Landscape Rake Experiences

[nyone]

Box blade with the rippers down first and then the landscape rake?

If you use a box blade you will be snagging on every root. Remove the organic debris first then try and level if needed.

I have a 7ft landscape rake with no gauge wheels. I used it for years with all the times in. I then removed every other time, it's a far better tool now. When you have every time in the spacing is just to small and it starts to act like a back blade real quick. Adding a 100lb suitcase weight over the pivot also changes how well it works.

 

[future_vision]

I have gauge wheels, but set so the tines dig in a bit. Don't want to disturb the earth too much as it will just erode until the vegetation grows in, but need something a bit more aggressive than the wheels at max height.

@future_vision my land isn't flat...hilly middle TN. Putting the 3pt in "float" works pretty well, though sometimes the rake will lift up over a pile of mulch/branches/etc and I'll have to back up and take a 2nd pass. But this isn't about leveling the land, just scraping off the leftovers from the forestry mulcher.

I kind of want to do both. Get all the extra off the top and bring the grade down to level

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Changing the angle of the rake tines helps also. If you're wanting more aggressive raking, angle the tines with more slant to the direction in which you are raking. The more vertical the tines are, the less they will bite in on a single pass.

The suitcase weights are a good idea too. I haven't tried that. I think my rake hitch frame is too light duty to take the extra strain.

 

[BackRoad]

Lots of good answers already provided.

See if increasing the length of your top link will make your rake more aggressive. The tines should then pop up sticks and chunks rather than ride over the piles.

Suggest putting an angle on the rake to put the debris into wind rows as you rake.

I find it easier to make smaller piles that can be quickly picked up with the grapple and moved to the slash pile rather than trying to just rake in order to move the mulcher debris over an extended distance.

Not sure if you have rock...raking may pop some rocks out of the ground too.

Smaller debris can be cut up with a rotary cutter once you get the big chunks raked and moved. Give it a year of fairly frequent mowing and it will start to look more like a lawn than a battlefield.

This is one of the areas we had forestry mulched in Nov '20...with a slash pile still waiting to be burned. We saved the Maple and Cherry, but It had the stumps and tops from a dozen 2' to 3' DBH pines which I cut, lots of other 8 and 10 inch trees, loads of Autumn Olive and thorn trees everywhere.

I used my stump grinder on about 75 stumps of various sizes in this section, but that's for a future chapter in your journey.

18 months later, we call it "The Park".

 

[Vigo327]

I have an ATV landscape rake as well (though i dont have an ATV, i just use it in a 2" receiver hitch on the 3pt). The only issue here is you don't have enough weight pushing down on yours. I've used my chinesium impact implements atv landscape rake with some weight on it and have not damaged the tines. So in my opinion, don't over think it, just add weight to the rake you have and get back to work.

 

[nyone]

I have an ATV landscape rake as well (though i dont have an ATV, i just use it in a 2" receiver hitch on the 3pt). The only issue here is you don't have enough weight pushing down on yours. I've used my chinesium impact implements atv landscape rake with some weight on it and have not damaged the tines. So in my opinion, don't over think it, just add weight to the rake you have and get back to work.

Well said. Dont over think it and add weight.

I have a 100lb suitcase bolted to my takes pivot point, it's been there for years.

 

[SnagDump]

I went and bought the Ventrac KR502-AC1128 Terra Rake and used it a bit today. It seems to be working great. A couple pics show some of the work today but there are areas where the masticated stuff is much heavier. In this area I have an old skid trail where I can run my skid steer and grapple rake to pick up the material and move it to a burn pile.

I wanted to get the extensions for the rake (basic rake is only 50" wide) and the hydraulic control for the depth but my local dealer did not have either one. So, if anybody has one or both of those items for sale or knows a dealer that has them please pass on the info. I'm struggling a bit with the uneven ground and without the depth control I end up leaving material in depressions and with the rake narrower than the machine I'm missing some stuff near trees and stumps that didn't get ground down flush.

More pics to come as I make more progress and get into tougher stuff but it's working great for now and worlds faster with the rake in front where I can see what's going on.

 

[nyone]

That looks like a perfect setup for what your doing.

I have driven one of those Ventrac with the dual kit like you have..they are nearly impossible to tip. I was loosing grip and slipping sideways on very dry ground before tipping while mowing.

 

[Diggin It]

I kind of want to do both. Get all the extra off the top and bring the grade down to level

You'll do the first, but I don't think you'll do the second to any great degree. I have a 5' rear mount and it doesn't seem to really cut the ground very well, though it will tear off mole and ant hills easily.

I wanted to cut the ground to even out highs and lows. The rake was not aggressive enough and the tiller was too aggressive tearing up too much grass and root which left bare soil prone to wind and rain erosion before new growth took.

I went to a 6' by 5' chain drag harrow and ran it over the grass just after a day or two of rain so the surface was soft. Even just the first couple passes made more of a difference than several passes with the rake. I'll make several more passes this Fall after the rains return and again next Spring. I'm hoping it will also loosen the soil better for new grass seed (if I can afford any).

 

[2manyrocks]

You'll do the first, but I don't think you'll do the second to any great degree. I have a 5' rear mount and it doesn't seem to really cut the ground very well, though it will tear off mole and ant hills easily.

I wanted to cut the ground to even out highs and lows. The rake was not aggressive enough and the tiller was too aggressive tearing up too much grass and root which left bare soil prone to wind and rain erosion before new growth took.

I went to a 6' by 5' chain drag harrow and ran it over the grass just after a day or two of rain so the surface was soft. Even just the first couple passes made more of a difference than several passes with the rake. I'll make several more passes this Fall after the rains return and again next Spring. I'm hoping it will also loosen the soil better for new grass seed (if I can afford any).

Although I don't have a drag harrow and am hoping to find one, I suspect the drag harrow more easily follows the changes in ground contours than a rake which accounts for the drag harrow making more of a difference in fewer passes.