My new favorite tractor implement: ratchet rake

[EssexFells]

Just got mine on Friday and holy cow!! This thing is amazingly useful! It attaches to the front lip of your FEL with two very beefy ratchet straps, and turns your tractor into a mean brush-eating, land-clearing fightin’ machine.

In maybe 3 hours I cleared about 5000 sq ft that was completely overgrown with dense honeysuckle, old logs, brush, vines, and saplings. I mean it went from 10ft high, can’t-walk-through-it kind of stuff, to bare , crumbly dirt that’s ready for seeding / planting. I am so excited to have reclaimed those areas.

You can also use it to grade your gravel lane, and scarify an icy surface. You can also pull small stumps (though we have a backhoe which is the better tool for that).

Inexpensive, too – for my 66" FEL bucket it was $350. Highly recommend! https://www.ratchetrake.com/video.shtml

[Ambitious_Kate]

I covet

[PaddockWood]

Thanks for the review! I spent untold hours a few years back clearing my perimeter and knowing this was avail for such a reasonable price would have been money so well spent. Sounds like a great tool to clear multiflora rose and I still have loads of that crap. Maybe a good Christmas present!

[EssexFells]

@PaddockWood

Sounds like a great tool to clear multiflora rose and I still have loads of that crap.

It would be outstanding for MF rose (interpret MF either way ).

[PaddockWood]

You make me laugh - yeah definitely interpret the other way!

[saddleup]

I just ordered one! Thanks for the recommendation.

I talked to them on the phone, and told them about the rave review on this forum.

[goodhors]

What an intersting tool to have! It does look quite useful in various situations/locations. Removal back to a plain edge is also a benefit. At least it doesn’t take up any floor space! I will put this on my list for future purchase. Thank you for sharing.

[EssexFells]

Cool! You won’t regret it. I’ve found it’s also useful for jobs that need a finer touch. We just replaced our house patio/walkway and the ground on either side of the job was all torn up and full of rocks and clay chunks that had been surfaced by the heavy equipment. It would have been an utterly exhausting raking job, to restore the site and re-seed the grass, especially since the ground’s so hard & dry due to late summer conditions.

With my new favorite toy, in about an hour I had all the rocks and clay cleared away without digging up the soil too much, and got it smoothed out for seeding:

[clanter]

sent info this to my son who was considering a box blade to take care of his long drive, really an amazing tool for the cost

[Pico_Banana]

Thanks to this thread, just ordered one!

We still have the edges of fence line to clear from vines, overgrown weed/shrubby things, small trees, etc. Also am planning to work on a perimeter track and hope this will work well for that.

I only wish we’d had it last year when we cleared out all sorts of multiflora rose … mostly by hand. Boy, that was miserable.

[EssexFells]

@clanter just did my driveway this past weekend. Our 200ft lane had 2 deep ruts, grass growing in the middle, and exposed dirt. It’s nice and flat and real purty now. Took about 2 hr.

I swear, this rake thing is a blast to own.

[Ambitious_Kate]

Dang, I could watch that sucker all day. And it stays put on the front end, okay, it appears. I would wonder if the straps get worn or it gets loose. Didn’t look to be so in the vid. I want a FEL so I can get a ratchet rake. I love doing that kind of work around the property.

[EssexFells]

Doesn’t budge at all, the ratchets are hvy duty. You can basically stand the tractor on the rake (ie push loader down until front of tractor’s up in the air) to get a good deep pull. Straps I’m sure will develop wear, but can just be replaced at harbor freight.