Harley Rake

[ancomcabs]

Any tips or suggestions on using a harley rake for the first time? I'll be renting one soon and have never used one, just checking to see if there is anything to look out for?

 

[skidsteer.ca]

You gonna love it. It is best if you till or loosen your soil first if you have very tough soil like clay or large stones in the soil. The harley will loosen soil but it works much faster to rake the ground with your tooth bucket or run a tiller over it to loosenit up first.
If the site is really out of level use you bucket to rough out the grade. Leave some of the larger holes to bury your debris in or be prepared to haul some off site as you will likely have numerous rocks and roots gather up by the time your done the first pass.
I usually work one direction to windrow large debris, then scrape up the windrow with my bucket and bury or remove. Then make 1 or 2 more passes at 90 degrees to the previous pass to level up the site, filling hole, grinding down humps and pulverising clumps of soil.
I have the Erskine soil conditoner version and it never ceases to amaze me or customers how fast it can turn a mess into a sod or seed ready site.
Ken

 

[ancomcabs]

You gonna love it. It is best if you till or loosen your soil first if you have very tough soil like clay or large stones in the soil. The harley will loosen soil but it works much faster to rake the ground with your tooth bucket or run a tiller over it to loosenit up first.
If the site is really out of level use you bucket to rough out the grade. Leave some of the larger holes to bury your debris in or be prepared to haul some off site as you will likely have numerous rocks and roots gather up by the time your done the first pass.
I usually work one direction to windrow large debris, then scrape up the windrow with my bucket and bury or remove. Then make 1 or 2 more passes at 90 degrees to the previous pass to level up the site, filling hole, grinding down humps and pulverising clumps of soil.
I have the Erskine soil conditoner version and it never ceases to amaze me or customers how fast it can turn a mess into a sod or seed ready site.
Ken

Rough grading is done and it is actually pretty smooth, the only glitch is the soil is very boney, lots of rocks softball size and up, what is the best way short of collecting them by hand to get them? Would a york rake do the job and make it loam and harley rake ready?
Thanks in advance!

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Rough grading is done and it is actually pretty smooth, the only glitch is the soil is very boney, lots of rocks softball size and up, what is the best way short of collecting them by hand to get them? Would a york rake do the job and make it loam and harley rake ready?
Thanks in advance!

I'd be on it with a tiller, but any method of loosening the rocks in the soil is fine, then angle the harley and chase the rocks into windrows or piles to scrape up with your bucket. Thats what they are made for.
If you hit a rock that is still stuck in the soil you will know it imediately by the way the rakes bounces and sounds. Back off imediately unless you like welding on new teeth, I usually shut the drum off and push a pil of dirt on eihter side of the rock so I can dig it out before the second pass.
Ken