.

Carl_NH,

GOOD POINT! The wife was just giving me grief about going to get look at this rake because I can fix the driveway with hand tools (I just did) and it is not a high enough priority...

But I don't think I should rake this... [see pic] and that is what is kicking my fanny on the clearing job...

Thanks to both of you.
The wife is resistant (and she is right, I need to be smart about how cash gets spent and we've got SOOOO MANY projects...)

David

 

[pacerron]

LD1,

Paint is gone, so is 1 tine (fork?).

No gauge wheels I believe because he said no tires when I asked about wheels.

Carl_NH,

GOOD POINT! The wife was just giving me grief about going to get look at this rake because I can fix the driveway with hand tools (I just did) and it is not a high enough priority...

But I don't think I should rake this... [see pic] and that is what is kicking my fanny on the clearing job...

Thanks to both of you.
The wife is resistant (and she is right, I need to be smart about how cash gets spent and we've got SOOOO MANY projects...)

David

If you have ever experienced raking leaves in the fall with a plastic hand rake
you can imagine what you would be dooing most of the time trying to rake the stuff in your picture and how many broken tines you would have.

I have a heavy duty Woods rake that I use on driveway gravel to loosen it up and level it after a few months use. I usually have broken tines near the ends each time as they catch in the clay soil along the edge of the driveway/lane and bend or break.
I would suggest painting the tine red so you might find them when they break off. Another help would be to bolt a couple pieces of steel up a few inches from the bottom of the tines across them to tie them together for support from each other. Set the draft light and keep the tines a couple inches off the ground. If you rake going forward you are going to jam sticks/limbs between the rake and the tires of the tractor.
For the job you picture, I would think a grader blade turned backwards and pushing in reverse would be a better solution.
Are you trying to avoid using your FEL?

 

[Carl_NH]

No way you can rake that mess - what 3-4" branches 4-8' long? I would take your grapple and or FEL bucket to get this into a pile. Once you get the big stuff the york rake will do a great job with stuff thats 1-3" in dia and a rocks and such.

When i cleared about 2 acres after stumping there was a lot of rocks, 1000s of dead pine stubs 1-3" around and root debris. I would lower the FEL and push the bigger stuff while lowering the york rake to get the rest.

Took multiple passes - i raked into a swath 20-40' long then used the FEL to push into a pile. I left that pile sit about a year to decompose.

Or you can wait for the mulcher and have them mulch the whole mess?

Back to the topic at hand, you will not regret getting a york rake - it would be very handy for your projects and are hard to find under $400, but priorities are understood.

 

[nickel plate]

Ask him to look at the York placard which is just above the three point stand rod mechanism on the left side of the vertical column. On it will be the model and serial number. If it is an "RI", run, don't walk as it retails for $2167.00.
The "RW" is $1541.00 and the "MR38" is $1057.00.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Are you trying to avoid using your FEL?

No Sir!

Just responding to Carl_NH saying it would help with field clearing (it will).

I'm using the grapple on that mess... :thumbsup:

David

 

[JoelD]

Sorry for my confusion but if you have grapple for pictured mess, then what is the need for the rake?

I have a small York brand York Rake and it is tough as nails.

$400 for an 8 footer seems very reasonable, although I do like my gauge wheels.

Joel

 

[jenkinsph]

LD1,

Paint is gone, so is 1 tine (fork?).

No gauge wheels I believe because he said no tires when I asked about wheels.

Carl_NH,

GOOD POINT! The wife was just giving me grief about going to get look at this rake because I can fix the driveway with hand tools (I just did) and it is not a high enough priority...

But I don't think I should rake this... [see pic] and that is what is kicking my fanny on the clearing job...

Thanks to both of you.
The wife is resistant (and she is right, I need to be smart about how cash gets spent and we've got SOOOO MANY projects...)

David

Looking at your picture of the debris field it appears as if you have a war going on. I think the grapple to gather this stuff up in wndrows is a good idea. I would sprinkle the windrows liberally with 39-0-0 fertilizer to help speed up the breakdown getting it to decompose faster. You could also leave it where it is and spread the fertilizer too, as contact with the ground will help it rot faster. As long as you can run a brush hog over the top without hitting the debris this would be the cheaper easy way to deal with this. It will take alot longer to get rid of this stuff if you pile it up.