Hello All I have a d53 we don’t have a root rake on it but I was thinking about purchasing one. They aren’t too expensive so I was considering getting one. We do everything from clearing a few lots to Whole residential subdivisions. Are they worth it?
Stick or root rake = yes. A stickrake can be 2× the width of the dozer blade so clean up are faster
Looking at the root rake I don’t think we will get a stick rake. Does a root rake help that much more than a standard dozer blade? Does it filter more dirt and soil? It seems like if you get a few sticks in front of a root rake it will push dirt anyways.
Aaron, I can tell you what I do. Others may do it different. With the rake on, and pushing to the pile, I am constantly rolling what I'm pushing. The rolling shakes the dirt out, breaks branches, and compacts the pile. I burn everything, so a tighter, cleaner push pile burns better.
The art of using a rake is to get the dirt out. As you get near the stack start going a series of short pushes at the same time lifting the blade so every thing rolls. Once you get good there won't be any dirt at all
I have a USA Attachments take for my D6c. Works good for rolling and pushing brush to piles but don't expect it to rip out small roots unless you bury it until the blade gets them. I do find I can bush up a taller pile with just the blade. The teeth sticking down limits piling.
Would you buy it again?
I used it quite a bit initially but haven't done a lot of clearing recently. I also have a CTL with a grapple rake now so that's filling part of the same need. It wasn't all that expensive so if you have work for it I'd say it's useful.