Tractor Rake?

[longlanefarm]

My non-horsey husband made an appearance in the barn the other day. Noticing the unusually messy paddock area (aka polar vortex = frozen manure = piles everywhere = I gave up), he suggested we get a landscape rake for the back of our 50HP tractor and clean up that way. Rake into small piles, scoop, and dump in manure pile. Vs. hours of hand mucking.

I’d never thought of that but it sounds too good to be true. The paddock footing is part screenings and part dirt/mud (planning on more screenings when we can get a truck in there…) Any experience with this gadget?? Would this work?

Something along these lines is what I’m talking about:
https://www.palletforks.com/5-landsc…0aAqNWEALw_wcB

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I’m all for indulging anything my non-horsey husband wants to do on our farm, if we have the budget.

Looks like an interesting idea. I’m all for trying things that are off-purpose of an items original intent. I’d want to get close up to those tines and see 1) how flexible they are and 2) what type of gap between them is like (as in, are the poop balls just going to fall through the tines).

[Pennywell_Bay]

I have one like that, it attaches to my PTO. I also have a drag along “drag”.

I use the PTO rake in the winter more than anything, It goes deeper and will get rid of any ice or frozen chunks.

The drag is best for topping it and making it smooth. The rake basically gets “fixed” or you move it up and down to the surface height. The drag isn’t heavy enough to do a lot on frozen ground or break up hard chunks of dry.

Last night I used the rake to go around the ring and then used the drag to smooth it all out.

[Jim_in_PA]

They are handy to have. But be sure to get one that has guide wheel(s) so you can absolutely control depth and not dig up things you don’t intend to. The wheel lets the rake float even on uneven surfaces where relying strictly on the 3pt hitch can cause dig-ins galore.

[goodhors]

Not sure it would “collect” poop, over just breaking it smaller. Spaces between tines is not small like a pitchfork. Where you are located, weather, will affect success of poop collection. We have such a rake, but with dirt paddocks, we have only used it this winter to smooth the frozen mud a bit. Rake did knock off the high parts of frozen mud, improved footing, though it still was not actually flat or smooth. Mud had been soup before it froze hard. It is frozen too hard to use the drag at all.

I have had good results using my rake for actual raking of sticks, limbs, brush, while cleaning fence rows. It worked very well collecting and piling those items for later removal.

Haven’t tried using the rake in the outdoor (sand footing) arena at all. We did get an arena groomer, Millcreek, which I want to try in spring. I think the rake might tear that footing up too much with my inexperienced handling.

[S1969]

I have one and it’s a good tool. It sounds easy to “rake into a pile and scoop up with FEL” but it rarely works that well. It often requires shoveling into the loader (which can still be better than raking everything) and will also drag up dirt, sand, wet hay, etc., and can be very heavy. Otherwise you tend to just push the piles forward or leave a lot behind and/or scoop too deeply and pick up too much dirt/footing.

I like the idea of it better than the practice. But I use mine 1-2x a year to clean up my barnyard paddock and it does a pretty good job.

[goodhors]

Came back to add to uses for the rake. We got snow, then freezing rain today. I had my boots equipped with ice grippers for the crusty stuff. However husband had the idea to drag the rake across ice and it did a terrific job of cutting thru ice, slightly into snow and dirt/mud, to make a much safer surface for walking or driving over. Breaking up the slick surface ice on drive and around the barn made going places a lot safer for people, horses, the other tractor.

So another usage you can put it too if you get freezing rain on your snow.

[longlanefarm]

Sounds like we need this implement either way! Ordered. Thanks all!

[Libera]

I use a boxblade to drag poop into a pile. Works great!

[longlanefarm]

@Libera we have a box blade. Never thought of using it for that reason. I thought it would tear up the ground too much?

[gumtree]

@longlanefarm

@Libera we have a box blade. Never thought of using it for that reason. I thought it would tear up the ground too much?

It can trust me. Depends on ground conditions, skill of the operator, how good the 3 pt hitch float setting works.

[gumtree]

As Jim in Pa said. Best to get one that has height adjustment wheels on it. Best to have a float setting on the tractor’s 3 pt hitch. Adjustable is even better. With a adjustable float setting you might be able use one without wheels and not dig up things too much.

It is also known as a York Rake. The ones that TS sell are decent for the money. It will work ok with frozen piles of manure. As long as they are not frozen/locked to the ground/mud. Otherwise the spring tongs will spring over them.

[susanne]

Has anyone tried the Super Scooper? It looks interesting. (Expensive, though…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6cuPa5oNx8

[4LeafCloverFarm]

@susanne

Has anyone tried the Super Scooper? It looks interesting. (Expensive, though…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6cuPa5oNx8

That’s really cool! But you’d have to have fairly flat paddocks/pastures for that to work I’m thinking. The large buried boulders that peek out of the ground in my pastures would send that Super Scooter flying!

[longlanefarm]

I would love something like that but my entire farm is set on rolling hills. You should try to find a metal fabricator who could probably make it for a fraction of the price if you provided them with the dimensions. Or better yet, a friend who welds!

[gumtree]

@4LeafCloverFarm

That’s really cool! But you’d have to have fairly flat paddocks/pastures for that to work I’m thinking. The large buried boulders that peek out of the ground in my pastures would send that Super Scooter flying!

Exactly. Works fine in that sort of paddock with little to no grass and flat. In ones that have decent grass, grass cut to a proper length it will miss more than it catches. Esp when driven over clump grasses, like Orchard. Come spring early summer with new grass, and cow pie manure it just smears everything. Works well enough, depends on one’s set up.

[susanne]

…and especially if you drive like a cowboy…like the guy in the video! On the other hand, this would be one way to get a teenage boy (or adult boy) to pick up manure!