Which Landscape Rake for rocks and why?

[dex3361]

Looking to get a Landscape rake to clean up the rocks of various sizes out of loose soil of a few projects and I want a rake that will angle. I have a L4400 HST and I use a 7 foot BB so I thought I would get a 7 foot landscape rake. Here is a pic of the current project from a barn demolition and clean up. I have box bladed and used the grapple to get the largest rocks up.
What are the thoughts of the TBN braintrust?

 

[jenkinsph]

I use my 66" rock bucket to get the 3" and larger stuff up with as little dirt as possible. Have to shake the bucket well to loose the fines.

A landscape rake does a mediocre job as it gathers both the soil and the rocks in my experiences. I tend to wind up with piles of rock and dirt because the flat tines hold and carry the soil. I plan on building a new rake with spring steel round tines soon with a higher percentage of opening to see if this helps. I am thinking to use 3/8" to 1/2" rod on about 1 1/2" spacings and give this a try. The 1" and smaller rocks I can live with, its the "lawnmower killers" I need to get rid of.

A Harley rake is another alternative and will do a good job windrowing the rocks.

 

[Gizmo2]

dex3361, I'd get the big stuff off then use a landscape rake with every other tine removed then I'd use the rake with every tine in. I think most rakes are pretty much the same just some cost more than others. Make sure you get gauge wheels. Like jenkinsph stated the smaller stone will just pack in don't need to worry about those. If you seem to be getting too much dirt in a pass just drag the pile back the other way again with the tines a bit further off the ground.

 

[Haoleguy]

No perfect solution but in my experience I think for your rock, looks like flat shale, the rock bucket with 3" tine spacing would be best and fastest. However, if the soil is moist you have to lift and drop within bucket to release soil. The rear rake will work it will just take you more time and effort. As for rake purchases good deals are found on Craigslist all the time.....Gary

 

[Red Horse]

My two cents- I'm an old dude and go back to the days when a York rake was about the only alternative. I own one that I use with my 3320. We had a project at our fairgrounds and one of the guys was using his old Harley and it broke before he finished the job. So I brought my rake down- I have to say, a rake is better than nothing but it can't compare to a Harley or any of the powered rotary type rakes.

If you have a rock bucket with close tine spacing, at least you can minimize the amount of dirt you end up removing with the rock/roots, but other than that, a rake either leaves a lot of stone or removes a lot of soil with the rock-depending on your technique. IMO

 

[jenkinsph]

It appears all the responses are similar so far, no real perfect solution.

I have to say for small areas I still use a rake and flat shovel quite often too to remove the small stuff that will fall through a rock bucket. The picture of the OP's is a size that would be manageable with rock bucket, dirt bucket rakes and shovels imo. Hard to do everything from a tractor seat I have to say.

If the economy will ever improve I would like to add a good Harley rake to my arsenal of tools.

 

[dex3361]

I used the grapple that has 6" spacing to get the 6" and up rocks for the most part. I am looking for the " in and down rocks. I like the idea of removing every other tine of a landscape rake. I would like a rock bucket but it is not in the budget right now. Anybody try the King Kutter 7 foot models? If so what did you think?

 

[Red Horse]

It appears all the responses are similar so far, no real perfect solution.

I have to say for small areas I still use a rake and flat shovel quite often too to remove the small stuff that will fall through a rock bucket. The picture of the OP's is a size that would be manageable with rock bucket, dirt bucket rakes and shovels imo. Hard to do everything from a tractor seat I have to say.

If the economy will ever improve I would like to add a good Harley rake to my arsenal of tools.

10-4 on the.."hard to do everything from the tractor seat". But I'll tell you that in the scenario I mentioned regarding our fairgrounds, I spent one day in 95+ heat with a long handled tine fork and a rack and said enough-brought the york rake down the next morning. One thing that I would say, to minimize what you haul off as loam, I pull the "mix" onto an established grassy area and make a lot of passes-that at least loses the dirt-but I'm with you-nothing like a Harley or any rotary type rake.

 

[Steve HEF]

I agree with Redhorse, a Harley Rake is the way to go. I used a York rake to install my yard 20+ years ago and it was a real chore with a huge amount of hand labor required, plus you lose a tremendous amount of topsoil. Years later I started a landscape business and started installing lawns for a living. I had done a lot of reading about the power rakes and rented a few, a Preparator, Land Pride and a Harley. I never returned the Harley!

With a Harley Rake and a 4 way bucket you can do a professional job with just a little hand labor. It might be wise to see if you could rent one if you have limited use for it. Just don't expect to get finish results in one pass like is implied in the advertising, it will take several passes including a final skim pass to get soil ready for planting.

 

[dex3361]

Well I decided to pick up a 6 foot rake from Tractor supply it is the one made by Tarter Gate and is sold as the house brand of CountyLine. Here is a link of the rake. CountyLine 6' Landscape Rake. I talked to the manager and he knocked 15% off of the price and got it for $400 plus tax. Thats what I like about TSC.

 

[TJB63]

Dex ~ Post back on how well that works, I'm facing a similar problem and thought of going this route too, I'd just like to get the Mower Busters up, but hopefully without tearing up too much grass. I might be expecting too much though.

TJ

 

[jenkinsph]

Dex ~ Post back on how well that works, I'm facing a similar problem and thought of going this route too, I'd just like to get the Mower Busters up, but hopefully without tearing up too much grass. I might be expecting too much though.

TJ

It has been my experience that the grass is easier to replace than the mower decks.

 

[dex3361]

dex3361, I'd get the big stuff off then use a landscape rake with every other tine removed then I'd use the rake with every tine in. I think most rakes are pretty much the same just some cost more than others. Make sure you get gauge wheels. Like jenkinsph stated the smaller stone will just pack in don't need to worry about those. If you seem to be getting too much dirt in a pass just drag the pile back the other way again with the tines a bit further off the ground.

Took your advice and took every other tine out ( it was only 9 bolts to make tine removal or addition adjustments and took about 15 min). This worked pretty good. Here are the pics before I started using the half tined rake. I used the grapple first on the larger rocks. The ground is very loose from the grapple and box blade.

 

[Gizmo2]

And now for the after pictures.............
My wife is like a God using a landscape, probably because she has more patience than I do. Just sayin.

 

[crazyal]

I pull a home made drag up and down the driveway. it works very well for how simple it is. The problem is it leaves behind rocks in the 3" range, a little on the large size for a car. I've looked at the TSC rake a couple of times and just haven't pulled the trigger (I keep hoping to find a Craig's list gem for cheaper). I'm looking forward to seeing how well it does.

 

[dex3361]

I ran out before Church and took some pics of the piles of rocks that I pulled together yesterday evening. I will scoop these up and dump them in a washed out area of the creek crick, or stream (pick your term) Where I am making a very small water fall. I will then add the removed tines back onto the rake and go over it again. This has been the most rock filled mess I have dealt with. It all started with the barn being an eyesore.

 

[new jersey mike]

I recently posted about my decision to purchase a grapple and I decided on the R.H. LONG OBG2 for my NH T1530 45hp.

It was the best decision I had ever made after deciding to by a tractor. I have been working with it since the july 4 weekend I have moved large piles of brush, logs of increasing size and rocks and boulders. I ordered the grapple with the additional bars added to the bottom and back so I could use it as a rock and stone bucket.

There is no 1 perfect grapple since all the jobs are very specific but I feel this strong product, 56" size and added metal will meet all of my needs.

I also used it to clear a road. I had to walk with a chain saw and precut the area but after that I pushed, picked up and bullied my way through and in 2-3 hours cleared a level 200ft long x 10 woodland road.

So back to the original question of rocks and boulders a grapple is the way to go.

Now I will say that brush hogging HEAVY overgrown areas are still best done with my 72" bucket attached pushing all the growth down ahead of the tractor. The grapple is narrower then the read wheel base and mower and I started to get caught on large saplings. Also the tines on the front of the grapple would catch brush and start to pull it out vs pressing it down with the lowered, up tilted bucket.

I have tried to attach some pics and this was just my 1st and 2nd weekend learning how to use it.

 

[dex3361]

I recently posted about my decision to purchase a grapple and I decided on the R.H. LONG OBG2 for my NH T1530 45hp.

It was the best decision I had ever made after deciding to by a tractor. I have been working with it since the july 4 weekend I have moved large piles of brush, logs of increasing size and rocks and boulders. I ordered the grapple with the additional bars added to the bottom and back so I could use it as a rock and stone bucket.

There is no 1 perfect grapple since all the jobs are very specific but I feel this strong product, 56" size and added metal will meet all of my needs.

I also used it to clear a road. I had to walk with a chain saw and precut the area but after that I pushed, picked up and bullied my way through and in 2-3 hours cleared a level 200ft long x 10 woodland road.

So back to the original question of rocks and boulders a grapple is the way to go.

Now I will say that brush hogging HEAVY overgrown areas are still best done with my 72" bucket attached pushing all the growth down ahead of the tractor. The grapple is narrower then the read wheel base and mower and I started to get caught on large saplings. Also the tines on the front of the grapple would catch brush and start to pull it out vs pressing it down with the lowered, up tilted bucket.

I have tried to attach some pics and this was just my 1st and 2nd weekend learning how to use it.

new jersey mike that is a nice looking grapple. I have a grapple rake where the lower tines are shorter and the top is able to tilt over and rake back into a pile. They all shine in their specific tasks. Nice looking work.:thumbsup:

 

[Piston]

Mike,
That is a nice looking setup. I have the same model grapple and absolutely love it. Mine is the 64" model. Do you happen to know what size steel they put in between the main tines? I want to add that to mine, I didn't have it done when I bought it but wish I did.

 

[dex3361]

Well I was looking at the rake last night and noticed that the brand new TSC CountyLine rake is bent. The main beam is twisted. It is made of C channel and not made heavy enough. I used it less than 3 times and wasn't abusing it. Took it back to Tractor Supply. They didn't give me any hassle and that is one thing I do like about TSC. Oh well looks like I will be looking for another brand that is made stronger.