# $50 atv rake



## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

Decided to whip one up to use the wheeler for clearing debris off my trails and future food plots.



















I've got some work left to go on the pivot and angle adjustment mechanisms, and didn't have the right length 5/16" bolts to put the tines on (they're for balers I think - Fleet Farm had them for under $2). The tubing is all left overs from other jobs, so it's basically free (and way over kill for this application).  The rear winch will raise and lower it, and I'll probably have a spring or two to create extra down force.

I'll update when I get more done after work tonight.


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## V-TRAIN (Feb 27, 2009)

good idea


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## Tunaboy (Oct 3, 2004)

Nice welds where the round tube meets the square tube. What welder ya using??


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## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

I tigged it with my miller syncrowave 250dx. I weld so infrequently these days, I used the opportunity to get a little practice in.


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## oldschoolcj5 (Jun 8, 2009)

keep us posted on your progress


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## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

A working copy will be done tonight. I'm not thrilled with how the pivot turned out, but it's also not like I designed it from scratch.  Everything is surplus or scrap bin, so some compromises had to be made. I messed up and got bolts that are too long for the tines, so there's really nothing to post right now.

I'll update the pics later, and should have a functional evaluation by saturday.


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## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

As you can see, it moves raspberry stems and twigs nicely. What I hadn't anticipated, was how well it self cleans when you raise it. I'll let nature take the tags off the tines. 

It's hard to see in the pic, but the boom is bushed so it can roll to account for grade changes. I'm not sure if I'll ever modify this one to angle the rake or not. It was part of my initial plan, but got shelved for the sake of expedience.


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## oldschoolcj5 (Jun 8, 2009)

looks great!


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## Sideways (Feb 13, 2006)

Awesome!


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## whack&stack (Oct 15, 2007)

nice looks good


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## Raymond 1 (Feb 23, 2010)

Where did you buy the tines and what size are they?
Thanks,
Raymond


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## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

I got them at a local chain called Mills Fleet Farm, but TSC also has or can order stuff like this. They're around a foot or so long. I'm not sure what they go to, as I just pulled them off the shelf. They had a few different variations of the same thing.


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## waylonb19 (Aug 17, 2005)

subscribed...great idea


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## Raymond 1 (Feb 23, 2010)

Thanks Shootin Jim. Nice design.
Raymond


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## McChesney (Jan 5, 2009)

What a super idea...think I may attempt to make one similar....thanks!


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## jrdrees (Jun 12, 2010)

Good welding project!


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## bryanbost (Mar 6, 2011)

:rock:Awesome work! I worked up something similar a year or so back, do you by any chance have a pic of where the rake pivots at hitch mount?


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Well done!


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## super* (Jan 26, 2008)

nice


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## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

I don't have any better pics of that, I was in a hurry to get it loaded up and hit the road, and never thought of it when I was up north (where it is now).

What I did, was use a bushed hole in a piece of 1/2" bar stock that came off some contraption I got cheap for the worm gear reduction it had on it. That hole is also 1/2" so I just used a bolt with double nuts (to lock the bolt with some slop) through the 2" square tubing. The bushing isn't needed at all, since the wear from raising and lowering will be minimal.

The pivot between that bar and the horizontal (round) tubing is another bushing which is teflon lined lead-bronze (I have about 45 of them left from a bulk minimum buy for an old prototype I built). The teflon makes the joint stiff, and also keeps dirt from entering. I hope it's stiff enough to prevent the rake from skipping over larger debris, but it does need to move to prevent the rake from digging in or lifting on uneven ground.

Also, I didn't weld the tines for a specific reason: you want to be able to replace them if they get damaged. I left them bolted for field repair, as I don't have my welders up north.


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## edmondsmatt (Dec 17, 2010)

The times appear to be these http://www.tractorsupply.com/agricu...g/rake-teeth/steel-rake-tooth-us-mf-1-1410101 . I really like this idea, thinking about takin on a project similar.


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## Quackersmacker1 (May 1, 2011)

Thats good.


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## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

Matt, those tines you linked are the right variety (anything similar should work), but they're 20 cents from double what I paid for mine. See if you can find some place cheaper.


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## bowmadness83 (Oct 30, 2010)

Very nice! Great idea


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## Shootin Jim (Dec 27, 2010)

A little update:

I did end up using this to rake some semi-raked leaves in the neighbors yard. The lawn boy made a landing strip about 70' long and 2' wide of all the leaves and then left them there to kill the grass. There wasn't enough weight in the rake itself (it's probably under 50#) to hold the tines in the thatch let alone pull that much rain-matted debris, so I had my buddy stand on it (he's about 180#) and hold on the bumper of the atv for balance and we got it done in style! It still lifted him up a couple times on the big piled sections, but we moved the whole works into two lumps with less than 4 passes total. The resultant leaves filled 14 50 gallon trash bags. :mg:

I'm guessing it'll pull freshly fallen leaves without incident in the main duty of trail cleaning, but I do plan to add a means of securing more weight for when I use it to gather sticks (or I could make the wife go for a ride).

Final thoughts - it works pretty freaking good for a first prototype.

Anyone else built one yet?

I've got 12 disks coming for my harrow project, but I won't likely build that till over the winter.


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## emerson (Sep 20, 2009)

I been thinking of building a harrow project myself . got to wait till after deer season.


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