Rake Best Rake for the $

[keywest]

Hi Guys,

I have a BX-23 & I would like to get a 3 pt. Landscape Rake to maintain a gravel driveway & other chores around the place.
My trouble is my limited funds after the BX purchase.
My wife feels I have enough Toys around to keep me going But she just does'nt understand! Right???
Please help me out - I do want to get a decent Rake but would really like to keep the Cost down....

Thanks, Paul /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[Nik]

I would delay your purchase towards spring and try to save some money for it over the winter. I have a BX23 also and plan on getting the woods estate rake with gage wheels. With winter coming I won't be using it much now. This rake is designed for the BX tractor and likely easier to maneuver. I think king cutter may make a similar one. I had a woods 60' landscape rake for my prior B2410 and I would not want this big of a rake for the BX. Besides the estate rake will require less space and be easier to hook up. The cost may be more than a bargain rake but its maneuverability would be worth it to me.

 

[keywest]

Nik,

Thanks for your input. I'll take a look @ those estate rake's. They sound expensive from the name though.
I'll keep an open mind.

Thank's again, Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jim_wilson]

The Woods Estate equipment is more expensive than normal CAT1 implements I believe. I bought a Woods Estate series box blade for my BX23 this summer and it works great but I remember I paid more for it than I would have if I got another brand like Midwest or one of the other good brands. When I wanted to put a rear grader blade on the BX23 I looked around and decided that the Midwest RB22-60 was the one that I wanted. There were numerous postings on how the Midwest implements did not work on the BX series tractor because of the lift on the 3pt - but I came up with a solution that is working very well. Using some 5x5 3/8" thick angle iron I made a couple of extensions for each corner of the front mount on the blade that extend the pins downward approximately 5 inches. Then I redrilled a hole in the upper mounting piece of the blade to lower the upper mounting hole also. I also use a Speeco quick hitch so the blade was setup with the bushings for the quick hitch also. With this setup I get as much lift out of the blade as I get with Woods box blade and I have used the blade to pull enough earth that I totally bogged down the tractor and did not have any problems with them bending or distorting etc. So after saying all this I would say that if I was looking for a rake you should also look at the Midwest units - they can be adapted to work on the BX. Oh yeah - one more thing - the rear blade I got is actually a Kioti - made for them by Midwest. There were no Midwest dealers I could find in my area that had the blade in the stock but I found a Kioti dealer with one - and the Kioti orange color matches the Kubota perfectly. If there is a Kioti dealer in your area you might want to take a look.