Rakes, Attachments and skid stuff!

The 257B thread got me to thinking, especially the advice given re 4 in 1 and Harley Rakes. Also, awhile back BobcatS250 asked me to post some pic's of my machine at play. Soooo:

1. Two attachments I could not be without are my 4 in 1 and my trash rake. Today the trash rake turned about 30m3 of a rubbish pile into 2 x 6.5m3 truckloads. (1m3 = 1.3y3 or 1 cubic yard = 3/4 of a cubic metre) This saved me and the client on fuel, time and tip fees. Whilst some may argue I put myself out of work using the trash rake to sift out the dirt, I say I got the job on a fair price for the work I did and was heaps cheaper than the guys just using a standard bucket. ie. I quoted on 2 truckloads to the dump and they would have been quoting on at least 4 or 5. I was also able to move onto another job whereas 5 loads would have seen me working in the dark!.
Just my 2c worth on that issue.

2. Because of my high school maths teacher I have to fess up...What the hell is a Harley Rake and what do you use them for?...I read all these posts on this forum but I have never seen one.......Is it the same as when I grab a piece of 4x2 in my clamshell and use it for levelling????

3. Because we also build retaining walls I probably couldn't be without my pallet forks but you can never have too many toy......attachments.:blush:

Some pic's

 

Sorry, the first 2 pic's in the previous post show the pile of crap in front of the house and the third shows the completed job.

The pic's below show the trash rake and "FlatCat" packed up with the 4 in 1 in the rake ready for loading onto the truck.....I really have to get that spare tyre mounted on the truck.

For those whom I have not yet sent to sleep our work is varied. We do landscape preparation, general building works, demolition, a lot of loading out of trucks and all sorts of things when we are building retaining walls. The 4 in 1 is invaluable. One thing I will say is that the trash rake, being 74" wide is terrifffic for general site levelling. You really notice how the extra width helps when you change back to the 66" clamshell bucket.

Not sure where this thread is headed??

 

http://www.harleyrakes.com/skidtech.htm There's Glenmac's website, they are the manufacturer of the Harley. These attachments can do everything from grading, removing rock and debris from soil, to finish sead bed prep. They are much faster than blading as once you get a decently level surface to work on the machine does the rest, just set the depth and go. The hydraulically angled version of the M6, which we have, is about $7200.

 

we purchased this for our JD 250 series 2 I wont see it until I get back from vacation. I am looking forward to being able to actually load stuff in the dumpster a bit easier and sift out the dirt. No point is paying to move dirt if I don't need to...But still its nothing like a harley rake....that looks pretty kewl...

 

So Squizzy, does that "For Sale" sign in the fifth picture (Rake 023) mean the 246B is for sale? I'd buy it...

*sigh* I want a skid steer...

 

I had a grapple like the one in MarcSmith's pic built about 5-6 years ago. The thing is awesome!!! I had a local welder build it for me for $900. I saw a couple of other pictures of them on the web, but couldn't find a dealer that had anything like it back then. It works great for tearing out and carring concrete, tree roots, brush, cleaning up demolition site, the list goes on. It is probably the best attachement that I have for the S250.

Hey Marc, how much did you have to pay for the grapple??

 

$2600...its 76" wide

I have not yet had it delivered. but I am waiting for it. it will be alot of fun....We have to load all of our debris in to 30yd roll-off dumpsters. This should make it much easier....

 

The first think I noticed was the tires on Squizzy's machine they are pretty mild treaded I would hate to get into some mud with those

The machine would ride good on ribbed tires and work good on pavement but get into some thing a little slippery

I do like the idea of the rake bucket I can see that coming in handy for jobs a 4 in 1 bucket is nice to have too.

With the pictures of the jobsite how did all that other debris get into the dirt did the construction workers just throw the scraps where ever they felt like it and it got mixed in with the excavated material ?

That bucket you have sure did save allot of hand work pulling the junk out.

 

Scag, thanks for that...Is the Harley useful in sand or is it really for firm dirt?

Marc, that is the version we were looking long and hard at. We ended up making the trash rake longer (deeper) and the grapples would not have been as effective. The objective with the trash rake was to screen as much as possible. Very often you drive into the pile and as you back out just flip the stuff back in the rake and most of the sand is gone. You can take 2 or 4 bites before you actually get a bucket full. The main thing was to keep the "belly" shallow so the dirt does not bulk up in the back. How widely spaced are the bars in your rake?

I'm still looking at getting the grapple rake in the future.

Bobcat, the 246B is for sale...just so long as you pay me what I paid for it and give me 0% interest for 48 months on a 257B.

Gravel Rat, Those are sand rib cross plys. I get about 1200hrs a set. They do work very well on hard surfaces and at about 20psi do the job in the sand. We have nothing else here, just sand...and more sand and lots of limestone. A lot of guys here run radials but they wear quickly and puncture easily.

The pile of junk in front of the house is becoming typical of the type of the behaviour of the builders. Good for me but bloody disgraceful, the tilers, pavers, brickies plasterers etc just chuck the stuff in a heap and it gets all mixed up so you can hardly walk up to the house. We are in a building boom at the moment and there is two legged trash on these sites as well.

Thanks for the replys.

 

Hey Squizzy,

A little off subject but I picked up an idea from your earlier post about grabbing a 2 x 4 in the clamshell and using it as a leveler. Fantasticly simple and I look forward to using it in my Kanga...

Yes, I said Kanga

Has "Austrialian Made" decals on it.... and it's a darn fine machine. Tiny? yes. But my hats off to your countrymen [Jaden and crew] for developing this little jewel.

Thanks for all your input!