In Progress: Front Mount Rake/Dethatcher

[SkunkWerX]

Cabin Fever is here!

The Situation:
Mowing and using the home-made leaf vac was pretty good this fall, but,
there has got to be way to also rake and pick up dead grass and moist leaves?
We have a little cheesy pull behind dethatcher, it's seen better days, and is only about 40" wide.

The last set-up we used was a lawn sweeper with the dethatcher attachment, which did modestly well ,
considering it scuffed up the surface THEN swept up the loose debris.

The idea is based on one of these:
Retail Front Mount Detatcher
The prices are enough to send anyone into sticker-shock!

So, a couple of rough sketches later, we have , well, a rough sketch.

Still had a lot of bugs to work out, but the basic idea is there, somewhere?
Began inventorying and collecting up supplies. Steel, wheels, etc. etc.

Anyone who saw the Plow project may remember the front mount adapter to allow the mounting of the Deere Blade. The idea was to mount the Front Detatcher/Rake the same way, making it truly a quick attach tool.
Deere adapter plate

Needed a way for the assembly to pivot or hinge in front of the tractor as it rolls along, so came up with a simple pivot assembly.
Front Dethatcher Hinge Pivot.jpg

As luck would have it, I still have the original black Deere plow lift cylinder!
Cylinders New and Old

Was also lucky to have 2 used swivel yokes and some Harbor Freight tires.
Swivel Casters and HF Tires

Squirrelling away useful items really paid off! Cobbling them together into something that works is a little more challenging.

So far, working some evenings and a weekend or two, have gotten this far:
Dethatcher Partially Assembled


Currently I am working on the Lift and Mechanical Float mechanism.
Just like a snow plow, the Rake needs to be able to "float" along so it can follow the dips and variations on the lawn. This is the first stab at it...but, still not sure if it's correct.
Dethatcher Lift Pivot side view

Need more measuring and thinking about the float.

And yes, even have some spare 1/4" hydraulic hose too! (Need couplings, drat!)


.

 

[excelagator]

Cool idea for dethatching before mowing mounting on the front!! What about forgoing the hyd. cylinder and using trailer jacks with 10" HF caster wheels much like a floating mowing deck???

Just a thought,
Dan

 

[SkunkWerX]

Cool idea for dethatching before mowing mounting on the front!! What about forgoing the hyd. cylinder and using trailer jacks with 10" HF caster wheels much like a floating mowing deck???

Just a thought,
Dan

Thanks, the cylinder is for lifting it up, as for transport. The cylinder doesn't do anything with regard to height.
The carraige underneath that holds the tines is on pivoting arms that will allow it to follow the ground, tension held by springs.

The float I am talking about is the one that will keep the wheels on the ground, while the hinge pivots, yet, when I want to lift the assembly, (to avoid a hazard, or move to another part of the lawn, or cross the driveway without dragging the tines) the cylinder can be retracted, which pulls the whole thing into the air.

 

[Shmudda]

Where did you purchase those spring at? Seems I can't find a good source locally.

Craig

 

[SkunkWerX]

Springs? you mean the Rake Tines? They came from Tractor Supply Co.

You can find them online, as well.

 

[porky69]

Looks good, the one problem I can see coming up is the mounting of the spring tines.

Those tines are designed to be shaft mounted and the bend where you have them bolted on with is supposed to push against a stopper (to keep them from rotating on the shaft), with a bolt and a washer clamping them they will vibrate out from underneath the washer and fall off. Unless you make some type of stops to keep the tines from moving down. Could be as simple as a pin underneath the crossbar of the tine on either side of the mounting bolt

Other than that good concept and nice fabrication.

 

[fonman_4859]

you could use a self-tapping sheet metal screw under the bolt then you would not loose the tines. It would be simple to remove them to replace the tines when needed.

 

[raykos]

Hello SkunxWerx,

Looking good to this point! I, too, am interested in where you obtained your "springs"

Springs? you mean the Rake Tines? They came from Tractor Supply Co.
You can find them online, as well.

I've looked at TSC and also called, no luck. Do you perhaps have a part no., item no. or anything else I could use to find them?

Thanks,
Ray

 

[SkunkWerX]

Looks good, the one problem I can see coming up is the mounting of the spring tines.

Those tines are designed to be shaft mounted and the bend where you have them bolted on with is supposed to push against a stopper (to keep them from rotating on the shaft), with a bolt and a washer clamping them they will vibrate out from underneath the washer and fall off. Unless you make some type of stops to keep the tines from moving down. Could be as simple as a pin underneath the crossbar of the tine on either side of the mounting bolt

Other than that good concept and nice fabrication.

Good thinking Porky, I appreciate the thoughtful advice.
I noticed they did want to rotate while being tightened.

I put the washers in a vice and bent over a tab on each one, so the tines couldn't work themselves out from under the flat washer.

Was also considering welding a small "V" piece of metal under the bolt hole, to keep them vertical. I am going to see how they perform. When they are pressing against the ground the force will be close to equal on each leg, which should keep them from rotating? .....we will see.

I expect to need fine tuning and perhaps some changes once I run them for the first 15 minutes.

I am going to run a steel braided safety wire through each coil and fasten to each end of the frame. I wouldn't want to lose one and mow it over!

 

[SkunkWerX]

Hello SkunxWerx,

Looking good to this point! I, too, am interested in where you obtained your "springs"


I've looked at TSC and also called, no luck. Do you perhaps have a part no., item no. or anything else I could use to find them?

Thanks,
Ray

Ray,

here is an example at AgriSupply. They call them a "Rake Tooth"
RAKE TOOTH FORD (DOUBLE) - Agri Supply

 

[raykos]

Thanks, SkunkWerx

 

[raykos]

Hi all,

In case anyone else is interested, after "SkunkWerx" said that the "springs" were actually called a "Rake tooth", just out of curiosity, I did some additional searching and found another site, "www.tractorpartsinc.com", typed in "rake tooth" in the Search box and came up with more "tooths".

Again thanks, "SkunkWerx",
Ray

 

[SkunkWerX]

Hi all,

In case anyone else is interested, after "SkunkWerx" said that the "springs" were actually called a "Rake tooth", just out of curiosity, I did some additional searching and found another site, "www.tractorpartsinc.com", typed in "rake tooth" in the Search box and came up with more "tooths".

Again thanks, "SkunkWerx",
Ray

No problem Ray, glad that helped clear it up. I always call the teeth on a rake the "tines" which didn't result in too many hits while searching.

TSC has them on the shelf, but, perhaps only in areas that produce Hay??
They are notmally near the Rotary Cutter Blades, sickle blades, and that kind of equipment.

They have several types, singel and double tine (teeth) for Ford, Deere and other types of hay rakes. I always thought they were pretty standard "consumables" for those raising hay.

Thats where my knowledge about it ends.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Last thing to do is hook up the hydraulic cylinder.
But even without the cylinder, was able to run the first "Beta" test this weekend.

It actually performed fairly well, at least I expected more kinks and parts falling off, which didn't happen.

The spring tension holds the tines to the ground, though, I think I might have to go to a tighter spring. The other option is weld some weight brackets on the tine-carrier frame.

Dethatcher Rake In Transport Position

In Transport Position Close-Up

 

[Blagadan]

Nice work SkunkWerx. I like the tensioner system you've made. I have used a towed dethatcher and I despise having to do a second lap to suck up the thatch afterwards. Out front is a way better setup and your rig looks man enough for it.
I think I'm gonna make me one of those... Nice job.

b

 

[SkunkWerX]

Nice work SkunkWerx. I like the tensioner system you've made. I have used a towed dethatcher and I despise having to do a second lap to suck up the thatch afterwards. Out front is a way better setup and your rig looks man enough for it.
I think I'm gonna make me one of those... Nice job.

b

Thanks for the compliment Blagadan.

Sounds like you fully understand the 'second pass blues".

With fuel prices what they are and as always, never having "extra" time,
it should be a win-win eliminating that second pass.

When I do use the rake, I also plan on towing the spiker-aerator.
rake-mow-aerate, all at once. In the fall, it will be rake-mow-Vacuum leaves.

Just another reason for the neighbors to shake their heads.