Building a Power Rake (Harley Rake)

[texasranger556]

One of the projects on my (very long) list is a 3 point power rake for behind my JD 4400. Reasonably priced used ones are few and far between, and anything less than $2k looks like it would take a fair bit of work to make usable again...missing guards, missing teeth, trashed bearings, etc. New is out of the question, I just can't see how these things sell for $7000. My local rental yard hasn't heard of one. Might be able to find one at a dealer farther away, but I generally don't like renting anyway. My planned use include re-doing our 1 acre yard that has lots of dips and bumps that need to be leveled out. Lots of roots, but no rocks. We also live along a 1/4 mile private gravel drive that I would love to power rake out the pot holes rather than throwing several tons of crusher run at it each year.

I have a 5' chunk of 6" round steel which seems perfect for the drum (attached). Not sure the thickness since it has ends on it, but guessing about 250 lbs. Question is what to use for teeth. Commercial rakes use carbide, but with ~150 teeth at $10/per that is a bit too expensive and I only plan to use this thing about 10 hours per year, probably less.

Alternate ideas:
1) Grade 8 bolts. Weld 1/2" nuts to the drum, then thread in 1/2" bolts with lock washers or a second nut to take up any gap. The bolt length would be between 3/4-1". The head of the bolt would take most of the wear and could be unscrewed and replaced if necessary. Cost through mcmaster carr is $90 for 150 bolts plus $25 for nuts. Moving up to 5/8" is $135 and $50 for bolts and nuts.
2) Hand cut steel teeth. I have some old cutting edge that I could plasma cut into teeth and weld on. Probably only enough for 50-60 teeth so would have to buy additional material. Perhaps $200 for material, plus plasma consumables for cutting it to size.
3) Buy laser or plasma cut teeth. I don't know what this would cost and what type of material to ask for. Saves the tedious task of cutting the teeth by hand, but it would likely cost at least triple the other options.

I'm leaning toward option 1 because it is the cheapest and fairly simple. Question is how long would they last before needing replaced? Would I have to worry about the bolts shearing off? My intuition is the welds would likely break first.

 

[npalen]

I like the nuts and bolts idea particularly for the ease of replacement. Could try different types of bolt heads such as hex, carriage, plow etc over time to see what wears best and most effective.
Drilling and tapping the location for each bolt, albeit time consuming, would act as a locator for holding the nut while welding as well as additional support for the bolt when assembled.
I would think that a grade 8 (or equivalent) bolt would have decent wear resistance for the price compared to carbide. One issue might be trash hanging up on the bolt heads.

 

[Industrial Toys]

You never said how thick the pipe was. When I got my Harley Pro 8, the bottom roller was bent among other problems. Friends straightened it in a large lathe with the help of a specially made very heavy collar, that I still have in case it happens again. My point is, that the rake can catch on stumps and things, so that roller had better be pretty heavy.

 

[ishiboo]

Build the power rake for the lawn, but it is not made to fix gravel driveways... If you have already thrown tons of stone down, you need to redistribute and compact it correctly. That's for another thread (or read the threads on building roads).

Looking forward to the build...

After buying a Harley rake, it's the ONLY thing I use on my gravel driveway now for normal maintenance. It does a beautiful job.

 

[teg]

After buying a Harley rake, it's the ONLY thing I use on my gravel driveway now for normal maintenance. It does a beautiful job.

I learned something new... Doesn't the Harley Rake throw rocks all over the place??? Got any before/after photos of your driveway?

 

[texasranger556]

I learned something new... Doesn't the Harley Rake throw rocks all over the place??? Got any before/after photos of your driveway?

YouTube has several videos of Harley rakes grading driveways. It looks amazing how well it works.

 

[texasranger556]

You never said how thick the pipe was. When I got my Harley Pro 8, the bottom roller was bent among other problems. Friends straightened it in a large lathe with the help of a specially made very heavy collar, that I still have in case it happens again. My point is, that the rake can catch on stumps and things, so that roller had better be pretty heavy.

I'm guessing it's about 1" thick. I can barely lift it by bear hugging it, so if you punch in 6.5" OD with 1" wall it works out to 50 lbs per foot which seems about right. If this thing bends I can only imagine what my tractor would look like.

 

[muddstopper]

I have never liked using a power rake for fixing potholes. It seems to me the rake will just rake lose rock into the pothole and the rock never seems to bind to the roadbed. A few trips thru the pot holes with a vehicle and all that loose rock is beat out and the pot holes reappear. I have taken the time to rake and smooth the holes down to a grade below hard pan and then re-smooth it out with the rake, but it just seems a scrape blade will do the work much faster and easier, then take the rake to dress everything and the work will last longer.

 

[Ford850]

Compare the nut and bolt prices at Rural King or TSC if you have them close by. Use their scales to see how many are in a pound, and figure out your cost. Grade 8 is Grade 8, and their bulk pricing might save you some money.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The nice thing about my Harley rake is that it has S tines that stir up the roadbed more then one might imagine so you don't have this issue of just a bit of aggregate filling the holes.

Why people drive in potholes is beyond me anyway.

The Harley is NOT the best tool for the driveway in my opinion.

I have the two rollers with the lower one having bars, not nibs. The rake often leaves a washboard effect. Sometimes I will drag the rake unpowered to undo this.

I have no good way of tilting the rake. I have considered doing something to the trailing wheel assembly to accomplish tilt.

In general, if your driveway was a total disaster, I could repair it quickly with the rake. To get it picture perfect, is not so easy.

 

[texasranger556]

I like the nuts and bolts idea particularly for the ease of replacement. Could try different types of bolt heads such as hex, carriage, plow etc over time to see what wears best and most effective.
Drilling and tapping the location for each bolt, albeit time consuming, would act as a locator for holding the nut while welding as well as additional support for the bolt when assembled.
I would think that a grade 8 (or equivalent) bolt would have decent wear resistance for the price compared to carbide. One issue might be trash hanging up on the bolt heads.

I don't have a mag drill and even if I did it would take several days to drill and tap that many holes. In other builds, it seems like 8-10 hours to weld teeth on a drum is common. Welding nuts on may improve that time.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The other issue is that I go up one side leaving a windrow lets say 3/4 over. Then the other way, same thing, but it's hard to get rid of that last windrow.

 

[texasranger556]

Compare the nut and bolt prices at Rural King or TSC if you have them close by. Use their scales to see how many are in a pound, and figure out your cost. Grade 8 is Grade 8, and their bulk pricing might save you some money.

150 1/2x1" bolts weights about 20 lbs according to my search. My local TSC charges $4.59 per pound for grade 8, so it works out very similar. Problem is TSC likely won't have 150 bolts, so I'll have to order anyway. Thanks for the suggestion.

150 is just a WAG, I'll have to work out the actual number when it comes down to it.

 

[texasranger556]

View attachment 503687

The other issue is that I go up one side leaving a windrow lets say 3/4 over. Then the other way, same thing, but it's hard to get rid of that last windrow.

The newer versions have teeth rather than the bars and dual rollers. Have you been able to compare? I'm guessing they work better since all the other brands copied the teeth design.

 

[Ford850]

150 1/2x1" bolts weights about 20 lbs according to my search. My local TSC charges $4.59 per pound for grade 8, so it works out very similar. Problem is TSC likely won't have 150 bolts, so I'll have to order anyway. Thanks for the suggestion.

150 is just a WAG, I'll have to work out the actual number when it comes down to it.

It sounds like you have it covered, but there's also Bolt Depot - Nuts and Bolts, Screws and Fasteners online for a wide variety and good pricing.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have wondered about the bars vs the nibs. Harley has made the new rakes cheaper eliminating the S tines and the second rollers if I am not mistaken, so it is kind of a different animal. My rake sorts the smaller material in between the rollers windrowing the larger crap to the side, so this required bars and would not work with nibs.

It seems like magic just watching this process.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

1) Grade 8 bolts. Weld 1/2" nuts to the drum, then thread in 1/2" bolts with lock washers or a second nut to take up any gap. The bolt length would be between 3/4-1". The head of the bolt would take most of the wear and could be unscrewed and replaced if necessary. Cost through mcmaster carr is $90 for 150 bolts plus $25 for nuts. Moving up to 5/8" is $135 and $50 for bolts and nuts.

This seems like by far the easiest way to get teeth on it. For $70, to me it's a no-brainer to step up to the 5/8". More surface to weld on, more wear surface and the nut is thicker to allow more threads on the bolt to hold into it.

 

[the old grind]

Not to Hijack, but landscape rake and Ratchet Rake :thumbsup: will scratch better than any of my blades, and angling the former is how I crowned my d'way w/o ripples. The RR will scuff up fines needed to blend into what fills the potholes. For me this was eventually a 'no till' easy way to narrow my 18' to 12' (gravel pit, it once was) after a decade of fruitless blading. (Controlling runoff now minimizes saturation and frost heave.)

btw, I've tuned my method on the front 500', including the 200' shared with our township's uh .. premier pothole 'locating' team.

All that said, I'd weld nuts to the drum and use Allen-head or socket-head (Allen) screws. When heads/tips become worn I'd just build-'em back up as needed with hard-facing rod in situ. Quicker/cheaper for a few rounds than changing out a full set?

 

[texasranger556]

This seems like by far the easiest way to get teeth on it. For $70, to me it's a no-brainer to step up to the 5/8". More surface to weld on, more wear surface and the nut is thicker to allow more threads on the bolt to hold into it.

The commercial carbide teeth are rounded off nubs rather than a big fat hex head. I agree the 5/8" would last longer and be stronger, but I wonder if a smaller bolt head would "dig" better? I've never run a power rake so judging this all by videos I've found and internet opinion.

 

[texasranger556]

All that said, I'd weld nuts to the drum and use Allen-head or socket-head (Allen) screws. When heads/tips become worn I'd just build-'em back up as needed with hard-facing rod in situ. Quicker/cheaper for a few rounds than changing out a full set?

Interesting idea. Is hard facing rod easy to come by? I have a Lincoln MP210 and use MIG exclusively with .035 wire and gas shielding, but it does come with a rod holder to stick weld which I've never tried.