Cleared land refuse rake?

[dwragon]

Hi all, I just got through using a thumbed excavator to clear about 7 acres of invasive eastern red cedar trees. Plans are for another 7 next year, then dozer work to smooth out the ravines. I need ideas of something to rake up the refuse.dont know if I should use something on the front of a tractor, or the back.any ideas would be appreciated, especially pics of applicable homemade equipment.

 

[Ohio88]

When I cleared some land I used a square bale mover with grapple to get the brush up. Flowed by a Ferguson cultivator with all the units set in a row as far
back as Imcould get them to rake small roots and leftover brush. Flowed that with a landscape rake. Dug all the trees and brush with a bigger track hoe.
Cut out the logs and big branches and piled them with the track hoe.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I'd use a chisel plow to help with getting roots and such up on top then a lot of it will be just picking up by hand or with a grapple on a bucket a few times as they work up to the top. After which I would work it over again with the chisel plow finally a disc or maybe a field cultivator. A root/landscape rake is not really necessary unless you are making a lawn out of it, If just a field for planting corn the rake is not needed. I saw a guy take a smaller scarcely populated field and burn it down then notill beans into it. Always wondered how many sections he needed cutting the beans.

 

[RobCons]

A rake will clean up the small things nicely and leave a good finish. Dont use it on big logs or stumps as it can bend when overloaded. Speaking from experience on that.

 

[showcrop]

I have used an old spring harrow, but I had minimal stump holes to work around and it sounds like you will have a lot more. I agree with caterpillar guy that you will need some sort of chisel to break and bring up roots which will at the same time soften the edges of your stump holes. After the chisel perhaps something like a spring harrow would help to gather the remaining roots and branches.

 

[Billy NY]

Typically that work is done with something like a Fleco Root Rake, see the link below, might give you some ideas. I've raked
many acres with one on a D8K Cat, after the clearing with feller bunchers and stump removal after that. Works pretty good
actually.
FLECO ROOT RAKES

 

[MF#1]

Did the excavator pull up the stump or leave a bunch of broken pieces? The stumps of most of the cedar around here don't last too long and pull up/out fairly easy after a few years. There are no significant roots to worry about. When the dozer shows up he can push all the debris in a pile, I've got probably 40 to 50 small piles of rotting cedar scattered over the farm. All I've used was a 6 foot 3PH blade reversed to push the leftovers.

 

[Texasmark]

I thought a 3 pt landscape rake was a useless tool. Neighbor had a bunch of trees that he had a contractor remove by a mulching
attachment on a Bobcat. Wood chips (and thorns) were everywhere.

I thought about it and a landscape rake seemed to be the right answer so I bought one and it did a superb job raking that mess
into piles that he burned off and all is clear. I got the 6' for my less than 70 hp tractors and it has different angle positions and the
boom upon which the curved tines are located can be rotated 360* for pushing or pulling, forward, or reverse. The 3 pt leveler on
the tractor takes care of any angle adjustments needed.

Next thing I had another neighbor with loose ground concrete bits for driveway rock....no Finds in it, just loose rock about 2-3
thick. He had worked it up into a washboard condition with gaping holes in a few places. The rake made short work of that too.

Sooooo next thing that happened is that I got my leaf blower out and rounded up my leaves into piles and rather than getting out
the lawn mower with DR leaf vac, I just used the rake to rake them into a pile that my neighbor will come and get for mulching his
garden.

So, moral of the story is if you haven't tried something, don't knock it.

 

[Texasmark]

Yesterday I realized another use I think I have for the rake. In the fall, I let my grass head out and stems are full of seeds. ...that's how I make perennials out of annual plants.

Usual practice was to light disc in the spring but light discing uprooted some plants. This year, I am going to top dress with N and turn the rake teeth around pointing toward the rear. Then drag the rake across the field to put a little dirt over the N and last year's seeds and see if that doesn't get better results. Pretty sure it will, worth the try.

 

[dwragon]

(quoted from post at 11:58:40 12/24/21) Did the excavator pull up the stump or leave a bunch of broken pieces? The stumps of most of the cedar around here don't last too long and pull up/out fairly easy after a few years. There are no significant roots to worry about. When the dozer shows up he can push all the debris in a pile, I've got probably 40 to 50 small piles of rotting cedar scattered over the farm. All I've used was a 6 foot 3PH blade reversed to push the leftovers.

A friend who claimed experience left stumps, what I cleared, the stumps were removed, but of course some roots remain. What I am working toward is abushhoggable ground, so I don't want stamps at all,but I also have to reshape the land from a mini grand canyon into smooth ground my sheep won't die in. Things will get better once I get a dozer going.

 

[dwragon]

A 3 point rake was what I was looking towards, but I was going to build my own or of angle iron and drill stem, considering what you have said about the versatility of a manufactured one, I may look at those.