View Full Version : ffc preperator
I have been harley raking lawns for a while now with my tractor and was thinking it would be nice to pick up a rockhound for my skid.. well the price was right so i picked up a preperator the other day assuming that it was pretty much the same idea. I did a search on this site and came up with a little info and was just wondering if anyone had anymore input on the attachment.. i noticed that some pros were it's heavier duty than the rockhound and will pick up larger stones. One con i saw was that the rockhound can pick up a little smaller stones than the preperator. It will be a while till i can try this attachment out in the dirt due to weather and any feedback would be apperiated.. i have seen a rockhound in action and have been impressed with its results. Does anyone recommend flipping this one and getting a rockhound. my idea is to loosen and grade my yard first with the harley rake then remove the rock with the preperator.
I have been harley raking lawns for a while now with my tractor and was thinking it would be nice to pick up a rockhound for my skid.. well the price was right so i picked up a preperator the other day assuming that it was pretty much the same idea. I did a search on this site and came up with a little info and was just wondering if anyone had anymore input on the attachment.. i noticed that some pros were it's heavier duty than the rockhound and will pick up larger stones. One con i saw was that the rockhound can pick up a little smaller stones than the preperator. It will be a while till i can try this attachment out in the dirt due to weather and any feedback would be apperiated.. i have seen a rockhound in action and have been impressed with its results. Does anyone recommend flipping this one and getting a rockhound. my idea is to loosen and grade my yard first with the harley rake then remove the rock with the preperator.
The Preparator is an excellent prep tool, much better than a Rock Hound. I have had both. It takes a little practice to get good with it, but once you get if figured out its pretty awesome. Some hints are to keep the bucket rotated back and up. The flatter the machine is to the ground the more aggressive it will dig. I rotate the bucket up keeping the lip almost touching the dirt. Buy a scarifier from Bobcat take the two depth setting skids out and replace them with teeth. Use the scarifier to loosen hard ground. The scarifier makes life easier on your Preparator. The Preparator is an excellent leveling tool. Again with practice, there is nothing you cant do with it. Just resist the temptation to lay it flat all the time and you will get more out of it.
stuvecorp
02-16-2009, 12:49 AM
I have been seeing them for sale pretty reasonable. Do they wear out?
The Preparator is an excellent prep tool, much better than a Rock Hound. I have had both. It takes a little practice to get good with it, but once you get if figured out its pretty awesome. Some hints are to keep the bucket rotated back and up. The flatter the machine is to the ground the more aggressive it will dig. I rotate the bucket up keeping the lip almost touching the dirt. Buy a scarifier from Bobcat take the two depth setting skids out and replace them with teeth. Use the scarifier to loosen hard ground. The scarifier makes life easier on your Preparator. The Preparator is an excellent leveling tool. Again with practice, there is nothing you cant do with it. Just resist the temptation to lay it flat all the time and you will get more out of it.
Thank you for the tips and the scarifer idea is great. I was thinking that taking the skids off was going to be something to try seeing they would leave a packed down finish. One more question maybe you could help me out with is whats the idea with the brushes inside the machine.
thank you
I have been seeing them for sale pretty reasonable. Do they wear out?
The drum with the teeth on it wears down. You can hard surface them back up or replace the drum. A new drum costs about 1500 for the 77" machine, or at least thats what they used to cost.
I have been seeing them for sale pretty reasonable. Do they wear out?
hows $1250..lol. the guy had about 15 calls in the half hour it took to me to get their.. he told me he had the feeling he was selling it too cheap..lol... this unit has about 30 light hours on it according to the seller and is still all original. when you look at the units they seem pretty simple and not to much to break or wear out.. Except that roller with the teeth i bet is not cheap to replace when it wears out.. Your soil conditions i think make all the difference in wear and tear.
hows $1250..lol. the guy had about 15 calls in the half hour it took to me to get their.. he told me he had the feeling he was selling it too cheap..lol... this unit has about 30 light hours on it according to the seller and is still all original. when you look at the units they seem pretty simple and not to much to break or wear out.. Except that roller with the teeth i bet is not cheap to replace when it wears out.. Your soil conditions i think make all the difference in wear and tear.
Your right about the soil conditions. If you have seen the pictures I have posted about "Idaho Topsoil" you can see that a Preparator in my area is a tough life.
I cant believe you got that for $1250.00 That is unreal. I bought a new 77" model several years ago and it was like 8500
Don't take the skids off the Preparator you need those on the machine. Just take the skids off the Scarifier. The skid lines off the preparator don't hurt anything. Sometimes I will run a hand rake down the lines but it is not necessary. The grass comes up the same. The purpose of the brush is to prevent the rock from coming all the way over the drum.
Great buy. What width is it? If its a 77" I will double your money on it.
stuvecorp
02-16-2009, 01:38 AM
hows $1250..lol. the guy had about 15 calls in the half hour it took to me to get their.. he told me he had the feeling he was selling it too cheap..lol... this unit has about 30 light hours on it according to the seller and is still all original. when you look at the units they seem pretty simple and not to much to break or wear out.. Except that roller with the teeth i bet is not cheap to replace when it wears out.. Your soil conditions i think make all the difference in wear and tear.
Can't go wrong with that price. There was one on Ebay that went around 1700, don't know the hours on it but didn't look real bad in the pictures. I think it was 72"?
Last year I had a couple lawns that probably could have used one on.
How does it handle sod chunks or stringy weeds?
Your right about the soil conditions. If you have seen the pictures I have posted about "Idaho Topsoil" you can see that a Preparator in my area is a tough life.
I cant believe you got that for $1250.00 That is unreal. I bought a new 77" model several years ago and it was like 8500
Don't take the skids off the Preparator you need those on the machine. Just take the skids off the Scarifier. The skid lines off the preparator don't hurt anything. Sometimes I will run a hand rake down the lines but it is not necessary. The grass comes up the same. The purpose of the brush is to prevent the rock from coming all the way over the drum.
Great buy. What width is it? If its a 77" I will double your money on it.
i would guess around that size, my bucket is 66'' and its wider than that.
Can't go wrong with that price. There was one on Ebay that went around 1700, don't know the hours on it but didn't look real bad in the pictures. I think it was 72"?
Last year I had a couple lawns that probably could have used one on.
How does it handle sod chunks or stringy weeds?
i would still jump on one for that price. i looked on ebay yesterday and they had one for 3k in rough cond and nice one for 4900 and new for 9k.
i wont get a chance to use it for a little while where i live but i will leave some feedback when i do.
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