What is the best hand rake for this application?

[pharmvet]

I have need to rake the sides of about 500 yards of road to remove rocks so that I can mow without ruining my lawn mower blades. The rocks range from about 1/2" to 3" diameter. I have been using a traditional heavy rake for the job and its not really working out. Is there a rake that would be ideal for this application? thanks

 

[CliffordK]

Something like this?

Rock Picker

1/2" is a pretty small I presume you could do quite well with a garden rake, but you may have problems with the smaller rocks.

Perhaps a fine tooth pitchfork would be better.

I could imagine building a small rock picker to tow behind an ATV or riding mower. It wouldn't have to be too complex, just relatively fine pitchfork teeth to snag the rocks.

 

[JimRB]

I hand rake but I only rake 800 feet. I have to clean up after the county goes by with their graders. Sometimes I rake more that 800 feet. Depends on how messy they are as I actually mow a 1/4 mile or one way so on both sides. Problem is traffic pops stones off the road and in to the grass. I toss rocks back when walking the dogs.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Any chance you can raise your mower height ? Hand pick the biggest ones and throw them back onto the driveway.
That,s a long driveway. Do you have any children or grandchildren ? Have a contest, and see who can pick the most gravel.

 

[DKCDKC]

I just envy your nice flat road. I bush hog along the more open parts of my mile-long gravel drive, and don't worry about the rocks, just the stumps. My road is not flat. But in working grassy areas around the house, I find that stones continually work their way to the surface, so rock removal is a never-ending chore.

 

[CliffordK]

What are you mowing with? Have you considered one of those walk behind string mowers?

 

[94BULLITT]

I use one like this to clean the rocks out of the grass from plowing snow.

Amazon.com: Fiskars 9660 24-Inch Leaf Rake: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[fordmantpw]

Do you have any children or grandchildren ? Have a contest, and see who can pick the most gravel.

That's what I was going to recommend.

 

[Creamer]

What about a blade? If you set it an a long angle and adjust its engagement, it should scrape these rocks back onto the driveway or push them into the ground to where they will not be a problem for mower blades.

 

[forgeblast]

could you rent a rock hound for the dayhttp://www.wikco.com/rhrake.html I used one when I was doing landscape work and the owner had built a house in the middle of an old shale pit. not fun but the rock hound help make things very easy.