Lowry 5' Landscape Rake

[Panik]

Good morning. I was hoping that if anyone has purchased Lowry MFG equipment that they might share their experiences. I am looking at swinging over to their facility in Boaz, Al this weekend and picking up a 5' rake with 1.25" tines. I've seen their implements for sale elsewhere and aside from not having quite the same level of finish as say TSC implements (weld spatter, rough surfaces, etc) the rakes seems to be solidly enough put together for average use and wear and tear. That and for a ~100.00 a foot, the price is pretty reasonable for a no frills implement.

If I get a rake from Lowry I'll be using it with a BX2360 for gravel road maintenance and at some point assisting in prepping erosion areas on the slopes of our yard. The road isn't to the point of needing to be box bladed and I'm hoping to prevent that necessity by touching it up with a rake regularly. In any case my neighbor has a 4' box blade that I can use if needs be so I really don't have the need to purchase a box blade at the moment.

I would get a 6' rake knowing that weight wise the bx can lift it, however I would think that with a 6' foot rake fully engaged I might run out of traction with turf tires. Plus I like the idea of the added maneuverability of the smaller size. One concern I have is being ability to spin and reverse the orientation of a 5' rake without having to un-attach it from the 3pt. I'm a bit more concerned about this than covering my tracks while the rake is angled. Any thoughts about my thought process would be appreciated.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

It may be worth your while to check out our ETA Compact Tractor Rakes. They have offset capabilities so you can go with a 5' and offset it to get outside at least one of your wheels. Welds and overall quality is top notch.

 

[Panik]

Lol! Alright you got my attention with that. How much does your 5' rake weigh and how much of an offset is available.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

We don't have a true weight, but my best estimate is around 240 pounds. We've shipped some out, so I got that weight by deducting my estimate of the pallet weight.
Offset is 24" max.
Travis

 

[Guesseral]

I have a Lowry box blade and it's fine, it could be a little heavier but other than that and the finish as you mentioned I have no problem with it and I can add a whole lot of weight if I need it for the cost difference. I think Lowry makes so pretty nice equipment at a very nice price. I don't think I would worry about using a 6' rake loading up really shouldn't be a problem because of the spacing between the rake tines, and I don't understand why you would want to spin and reverse a rake I see the need with a grader blade but not really with a rake of course you may have that need.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

We have a 72" here and it weighs 265 pounds. My estimate of the 60"(240 pounds) should be really close based on that.
Travis

 

[Panik]

Well Ted I just got done on the phone with Rick ordering the 60" compact rake. For some reason I didn't think ETA's rake would be within my price range, i.e. within 15.00 of Lowry's rake. Probably because I expected features like the offset would be more pricey. Looking forward to putting it to use in a couple weeks.

Guesseral - I still believe like you do that Lowry LMC equipment are solid work pieces. The reason I wanted to be able to spin the rake is that I would like to be able to do some light material spreading with it especially using the offset as there are some areas where the low clearance of my BX in combination the nearness of ditches make things slightly dicey.