Any experience with a landscape rake?

[Oldstuff]

about 25 years ago we cleared some land and had a lot of 2 to 4 inch rocks- I set the rock rake at 45 degreed and raked them into a windrow and another tractor scooped them up in the FEL and dumped them into a gulley. Worked great.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Many good suggestions posted above.

On flat level ground, I have better luck raking stones with a grader blade at a 45 degree angle. I set the gauge wheels so the blade rides a half inch above the surface. I also extend the top link as far as possible to get a more aggressive blade angle. This keeps the blade from riding up over the stone. Yeah, you do pick up some dirt as well but it's easily raked back into place once the stones are removed.

I use this trick mostly for removing stones that have been plowed onto the lawn during the winter. If set properly, the blade does less damage to the grass than the rake tines.

On irregular or sloped ground, you can't beat a top & tilt kit for making adjustments on the fly without getting off the tractor.

 

[glenk]

Thanks all for your input! The experience with the TSC rake is especially valuable as that was where I was going to purchase one.

 

[scootr]

Many good suggestions posted above.

On flat level ground, I have better luck raking stones with a grader blade at a 45 degree angle. I set the gauge wheels so the blade rides a half inch above the surface. I also extend the top link as far as possible to get a more aggressive blade angle. This keeps the blade from riding up over the stone. Yeah, you do pick up some dirt as well but it's easily raked back into place once the stones are removed.

I use this trick mostly for removing stones that have been plowed onto the lawn during the winter. If set properly, the blade does less damage to the grass than the rake tines.

On irregular or sloped ground, you can't beat a top & tilt kit for making adjustments on the fly without getting off the tractor.

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Nice York rake. They are definitely a cut above most of them. If I was buying a rake with your money I would get one just like that

 

[Camofurever1]

Here is my experience with a 6' landscape rake, it is a little different:

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What do you do? Run in reverse?

 

[bdhsfz6]

Nice York rake. They are definitely a cut above most of them. If I was buying a rake with your money I would get one just like that

I wish I had spent the extra $$ and bought the York in the first place before busting up two cheapo models. I've been using it hard for 18 years now and it's been bullet proof.

 

[Xfaxman]

What do you do? Run in reverse?

Yep, Made a windrow of the cut long grass then mowed it to make it smaller and disperse it:

 

[nyone]

Nice York rake. They are definitely a cut above most of them. If I was buying a rake with your money I would get one just like that

At some price point your better off just spending a bit more and getting a harley rake.

 

[scootr]

At some price point your better off just spending a bit more and getting a harley rake.

I've got an old 7 foot BH rake. Bought it from the neighbor for $200 20 yrs ago and added a cylinder last year to change the angle. Best modification. This rake is used for surface rock collection.

 

[Jchonline]

Landscape rake works great. However once you get rocks built up it will start pulling dirt also. So make a pass to pull rocks into a pile, then you should remove the row of rocks from the field by hand most likely, then repeat. You will be done in no time. Then regrade the dirt that you pulled with the rocks.

 

[Camofurever1]

At some price point your better off just spending a bit more and getting a harley rake.

And a track loader with enough ponies under the hood to run it efficiently.

 

[Camofurever1]

I always found that running a landscape rake at higher ground speeds for rock removal gave better results than running slower ground speeds. I have a 8' Frontier land scape rake and it does a very decent job at making windrows of rocks. I very rarely run it at 45 degrees. Usually at 22.5 degrees. At that angle and around 12-15 mph ground speed, the spring tines really kick the rocks out and the dirt basically falls to the side of or under the vibrating springs.

 

[Camofurever1]

Also, experiment with your adjustable top link. Having the spring tines adjusted for a more aggressive bite will cause it to dig in and pull more dirt up with the rock.

 

[scootr]

Landscape rake works great. However once you get rocks built up it will start pulling dirt also. So make a pass to pull rocks into a pile, then you should remove the row of rocks from the field by hand most likely, then repeat. You will be done in no time. Then regrade the dirt that you pulled with the rocks.

I like to angle the rake and keep pulling the windrow over until it is 'too big'. Leave it and start a new. Or if a small area just pull everything to the center using the angled rake. Then if you are serious about rock and dirt separation scoop up the rows with your rock bucket.
I do this annually for myself as we grow rocks in our fire break areas. Done if a few neighbors who have barren horse pastures or turnouts.
Works well too if the gravel on your gravel road is all kicked off to the edges. The angled rake can pull and spread it all back into place.