Snow Attachments Rake in the Snow

[JB4310]

Well I had a chance to try my 6' land pride rake for snow removal. Have heard alot of positive comments but from my first attempt I'm not convinced, we only had 5" of light powder Sunday and it didn't work very well, I tried it on a woods trail and it took several passes with it angled to get it down to where I could groom it with the rake straight.

It did work great for grooming previously cleared gravel drive and yard areas as many here have stated, where it would dice up the ice and leave a high traction surface of chopped ice and gravel.

JB.

 

[rhett]

hi JB,
just a suggestion if you have not already tried it.
bolt a piece of 6 or 8" X 72" X 1/8 or 3/16" flat bar across the front of the tines not allowing snow to pass through them. it should act like a plow blade then, at resonable cost.
i cannot test the idea due to lack of snow here, but do eventually plan to test on gravel driveway and dirt leveling
if it does not perform well, the flat stock could be used for other projects.
just and idea, that is adjustable too.
Rhett

 

[dirtworksequip]

So, do you think the rake did a better job than a rear blade would have done on your driveway?

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[rhett]

So, do you think the rake did a better job than a rear blade would have done on your driveway?

Sincerely, Dirt

Let us know JB

oupps , i needed to pay a little more attention to the sig, you already own a blade...

well maybe the flat clamp bolted a few inches high, letting tines act as teeth leaving a rough finish for traction, yet grabbing bulk and wind rowing it to sides.

just an idea, experienced people like you and others have the knowledge

 

[JB4310]

Yes I have a 6' rear blade so I don't need the rake for snow, just wanted to try it. For what ever reason the snow doesn't really slip through the tines like you'd think, and this was very loose powder, the problem with my rake is it doesn't angle very far, no where near as much as the blade which prevents the snow from spilling out the side.

So no, I don't think the rake would be as good for removing the snow, but really is the answer to grooming the unpaved drive and yard areas.

Here's a couple of pics showing rear blade peeling ice from pavement, it was frozen solid but warmed up just enough to allow the release.

JB.

 

[sixdogs]

The rake has to be angled way over and it is not necessary to have rake all the way to the ground on the first pass. In fact, I stay a couple inches off the ground. Works great for me, but I have an 8 ft rake. Maybe a wider rake works better?

 

[actionaj]

Looks to me that the rake didn't do all that bad of a job on the gravel drive.

 

[jstrasser]

From what I have read- on an unpaved road, a rake is suggested by some for the first 1 or 2 snows of the winter when a plow will dig up the unfrozen road.

But when I tried it last year all I ended up with was a snowball loading up in the rake. Wet snow does not roll off an angled rake very well.

IMHO- leave the rake for non-winter use. Snow needs a solid blade (or a blower- my next attachment).

John

 

[dirtworksequip]

Here's my take on a rake for snow removal. I've used one in conjuction with a front blade for the last 12 years. By itself I don't think a rake would do a very good job. I use the front blade and high blade off the bulk of the snow with the front blade being careful not to scrape clear down to the stone. I then finish up with the rake by angling it for a couple of passes and then make a final pass with the rake straight. The rake is never going to scrape clear down to the stone,but it will pop up enough stone to give you good traction and an additional melting factor with the exposed stone. One reason the rake won't work by itself is it would be hard to windrow the snow very far off the road. The main reason I use the rake is to keep from windrowing the stone off the road.

Sincerely, Dirt