New landscape rake for clearing a food plot.

[GregbkH]

In order to get my new food plot ready for lime and tilling I needed a way to rake the remaining debris out of the dirt. Saturday morning I went and bought a 7 foot landscape rake from Mills Fleet Farm. I was in such a hurry to use it, I forgot to take a picture of it. It worked great. Here is a pic from the net.

Before I could use it I decided to take out a whopper of a maple tree that stood in the middle of the plot. At first I was going to leave it but it had a large area of surface roots that would have raised **** with my tiller. I'll tell you what, that tree almost kicked my ***! It took 6 hours of digging, pushing and pulling to get that thing all sawed up and out of there. It was a bit bigger than what my tractor should have handled but I got 11 nine foot logs out of it. Here it is.

After removing the tree I took the rake and filled the hole left by the root ball then dragged the whole plot. I got most of the debris but ran out of time. I'll finish it this weekend along with cutting more maples along the side of the plot to allow for more sun. At least I don't have to remove anymore stumps. Here is the plot after raking.

 

[paulemar]

Very nice job! Six hours sounds like a long time, but imagine what it would have been like without the tractor. I think the tree would still be there.

 

[Thomas]

Thank for sharing pics..nice job!
Have also consider adjustment wheels for the rake?

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Nice job. I'm sure you were tired after fighting that tree, but I also bet it was a good tired. It's always nice to accomplish something like that. By the way, what are you going to plant in the plot? Looks like it needs to be something that will tolerate shade.

 

[creekbend]

Congratulations in regards to your new Rake. Nice preparation job. I have cut down many trees during my life, and I am still amazed just how strong the roots of a tree are. Especially the Tap Root.

 

[GregbkH]

Thanks for the comments. I've still got to thin out a few maples to let more sun in and I'm planning on planting one of the Frigid Forage mixes.

 

[L3650]

I too am expanding food plots. I use a cultivator then disc or rent a rototiller from the local farmers cooperative. I wondered about the rake and the ability to windrow and remove big clumps of turf, sod, roots and other "stuff".

The frigid forage mix is new to me. I live in wisconsin and not seen that at my local fleet farm. How does that grow in sandy soil?

 

[foggy1111]

I too am expanding food plots. I use a cultivator then disc or rent a rototiller from the local farmers cooperative. I wondered about the rake and the ability to windrow and remove big clumps of turf, sod, roots and other "stuff".

The frigid forage mix is new to me. I live in wisconsin and not seen that at my local fleet farm. How does that grow in sandy soil?

Frigid Forage is a "Brand" of seeds rather than a mix. They offer several different mixes geared toward the northern food plotter. Google for their website. They have good products to offer and a dealer network.

 

[phiferpharm]

Looks really nice. I am wondering what would happen if I either did not connect the top link on my rake or used a hydraulink I have laying around, in the open position. I don't have the wheels Thomas mentioned and see where that may be the way I have to go, although I just got my Fit Rite Hydraulic top link in from MtnViewRanch (Thanks Brian) and am thinking that may work in lieu of wheels once I get it attached.

That will be great for my BB, scraper, and brush hog, but I'm basically wanting to have just the weight of the rake itself keep it on the ground. Only drawback I can see I guess, would be that the rake tines might dig in on their own.

 

[npalen]

Looks really nice. I am wondering what would happen if I either did not connect the top link on my rake or used a hydraulink I have laying around, in the open position. I don't have the wheels Thomas mentioned and see where that may be the way I have to go, although I just got my Fit Rite Hydraulic top link in from MtnViewRanch (Thanks Brian) and am thinking that may work in lieu of wheels once I get it attached.

That will be great for my BB, scraper, and brush hog, but I'm basically wanting to have just the weight of the rake itself keep it on the ground. Only drawback I can see I guess, would be that the rake tines might dig in on their own.

Doug, your idea of removing or floating the top link is interesting. Thinking back years ago to how the dump type hay rakes were built, it would be a similar concept. As far as the tines digging in, I wonder if that could be controlled by the height of the 3PT lift arms controlling the "attach angle " of the teeth. A floating hydraulic top link might work better in that the rake could be lifted for dumping.

 

[joshuabardwell]

but I'm basically wanting to have just the weight of the rake itself keep it on the ground.

Isn't that usually the case, since few tractors have downforce on the 3ph?

 

[phiferpharm]

Isn't that usually the case, since few tractors have downforce on the 3ph?

Joshua, you'd think so, but it seems to me that there is still more downforce than just letting it float free would have. I'm gonna go to the back end of my property and try i both ways I think. Worst that can happen is I hack off some gopher turtles

npalen, I'll let ya know which if either works.

 

[GregbkH]

The King Kutter rake is kind of light. My 84" weighs 350 lbs. If I go too fast, it will ride up and over the debris that has been collecting and let some "escape". For me, I see no benefit in disconnecting the top link. At times I wish it were a bit heavier. I can see where the rear wheels would come in handy. It works great for moving and leveling dirt and touching up gravel driveways. All in all, it is a very handy tool.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Joshua, you'd think so, but it seems to me that there is still more downforce than just letting it float free would have. I'm gonna go to the back end of my property and try i both ways I think. Worst that can happen is I hack off some gopher turtles

Let me know how it comes out. On my tractor, if I drop the lift arms all the way, I can easily pick them up by hand with the tractor running etc... There is a bit of downforce, but I always attributed it to the lift arms' weight. I guess it could be some internal resistance in the hydraulics or something. Either way, it can't be more than 30 lbs or so, but that's just my tractor--I can't speak to yours.

 

[phiferpharm]

Let me know how it comes out. On my tractor, if I drop the lift arms all the way, I can easily pick them up by hand with the tractor running etc... There is a bit of downforce, but I always attributed it to the lift arms' weight. I guess it could be some internal resistance in the hydraulics or something. Either way, it can't be more than 30 lbs or so, but that's just my tractor--I can't speak to yours.

I think your correct. Well, I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know if it's a hit or an error..:baseball: