Groundskeeper Rake

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I use a bamboo rake. A disposable item, when it has lost it's functionality, it goes into the stove. You might not think so by looking at it, but these bamboo brooms are the best for sweeping a street.
 

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arborworks1 said:
Y'all need to learn to use your bp blower in combination with your gk rake....
Remember people don't give a shit that you removed a 20,000 pound tree, made it fit in a 4x4 hole in the landscape. They only remember the condition that you left the property in.
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Omg this is so true. First guy Dad started working for in AZ, biggest lesson he taught was "90% of your customers won't know you made all the proper cuts, appreciate all the rigging you did to save their flower bed, but I guarantee 100% of them know what a good clean up job looks like". Me and him are super OCD about it, and I hate when we use part time guys, or even our one full time guy doesn't do a good raking, or misses a spot or two.
 
Tucker943 said:
As a climber though, I do take my sweet ass time chilling out for a bit when I get out of the tree. I expect anyone to. I typically come down, chill in the truck, used to smoke a cig, check my phone, snack, play the radio quietly..... After a bit I roll out of the truck and get into the game again. As the climber and boss, I feel its important to do grunt work as well. It let's my guys know I'm dealing with the same bullshit headaches they are, and then some.
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Same here, though normally I have to jump right into something to make up for our slow paced groundy. I'm used to it tho, I was raised to learn to do the shitty stuff and do it well, its how I earned respect from the guys who used to work for us when I was younger. Bosses son had to earn the respect by showing he's not afraid to jump in with the grunts and do the shitty jobs, and do them fast and well.
 
I don't think the rake is worth it unless you do a lot of stumpgrinding or removals with really rough cleanup. The things pull up runners in the turf around here on avg. clean ups so it doesn't get a spot on the chip truck. On dead tree removal clean ups its the cats pajamas though, combined with a tough tarp.

I like raking, just hate bending down to pick up the piles!

This all reminds me, maybe it should be its own thread or poll, but do you blow debris on driveways and walks onto grass and then rake or blow/rake onto nearest driveway or street and then rake/sweep/scoop up? I am a firm believer, in most cases, that it is most efficient to blow off all concrete areas and then rake grass and you're DONE. I keep getting guys that want to make it a 5 step process and it drives me nuts. Finer materials fall into grass and then what's on top can almost always be chipped.
 
I hate working with guys who rake everything onto the concrete and then blow everything into a pile by the chipper so they can shovel all that dirt into the chipper. So much easier to leave the dirt in the yard where it belongs.
 
I get heated when I see that crap Brian. Anyone who works with me knows not to chip the rakings, especially not from the street. Large rakings, yes. The fine rubble, no. My latest rule is to blow off the driveway around the workzone and chipper before we start working. Gets the gravel away from the area and in that case, all the rakings can be chipped.
 
It's a little tough on chipper blades to run driveway gravel through them .Cell phones don't seem to bother them though .
 
I WILL NOT let crap go through my chipper! MY chipper has a mulching bin and that will not even see the last of the clean up. The last bit of crap that may have rocks and what not in it goes in the tarp and is burned in a pile somewhere. Usually at my place. Else wise it is put in a 40 gal trash unit and taken to the dunp for 3 bucks with the rest of my household waste. Most the driveways are gravel or slate in these parts. YOU DO NOT want that shat in your chipper. Even asphalt usually is chip sealed. Small gravel any way you want to cut it.
 
Tucker943 said:
My latest rule is to blow off the driveway around the workzone and chipper before we start working. Gets the gravel away from the area and in that case, all the rakings can be chipped.
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Good idea Chris. Thanks, I'm going to try and remember that.
 
Tucker943 said:
...My latest rule is to blow off the driveway around the workzone and chipper before we start working. Gets the gravel away from the area and in that case, all the rakings can be chipped.
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Good idea, but that couldn't be enough to keep your chipper sharp : the rake tends to pull out the little stones, sand and some dirt from the ground, even on the grass. Worse, think of a bare soil near a hedge or under a heavy shade tree. A noticeable amount of crap follows your raking, and it's very hard (almost impossible) to select only the "chippable" material.
As you said, " Large rakings, yes" (with caution though). "The fine rubble, no."
 
I just got a Groundskeeper rake and I have to say I really like it. I used it on a really dead storm damaged cottonwood were the top blew out and splattered into, no less, than a million pieces. It seemed to take less effort to rake than using a steel or plastic rake because I had all three on site to "take the Pepsi challenge". I just wish I bought it a week earlier for this walnut removal, that would have been a good test.
 
I have always used the cheap metal rakes untill earlier this summer. I bought four new metal ones and they were broke in a week. I went back and bought two groundkeepers and they have lasted all summer and work so much better. I wish I would of tried them before. The best part of the groundskeeper is that they are made right here in Iowa!
 
We have been using two different rakes, I thought they were both made by the same company. We have one groundskeeper and three that are called the maintainer. The maintainer's tines arent bent as sharp as the groundskeeper the groundskeeper grabs alittle too much. We always grab the maintainer for clean up, it works better. http://www.maintainerrake.com/
 
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Duane had one in his basment of all things. He brought it in a few weeks ago and it works well. I dont feel like it replaces a $6 rake but its great for certain situations.

I had to change my stroke I guess, by pulling back more. After getting over the initial pains of it getting stuck in the grass every time it definitely grew on me.

It seems like a great rake and the durability looks promising.

My name is Nick Bonner and I approved this message.
 
I got tired of buying $6 rakes every week. The handles would break in half and the tines would start to come out. I bought a couple maintainers and they have lasted four months. The maintainer doesnt grab as bad as the groundskeeper. After you you use one for a while you wont go to the old metal ones. Check out the website in my last post.
 
Idk who makes it, but we have a red handled rake dad picked up recently, the thing works so well it's amazing. Idk what it is, but the head isn't tight to the handle, like it swings back and forth maybe an inch, kinda like a tiny hinge effect, and for some reason that makes a huge difference. I know it sounds weird, but it amazed me using that rake and then switching over to a normal one the difference that hinge effect really makes. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow or Monday.
 
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