Raking up

skew

skew

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scenic Skew Gardens
Hi I'm Troy McClure- you may remember me from threads such as "cited by osha". But no seriously- When raking up final clean up I always go back to the summer of 78 when my bro in law Dave (Killer) Miller trained me as a flunky. He drilled into my head the fact that you always start at the far edge(away from the truck) and rake towards the truck. He theorized that each rake stroke away from the truck was a waste of energy. Now Dave told me alot of stuff that went in one out the other. But for some reason this one stuck. Having raked thousands of acres over the years I have found this to be correct. I frequently get into debate with this helper or that when they start making little piles every where. These little pile then get carry by what ever means and drop little stuff where you have already raked up- making my blood pressure rise- causing you to rake where you already have. The exception being that if you have alot of ground to cover and a tarp- which I cannot seem to keep a. on the truck and b. in one piece.
So I will continue starting at one side of a typical sized yard - rake in one hand pitch fork in the other and rake towards the chipper. When the pile gets too big I will then kick it or fork it forward and have a happy little clean up.
So if any see fit to respond to this nonsense I am interested in what y'all have to say on this as it comes up way more frequently than I care to think about.


I notice some of yous guys have sweet quotations at the bottom of your threads so here's mine for today- "We're here for a good time not a long time"- K.G. /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Skew, I agree completely and cover that in my "Excellent Groundie" writing. I like to call that method the "ever diminishing circle."

Check it out!
 
The easy way to work, with less effort working effective.

Some guys seems to like carrying water to the sea, they never learn. Thats why letting a future climber show his skills as a groundie. You can watch his work ethics first.
 
I was taught the same principle years ago. Actually… I worked under a climber t6hat would yell profanities and throw stubs at you if you didn’t rake from the farthest point working toward the truck.

I take it a step farther and fling the rakings toward the truck. That way there isn’t a windrow built up which takes more time and effort to move. I have found few people that are able to see the little intricacies of efficient raking. To me it is common sense but, common sense isn’t to common.
 
What rakes do you use? I use a flexible 50cm leave rake to finish up and a 80cm hay rake to do the bigger things first if needed. streets we blow clean with a Stihl BR420.
 
The rakes I use are of a metal tine construction about 18" wide. They are basically crap. But they are the least crap ones I can find. Also I use a four tine pitch fork to "fling" as mentioned by Eric E. For some reason I have found the 5 tine to be generally to clumsy.
Here's an idea: a heavy duty tree work rake with kevlar or carbon (?) tines. Also some sort of composite handle. I don't know about you guys and girls but I would be willing to pay 75.00 to 150.00 for one that was beefy enough.
 
Sears sells a craftman plastic rake with fiberglass handle for 15 dollars. Best rake I have used for clean up, we go through about 6 a year. After a while they will lose there stiffness and are not worth using. The only bad thing is they don't come with instructions.
 
I know a treeguy that buys his rakes from sears, and when he wears em out he just gets another for free. It's supposedly lifetime guaranteed.
But I bet they don't know he's a pro.
 
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What rakes do you use?

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The cheap $6 black metal wood handled ones from a local hardware store. They last maybe 60 to 90 days if you treat em right.
 
I don't like to rake from the outer edge to the truck. I prefer to rake from the outer edge of the mess towards wherever the dumping area may be. Many places we go we can dump the rakings out in the woods. Some places we aren't as fortunate and have to put them into the truck.
 
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I don't like to rake from the outer edge to the truck. I prefer to rake from the outer edge of the mess towards wherever the dumping area may be. Many places we go we can dump the rakings out in the woods. Some places we aren't as fortunate and have to put them into the truck.

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Smart A$$..... /forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The thought behind good raking is to work systematicaly from the outside towards the clear up spot. That may be the truck, chipper, dump spot, dung pile, roadside, edge of that cliff, neighbours yard, under the carpet, dustbin, garbadge container, wheelbarrel, whatever where you leave the rubble...... The idea is that you work towards it in one straight way and not doing the rake twice over the same area.

/forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Ronald
 
i have no clue what kind of rakes we have. yellow handle, black metal rakers. they seem to have the same construction as the Jameson poles (used with pole saws and big shot). we have been using them slince i started November 17 of last year (04). i am slowly becoming the permanent groundie since there are 3 climbers with more experience than me. i get good quality time with the rakes, and they treat me well.
 
Its not worth the time to save and take back the broken ones, I just tell the wife how many to pick up on her way home from work. They earn their keep on the job and are worth the 15 bucks. We did save some handles for push sticks but with the Vermeer 1400XL you really don't need them, just the back end of the trash can to get it started.
 
Hey chicken89, welcome aboard, sounds like you have a good attitude , keep it up and some day "permanent groundie" will turn into "head honcho". It pays to have pride in you're work. You can spend a whole day on a huge removal with a crane and two monkeys and a street full o iron and logs, but the only thing anyone will notice when yer gone is the lawn.
 
I don't know why theres such a fuss over rakes, I've had the same one for years. In fact my dad used it when he was young now I have it and its still going strong.

Its had ten new handles and fifteen new heads but apart from that its as good as new!!!
 
Think small and be great....

I mean, raking is a small part of treework but eventually it gives the look at a workplace to the homeowner. So when doing a good raking up you make the work looks great at all.

i cant do Years with a rake, mine get chipped at least once a year:)
 
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I don't know why theres such a fuss over rakes, I've had the same one for years. In fact my dad used it when he was young now I have it and its still going strong.

Its had ten new handles and fifteen new heads but apart from that its as good as new!!!

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Excellent sense of humor exhibited there, Rupe!
 
Thank you, I think it was lost on our Dutch freind.

I can't take the credit for it though, I'm sure the Brits will know where it came from, thanks Trigger!
 
/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I am dutch thats right. Not sure this time what a freind is? /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I know its hard for me to read the things in the right perspective sometimes (i did get youre raking joke btw) and its even harder to reply in the right words and sentences. You may see it that i 'played dumb a$$' in answering that one /forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
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