Newest addition to my family of tractor implements

[jenkinsph]

Re: Final pics of new rake

To work without a hassel the teeth need to be close to perpendicular to the ground and need to ride up as well as back when encountering an object such as a rock or stump. That is why the pine needle rake has a long horizontal section on each tine, it allows the rake tines to ride upwards without dumping the collected debris. Also similar to a leaf rake the last two inches of the tine is hooked slightly forward. You may be able to bend the lower tines slightly forward in this manner and adjust the tines themselves closer to plumb.

Keep up the good work.:thumbsup:

 

[teg]

Re: Final pics of new rake

Think we are talking about two different things... look at the photo... toplink is circled in red. Twist it to make it shorter.

 

[blueriver]

Re: Final pics of new rake

Nice work ... I agree try screwing that top link in to shorten it.

 

[SI2305]

Re: Final pics of new rake

I would do that but it messes with the angle of the tines. Because the tines are on a torsion spring the tines bend back too easily. They pretty much need to be facing forward in order to effectively scoop up the grass. As it is, the resistance they get in the grass and on the ground does bend them. I really need to shorten that top link. An alternative would be to attach my eye bolts lower on the post.

SI2305

 

[blueriver]

Re: Final pics of new rake

I would do that but it messes with the angle of the tines. Because the tines are on a torsion spring the tines bend back too easily. They pretty much need to be facing forward in order to effectively scoop up the grass. As it is, the resistance they get in the grass and on the ground does bend them. I really need to shorten that top link. An alternative would be to attach my eye bolts lower on the post.

SI2305

If your happy with the angle of the teeth then I'd say you have nothing to change. By the looks of it you have room to change your angle by screwing the top link in or out

 

[MossRoad]

I merged the threads again. :thumbsup:

 

[teg]

I merged the threads again. :thumbsup:

That's good to know, I thought I was drunk or something :confused2::confused3::drink:

 

[SI2305]

thanks for merging the threads again. I think my problem earlier was an iffy internet connection. I would have to guess that the page did not load completely, thus causing posting problems. Reloading the page just caused the cookies to reload the same problem again. Creating a new thread created a new post undeterred by cookies.

thanks and sorry for the confusion,

SI2305

 

[SI2305]

jenkinsph added

"Also similar to a leaf rake the last two inches of the tine is hooked slightly forward. You may be able to bend the lower tines slightly forward in this manner and adjust the tines themselves closer to plumb."




Actually, I rather like this idea. I found that I do need some forward facing angling on the tines. Getting those heavy duty spring steel tines to bend will not be easy. I found that just angling the entire assembly forward does the job. Right now I have the rake off and in the garage. I wanted to make some cuttings this weekend to bring the entire assembly into a better position. Unfortunately, the wood is soaked from rain as it rained for most of the weekend. I wanted it to be at least partially dried so as to minimize any warping or twisting as it dries out.

Thanks all for all the input. I really appreciate it and some of your ideas have made their way into the design. I am tinkering about the idea of adding threaded rod to both stabilize and re-shape. I am about to lower the toplink, but I have to make sure I don't mess up the cross-bracing.

As it stands, I have raked a heap of grass in its present configuration--far more than I expected. I have piled up the clippings into a 30-40' windrow about 3' high and about 5' wide. My goal is to have the pile slowly rot over winter, kill the existing live grass beneath (it is mostly dead from some earlier pilings now reduced to about 6") and eventually plant raspberries

Once again, I am grateful to all who have helped,

SI2305

 

[jenkinsph]

Might want to consider adding some nitrogen fertilizer to the pile and cover it up with black plastic. Should make it break down faster.

 

[SI2305]

Actually, as it is I regularly add my coffee grounds to the pile. I try not to add grounds in the same place twice as even a small amount will go a very long way. My personal opinion is that coffee grounds are the perfect composting material. They are high in both carbon and nitrogen, they come with perfect moisture, worms love them, and with bacteria and other microbes surrounding them in the raked up grass, they turn very hot very quickly. I have used individual packets of coffee grounds wrapped up in their filters and used them as "seeds" to start the process. Some of these get so hot I don't want to touch them. After a couple of days they steam and will burn my hand if I leave it on too long. The other material I try to add are freshly mowed grass clippings. These don't collect as well with the new rake, and I really need to get them within an hour of being cut for best results, but the combination of high nitrogen and moisture with all the carbon in the dried grass makes for a potent combination with just a little water, though we got a whopping 4-5 inches of rain yesterday, so I suspect that the pile is rearing to go. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your input and I have done this at time, but one of the reason I made this rake in the first place was to make use of the bounty already on the land. Again, I am not really an organic gardener/farmer (the requirements are so specific that I question just how organic the process really is), I just like the principle of using and nurturing my land's own natural bounty--the real source of organic husbandry.

SI2305

 

[SI2305]

Here is the result of my new obsession. The windrow is about 30 feet long buy 4-5 feet wide by 2-2.5 feet high. There was a windrow there already from early spring, but it had already partially decomposed, matted down, and otherwise greatly reduced in volume. Anyway, here it is.

SI2305