Rake Harley rakes - why so much?

[Charlesaf3]

FWIW, I have a roller bar 8' Landpride Rake and haven't been real impressed with its ability to windrow rocks. Maybe I am simply doing something wrong, but it just allows the rocks to pass over the roller bar or keeps them on the front of the roller. It never moves them to one side or the other regardless of the angle of the bar.

Weird, my ATI does a great job of it. Are you counter-rotating?

 

[5030tinkerer]

Yes, the roller bar counter rotates.

This unit also has the optional Danish tines that are hydraulically raised and lowered. If I lower them more than a token amount, the drag created lifts the roller off of the ground. If my intention is to really break up hard-pan soil in advance of the roller hitting it, I take a few full depth passes (tines fully lowered) until things are loose. The tines do an incredible job with that, no doubt.

Once that is complete, I raise the tines so that they are maybe just an inch or two in the ground, hydraulically set the roller bar angle (for all the good it will do me), engage the PTO, and go. I'm left with a georgeous seed bed, but if (and really only if) there's not much there in the way of rocks to start with.

 

[lcisled]

I am sure someone in this thread said it already, but a power rake (Harley, ATI, etc) is the only way to go.
I was one who said "No way" to paying that much for a Harley. I even ran into the Harley rep at a turf show and told him it was way too much. He asked what I was using (a TR-3 rake) and he said a Harley would pay for itself in no time if I compared them.
Bottom line in my opinion - they are worth it. Time saving and quality of work far exceeds anything I have found.
They seem like a lot of money for what they are. I think the mfg. figured out how good fast they can make us money and decided to get their hands on a piece of the pie. Since we started using it we have not regretted it. We often remark how good it is.
It was the domino effect with my buddies that are lawn installers. We all had different machines for prep. The first guy switched and the rest of us told him he was nuts. He said we were nuts once he started using it. Then the next guy switched and agreed with him. Then we switched. We sold our machine to another guy. That guy heard us talking about how great a Harley was and sold our machine and bought a Woods. We are all power rake users now.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I just got off the phone with the parts dept for Harley (Paledon). Broke my Pro 8 on the weekend. It's seen it's share of use and abuse. Apparently, the PRO 8 is no longer manufactured, and I highly suspect it was too expensive! Two rollers, the S tines, all added to complexity and weight. I feel kind of priviliged to own one.

The one thing I really want to do at some point, and I have said this before, is figure out a way to tilt the thing from side to side. Doing it on the tractor lift arms, will not work on account of the castor wheels out back, but this would be highly usefull and a time saving feature.

For those that don't understand the benefits of a powered rake, I like to say it's really like the difference between a hand planer and an electric one!

 

[Reg]

I just got off the phone with the parts dept for Harley (Paledon). Broke my Pro 8 on the weekend. It's seen it's share of use and abuse. Apparently, the PRO 8 is no longer manufactured, and I highly suspect it was too expensive! Two rollers, the S tines, all added to complexity and weight. I feel kind of priviliged to own one.

The one thing I really want to do at some point, and I have said this before, is figure out a way to tilt the thing from side to side. Doing it on the tractor lift arms, will not work on account of the castor wheels out back, but this would be highly usefull and a time saving feature.

For those that don't understand the benefits of a powered rake, I like to say it's really like the difference between a hand planer and an electric one!

Not sure I know what you mean by "tilt side to side", but those castors are adjustable (on mine and I "assume" on all of them).
I can get a "tilt" with the tractor lift arms and the caster wheels.
A quick and dirty way to get the casters to go along with the lift arms is to loosen the pinch bolt on the side you want to lower and then drag the rake a short way on a hard flat level surface. Tighten up the pinch bolt, should be ready to go.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My castor wheels are not adjustable. I'm not sure if on later models that was offered. It would have to be a hydraulic adjustment anyway, as this tilting requirement is ever changing.

One thing I notice is that the S tines have very little clearance even when up. So my tendency is to raise the front of the rake, making the whole unit not level, so when the rollers are angled, one side goes up and the other down. One could counteract this if you could tilt it.

Problem, of course starts to be that you have too many controls to deal with. I have a home made third link (that doesn't work very well, as it doesn't hold position) so that, along with the three Harley circuits and the 3PH control, make for a rather complex operation. Actually, I bought another joystick lever from JD with the toggle switch in the top, and put this on my remote valve to control the Harley electro hydraulic valve. Works quite slick! But I tell you. I put in some very long days last weekend and by the end, I could barely operate any of this stuff effectively anymore as my brain was totally fried!

 

[Reg]

My castor wheels are not adjustable. I'm not sure if on later models that was offered. It would have to be a hydraulic adjustment anyway, as this tilting requirement is ever changing.

One thing I notice is that the S tines have very little clearance even when up. So my tendency is to raise the front of the rake, making the whole unit not level, so when the rollers are angled, one side goes up and the other down. One could counteract this if you could tilt it.

Problem, of course starts to be that you have too many controls to deal with. I have a home made third link (that doesn't work very well, as it doesn't hold position) so that, along with the three Harley circuits and the 3PH control, make for a rather complex operation. Actually, I bought another joystick lever from JD with the toggle switch in the top, and put this on my remote valve to control the Harley electro hydraulic valve. Works quite slick! But I tell you. I put in some very long days last weekend and by the end, I could barely operate any of this stuff effectively anymore as my brain was totally fried!

Mine is fairly old and I can't remember seeing one with NON-adjustable casters.
Any chance yours were broken and then "by passed" by a previous owner ?
In any case I think you could get replacement caster arms and if you set them so that you have the S tine clearance you want and set your lift arms so that the swivel pin is vertical, I think "you can get there from here".
Now, if you want to tilt left and winrow rocks right, then turn around and come back tilting right and winrowing left on long rows.... ?
Yeah, that is a creative use and you will probably be getting off the tractor to adjust SEVERAL things between passes - unless you have seven or eight hydraulic port pairs on your tractor (I only have four) and can do the mechanical work.

Another option might be to somehow allow the casters to have a less controlling effect, e.g. let their tires down a bit.
You might be able to replace the wheels with skids - on SOFT springs.
Depends on your access to tools I guess.
I'm tools AND skills limited, so dream up more things than I actually DO (-:

 

[Piston]

Do you guys use your power rake for any "rough" work, or mostly just lawn preparation in a yard that is already in pretty decent shape?

I'm clearing forested land and I'm hoping that after cutting the trees, grinding the stumps, and rough grading with a box blade, that my next (and final) step would be to power rake the area clean. I hope this works as I just recently purchased a power rake for this purpose.

 

[Reg]

Do you guys use your power rake for any "rough" work, or mostly just lawn preparation in a yard that is already in pretty decent shape?

I'm clearing forested land and I'm hoping that after cutting the trees, grinding the stumps, and rough grading with a box blade, that my next (and final) step would be to power rake the area clean. I hope this works as I just recently purchased a power rake for this purpose.

I suggest STRONGLY that you get out all rocks above about baseball size.
Anything much bigger than basket ball is likely to STOP you.

I have no experience of the Rock Hound, but if I was clearing forest (in New Engalnd) I would look into renting one of those for an initial rock clearing.
Then I would evaluate... the Harley rake may be unnecessary after a pass or two with a rock hound, depends how fine and finished you want.
If you are not in New England this may not apply - we also have ledge, but that is a subject unto itself (-:

EDIT:
Ooops, just noticed your location (-:
You are no stranger to rocks.
Also noticed that you have a 2 bottom disc plow, I keep looking for one.
Maybe take this off-line, I would like your thoughts on disc plows.
:END EDIT

 

[Piston]

Thanks Reg,
Unfortunately as you noticed, I certainly do have some rocks. I can do my best to get the larger ones out by using the grapple, but I'm sure there will be many "hidden" ones underneath that I don't see.

I suppose I will try it out and see what happens, perhaps its the wrong tool for my intentions, I guess we'll see. Regarding the disc plow, I've honestly never had it hooked up to my tractor. I bought it from a friend for almost nothing if I remember correctly and I figured if nothing else, it would be a good counterweight.

Would you suggest using the disc plow after clearing a portion of land, then use the power rake after removing as many rocks as I could? I've had the plow for a year or so now but it's just been sitting, I actually forgot about it until right now. :laughing:

Do you live in New England as well? I'm working on two separate pieces of property, one in MA and one in NH.