Which Implement

[Oiltech]

Would work the best to rake up a bunch of small sticks, broken pieces of roots? I just about finished clearing a tree line that is 1050' long. We cut the trees and hauled them with a grapple to a burn pile which really worked well. Then dug up the stumps. In the process of falling the trees, back filling the stump holes and working the dirt I have stick trash all over the ground. Would a 3 point rake work?

 

[foreman Etexas]

I run my root rake over the area and stop in front of a hole I have dug and swing around and push trash in with bucket and head back the other way with root rake to hole have on other side. Depends on how much material and distance how many holes I have and the depth I dig them. The pain part with rake is getting some of the sticks out of between rake tines.

 

[jeff9366]

I like a Ratchet Rake on the FEL bucket.

 

[bigtiller]

I would probably mow them a few times and let them decompose, but I'm not too fussy about things anymore.

 

[f4rm3rj03]

Below are three photos I took on the job earlier in 2013. I was impressed with the rake's ability to get the sticks, leaves, and minor plant growth. The setting that seemed to work best if I recall proper was the rake set perpendicular to tractor travel and 3-point hitch set on float to flow with the uneven ground.

 

[Xfaxman]

:welcome: to TractorByNet!, Farmer Joe :thumbsup:

Looks like the rake did a good job.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Small stuff I don't worry about, mowing will chew them up, grass will grow over them in short time and they wont be visible. Depending on the size of the limbs, Mowing over them with a bush hog usually shreds them small enough so the rot in a few years which is good for the soil.

The problem with a landscape rake is that when it picks up a few sticks, the dirt will no longer shed thru the tines and you end up with a bunch of dirt. This isn't a problem if you are putting them in a hole but if you try to scoop them up with the FEL and grapple to put on a burn pile, you will have more dirt than sticks.The rake would work ok for the bigger stuff if you set it just barely touching the ground. I also had pretty good luck just using the tooth bar on my tractor to back drag the brush into a pile and scoop it up in the FEL (I didn't have a grapple) and with your grapple this should be child's play to pick them up.

 

[swatter]

Below are three photos I took on the job earlier in 2013. I was impressed with the rake's ability to get the sticks, leaves, and minor plant growth. The setting that seemed to work best if I recall proper was the rake set perpendicular to tractor travel and 3-point hitch set on float to flow with the uneven ground. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=357318"/> <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=357320"/> <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=357321"/>

How do you get a bx 3 point to float? My bx25d has up and down on the 3 point hitch. I don't know of a way to get it to float.

 

[murphy1244]

How do you get a bx 3 point to float? My bx25d has up and down on the 3 point hitch. I don't know of a way to get it to float.

It is always on float. There is no downward force on a 3 point.

 

[Oiltech]

The other issue is all these sticks and roots are mixed in the dirt we are trying to level/spread. I'm going to try my luck with a 72" rake, try to make several small piles and then pick them up with the grapple to a burn pile

 

[f4rm3rj03]

How do you get a bx 3 point to float? My bx25d has up and down on the 3 point hitch. I don't know of a way to get it to float.

Hold the 3-point hitch control lever down continuously. It will then move up and down freely limited only in the downward spped dictated by the setting of the 3-point hitch lowering speed knob. However, once the 3-poin hitch has gone, say -3" below ground level, it will travel from -3" to +6" unhindered but the movement to -4" will be at a rate set by the speed knob. Once it has traveled to -4" it will then travel freely between -4" to +6"... and so on.

 

[Oiltech]

I picked up a 3-pt 72" Houser rake today and tried it for a couple house this evening. It did an awesome job, this is the tool I needed to clean all the wood from the clumps of dirt. It even broke up all the big chunks of dirt and now we can get back to leveling and spreading. I'll try to take a few pics of the work we are doing. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[oldballs]

Will be looking forward to seeing your Houser pictures. So far, I've used a Pine Needle Rake for such clean up in smaller areas. It worked okay for gathering the debris into piles/rows.

 

[Oiltech]

This is what I was dealing with, lots of sticks, broken roots mixed in the clumps of dirt.





We spread the dirt as best we could, then passed the 3-pt rake


This is how it looks now

 

[oldballs]

Those dirt clods look pretty dried out. How did your Houser rake break them up enough to pass through the rake?.... just wondering...Obviously something did, because your finished job looks good.

 

[Oiltech]

We drug it out with a box blade to spread it as much as possible, then the rake did the rest. The clog tumbles in the claw of the rake and breaks itself up. The rake was 500 bucks but worth every penny as it busted the clogs, spread dirt and raked up all the sticks

 

[oldballs]

Hate to bother you again, but what does the "Houser Rake" look like. The search mostly talks about heating etc. Is it the same as the regular Landscape Rake?

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Oiltech]

No bother here, it's just like this one but 72" wide

Howse Landscape Rake — 3-Point, 7ft. Length | Category 1 Disc Harrows Rakes| Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[TSO]

I like to use my rear 3pt rake to pull them to a spot (the small ones) then use the bucket to make a pile (again, talking small stuff) then either use the bucket or grapple to move them to where you want. For the larger stuff, I use the grapple. Only problem is that you have to be careful not to tear up the area if it's a manicured spot, like when you are cleaning up a tree you fell. In that case, I float the bucket and push the stuff into a pile for grapple use.

 

[Xfaxman]

Hate to bother you again, but what does the "Houser Rake" look like. The search mostly talks about heating etc. Is it the same as the regular Landscape Rake?

Cheers,
Mike

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