Grading help with picking width for landscape rake

[kjgces]

Hi, i have a b2150 Kubota, nice but not a huge tractor. i'm trying to decide what width of rake to get. i will be dragging a dirt road to keep it in shape, loose gravel, dirt mixed in, etc. i have been looking for a used 6ft rake but might get by with a 5ft. what doe s everyone think. will the 6 get bogged down? The 5 is a little more affordable but i can get the 6 if it makes sense in the long run. just wanted your thoughts, thanks, kjgces.

 

[MarkV]

I don't think you will have problems bogging down the tractor. An advantage to the 6' is that if you angle the rake to pull gravel back on the road it will still cover your tire tracks. I use a 6' rake on a B21 which is about the same size as your tractor.

MarkV

 

[kjgces]

Hi Markv, thanks for the quick advice, i was thinking the same thing. And, it is only 6 inches on either side, how much more power could that really need. not much.

 

[kjgces]

ok, now for the killer question. What brand. does the TSC rake seem ok to others, it looks pretty good to me, i like the heavy swivel point for the rake itself and the double point contact on the tines. I just saw the Fred Cain on another post and it has some great features as well. and i'm only doing this on weekends for our cabin, not a full time job (not yet!) for me, thanks.

 

[zzvyb6]

Get the widest one that's available. When its angled 45 degrees, you want to cover your tire tracks at the minimum. With an 8' rake you only need one pass in each direction to fix a roadway. If it's just maintenance you are doing, they don't take very much power to pull. Look for one with a weight bar, so you can hang suitcase weights onto it. That makes it dig better.

 

[bullbreaker]

6' and for occasional use and tractor of that size if priced rite I think TSC rake would be OK. BTW if TSC selling a 5'-er in orange those are targeted more towards BX type tractor owners.

Boone

 

[mikehaugen]

haven't used a rake yet but I would get a wide one as my thinking is that a) it couldn't take much power to pull one and b) if it was ever too long for some given task you could always remove tines from the outside.

 

[MarkV]

Not sure what TSC is selling in your area at the moment. It seems to vary by location somewhat. Mine is King Kutter that was bought at TSC and it had been pretty good for my use, until I backed into a tree. One thing to consider is gauge wheels. They make a big difference when working a drive. Personally I would stay with 6', never found a need to angle at a full 45 degrees. Too wide and you may find the same tree I did.

MarkV

 

[jenkinsph]

I have a 5' and a 7' rake for my tractors I would rather have a 5' and an 8'. I use the 5' for small jobs and getting into tight places the larger rake for open areas. I would choose the widest rake that you can fit everywhere you need to go, look at your property and use a tape measure to see what fits best. Once you have a rake you will find yourself using it for more than the driveway, keep that in mind.

 

[Mark Page]

I've found that a rake 1 foot wider than your tractor seems to work well. You can still angle it to some degree and and still cover your tracks. I had an 8' and sold it for a 7'. My tractor is exactly 6' wide.
BTW- Don't expect it to work well on any compacted material. For that kind of job a scraper blade or, better yet, a box blade is required.

 

[kjgces]

Hi all, i took everyones good advice and bought a used TSC 6 footer. excellent shape, picked it up this morning for $350. I have to say the quality of the larger rakes at TSC is very good. I especially like the way they have the tines mounted. The mount gives upper and lower support and easy replacement. Again, thanks for everyones replies, good to know there are folks out there willing to help with questions. Kjgces.

 

[techwrtr2]

You should find the 6ft works well. I just bought a 6ft KK rake from TSC (had a 10% off coupon). In the past I would have wanted a 4 or 5 ft since my tractor is 4ft wide. However going 6ft does allow me to angle it all the way and still cover my tracks. If you are working and have the rake fully angled plus need multiple passes you don't have to work has hard to ensure full coverage of your job. At least this is my experience. Learned that when I went to buy a grader blade, wanted a 5ft but they only had a 6ft... so I got it. Glad I did.

Just be sure when driving that you know where the blade is. It sticks out a bit and is back behind you (thus somewhat out of mind) so it's much easier to grab things you don't want to.

 

[kjgces]

yep, easy to forget what is really back there.

 

[techwrtr2]

Also really easy to back into things.