I’m thinking about getting a 3 point hitch plate and then putting a 8’ tractor rake on it for cleaning up limbs and debris we pull out of fence rows to help in clean up after we’re finished. Does anyone have any experience using a rake for cleaning up debris on a tractor or skid steer? I’m looking at a King Kutter type rake but I’m not sure who builds a solid unit. It will just be an every once in a while used piece of equipment so I can’t justify dropping 4K on a skid steer dedicated set up and finding a used one has been impossible. Thoughts, opinions or concerns on this, will it help or be more of a pain?
This type of rake
We had an 8’ that we pulled on a 3-point and it really didn’t work well. We wanted to do the same as you and scrape up debris etc as we cleared land. The problem was it wouldn’t really pull up anything that was still sort of buried, things tended to get caught in the tines also. If you managed to pull a decent pile of debris you were likely to get a lot of dirt also. If the ground was not level and had turf it was hard to get everything from the low spots. On tilled or really excavated land it did work OK but you still had to be careful of just getting a lot of dirt. Especially hard when the dirt was wet. We sold the rake and now use a stone fork on the CTL for raking debris up. Make piles and change to pallet forks and load on dump truck.
I found it pulled lots of dirt. I would make a windrow, then pull it at 90* to the first direction, 2 or 3 times. Every time I changed direction, it got cleaner. When somebody stole it, I didn't bother to replace it. Mine was a Leinbach, it was very sturdy, broke a few teeth, but that was it.
We’re cutting and pulling all the debris up by hand off the fence and making a row about 5-6’ off the fence line removing anything of size so it’s mostly vines, small limbs and weeds, I was just looking for a way to pull it into larger piles to load up saving some man hours. It’s probably wishful thinking on my part but if we could rake it up into larger piles it would sure save some time when you have miles of overgrown fence to clean.
What about a grapple rake? It has been my handiest overall attachment ever. Rake your stuff, and then load. https://thompsonmachinery.com/new-equipment/attachments/industrial-grapple-rakes/1829-mm-72-in/
I have one of those and all the other style grapple/rakes to and they all have thr place but they won’t get the small stuff. Typically it wouldn’t be a concern but this is on a wealthy family’s play ranch and mama wants it “Clean” so mamas getting it clean before we plant the grass. I voted for plowing it all down and starting over but got veto’d on that real quick due to the fence being built with hand cut Bois Dark posts by her late father. Rich folks problems I tell ya, lol
A quick attach brand quick claw gets up the small stuff pretty good. The top lid will allow you to flip it over and back drag. It’s just like raking a lawn. We have one and I love it.
I have pretty much every type of grapple style made and for small stuff they don’t work very good but I’m happy to report the rake works great for our application if anyone was interested.
Quick Attach makes some really good grapples. I have their Sabor Tine bucket, and it is very well built and well designed.
If you are wanting to push and stack then a straight scarifier off an old grader modified to fit works really well. They're 8ft wide and cheap as chips
Best implement I have found for small stuff, a 3008 Bush Hog with mulching end covers, grinds stuff up like a stump grinder as what goes under stays until small enough to fall away. I use a Rock/Landscape rake for intended design, gravel drive cleanup and once disc'd to a pulp final grade runs to level ground.
They used to make a rake for skid steers or trucks but they were discontinued. You'd want something heavier than a King Kutter and would need gauge wheels so it wouldn't just dig in. https://www.everythingattachments.com/FFC-102-inch-Grader-Rake-p/ffc-laf6602.htm
I was thinking the same thing as I read this thread. Just run over the debris a few times with a brush hog; that will grind up most of the stuff. I do that when I cut back limbs and stuff from the fence or tree line - leave it in the ground then grind it with the brush hog.
I guess the motive got lost in translation lol, we have mulchers we can mulch it with but we needed all this raked into piles to be loaded and carried to another location where we then destroyed it. The rake apparatus we put together worked perfectly for the application so if anyone finds the need this will work pretty dang efficiently..