Rake Still wondering about a landscape rake

[Mosey]

Thanks for the replies.

I do plan to get gauge wheels, since I want to use it for leveling parts of the yard I'll be re-landscaping. I'm also trying to figure out how hard it would be to fit the landscape wheels on my grader blade so I could get double use out of the wheels.

As far as raking leaves, that is one of the things I was hoping to be able to use it for. Not on the front lawn or near the house, but in the back "yard" farther from the house where I'm not as concerned about gouging the grass. Right now I used my rear discharge 6' finish mower as a leaf blower and just back up into the leaves and blow them into the edge of the woods. But, I take a change on hitting a hidden branch that way and dulling the blades. I bought a 42" lawn sweeper this spring, mainly for raking grass, and used it this weekend to rake the leaves and it worked good, but it fills up so fast that I spend more time going back and forth to the dump area than I do raking. So, I'm wondering if a landscape rake would work better. Can I just angle it and keep windrowing the leaves off to one side until they are all in the edge of the woods? Or will they pile up too fast that way and start overflowing over the rake? Does it work better to back straight into them and shove them back that way?

 

[MajMac392]

Wow I guess I hit a raw nerve about going to FC in Wilson. I live in Maine and at the time I got the rake there wasn't a dealer anywhere close. I had none to look at to compare to Land Pride or Woods, etc. I guess my point is that Pieter was willing to work with me to provide a FC rake. We also discussed possibly shipping it to a dealer and picking it up from the dealer but while I was on vacation, stopping to look at FC products made sense to me.

 

[Casimir]

MAJMAC-- It probably depends on the price you paid whether the practice is "unethical." Many manufacturers/wholesalers also sell direct retail, but most refuse to undercut their dealers' prices. They know that would be cutting their own throat with their dealers If Pieter sold you the rake at or near the suggested retail price, it does not seem unethical to me. If he sold it to you at the wholesale price, I would not blame his dealers for getting upset. Besides, if you picked it up in NC, you probably saved $150+ in shipping costs. Enjoy it.