Does anyone use a rake attachment on their tractor? Wondering how well one would work for pine needles… Is there a front attachment or just a back attachment?
I have this one in the size that fits my compact John Deere tractor.
https://mydbsupply.com/shop/farm-ranch/priefert_84in__landscape_rake_929188/
I wish I lived where it was warm enough to have Pine Trees so I have no idea if it would rake up the pine needles. 
My gut tells me that it would work, to a point. If you have to weave in and around the pine trees to rake I’m not sure you would be happy with it. I use it to knock down manure piles and rake my dirt arena. Sometimes I use it to collect thatch in the grass paddocks.
I have an 8’ landscape rake that goes on the 3-point hitch. It works pretty good, but I can push more with the FEL. Once the rake gets full, if you continue dragging it over pine straw, which you will have to do, it will make a pile bigger than it can handle, and jump over part of it, leaving a large pile somewhere. It also gets sticks, cones, rocks, and anything else that goes along for the ride.
Tom, do you have an accessory that you put on the front-end loader that acts as a push-rake, or just push with the bucket?
I have a landscape rake (5’ for my sub-compact tractor) and it’s very handy for driveway maintenance as well as ground prep. The barn where we board uses one for some grooming tasks, too. I’ve never seen anything “front mounted”…
They do make rakes specifically for pine needles.
A landscape rake would work, but would be easy to accidentally tear up turf with. They are mostly designed for use on gravel or soil being prepared for seeding, not lawn.
[QUOTE=Pocket Pony;7849191]
Tom, do you have an accessory that you put on the front-end loader that acts as a push-rake, or just push with the bucket?[/QUOTE]
I just push with the bucket, going slow enough to be able to watch, and keep the bucket edge off the ground. I have a Cat2 tractor with a seven foot bucket, and it will push a mound of pinestraw maybe half the size of a VW bug.
I mainly use the rake for cleaning trails, and manure from paddocks.
Thanks for all the links and feedback!
They lie. Pinestraw rakes are a liiiiiieeeeeee I tell you!! Pine Straw is the bane of my existence and I’ve tried everything except for the lawn vacuums. Raking by hand or blowing with a monster gas-powered blower works best out here in the Piney-est pines that ever pined place ever.
The only place I do it is on the hill in front of my Mother’s house. I use a combination of all the things mentioned in this thread, except the pine straw rake. I think that is for harvesting it once you pick up all the pine cones.
I pull it out from between the trees with the rake, to a spot that I can get to the piles with the bucket for a straight shot down the hill. The piles are pushed down the hill with as many as I can get in front of the bucket at the time. Scrapings are blown off the ground, over into the woods beside the yard with a Billy Goat 13 hp Honda powered blower on wheels.
