Blagadan
Gold Member
SkunkWerX got me thinking about making up a front mount rake for my ride-on mower. I have a tow along rake I made some time ago but it was a drag to have to make a second pass to pick up the thatch after making a first pass towing the rake, so I set about building a front mount rake last weekend.
Nothing as fancy as a hydraulic lift or floating links but instead I kept it simple as possible... with some 3" X 3" angle iron and donor components from a gym excersise machine..
I basically wanted one pivot with outriggers to prevent the rake from digging in. It took some fine tuning to get the pitch right but eventually I got it. I can ride around at normal operating speeds with the rake engaging the ground. It does a great job of ripping out the thatch.
Heres a few pics..
Heres my old rake made using tines from a seed drill and some old shelving angle iron.
Heres a view of the new rake finished and fitted in the raised position.
Heres when the rake is in the down position. This was the tricky bit, getting the pitch or angle of engagement right. I recon its about 2 degrees up at the front, keeps the castors on the forward leaning outriggers just slightly off the ground when the spring tines are doing their thing... If the rake digs in, the castors take the weight.. I had thought of adding weights or compression springs to make it dig into the lawn but tbh, it worked perfect as is, no need for added weights. My first test run revealed I had made the outriggers too short so I added 12 inches to each arm to give more reach.
For my situation, I dont have to raise the rake to go across a road or whatever so when I want to engage the rake I manually lower the rake by hand. To raise it, I gotta get my butt off the seat again and lift it up...
A closer look at the springs.
Nothing as fancy as a hydraulic lift or floating links but instead I kept it simple as possible... with some 3" X 3" angle iron and donor components from a gym excersise machine..
I basically wanted one pivot with outriggers to prevent the rake from digging in. It took some fine tuning to get the pitch right but eventually I got it. I can ride around at normal operating speeds with the rake engaging the ground. It does a great job of ripping out the thatch.
Heres a few pics..
Heres my old rake made using tines from a seed drill and some old shelving angle iron.
Heres a view of the new rake finished and fitted in the raised position.
Heres when the rake is in the down position. This was the tricky bit, getting the pitch or angle of engagement right. I recon its about 2 degrees up at the front, keeps the castors on the forward leaning outriggers just slightly off the ground when the spring tines are doing their thing... If the rake digs in, the castors take the weight.. I had thought of adding weights or compression springs to make it dig into the lawn but tbh, it worked perfect as is, no need for added weights. My first test run revealed I had made the outriggers too short so I added 12 inches to each arm to give more reach.
For my situation, I dont have to raise the rake to go across a road or whatever so when I want to engage the rake I manually lower the rake by hand. To raise it, I gotta get my butt off the seat again and lift it up...
A closer look at the springs.
