Fred Cain Landscape Rake bad finish

[Whitnel]

Well got my 7' Fred Cain Landscape rake today. Purchased it from Sweet Farm Equipment in KY. Well it was somewhat scratched up from shipping, the pallet it was delivered on was too weak and broke in several places. The nut that attached the rake to the 3 point frame had been dragging the ground for a while.

I can live with a few scratches but the paint job on this thing is horrible. I am disappointed with that.

I know its not a show piece and will be worked hard but for what I paid for it I would expect it to look nice and new upon delivery. Its almost like the metal was not cleaned before it was painted.

Now to the lip I will have to grind down for the rake to rotate properly.

Its not too much to ask that you don't have to work on a brand new attachment. Maybe I am being too picky. It is well built but the finish should be way better.

 

[plowindeeper]

thanks for the info I was just fixin to buy a Fred Cain subsoiler but if the craftmanship is that poor i will be lookin else wear

 

[mrmikey]

I know its not a show piece ......

You're right but the workmanship looks like crap. Burrs from sheared edges, (btw, those are excellant finger slicers, usually they're like a razor) lousy looking welds, the paint was put on using a mop by the looks of it. Not impressive at all......Mike

 

[dex3361]

What size was the rake and how much did you pay and how much was shipping? Just curious. I looked at a lot of rakes and the Fred Cain was one that I was looking for because they were supposed to be a good value. Such a pain to have to work on a new piece.

 

[RDrancher]

I agree that its an implement and its going to get scratched and dinged...but that's ridiculous. I would be contacting the seller and sending those photos along.

 

[Whitnel]

I emailed Sweets this morning. Lets see if anything happens, sorda doubt it will.

It is a 7' rake. Can't remember what he quoted me but remember the shipping was $95. My CC was charged for $793 - $95 = $698. Which for what I got is way to much. The delivery paperwork got misplaced during the unloading, must of threw it away by mistake.

Thought the higher price was going to get me better quality from what I had gathered about Fred Cain stuff.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

The finish does look bad and looks like finish clean up was not done. Other pictures that I have seen of Fred Cain rakes did not look like yours. But what you paid is not a high price, go price out a Woods or Land Pride. I believe that those would be up over a grand. Hopefully Sweet will do something to help you out.

 

[sweep]

I was at my TSC store couple of days ago. The County Line equipment they had out in the parking lot was full of rust and most of it has not sat there that long-they just got it in 2-3 months back because I go there on a regular basis.

I don't know why these companies don't have more pride in the fit and finish. I realize it's going to be used out in the dirt and get beat up but come on.

 

[Whitnel]

The finish does look bad and looks like finish clean up was not done. Other pictures that I have seen of Fred Cain rakes did not look like yours. But what you paid is not a high price, go price out a Woods or Land Pride. I believe that those would be up over a grand. Hopefully Sweet will do something to help you out.

Sweet did offer to take the rake back if I was not happy with it and gave me the number to Fred Cain. So Sweets did the right thing with that offer. I just emailed Fred Cain Farm and sent them the pictures.

I think the rake is built better then the standard angle iron ones I have read about bending and such. But expected better quality in the finish.

I have alot of work planned over this three day weekend with the rake and rock bucket I picked up last week so don't want to send it back over the paint job.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a Fred Cain rake and there is no shear edges sticking up like yours. The paint is not great but most of the welds looked fair but none of the equipment I have seen has a great paint job. They dont seem to abrasive blast anything and maybe not even remove the oil prior to splashing on some paint. The one thing that I found on this rake is that the shaft where the rake attaches is a bit long from the side brace points which makes it rather weak and easy to bend which I unfortunately did to mine. Ihad to cut off all the bracing and the old square tubing and replaceds it with a heavier tubing that is a few inches shorter. The tubing has no need to be that long anyway as you can't rotate the rake 180 degrees with it hooked up anyway. It took me about a half day to remove and replace the box tubing, but now I have a much stronger rake than originally designed and after degreasing and power brushing the new parts, I have a pretty decent paint job on the new stuff.
The tines on this rake are pretty tough also. I have backed into trees and bent them up pretty bad, but you can straighten them without them breaking. They have enough spring tension to pull a big load of dirt without bending, but are ductile enough to enable you to pound them back into shape if you accidently hit an immovable object. Overall, I would say mine is worth the money I paid.