For taming my backyard mess, I am thinking aside from the heavy moving and re-shaping of the terrain with the box blade & FEL on my little tractor (21hp Kubota) a york rake could be very useful for grading and finishing work when the time comes. I came across a decent price on a used 6' york rake with the wheels. Would this be the preferred method for final grading and finishing work? Would seem to be a pretty good dethatching solution as well for routine lawn maintenance. What do y'all think? At the end of the day I could do it all by hand with a landscape rake but what fun is there in that?
They do a decent job on the finish work. If your not sure about buying one maybe consider renting one as a test. I see them in front of the local rental shops around here.
I would not use it for dethathching the regular lawn. Make sure you can angle the rake - it will help.
York rakes suck, in my opinion. This is where its at for finish work: SP20 Series Soil Pulverizers | Land Pride I'm not sure what pricing is on these anymore, but we bought it for some large seeding jobs and it was the best money we ever spent.
No place around here rents 3pt equipment. I wish there were a place as the price is prohibitive to just buy if its just a single use implement. Good thought. Thanks coach. Appreciate the feedback. If I buy a one trick pony implement like a york rake, it better do a good job at that one trick. It's a good amount of work to do by hand, but maybe I'll save some money and do it the old fashioned way... by paying neighborhood kids
http://www.tractorhouse.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=7137069 Pretty good deal on this one...if they ship.
Get that slash out of there and spend a lot more time with the box scraper. I've made lawns with a box scraper, it just takes time and practice.
I have exactly what you are planning on buying-6ft with wheels york brand rake that I use behind a 26hp kubota and it works very well. I got lucky and bought it on a buy it now auction on ebay for $200 out in CT.
I use a rake often for grooming a gravel drive. I think it would work well for you due to the fact that you are doing the heavy work with the box blade. You'll find the wheels will help a lot with fine grading.
A box blade would be the best way to grade that. A landscape rake would work also. They work pretty good at cleaning up rocks and other debris. They work good on a gravel driveway, they pull the gravel out of the ground. It would not work as a dethatcher, it will tear up grass.
They work well for moving brush and stuff like that. I use them to move thick pine needle build up as well. I don't have the wheels, but wish I did.
Yup. Rented one for a couple jobs. Hard to beat them...but if there is any clay in the soil it has to be pretty dry.
I have been thinking of getting a york rake for my L2900 kubota. saw my neighbor make quick work of picking up sticks by flipping the rake and running his timber quick. Made a good bon-fire quick! They also scrape just enough dirt to cover broadcast seed for food plots.
Yeah after posting this and realizing I have access to one for free I have found a better deal than the ebay one on local CL ad and a similar deal on a much cleaner model locally as well. Keep an eye out, I am seeing 6' with gauge wheels for about $400-$500 in the 2 weeks I've looked.
I have a heavy duty York rake without wheels that I pull behind my 35 horse Kubota, and love it. I use it for different things. Bringing a stone road back into good shape, leveling off and prepping for grass, collecting up sticks and pine needles, etc. and lifting the rake and dropping them in piles. When you take your time and get good with it with experience, you can really save a lot of back breaking work. The more you use it, the better you get, and the more you realize how great they are!
