Which Landscape Rake?

[Steppenwolfe]

View attachment 353255

I went with the Everything Attacments heavy duty 72" rake. This thing is really a beast, and extremely well made. Huge bang for the buck. Great people to deal with, also. You will not be dissapointed.

 

[coobie]

I am going to be in the market for a Landscape Rake this spring, I have a Kioti DK50SE tractor. My first job will be to level and black dirt and seed my mom's yard as we had a new septic installed last fall and I chose to let everything settle over winter before repairing the yard. Other chores for it will be driveway grading, leveling gravel, and possibly dragging logging roads and seeding them for deer plots. What are good rakes to look at, I'd rather not spend a fortune on it but I'd rather pay for a good one than buy a piece of garbage. The most common implements around here are the King Kutter brand that Fleet Farm sells but some of these look to be welded by a 7th grader in tech ed class. I want something that will take some medium to heavy duty use not tear off my hitch the first time it encounters a rock or other such debris.

Befco.woods,or landpride rakes with gauge wheels.I bought a king kutter and it was very cheap made compared to the others I have listed.I ended up selling my king kutter York rake and bought a befco.

 

[sd455dan]

Little known secret here is that a landscape rake is a great way to plow snow that isn't too deep. It does a great job and actually better than a blade in many situations.

had never thought of that -

I may try this with my Servis landscape rake,
have been using the Gannon box blades rear facing blade in the past, but if the rake will move snow - it sounds like a great idea especially since this rake can be offset and angled at the same time.
Thinking that it may work for a quick widening of the drive way (fresh snow only)

thanks for the tip :thumbsup:

 

[Greenland South]

Good afternoon
"One other point. Draft control is very important IF you are grading to a smooth as glass finish on dirt. The draft control causes the top link to adjust itself to variations of ground changes and the rake then scrapes the high spots and fills the low spots. I had it added to my 45 and 50 HP Kubotas because I need that ultra smooth finish. For most people doing farm work it doesn't matter."

Would some one please explain what draft control is.
Thanks

 

[sixdogs]

Draft control is a sensing spring built into the hydraulics that, in effect allows the top link to move forward or rearward and raise or lower the implement just a little bit. When the front wheels dip in a little hole, the sensing hydraulics push the implement down a little bit and prevent a clump of dirt being deposited.

If the wheels hit a high spot, the implement would normally gouge the ground but the draft control prevents this by shortening the top link and preventing it. It doesn't really lengthen or shorten the top link, the spring action just pushes or pulls the top link back or forward.

Draft control is useful in any ground engaging tool such as a plow or cultivator to stay at a constant depth, despite hills and dips by measuring the resistance or "draft" on the implement. It' a standard option on farm tractors but a dealer added accessory on smaller tractors, if offered.

A smaller, lightweight tractor with a landscape rake and draft control can really make field of dirt flat as a pancake as long as not too much in the way of sod or rocks, branches, etc

 

[sd455dan]

To add a little on the draft control -the top link will cause the 3 point lift arms to- move up or down depending on whether the top link is under pressure or tension.

It was also instrumental in allowing earlier 2 wheel drive tractors to continue in forward motion- and saved lives because it could prevent Rearing of the tractor by lifting the 3 point when a plow or other mounted implement got hung up or encountered to much resistance. thanks to Harry Ferguson and Henry Ford for a milestone in tractor design.

 

[blucoondawg]

Another thing you'll want to consider is the quality of the tines. On my 7' Leinbach rake with gage wheels the tines seem a bit fragile. I've broken several in a short time of use and, while that might indicate that they are too brittle, they tend to bend and not return to the proper shape as I think they should. On my previous Modern rake I think the tines were Italian steel and were simply indestructible. Not to just bad mouth Leinbach though - the problem may well be the inexperienced operator.

Gage wheels certainly have their place but with the 3' extension back there, working in tight quarters is difficult. I believe that I paid something like $300 for mine and rarely use them. Perhaps for a large open area they are ideal, but not for a small area. I'm thinking about welding some brackets for them on my box blade and/or my rear scrape blade, and get more use out of gage wheels. Again, I'm not at all blaming a particular brand - most likely the problems that I have are of my own ignorance.

I watched a video online from everything attachments where they showed the leinbach rake and it looked like a good one. The guy on there said they used the highest quality Italian tines they could get as Indian and Chinese ones are too brittle and tend to break

 

[Redneck in training]

Another thing you'll want to consider is the quality of the tines. On my 7' Leinbach rake with gage wheels the tines seem a bit fragile. I've broken several in a short time of use and, while that might indicate that they are too brittle, they tend to bend and not return to the proper shape as I think they should. On my previous Modern rake I think the tines were Italian steel and were simply indestructible. Not to just bad mouth Leinbach though - the problem may well be the inexperienced operator.

Gage wheels certainly have their place but with the 3' extension back there, working in tight quarters is difficult. I believe that I paid something like $300 for mine and rarely use them. Perhaps for a large open area they are ideal, but not for a small area. I'm thinking about welding some brackets for them on my box blade and/or my rear scrape blade, and get more use out of gage wheels. Again, I'm not at all blaming a particular brand - most likely the problems that I have are of my own ignorance.

It is not your ignorance or operation. I have the same experience. Two tines are broken and two bent. The rest is OK. It looks like the quality of the times is inconsistent.

 

[blackdog2086]

Thanks to sixdogs for the draft sensing explanation. I knew it had to do with following the contours of the terrain, but his explanation makes it much clearer. As far as the rake goes, I have an 8' LandPride, that has gotten a lot of use (and yes, occasionally abuse) over the last 7 years, and it is still solid, tight and relatively unscathed. Can't wait to get back home to use my toys again, but that will be awhile.

 

[sixdogs]

Yes, blackdog...get the heck out of Dodge ASAP. If in doubt, hit the deck and stay low. Uhhh, we will need tractor pics when you get back. Dog pics, too if you have them.

Landpride may make different quality rakes but the one I saw looked pretty good and was heavy duty enough. It had been really abused but still worked fine and was not bent. Looked like all original tines. Glad to see you have an 8 footer. EDIT-I have since learned this was a heavy duty version.