Rake Usefullness of Landscape Rake?

[Alan L.]

wen, I guess there is some happy medium somewhere, but if I thought my tractor was too big a puss to dig with the loader I would have bought a boat instead. I dig with my loader all the time according the instruction manual that came with it. I wouldn't dig a whole pond or lake with it, but I have dug out quite a bit of material out of hard clay. If I should be afraid of doing that I'd just as soon take the toy back to the dealer and get some real equipment.

 

[W5FL]

Yeah, mine will dig too, but don't hit any immovable objects (rocks). I dig with the scarfiers on the Gannon Box Blade and that will dig a lot of soil very quickly. It loosens it, scrapes it, and carries it for up to about 3000# of soil at a pass. The loader picks it up if it has to move to a different location. I don't have hydraulics on the scarfiers, but do have a lever operated one that drops 8 scarfiers on a 76 inche box blade.

Be careful though, because I have seen people dragging with the bucket fully extended and if you jam the bucket in that position, you can tear up a cylinder and Kubota will not do warranty on it. I like the diggers on the tracked loaders that are hydraulic operated. They come down and loosen the soil and then the loader finishes the job with the bucket. Still takes a lot of weight on the scarfiers.

I wish I had your soil if you don't have rocks, but you wouldn't dig around my place very long without tearing your loader up.

 

[Bird]

It seems I've read quite a few messages about "digging" with the front end loader, and I'm not quite sure I understand all of them. Maybe it depends on individuals' definitions of the word "digging." I'll have to admit I don't do much digging with mine because the ground is so hard, it stops me and I just spin my wheels (no rocks though). At any rate, though, Alan, if I can dig what I need to dig with the front end loader, I do. And if the tractor won't go forward, I use the scarifiers on the box blade to tear it up first, like Wen says. And I haven't damaged anything on either of my Kubotas yet. A couple of years ago, I went and helped a neighbor bury a dead horse, and he dug that hole with nothing but the front end loader on a John Deere tractor.

Bird

 

[Kelvin]

I found a used 6-foot one for $75 and like it a lot for that price. I not sure that I'd pay the price of a new one (typically over $300).

I have an area with a lot of spread out trees that I rake up most of all the large piles of leaves. It leaves occasional gouge marks in the dirt but that doesn't bother me much. For another area that had trees cleared out and a lot of left-over debris, I have found the rake to be the best way to clean up the small-to-medium sized wood stuff. I usually use the rake pointed forward while making the long runs (dragging stuff over to a general area). The rake can then be turned around facing rearward to push the debris into a smaller pile.

The main problem with the debris clearing porcess is that after every 2nd pass or so you have to stop and clean all of the sticks that have gotten stuck between the rake teeth.

 

[MChalkley]

George - Sorry, I lied. My tooth spacing is 8", too. I haven't found it to be a problem, though. But perhaps I tend to use it for heavier brush clean-up than you want yours for.

Mark

 

[Alan L.]

I don't have any rocks to speak of, but the clay is really heavy. I just had a 12' deep pond dug and there were a few 3 or 4 inch rocks down deep, but thats about it. The problem with using the scarifiers is that they are on the box blade and it seems I always have the rotary cutter on when I decide I need to dig something. Too lazy to switch them out unless there is some serious work to be done.

My heavy clay has discouraged some of my digging desires, but it seems you should be able to try within reason without tearing up anything.

 

[MChalkley]

Alan L. - It sounds like you could really use a Freedom Hitch. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

 

[W5FL]

Or adjustable 3 point links.

 

[gordon]

Now thats a grapple did you notice all the welds on that bucket? I thought my bucket had a good deal of welds but that one beats mine. I would love to have a rig like that it sure would come in handy.

As for a landscape rake works good for the smaller brush and comes in handy for so many other things as well its one of my favorite tools. If you get a rake get a set of gauge wheels for it. The wheels are well worth the investment.
Gordon

 

[dav]

I think the rake will do what you are needing to do. You didn't say if you are planning to seed grass after you clear the area, I can tell you from experence that these things are worth there weight in gold for lawn prep, spreading gravel and removeing rocks. A few things you might think about though, are that rakes seem to work best for windrowing materials by driving round and round in smaller circles until you get to one big pile or row to remove, all those trees are going to be in the way of this and I have found that longer branches ect seem to get stuck in the teeth but smaller materails are no problem........ Good luck