General opinions on landscape rake

[botalvr]

I am pondering a landscape rake for my BX2200, I had a good dealer (hard to find in these parts) tell me that in this area all it will do is ball up dirt and little else.
In general, is it a good thing to have? I have some freshly filled in areas that I thought it would help level and remove rocks and such.
Does everyone that has one find it was a good purchase?
Thanks
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RobS]

dannydan, you must not be too far from me (South Bend area). My landscape rake is one of my favorite implements. I use it for grading, smoothing, raking in seed and grading the drive. I don't use it for leaves, I doubt it would work for that.

If things are wet, it may "ball up" but for the most part it just smooths. You can angle it to windrow rocks and such. I use the "lateral float" on my tph linkage to prevent gouging. Many have recommended gage wheels but I don't have any.

Depending on where you live, you're welcome to borrow mine to see how it works for you. Let me know /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[botalvr]

Thanks for the generous offer Rob! And on your recommendation, I think I will treat myself to one, the more attachments the better, right?
Now the hard part - convincing my chief financial officer at home of the extreme need for this new device.
(beats the heck out of jewelry - at least it DOES something besides sparkle)
It may even take a jewelry purchase to get it - but it sounds like it will be worth it!
Thanks again, happy seat time!
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Boondox]

Sounds like you made up your mind, and IMO you won't regret it. One suggestion. If you plan on angling it and snugging up against fences, buildings, ditches, etc...get the kind where the grade wheels aren't attached at the ends. I have a Woods, and with the tires mounted on outriggers attached to the very ends I can't get close to obstructions. The problem is the tires hit first, so the rake tines are a good foot and a half from where I want them to be.

Jeez, hard to explain. Did I make sense at all? Maybe I should post a picture...but the rake is still under two feet of snow.

Pete

 

[aardvark]

I like mine pretty well. I'm in a real sandy area though, and it works great to smooth out the sandy soil. I think it actually works better than a box blade for smoothing as I have been doing. I had some problems with it balling up dirt at first, but then I was told to remove every other tine. After doing so it lets alot more dirt through, levels the ground, and rolls debris along all at the same time. With my property, the box blade picks up debris and then the debris keeps the low spots from filling. The rake is less prone to this problem in the real sandy soil.

 

[botalvr]

No pic needed - I can see how the wheels would make it difficult to use in that situation.
But that brings up a good question - are wheels a key addition to the rake? I had planned on a King Kutter since it will be scraping (no pun intended) to come up with the $$ for the rake to begin with.
Thanks!

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Dan,

Since the BX does not have position control on the 3pt , you may have a tough time getting the rake to do what you want it to do without wheels, add another few $100. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Freds]

You made sense to me, Pete. I have a Woods, too, but never rake that close to stuff where I've noticed it to be a problem.
If it was a problem, I would cut a "V" in the top and bottom of the square tubing with the point of the V pointing outward, cut out the section at the wide part of the V, bend the tubing so the wheels angle in towards the center of the rake and weld it up. Do it close to where the tubing bolts to the leg, but don't angle it so much you will need to add a piece to lengthen it, but that shouldn't be a problem either.

Did I make sense? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
A good reason to dig it out from under the snow.

 

[ducati996]

Without quage wheels its just a useful implement, with the quage wheels it turns it into a very productive tool that I find one of the most important to have besides a FEL.
I had my rake without the quage wheels at first, my machine has postion control and without the wheels it would dig too deep. It worked but the wheels give you the surface scaping ability without digging in. I have yet to see quage wheels for $100 however /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif they are more expensive thant that. My rake is a heavy unit made by Midwest. A lot of weight is resting on the wheel, so a heavy duty design would be a must
and thats usually more expensive....

Ducati

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue">I have a Woods, and with the tires mounted on outriggers attached to the very ends I can't get close to obstructions. </font>

Pete,

I have a five or six KK implements...and your comment offers my first opportunity to say something positve about KK, except for the standard "best bang for the buck" comment. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

In fact, the KK gage wheels can be mounted at any point on the rake that you want, from the ends all the way to the middle. The piece that holds the caster rod, slips in between any two tines one chooses, and bolts on using the bolt holes that hold the tines, using longer bolts that come with the wheel kit. I did not realize this feature to be a positive, but I guess it is.

As for price, last year I paid about $170 for the gage wheel kit delivered price. TSC and a local dealer cost out about the same. The dealer's price was actually a little cheaper, but his shipping was higher and that offset any savings.

Like about everyone else that has gage wheels. I really love them. Enough to adapt them to my rear blade (made new mounts for the blade) so they can do double duty.

For me a rake with wheels is more than twice as useful than a rake without them...