Well, the rake survived 8 hours of trail usage over the weekend, with only two bent tines, no other damage. Spent four hours Saturday grooming. Then woke up Sunday and HAD to go back and get some more. This weekend the hoses were all the correct length to stay out of the way and not get chafed, and allow full-range of all movements. And of course no more bent tine bar troubles. Overall, the rake works fantastically! The offset capability helps in many situations, I could never go back to the old way already. I can hang it over a bank and not have to drive as close for safety. I can hang it way over, and pull it in to clear a tree, then put it right back out there. You know how, when you see you are too close to something with a rear implement, you try to steer away, but the implement takes a big swing TOWARD the obstacle before swinging away? Offset cures that too. And there is enough power in the offset axis to slide the rear of the tractor around if you wish to do that. Even transporting it through tight spots in the woods is easier once I offset it to one side and swivel it way over.
The heavy duty tines will uproot small (3") trees (although this is tough on those two outer ones). The HD tines are a good match for this rake frame design since is beefy. I am not sure what the "weak link" of the whole assembly is, but over time it may show up.
I have a few pics here, nothing special, was wishing I would have had a video "crew" (my wife) to take a couple certain situations, but no such luck.
