Building a rock rake what should the spacing between tines

[Gofast]

I am going to build a 5' rock rake with one-inch tines. What should the distance be between the tines?
Looking at pictures of rock rakes it looks like maybe 1" it is hard to tell from a picture.

I found some post that suggested 1.25" spacing. That sounds good for the rocks I need to picked up.

 

[muddstopper]

Close spacing of the tines will result in the rake picking up everything and filling with dirt making it act more like a scrape than a rake. My suggestion would be make the rake with close spacing and then remove every other tine. This way you can cleanup all the sticks and brush and then install the remaining tines for final raking of the small stuff.

 

[Gofast]

The area I have to use it for right now has no sticks at all. I brought in 30-ton top soil but it had lots of rocks. There is more pasture that that looks the same as this.



I was going to just make on the frame of my scrape blade but I think I will just start from starch. I just went and picked up some steel for the frame.

 

[Gofast]

Does anyone know how long this steel bar is normally on a rock rake?

 

[LD48750]

View attachment 601603

Does anyone know how long this steel bar is normally on a rock rake?

It "should" be long enough for the rake to turn 360 deg. while hooked up.

I had one that wasn't & it was a pain.....

 

[Gofast]

Thanks, that explains why some are longer than others.

I like this design for the angle iron. I ordered the two hole tines.

 

[Gofast]

I went to the scrap yard today and bought some 2" x 2" 1/4" thick square tubing. This should be great for my front frame for the rock rake.

 

[Gofast]

The 2" x 2" 1/4 will work great for the front part of the rake. Do you think 2" x 2" 1/4" is strong enough for the main shaft the holds the rake?
Should I double it up for the main shaft?


I will make it similar to this one but add side braces on the left and right.

 

[strum456]

As in the pictures, most rakes I've seen use a long piece of angle to hold the tines. I have also seen quite a few of these bend. If I was building one, I would explore other options. Maybe square tube with a flange welded on its entire length for the teeth to bolt on - or at least C channel.

2x2 sounds small for the main center piece that holds the rake. My concern would be torsion. Larger tube would be exponentially stronger.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Thanks, that explains why some are longer than others.

I like this design for the angle iron. I ordered the two hole tines.

IMO, The failure point is at the weld on this type. If you look at the York modern, the design is a little better. Everything attachments looks more robust than either of those.