Thee best rake.

nobody else likes these?
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I've never tried the expensive fire version. The cheap version isn't as tough as I'd like, but being able to collapse it down means it isn't as likely to get damaged tossing it into the truck or whatever. My previous favorite was the spring rakes. I find the plastic rakes are good if you want to rake up leaves, but I don't like them for twigs and sticks.
 
We've got to go back to spring rakes cause of cold weather and it's brutal compared to the Jackson plastic. My earlier no crap claim may contain some crap. 4-1 stoke reduction guarenteed but not warrantied, I'd believe 5-1, I'll have to refer back to the research.
This rake in particular is super strong and indestructable in moderately warm conditions. Our summer is 15-25c, no problem with that. Maybe in warmer places it wouldn't perform. We do a rough clean up with native understory mostly. This rake is perfect at sorting out what should be left for the blower, it's seriously quick.
 
First, quality needs to be taken into account. I am willing to spend more time to yield higher quality (on cleanup). Second, I'd be surprised if 40% time savings would be gained by everyone (talking about myself here). I've been using spring rakes for a lot of years and I'm familiar with all the little techniques to make it work for me in all situations. Third, I appreciate durability. Spring rake tines can be bent back into shape. Plastic tines break. Everyone has mentioned that plastic is more brittle in cold. It also degrades with sunlight over time. When you are short a rake for 3/4 of a day because it broke, there's not a lot of time saved there. Lots of people I've worked with have loved plastic rakes. Good for them. I have genuinely given many plastic rakes a fair chance. I've yet to prefer one over a spring rake. Now, having said all that, If I could take a look at one of the kind mentioned in this thread, and I saw something I thought was worthwhile, I'd give it a shot.
 
I bought a wood handled rake last year, handle broke second day.
Being Canadian, I took a fibreglass hockey stick handle. Wired/taped
them together. It works better than new, love the extra reach.

If your talking rake technology you need to think about the tarp.
my old boss had some heavy canvas 8x6 ones with seat belt webbing
loops sown on to each corner.

The time saved can only be guessed. Get the Rake study underway.
 

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We're always scrounging for rake handle replacements, i never thought of using a hockey stick. I've got at least 8 of them kicking around anyway.

With the groundskeeper 2 rakes, the heads last quite a while, almost always longer than the handle lasts.

v
 
Viking and I go back and forth on this all the time. It's hilarious. Anyway, he swears by the Greenskeeper and I swear by 2 fanned out plastic rakes together cuz I can pull tons of debris with them. Last month after a handle broke he found a fiberglass handle, put 2 rake heads on it and used up a roll of electrical tape securing them together. I thought, pfffft but to my surprize it worked like a champ and was a LOT easier to hang on to. Good call, homo.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I hate the Groundskeeper rakes.

We buy Corona metal fan rakes from Karl Kuemmerling http://www.karlkuemmerling.com/cgi-bin/s...0dc56ea4b782862
They are pretty durable and inexpensive.

[/ QUOTE ]
Really.."pretty durable" doesn't cut the mustard with me.

And hate is not a family value.

I destroy the common rake like it's my job with a grave yard to prove it, littered with life time warranties. I pretend I'm going to fix them up some day. Every hardware store offers their version of a professional rake with lifetime warranty. Just plain sick of wasting my time exchanging them after two and three failures. Common metal, plastic, fold up, whatever just a waste of time and money.

I imagine a person who does not like the groundskeeper might be paid by the hour,and/or is not in top shape and/or maybe wears those blue sticky smurf gloves cause their hands are soft like dough. My own opinion/experience mind you.

As owner operator the groundskeeper is godsend. It is a lightweight, flickable, clawlike extension of me able to grab, toss and throw materials unimaginable by common rake standards. Backed up by a blower worth it's weight (another debate) you've got the magic to impress.
 
For those who do not know the grounds keeper is not a normal rake. It needs to be operated at varying lower angles to optimize performance.

Standard rake designs cause me to stand them up vertically and snap them under and past me to move the larger debris. This behavior leads to their doom. I think most standard rake designs were intended for leaves.

The groundskeeper is a lower angle grabber/claw for the larger debris, too small to chip, we commonly have after a tree job. Leave the small debris for the blower, unless you want to dethatch the lawn and waste energy. I see many people use the groundskeeper like a normal rake and "over rake" entering the realm of the backpack blower's duties.
 
Still hoping that I can see some data about metal vs plastic rake times.

I mean, anyone can claim 40% less time, but I need to see hard numbers to back that up.

SZ
 
[ QUOTE ]
I did a time study comparing metal and plastic rakes a number of years ago. All sorts of rakeup conditions were included too.

Plastic was ahead by 40% less time!

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom,

I thought they were going to mess with you, asking if that was the same study done in conjunction with NASA, on a stimulus money grant.

grin.gif


I noticed that plastic is often a bigger faster bulldozer for stuff in many cases.

But the average one being typically wider meant slightly tougher to load. Almost all had wood handles which broke. And plastic was the worst for raking "the fines" out of turf.

So for durability, quality of site clean-up and all other, plastic was not very desirable.

cool.gif
 
I HATE the groundskeeper rakes.

It doesn't do a fine enough clean up and is way to aggressive on lawns.

We buy crap plastic rakes, break about 8-10 per month then I buy more at 5$ a clip. Would I like a better rake? Sure. That's why I bought the groundsrapist rakes. No go. Whole crew hated them. Clean up looked like garbage and lawns where being ravaged (mostly due to over watering and weakly rooted grass but plastic rakes weren't as damaging)

I can't ever imagine having time to judge efficiency of metal rakes to plastic rakes or the patience. God bless those who do.
 
Had the metal rakes on rough ashphalt and the noise almost made me want to put on muffs. Did some shopping around and the rakes are all put away and seasonal means christmas bobbles. So far the only place I can find Jackson clog free rakes is Canadian Tire. We haven't killed any in summer and they get used as hard as any. They even do a wicked job as shovels. Push or scoop.
 
[ QUOTE ]


I thought they were going to mess with you, asking if that was the same study done in conjunction with NASA, on a stimulus money grant.


[/ QUOTE ]

I am curious who funded this "study."

I stand by my previous assertion that the groundskeeper blows goats.
 
It's all in how you use it. It's designed to pick up and throw material. Short quick strokes. Nothing comes close to it for twigs.

Personally I love the groundskeeper rake. I just replaced mine after sending one through the chipper.
 
We like them. Good all around, sturdy, light, rake.

Spreads mulch, gravel, rakes just about anything.

Our br600 does 95% of the cleanup, but the gk is great for the rest.
 
I've been using the groundskeeper rakes for a few months now and they will be my rake of choice unless something better comes along.
 
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