Harley Rake/ Power Rake?

[dj1701]

Hi All,

I have a question. What exactly is a power rake good for? Can it till a garden as good as a tiller? Can it replace a Land plane/grader scraper?
I have no experience with this tool. Love to hear your opinions and see pics of your projects.


Thanks
Dave

 

[jeff9366]

This will get you started:

T-B-N ARCHIVE: Harley Rake site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

 

[old and tired]

...What exactly is a power rake good for?...

I think they are mainly used to site prep new lawns. I know one guy used it to grade his gravel driveway... I think they only go 4" down.

 

[Tags]

It will not till like a tiller, it can only go a few inches deep. It will do a lot on a tractor 3 point hitch, it will level, cut high spots, and windrow rock off to the side or carry it, how far depends on how much rock. You can grade gravel driveways and it works great for grading the infield of a baseball diamond. I had a 6 foot Pro model years ago and it was nice because it had retractable scarifiers which was great for redoing existing lawns that were in poor condition and loosening compacted soil before raking. Ive had one on a skid steer since the early 2000's and it does a lot more on the skid steer being you can run the drum in two directions so it allows you to push and pull material instead of just being able to pull. Plus with the skid steer you have down pressure, so it is easier to cut and fill and grade with it as well. What are you trying to with it and how many HP is your tractor?

 

[Piston]

Hi All,

I have a question. What exactly is a power rake good for? Can it till a garden as good as a tiller? Can it replace a Land plane/grader scraper?
I have no experience with this tool. Love to hear your opinions and see pics of your projects.


Thanks
Dave

It can till a garden yes, but that is not what it's really designed for, so it won't do as good of a job as a dedicated tiller. It can also grade, level, remove rocks/debris, and prepare a site for lawn installation. It is a very helpful tool, at a very expensive price. It can not cut a ditch like a rear blade, but it can level material and spread material like a rear blade.
It can not knock down small trees and do very rough work like heavy duty box blade, but it can grade and move material like a box blade.
Regarding replacing a land plane, "it depends". I've used my power rake as a land plane to remove rocks and level/smooth a driveway or woods trails. However, if you want to smooth your driveway, and NOT remove rocks (perhaps you have a lot of base rock near the surface) then it wouldn't be great, as you will pull up a lot more rocks than you imagine.

The main thing it is good for, is grading, removing debris and rocks, and leaving a virtually perfect finished surface for whatever you will be putting on top of it. The big advantage is that it can do it all in one or two passes. It's a time saving machine that gives a higher quality finish that many other tools.

I haven't used a piece of equipment that can do what a power rake can do, as well as it can do it, as quickly as it can do it.

Here is a before and after of a small area cleared, then ready for seed.



And some more close up photos of the the unit. The power rake can be adjusted so large debris can fit through it, or only minimal debris, depending on what you want to accomplish.

 

[dj1701]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have a gravel drive that's always a mess in the spring. I was looking at a Land pride land plane/scraper to use on the drive when needed through the year.
I also have a garden that I was thinking of getting a tiller for. My buddy used to keep his stored here, but he has since taken it back. I also wanted to put in a wildflower patch.

With tax your looking at over 4G. I have seen used power rakes for not much more than that.
Just wondering if it would be a better option.

I have a JD 4320 I believe it's 40hp PTO

Thanks
Dave

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have an eight foot old style 3ph Harley Rake. Has a row of S tines that you can lower to break up soil and two rollers. VASTLY superior over the newer single roller models. We live in rock country. Machine is great for seperating stones and debris from soil. Works like MAGIC! THEN, you have to figure out a way to collect the assembled stones.

To me, the difference between a Harley Rake and some non powered implement is the same as a hand Planer and an Electric Planer.

I use my Harley Rake for my 1000 foot limestone screenings driveway. Works good, except, leaves a washboard that I have to drag out. MAYBE, on account that when the HArley is angled, the drivetrain joints are speeding up and slowing down.