Bucket mounted root rake

[Anonymous Poster]

I took the first step today in making my own bucket mounted brush and root rake. The first step was easy. I bought a used, damaged 6' KK box blade for $100. The A-frame is badly bent; the rest of it is fine.

I was inspired by a picture of a bucket rake I found on a search of TBN; for the life of me, however, I can no longer find it. I believe the one that inspired me was built by TraderMark. It uses box blade scarifier shanks/teeth hanging below the bucket.

The first step was easy but very important. For my $100, I got 6 scarifier shanks which sell at $21.99 each at TSC, so I'm already $32 + tax ahead of the game. Also included are the hitch pins and hitch clips, worth something. The most important thing, though, is that I will cut out the 6' long, 4"x3" main tube which holds the shanks, and use that as the bottom frame for my rake. If I hadn't found the used box blade, I would have had to cut the rectangular slots for the shanks and weld the loops for the hitch pins - an enormous amount of work saved. I also expect to use some of the steel from the rest of the box blade as part of the frame, saving me that expense. I may be able to use the rear blade portion of the cut-up box blade for a future blade project, and I'll hang on to the bent-up A Frame parts to see if I can straighten them and use them for a mount for something else - I have an engine crane that I'd like to be able to mount on my 3PH.

I'm sketching it up now, and will pick up the rest of the steel tomorrow. I'll post some pictures as work progresses.

 

[tdenny]

OkeeDon,

We'll look forward to the project's progression. I have some extras scarifiers lying around myself. hmmmmm. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Try this for the pic. I was looking at it yesterday as I have a lot of top soil to reclaim.
www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/258249-bucket%20rake.jpg

 

[Anonymous Poster]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Try this for the pic.)</font>

That's it! I'm adding to that design. My bucket is only 48" wide, and the box blade tube/scarifiers I'm going to use are 72", so mine will stick past the bucket on each end. Next, I'm going to weld a skeleton frame to the main tube. Imagine a rectangle at the bottom and top of the bucket and running out for 12" on each side. Finally, imagine another rectangle on top of that, but vertical, so with the bucket level, there is a three-sided, 2-angle cradle for the brush, both below and above the bucket. The top-most frame will not only help cradle the brush, but will serve as a guard to prevent the stuff from getting back to me! My sketches are on paper and my scanner isn't hooked up, so I'll have to wait for actual progess to make the idea more clear.

The angle on my scarifier shanks is more acute than the ones pictured, so I will have more of a drop below the bucket. They will be mounted so when the bottom of the bucket is level, the leading edge of the teeth will be level. By having the teeth extend past the width of the bucket, I'll be able to see one on each end and better judge how deep I'm getting.

I'm also planning to add one more slot in the middle of the scarifier bar so I can take one of the teeth from the ends and put it in the middle, letting me have 3 teeth only 6" apart instead of 12" apart, for when I want to get smaller saplings that might fall between the wider spacing. In those cases, I'll only use 3 teeth and won't tear up as much ground. I think it will be good to be able to remove teeth and change the depth of the teeth, like on a box blade.

The key to the thing is not only being able to dig a little under the roots, but to hook and cradle the brush without it sliding off the bucket. At first, I'll be using it more just to move brush piles and shake the dirt off the roots. Some of the other designs I've seen on TBN, with longer, straight forks in the front, would be able to do that as well, if not better, than my design, but they don't look like they can dig as well.

 

[liledoun]

I had the same idea of using the same items to create a root rake-grappple like the Long Root Rake ( Long Grapple/Rake )

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but will be interested in your progress.

Thanks.
JRF

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Got the box blade back to my shop yesterday, stripped it today but didn't have time to start cutting it up. I think my acetylene regulator is messed up, and I may have to replace it before I can cut.

I've given a lot of thought to a grapple, but after using the rake pictured in the attachment for about 30 hours, I've come to the conclusion that if there is a proper "cradle" shape, you can carry a lot by simply curling the rake back.

 

[Spencer]

OkeeDon, thanks for the update. I am waiting patiently for your project to progress.

 

[ns_in_tex]

Slightly different angle for the dangle.
I already had built a set of forks with a grapple of sorts to load logs & large brush with. When I got down to the little brush, I found I was spending too much time off the tractor seat, which causes me concern.

Solution:
Built a small frame that the forks slip inside of & held on with 2 linch pins.

Sure made the small brush pickup much better.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

A little progress. I got the scarifier bar cut out of the box blade. That was tougher than it sounds, for me - all my equipment is for sheet metal and aluminum up to .125". I'm not used to cutting 1/2" steel plate.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

In these pix, the scarifier bar is just balanced/clamped on the bucket, along with an uncut piece of the 2" square, .125 wall tubing I'm going to use to create the rest of the cradle. The 2" tube will connect to the 4" x 3" scarifier bar with some uprights. That whole assembly will have arms extending into the bucket and will be bolted to the side of the bucket like a tooth bar. Two bolts at the bottom and one on the top at each end.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The top section of the cradle will extend from the top 2" tube, forward (up in these pix) at about a 45 degree angle. Actually, at the same angle as the back of the bcuket, which is easier seen in the first pic. I have no actual plans escept what's in my head, and a lot of it will be made up as I go along.

I have a lot of grinding to do as a result of my butcher job to get it cut off. The rest of the cutting will be done on my chop saw with an abrasive blade.

Guess I moved the camera on this shot - it was starting to get dark.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I'm not real happy about the scarifier bar sticking out in front of the bucket, but I want it to be 6' long (my bucket is only 4'), and there's really no other way to do it without getting a lot fancier than I want. It will make emptying the bucket of any dirt that get's in it a little harder, but I can live with that.

I plan to weld a piece of angle or a strip of steel to the bottom of the scarifier bar to catch the underside of the bucket and reinforce the edge. There's probably no real reason to do it because the tube was strong enough to handle the scarifiers on the box blade, but it will make it easier to line it up for mounting, if nothing else. I can "catch" the angle with the edge of the bucket and it should seat itself.

In this picture, that's one of the noxious pepper trees (sometimes called Florida Holly because it gets red berries in December) directly across the street. All the ones that size and bigger were removed with the big tractor and rake. The one's I'm after with this rake are the ones that were too small or too hard for the big tractor to get at. The only way to get them is to get under the roots, otherwise they grow back (quickly) stronger than ever.

The rest of the work for this rake will be moving brush piles. Hopefully, the teeth will catch the brush and allow me to curl it back into the cradle.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

It's done. Looks pretty good to me.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

Another shot.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

And another.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

Driver's eye view.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

We tried it out a little before it was painted to make sure nothing was going to bust loose.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

This was all at my shop in Port St. Lucie; tomorrow it's going back to Okeechobee and get a real workout with the brush piles, wild grape vines, small pepper trees, and roots left by the big tractor. More action pictues will follow.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

These were without any weight on the back; it tended to lift the back wheels if I tried to really unroot anything. I'll have the box blade back on tomorrow and it should work better. I'm really pleased, so far. It's the perfect way to break up the soil without constantly looking over your shoulder.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Bucket mounted root rake - finished

I forgot to get some shots of how it mounts to the bucket. I
'll try to remember tomorrow.