Harley Rake

[Scag48]

Hey guys. I need some info on a Harley Power Box rake. I know I should search, but I don't want to spend the time trying to find the info, too busy. LOL. We will more than likely be looking into buying the 6 foot version for our Cat 216 skid steer. The dealer says they only dig down 1 1/2 inches, but the video from Glenmac says 2". Is this true? How does the skid steer version compare to the tractor attachment? We will hopefully be replacing a tractor mounted roto-tiller, will the Harley do the job? I know that you can put the box ends on and windrow materials, etc., which is a great feature to me. Who uses this piece of equipment and just how useful are they? Should we look for a used unit or buy new? Who uses the hydraulic angle option? How much would I be looking to pay for one of these things? I'm hearing prices all over the place, can't really figure out how much they are worth. I appreciate the info guys! Super busy with everything else that is going on right now. Thanks!

[Team Gopher]

Hi Scag48,

While you are waiting for other replies, here are some posts for you.

Harley box rake or bobcat landscape rake (http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52353)

york rake or Box Scrapers? (http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51750)

Lawn Installation implements (http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41178)

[lars]

First off, the Harley rake is a great tool for preparing yards. While I have not used the skid steer models, I am familar with the tractor mounted ones. The tractor mounted one suits our needs just fine, but the skid-steer model is nice because you can use it in forward and reverse. And if a skid-steer is your main machine for yard prep, go with it. As far as depth, ours does go down 2" without a problem. However, I think that is usually not enough, especially if you need to releive compation, which is about every new installation. I prepare areas with a tiller or Blecavator to break the hardpan and then Harley to remove rocks. Also, the hydraulic angle is a great plus, and you should get it if you can. If you are looking at skid-steer moidels, they are all about the same. If you are looking at tractor ones, stay away from the older models. The chain drive is a real pain.

[Scag48]

Thanks for the info. So I guess I'll be using our tiller in combo with the Harley. We're getting our Cat dealer to bring one up to demo when we start a lawn install in about 2 weeks or so.

[Mike Bradbury]

Why are they SO dang expensive?
Isn't this just a pulverizer roller spinning faster from being pto driven?
Why 5k MORE than a pulled only pulverizer?
If you've still got to till and/or box blade first, what is the huge benefit? (just rock removal?) Does everyone raving about one live where rocks are an every job event? If you don't have a lot of rocks, does it lose it's advantage?
A pulled pulverizer does a wonderful job behind a tiller or box blade. What does a harley do to make it worth those $$$??:alien:

[Planet Landscaping]

My Harley is a huge moneymaker. Tough carbide tips. A must-have for my lawn installs. Try it you'll like it, ALOT.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by Jammer
My Harley is a huge moneymaker. Tough carbide tips. A must-have for my lawn installs. Try it you'll like it, ALOT.

Thanks, but those generalizations, I see all the time.
WHY is it so great?

[Scag48]

I have a video my dealer gave me to watch. They are quite impressive. The dealer wants $5500 for the manual adjustable angle and $7100 for the hydraulic version. Now I think 1500 bucks for some extra hydraulic hoses and a cylinder is a little bogus, but I'm not going to get out of the cab after every pass to adjust the angle.

[muddstopper]

Thanks, but those generalizations, I see all the time.
WHY is it so great?

I dont know about the Harleys for skidsteer, I have a ventrac tractor with the rake. It will go down 4 inches. What I like about one is the fact that they will grind down the high spots and fill in the low ones in just about one pass. Even works great when over-seeding an excisting lawn. just set the depth adjustment to where it will barely rake the ground and it will remove all the thatch and scratch up the soil for the new seed. As for removing rocks just angle it to one side and it will throw all of the rocks and sticks out as you go. You can start on one side of the lawn, work your way across it, and when you get to the other side you are ready to seed. With the reverse feature you can work frontward or backwards. Working backwards has the advantage of not running over the ground that you have just preped and compacting the soil with your equipment tires. With tillers you can only go one way and must turn around every time you get to the end of the yard meaning that somewhere you will be running back over the ground that you just tilled to smooth it back up and someone will still have to walk around picking up rocks leaving footprints all over the yard, not to mention all of the hand rakeing which is almost eliminated with a harley. I didnt realize that harleys for a skid steer would only go down 2 in.

[Mike Bradbury]

I didn't realize that hand raking reduction, that is pretty big.
How is the design? Are the really heavy duty and well made?
Repairs common or rare?
Thanks, really appreciate the advice.

[Planet Landscaping]

Mike, Harley rakes are very durable. 4 yrs only replaced rubber flap. Oh ya no hand raking no more. I also seed first and Harley rake in, finish and seed other direction.(sorry to generalize)

[Mike Bradbury]

Jammer I see you have the T6. Why it and not the Pro 6?

[Planet Landscaping]

T 6 does a great job. Its the only one I have used. IF I get a new one i will demo a pro 6. Hydro angle is a MUST HAVE. Use it all the time. Once you get 20 or 30 lawns done youll be good with it. ( guys I CANNOT TYPE no sermons here sorry, This took 5 minutes to do lol).:D ps Want a sermon on them call me @ 203-881-9419 Jammer

[Scag48]

Update. My dad ordered the Harley today. He didn't tell me whether he ordered the Pro 6 or the T-6, what is the difference? Do you guys have any tips for me? I will be using one in about a week, it will be here in about 3 days. Thanks!

[worthbrown]

I noticed the seal on the drive side of my harley rake was leaking out the oil. The dealer said this my seem strange, but the Glenmac rep said to replace the oil with grease. It actually makes sense because all the oil does is keep the chain lubed up. Mine is alrealy leaking, but anyone that has a harley rake should consider draining the oil and filling with grease. Just a little tip I thought I would pass on.

[Scag48]

Thanks for the tip. I need some operational tips with this thing. I think I can figure out how level it up and such, but what are some of the fastest techniques for raking rock, etc. Thanks!

[Planet Landscaping]

Level it on the road before job. I Use the floating toplink hole, not fixed. Just takes 2,3,5 lawns to get the basics.

[kootoomootoo]

We use both a harley rake and a rockhound. Use the harley when a site has 3ft of weeds, Rockhound to pick up rocks.
To be honest on a newly graded site I find the rockhound quicker.
Rake a 3ft section around pathways, house etc and have rochound pick them. Did a job today and was cursing because we didnt have the rockhound.
I will admit though on a site with literally no rocks harley rake is ideal.

[Scag48]

I can see how a rockhound we be a good investment, but right now we can't justify it. The Harley looks to be a great piece, so will use what we can afford at the moment and go from there. We have about 30K invested into the system. The skidsteer, combo bucket, forks, and the Harley, so we're trying to keep the initial cost down and only buying attachments etc. that we will definately use to make $$$. Next year we will buy a new trailer to tow it all with, so I'm doing some research on that right now.

[yacht]

How much horsepower do you recommend a tractor has to adequately run a harley rake? I am thinking about buying a kubota b7800 with 30hp diesel engine w/22 pto horsepower. Is this enough to run a harley rake?

[Planet Landscaping]

Yup t5 ' harley maybee t6. My old tractor was L245 dt 25 hp it ran a t6'

[Mike Bradbury]

So who's shopped for a T6 recently? Best price you've found?

[Old Red]

Are the Finn Groundhog or ATI Preseeder, the two of which look to be identical, very much different from the Harley Rake?

[Mike Bradbury]

not seen or heard much of anything about the Finn, not counting the 10 second video on their site :)
Someone said the ATI was even MORE expensive! 8k! Even on their website the pics of what it does aren't nearly as nice looking as the Harley's. It uses the teeth in a 'spiral' pattern vs the Harleys all parallel. Though Harley does cheat and take the gauge wheels off to get those perfectly smooth shots with no tire tracks.
I'd be intersested in alternatives IF there was a cost savings (Should be!). If not, then I'd think you'd have to go with the "proven" reliability of the Harley vs the unknown. Lots more testamonials about the Harley. And I'd haven't read ANY where someone said, got one, ain't so great." :blob2:

[Planet Landscaping]

GUYS, I was in the same boat.Worried sick over decision to buy a Harley rake. GLAD I DID. Still makes me a nice coin often.Other brands????????? Only used my t6 ever. No guts no glory!:angel:

[sidebuz]

Has anybody tried the "Tr3 rake" or the "Reveal 4-in 1"? Just wondering if they are being over-hyped in their sale literature.

I have three problems with the harley: 1)extremely dusty, 2) when I first turn the rake on, you move a couple of feet before it starts to throw dirt over. So it leaves an area of no loose dirt, 3) so much fluff that you have to be careful that you don't bury the seed later (hydroseeding). Anybody else run into these "problems?" They are small problems compared to the advantages the harley offers, but they exist. But I do agree, nice little money maker. :D

[Scag48]

Our Harley came today :D We got the M-6 with the power angle. It's really nice. Although I didn't use it for more than about 10 minutes, I like it already. I agree, you'll get really dusty. You can solve that and the "fluff" problem by watering. We are going to water down the area we will be raking prior to doing so, to get rid of 2 out of the 3 problems. We paid 7400 for ours, delivered from the factory.

[sidebuz]

The water idea is a great idea! I have the SS model but without the power angle (M6- pd $5100 slightly used). I have to be careful not to work it too wet because I leave tire tracks.

[worthbrown]

I didn't like getting dusty, and needed to trade for a new skid steer, so I got one with cab and A/C. I has been one of the best investments I have made. I have a Bobcat S185.

[kootoomootoo]

Weve been using the bobcat clone of the harley rake. IMO seems to work as good or better actually than the harley.

[Mike Bradbury]

is the bobcat version? Tractor models too?

[Scag48]

Harley rakes are about 7K for the M-6 with adjustable angle, that's what we have. I think they're about 5500 or 6K for the manual angle, but who wants to get out of the cab whenever you have to change angle.

[SWD]

I have an early version of the T-5 with the hydraulic angle cylinder. I run it on a compact utility tractor and am very happy with the Harley rake. I paid 6K for the Harley, all set up on my tractor. I have two years of hard use, from turf installation, verticutting, ditch grading, driveway cut in, setting subgrades, and have come to depend a great deal on the machine.

[Planet Landscaping]

Same here SWD Dont know what id do without it.:angel:

[Lawn Tek]

We used one today for the first time, my helper wth no experience with a Harley did this

[Lawn Tek]

This front was 3 foot weeds , the back bank had major washouts

[Lawn Tek]

Monted on a CAT

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by Lawn Tek
We used one today for the first time, my helper wth no experience with a Harley did this

Wow, how long to do?

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by Lawn Tek
We used one today for the first time, my helper wth no experience with a Harley did this

Does it bury any of the weeds, or rip them up.

[Lawn Tek]

He had about 6 hours this prep 28 k , remember, we had absolutely no instruction, this thing was real bad shape when we got there . We know we will greatly improve this time , really the last 2 hours he was flying , producing awesome loose dirt . Were hydroseeding it tomorrow , I can still see a need for a deep a tiller tough btw this Cat 247 is one sweet machine . Just sort of rips up the weeds

[Scag48]

I will post on how our trial run goes on Monday or Tuesday with our Harley. I'm still waiting for the go-ahead, we need the area to be watered down a little, it's far to dusty to do any type of leveling yet.

[sidebuz]

Just did a job this last week. 50K sq. ft; 1 hr bucket work & 6 hours of harley action.

[Acute Cut]

what are yall charging for the use of the harley rake? per hour i would guess. Just curious

[Scag48]

$95 per hour, check your PM Acute. Later

[newleaflandscape]

A harely rake that is six foot, you have to have a minimum of twenty horse on the pto. I wouldnt run one with anything less then a 35 horse tractor. Don t get a harley rake for a skidloader. that one reply had a point on how you can go forward and reverse with it. He has never run one a skid then. If you go forward with it on the skid, it does an awful job and usually doesnt grade it level. If you use it on a skid you have to back up with to make it look nice. I have tried it both ways and I will never put another harley rake on a tractor. Just my 2 cents. IF you want more info on those harley's, Landpride has a website. They are called powered rakes on that website though. Has all the specifications and junk for them.

[Scag48]

I wouldn't start talking smack about Harley rakes if you don't own one. There is a big difference between Landpride's power box rake and the original Harley Power Box rake, don't confuse the two. Our Harley does one hell of a job, you can't beat it with a 10 foot stick compared to a roto tiller, doesn't even come close. I would never get a Harley for a tractor, too slow for me. Skid steers are much faster and more powerful for their size and I can easily level and finish prep 1/2 an acre in about 4 hours. Skid steers level better going forward believe it or not because you've got the weight of the machine moving forward, not backward. I would suggest only running the rake backwards for final prep after all the levelling has been done.

[lx665]

The Harley Rake works excellent on a skid steer. It does a great going in either direction. And yes, I own one!

John

[newleaflandscape]

really,
I had a harley rake on the front of my skid for about a year. I could never do a good job with it. I would usually tear everything up going forward and then back up to give it that final touch. But I always ended up havingto hand rake it after I was done. It left little tracks and stones all over. Then I sold it and I started renting a land pride harley for my tractor. I couldnt beleive the difference in how much faster I got it done, and I wasnt hand raking anymore. I do have to say that when I bought a harley rake, I didnt get a landpride though. The original harley is better but alot more expensive. I just told him to look at the land pride websites because he was wondering about how much pto it needed etc. And landpride has a good website. I think it porbly just comes down to that I would prefer to run a tractor over a skid anyday. probly cause I was raised on a farm and thats all I drove was tractors.

[Mike Bradbury]

How much is Landprides power rake?

[paul]

Posted by Scag48.....I would never get a Harley for a tractor, too slow for me. Skid steers are much faster and more powerful for their size


I don't believe that, a 40Hp tractor delivers 37Hp at the PTO no standard Hydraulic system can match that, no single gear drive hydo motor comes close to it. In fact the new tooth model Harley was developed because the hydro motors couldn't chew up the ground like the older bar types. I would like to know how many times you've run a Harley power box rake on a tractor? A properly set up tractor running a Harley rake can out grade a skid steer. Things a skid steer can't do with a Harley rake, change angle while moving (it needs to stop the drum rotation to change angle), Adjust the tilt of the rake (the skid steer has a fixed frame/floating frame so you can't adjust the level while moving).

[Scag48]

Notice how I said they are more powerful for their SIZE. I would never try to rake some places that I have with our skid steer with a tractor. I agree you can get a load of ponies out of tractors, but look at how big they are when you get up to about 50 HP. You can angle the rake while moving with a skid steer and you can change depth while moving. I keep the castors set in the middle so I get a broad range of depth changes.

[paul]

Have you ever measured a 40 Hp tractor? Ours are just as long as a skid steer with a Harley. Oh one more thing..... you can't change the level from the seat like I can with my tractors!

[Scag48]

I guess I don't understand what "change the level" means. I can change the digging angle of the rake fore and aft, depth, and angle from inside the cab. It'll do just as much as that tractor when moving.

[Planet Landscaping]

I will put my Kubota 3130 hydro against a skidsteer any day harley raking.Dont buy the hype from scag 48.ps, Can you also pick up piles and heavy windrows while raking? Can you see where your going backwords? NO:eek:

[Planet Landscaping]

Level and finish prep of a 1/2 acre in 4 hours? Is that by hand? I can do that in 2 hrs tops with my Harley.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by Jammer
Level and finish prep of a 1/2 acre in 4 hours? Is that by hand? I can do that in 2 hrs tops with my Harley.

And you'd only charge $200 for that??????:eek:

[Planet Landscaping]

mike, $200? Where did you come up with that? I dont work by the hour! By the job ONLY.Make much more this way.Dont need to work cheap,Let my competition do it.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by Jammer
mike, $200? Where did you come up with that? I dont work by the hour! By the job ONLY.Make much more this way.Dont need to work cheap,Let my competition do it.

"$95 per hour, check your PM Acute. Later"

__________________


Was somebody else, thought that was yours. Wondered about it then. I'm with you :")

[Lawn Tek]

To me , having to look behind you , while driving foward on a tractor would be a pain . I think I like the skidsteer better , because its in front of you , am I wrong ?

[Acute Cut]

ok, to divert tensions.
95 an hour is great and all but i agree that per job is better. If i prices per hour with my lazer i would be broke! lol. Per job is better i agree, BUT, how do you figure your number? I.e. On my lawn equipment i mentally charge about 1 dollar per minute. (or so) Is there and easy mental note yall charge to yourselves if you are the type of person to charge per job?

p.s. thanks for all the help all. This thread is PACKED with cool info.:)

[Planet Landscaping]

We very rarely just rake when we do I just wing it. It allways rake seed straw or rake seed hydroseed.10 cents a sq for straw 13 for hydro. After a couple hundred installs you get a good sense for price. Skidsteer vs tractor Ahhhhhhhhhh the old debate.LOL(not just harley rake) I,m a tractor guy, but to each his own.Both work great with same end result.

[Scag48]

Acute hit it dead on, we bid by the job, but $95 per hour is our basis. If we went around telling people that we charge that much per hour, we'd go broke. Backing up with a skid steer sucks, but it's better than craning your neck to look behind on a tractor. 80% of the job with our machine is going forward, 15% is backward, so at the end of the day my neck isn't killing me. I would know because I drive tractor in our orchard, backing up all day and looking behind you all the time is no fun. I'll stick to my Cat, more versatile for us anyhow. Makes dollars and sense for us to run a skid steer over a tractor. You guys stick with your tractors, and I've run more tractors in the orchard than I can count and I'll never use one for landscaping...EVER. I encourage all you guys who run tractors to give a skid a try sometime, you might be surprised.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by Scag48
Acute hit it dead on, we bid by the job, but $95 per hour is our basis. If we went around telling people that we charge that much per hour, we'd go broke. Backing up with a skid steer sucks, but it's better than craning your neck to look behind on a tractor. 80% of the job with our machine is going forward, 15% is backward, so at the end of the day my neck isn't killing me. I would know because I drive tractor in our orchard, backing up all day and looking behind you all the time is no fun. I'll stick to my Cat, more versatile for us anyhow. Makes dollars and sense for us to run a skid steer over a tractor. You guys stick with your tractors, and I've run more tractors in the orchard than I can count and I'll never use one for landscaping...EVER. I encourage all you guys who run tractors to give a skid a try sometime, you might be surprised.


My tractor seat swivels, turn it part way around and it's easy to look behind you. Besides, you don't need to watch it the whole time.
I responded to the $95 as being LOW. Given the time management this tool gives you, getting jobs done in 1/2 the time of a box and pulverizer or less.
.8-.10 sq', minimum.
If you can prep and seed 10k in 3-4 hours, I'd be charging $200-250.00 per hour.:dizzy:

[bad_chad48]

Once you have the harley rake set up for your tractor... you do not have to turn around to look at it. Why are you watching it work... watch where you are going not what the harley rake just did. I have mine set in the floating position and just drive. Yes i do watch it at times but not constantly. Do you watch your bushhog while bushhogging?