Building a Power Rake (Harley Rake)

[texasranger556]

I have never liked using a power rake for fixing potholes. It seems to me the rake will just rake lose rock into the pothole and the rock never seems to bind to the roadbed. A few trips thru the pot holes with a vehicle and all that loose rock is beat out and the pot holes reappear. I have taken the time to rake and smooth the holes down to a grade below hard pan and then re-smooth it out with the rake, but it just seems a scrape blade will do the work much faster and easier, then take the rake to dress everything and the work will last longer.

Does your rake have the bars or nubs?

The gravel drive was built long before I moved in. It is shared by 4 homes and gets a fair bit of traffic each day, UPS, Fedex, etc. It has a very solid base I believe built of CR6 which is also what I've been adding over time. The pot holes only appear in certain places and it is all flat. That is probably part of the issue as there is no crown to speak of. In places, there is no gravel showing, just the fines which are packed down very tight. I've tried dumping several bucket loads of gravel and spreading it 2" deep over the bad area. It will last several months then the pot holes show back up. I've also tried filling the holes by hand with with gravel and lots of fines then driving over it with the tractor. It packs down nice and lasts about the same length of time, so that is what I've done the last year or so.

When I started looking into power rakes for the yard is when I saw guys using them on gravel, so sort of became a two birds one stone type deal. Maybe I'm expecting too much, we will see. For now I'm gather ideas and opinions, so keep them coming!

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just some old pics from my own Harley Work. Not my SS.



Sure, the area was seeded and rolled, but the Harley did the most impressive part of it.

 

[crazyal]

I think for your driveway you would be better off making something to use ripping shanks to break up the driveway around the pot holes. My grading scraper has rippers like a box blade. With them I can quickly dig up the road around pot holes and washboards so repair them. The key is not to let water collect on the road as it will sooner or later become a pot hole. The grader does pretty good job at leveling land as well. It would be a much simpler build or for about $1500 you could buy one new.

 

[texasranger556]

It sounds like you have it covered, but there's also Bolt Depot - Nuts and Bolts, Screws and Fasteners online for a wide variety and good pricing.

That site is a good bit cheaper for qty 250 1/2x1" bolts...$67. If shipping is reasonable I'll have 100 extras to put some place I'll forget about 10 years from now when I want to use them!

 

[Ford850]

That site is a good bit cheaper for qty 250 1/2x1" bolts...$67. If shipping is reasonable I'll have 100 extras to put some place I'll forget about 10 years from now when I want to use them!

You can find your shipping costs on that site easier than most. Just add the box of bolts to your cart and go to checkout, where the first entry is your zip code to give shipping costs.

 

[cwersch]

i just started building a power rake im using 3/4 round bar

 

[cwersch]

it was the cheap route for me

 

[zmnypit]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ey-rake-my-skidsteer-complete.html?highlight=

 

[pmsmechanic]

I'm going to follow along here. It's on my to do list also.

 

[shadetree]

Why not double your buckets and put down 4 inches?