York Rakes

chrisinknox · May 4, 2005

I bought a york rake for my B7400 and I now think I should have stuck with my back blade. Exactly what is a york rake good for? It makes pretty lines in the dirt but that's about it.

SCB · May 4, 2005

raking rocks, raking brush,. turn it around backwards and you can push piles of brush together. If you have guage wheels it will follow the the contour of the ground instead of you rear wheels on the tractor. I have also done some light clearing of brush with mine. Is there a certain purpose for which you bought it?

ryan123 · May 4, 2005

People use them to re grade driveways but i have never had much luck with mine. I hardly ever use it now that i have a box blade. It is good for raking rocks and moving big piles of leafs

viking65 · May 4, 2005

I use mine for for spreading and raking out newly added dirt on baseball fields. It's great for that. I also use it for raking up and pulling out from the woods briar bushes (multiflora rose) that I cut down with my brush mower and chainsaw. It's great for that too. I used it in my neighbors garden to rake out rocks after he tilled the soil. Worked well there too. I was also able to rake out the muddy areas on my son's ballfield after a rain and rake dry material into those muddy areas so they could play a doubleheader later that day. I think it would also be a great tool to use if you are putting in a new lawn to smooth out the soil and rake in the seed. Lot's of uses for a york rake.

cmhyland · May 5, 2005

Chris,

I'll give you a little I figured out with mine...

#1 A rake is nearly useless without guage wheels.
#2 They have to be heavy to really cut well.

The rake will do things the boxblade will not and likewise.

Try to take a flat driveway of stone and put a crown in it
with a boxblade... With the rake I can set one guage
wheel higher so the rake bites deeper on one side and
angle the rake so the spoils end up in the middle.

Up one side and down the other and I've cut 2 inches
off the sides and moved it to the center.

The finish grading with a rake is better than with a
BB... Stones are all out... Unless it's my yard and
then they magically keep coming up on every new pass.

The answer is it's nice to have both...

Regards,
Chris

chrisinknox · May 6, 2005

I bought it thinking it would be better than my backblade. I actually had never used one before and should have researched it better (kind of like that 95' Apple Computer I bought...........ouch) Oh well, it sounds like I can find a use for it. I pulled the backblade out and it worked better but I think I'm going to call a dozer in for what I'm trying to do now.
Thanks alot everyone for the advice.

seapea · May 24, 2005

Does anyone own the York RS or RW models with guage wheels and flip down blade. Landpride also has the similar LR05 and LR15 models. I'd be interested in hearing your comments.

Also, I'm not sure if I should be going with the 1/4" by 1" teeth spaced 3/4" apart, or the 5/16" by 1" teeth spaced 1" apart. I'll probably be using it exclusively on soiled that has been broken up with box blade rippers, if not tilled. Shouldn't ever run into anything larger than a 3" stone. I definitly won't be using it on anything like a crushed stone driveway.

MadReferee · May 24, 2005

( Also, I'm not sure if I should be going with the 1/4" by 1" teeth spaced 3/4" apart, or the 5/16" by 1" teeth spaced 1" apart.)

Having built my own landscape rake and after measuring everyone I could find on different dealer's lots, I chose the 1" x 5/16" two hole tines and spaced then 2" apart on center (that's a 1" gap between tines). That spacing seems to be the norm for most manufacturers. I have had no problems with mine and have beat it to death sometimes digging up softball sized rocks.

The tines can be purchased from Agri-Supply, part # 33913 for $2.99 each.

Theowegian · May 24, 2005

I have an LR15 Landpride rake. I like it and want to keep it.
The gauge wheel kit is about $325 from the dealer. Ouch. Too much for me...I'll build my own.

Here is what I use mine for.

Raking the rocks in my driveway.
Smoothing out the limestone screenings on my building area.
With the tines in reverse, it pushes brush and sticks really well, down by my pond.
I rototill "strips" for sunflowers and rasberry patches. After the tilling, I smooth it out by driving right over the top of the strip, tractor wheels on the untilled ground on each side.

Think of it this way...

A landscape rake is good for fine, finish work. My back blade is better for the heavier work, like my drainage ditch work. The comparision might be between a leaf rake vs a sand shovel - it depends on what you are going to do with it.

The landscape rake excels in working driveway rock, in my opinion. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Junkman · May 24, 2005

I have the York Branded rake with the fold down blade and scarifies. I like the way it works. It needs some work before it can be put back in service, however they are great rakes. The wheels can be adjusted for hight unlike most rakes. Mine is about 30 years old... made back when Rex was a pup. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

seapea · May 24, 2005

Thanks for the input. The York rakes just seem to be so expensive. The 6' RS with 1/4" teeth is $936 and the 6' RW with 5/16" teeth is $1185, and you still have to add $288 for RS guage wheels and $379 for RW guage wheels. The Landpride seems to be almost half the cost with what appear to be similar specs.

BRIGUY · May 24, 2005

I got my new landscape rake last week (Bush Hog brand) 5' with wheels. After a quick learning curve and a few top link adjustments I was up and running.

I am seeding a 1/4 acre area that was wooded until last fall. I box bladed things around, then tilled, and then used the rake. Wow what a great tool.

I can see that without wheels it would be useless for what I am using it for. So buy or build the wheels.

Works much better if the soil has the correct moisture content (same as tilling). You may need to water as few days before, or wait for rain if the soil is real dry.

edski · May 24, 2005

Just priced a Woods 6' light duty today.
LR 72 $650
Gauge Wheels $225

Gonna have to wait for now, or worse...sell something.

BRIGUY · May 24, 2005

This is kind of a side bar but, The steel prices have really driven the prices of implements up. I buy everything from the same dealer I got what ended up being a really good deal on my tiller and rake this year. When I tried to work the prices a little lower they showed me what they paid. Wow I stopped trying to beat him up any more. He wasn't making very much with the discount he gave me. I was getting a much better deal than I thought I was. The dealers are paying more for implements than they were selling them for last year.

flenn · May 25, 2005

I bought a used landscape rake and would like to add wheels. I'm not sure what brand it is and am wondering if there are "universal guage wheels" or if anyone can share how they made their own. If I do go the DIY route, I don't have access to a welder so I'm hoping there's a clamp/bolt on method.

Junkman · May 25, 2005

If you own a digital camera and you post a picture, my bet is that one of us will recognize the brand and be able to identify it for you.

MadReferee · May 25, 2005

( I bought a used landscape rake and would like to add wheels. I'm not sure what brand it is and am wondering if there are "universal guage wheels" or if anyone can share how they made their own. If I do go the DIY route, I don't have access to a welder so I'm hoping there's a clamp/bolt on method.)

Well, without having a welder you are probably SOL with regards to building one yourself.

I have never seen a "universal gauge wheel" clamp-on kit. Your options seem to be to (A) find the manufacturers kit for your rake for big $$$ or (B) have someone local build them for you.

I built my own and have built several wheel fork/spindle assemblies for other TBNers since that is the hard part to find. Here is a link to my construction post.

Constructing landscape rake gauge wheels

flenn · May 26, 2005

Found the manufacturer - J BAR. It's a 7 ft rake which I plan to cut down to <6 ft. I'll call them tomorrow and see if they offer gauge wheels.

MadReferee · May 27, 2005

If they don't offer wheels at a reasonable price, PM me. You are not that far away from where I live. I can probably fab what you need for well below any reasonable price from a manufacturer.

seapea · May 27, 2005

Does anyone have a landscape rake with flip down blade and hydraulic angling? York only seems to offer this on their most expensive rakes (not that their low end isn't already too expensive). Woods and LandPride offer them on standard duty rakes.