Rake Durability of a King Kutter yard rake

[Mosey]

A local farm supply place (Big Blue) is going out of business and discounting everything. They have a 6' King Kutter yard rake for under $300. It doesn't have any gauge wheels. How durable are these? Anybody ever break anything, like a tine? Do the tines bend out of place very easy? If they do bend, how do you go about re-straightening them? If I drop it down and back into an area I just bush hogged to pile up the brush for burning and hit stones and stumps along the way, will it hold up? I also want to use it for leveling ground and preparing it for seeding grass.

Do they make gauge wheel kits for these and if so how much are they?

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>...They have a 6' King Kutter yard rake for under $300...</font color=blue>

I think that's a going price for a 7' rake... doesn't sound like anything special...

(on my way out the door-sorry for the fast & incomplete answer...)

Most of the time, the tines break... not so much as bend... short of trying to move a tree trunk... they are pretty durable...

 

[JimMc]

Tines are supposed to spring back rather than bend. Once past the point of spring back they break. The good news is they are easy to find and replace. You really have to hang one up to break normally. I'm not sure what KK's normal retail is. Check TSC's pricing to see what kind of a "deal" you're getting. I've not seen a gauge wheel kit for the KK unit, but they may offer one. Checked their web site <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.kingkutter.com>http://www.kingkutter.com</A> , and it makes no mention of gauge wheel kit. There have been several threads of late where guys have made their own. Good luck!

 

[Hoeman00]

I have a 6' KK rake that last spring I added 1' to each side (8' overall).
Rake works good and it will push in reverse when blade is backward.
When, not if, u bend tine I just take sledge or BFH to bend back.
I've never broke one or bent it beyond repair.
I am going to make a set of gauge wheels because I need to be able to
reverse them when it is on SSL and will make so I can put on the box
blade or the 6' or 7' blade.
Like they said above check TSC because I think $300 is too much.
BTW Carver has First Choice on sale now and he lists the gauge wheels
(BIG $).

 

[Mosey]

I had already priced them at TSC earlier this year and they sell the same unit for $370. Another place has them for $320. The brochure I got from them on King Kutter equipment says "Gauge wheels optional". I may go over there later this week and see if they still have the same price and while I'm there I'll check on the gauge wheels and tines and see what they cost.

 

[RichZ]

As far as the tines, go, most of the units I've seen, no matter what the brand, use the same tines. They are all marked "Made in Italy".

 

[DK35vince]

Mosey,
I believe I payed around $320 for the 6' KK rake from Farm and Fleet before their demise..

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I saw that rake and was thinking of getting it myself. I was there a few weeks ago and it was 10% off the $319.99 price. They have signs up in the town saying 30% to 50%. You might get a really good deal if that rake is still there.

 

[RobS]

I've got the very same rake Danny and it seems like a perfectly good piece of equipment. I think I paid $319, or maybe 10% off that? I've been using it lately to grade my gravel drive and it's working great. Haven't bent or broken a tine yet /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Mosey]

It was gone when I went back. The same thing happened when Quality went out of business. The implements sold at 10% to 15% off, so by the time they got to the 30%-50% off deals there were no implements left. It's looking like I can get a First Choice for about the same price as the King Kutter was discounted to anyway.