Pine Needle Rake - EA, Titan or ?

[losttrail61]

New BX23S here in Colorado. 2.5 acres loaded with Ponderosa pines. Previous owner of this property piled pine needles up around base of the trees. Some piles were 30' long and 4' deep. Apparently trying to kill the trees.

We bought this place last June and in late July/early August, I hauled (8) 16' trailer loads, packed 6' high to the Black Forest mulch yard. Love that place, I even volunteer there.

Anyway, with the new BX, I want to get a pine needle rake.

Just got an email back from EA that they are 4-5 weeks away from shipping due to high demand.

Much longer lead time than I had hoped, so looking for other options.

From what I can glean from just online, EA seems to be the #1. Titan seems very similar in design, but pretty typical of poor Chinese manufacturing. But then is the EA twice the rake the Titan is? EA is twice the price, but where is the point of diminishing return?

Tractor Supply has a Field Tough version for $280, but they are not in stock so can't really determine quality.

I do want replaceable tines and realize that this will be a never ending activity until I die, so I don't really want to buy something that will fail and require a replacement any time soon.

Wondering if anyone has an alternative that I have not found. Thanks for any input.

 

[Creature Meadow]

This may be useless to you but, all my EA stuff is top notch and built to last.

So for me I turn to EA, no dig against other companies but I do like me some EA stuff.

May be worth the wait!

 

[losttrail61]

This may be useless to you but, all my EA stuff is top notch and built to last.

So for me I turn to EA, no dig against other companies but I do like me some EA stuff.

May be worth the wait!

I was/am definitely leaning towards pulling the trigger on the EA.

Just haven't been around the tractor world since I was 20 and joined the Army, so was looking for input to see if there was another top notch player out there.

Not used to these sub-compact tractors. Grew up on full size to jumbo farm equipment. Still get a yearly fix on the big toys when I head up to MT and help one brother during hay season.

Thanks. Think I'll let Travis at EA know that I'm ordering the 60" Pine Needle rake.

Buy once, cry once.

Thanks.

P.S. Just ordered the 60" Pine Needle rake from EA. I think I can feel good about this purchase.

 

[SRG]

Lol, that didn't take much convincing.
I have the Titan 72" rake and shopped the EA before I bought the Titan, for a fraction of the price. Aside from paint, they are virtually identical.
Once you get the right angle of the dangle, they work pretty good on leaves.
This was as I was assembling it last year.

 

[losttrail61]

Lol, that didn't take much convincing.
I have the Titan 72" rake and shopped the EA before I bought the Titan, for a fraction of the price. Aside from paint, they are virtually identical.
Once you get the right angle of the dangle, they work pretty good on leaves.
This was as I was assembling it last year.

I was interested in the Titan, but palletforks.com website shows "Out of stock". I tried contacting them both by phone and email on Tuesday. No response as of yet.

Also tried contacting a couple other places that list the Titan as available, but either no response or I seemed to be an annoyance.

 

[torch]

I have the 60" Titan. The tines are not as heavy as the EA version. The machining of the holes was less than stellar. However, it does do the job. I bought a package of 5 extra tines with the rake, just in case. Pictures and description are here.

 

[Fordtech86]

Don’t quote me on this and maybe somebody else that knows more about trees as I do not...but down here people pile up the pine needles around the base of their pine trees the light the needles and burn them. I have been told it helps the tree grow faster??? Do not know anything about it but know I see it all the time around here.

 

[L35]

Anyone use one of these for leaf piles, specifically dragging piles across grass to a composting area? Is it tough on the grass? I have a York rake and know it would be hell on the grass is this a better alternative?

 

[SRG]

I did just that last fall, and made some big piles of leaves. It took a little messing around with the top link length to get the right, angle of attack, and amount of tension on the tines. Some times it took 2-3 passes before I was satisfied by the amount of leaves left in the grass. But overall it worked pretty good on the leaves. I didn't feel like it really did much if any damage, to the lawn itself. My landscape rake will destroy the lawn, this pine needle rake is much more forgiving. Moisture content of the soil will be a big factor on how easily it destroys things also.

 

[torch]

Anyone use one of these for leaf piles, specifically dragging piles across grass to a composting area? Is it tough on the grass? I have a York rake and know it would be hell on the grass is this a better alternative?

I used mine for raking leaves last fall. Works reasonably well, until it is full. Then the tines bend back and start releasing clumps of leaves. So I used it to rake leaves into piles, then loaded the FEL and dragged a bite size pile with the rake to the disposal area.

I found the rake alone was not hard on the grass, but the weight of a quick-attach added considerable down-force and started tugging up clumps of grass. (I have very sandy soil, so your mileage may vary in firmer soils.)

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Anyone use one of these for leaf piles, specifically dragging piles across grass to a composting area? Is it tough on the grass? I have a York rake and know it would be hell on the grass is this a better alternative?

Yes pine straw rakes are much easier on the grass, how much easier would depend on a lot of factors.

 

[L35]

Alright thanks for the input.

 

[losttrail61]

Don’t quote me on this and maybe somebody else that knows more about trees as I do not...but down here people pile up the pine needles around the base of their pine trees the light the needles and burn them. I have been told it helps the tree grow faster??? Do not know anything about it but know I see it all the time around here.

Here in forest fire country, having piles of needles is just creating a "when" not "if" situation for a fire happening. Seen it far too many times. Also, when there is a fire, local firefighters assess which properties warrant the effort of them trying to save a property. Those with pile of needles, firewood stacked next to a building, too much growth or stuff next to a building, get passed by. Fire mitigation is a major issue around here since we've had 3 major fires in the past 15 years.

Not fond of having ash and embers falling on our house without mounds of fuel, much less with the tons of needles that were around this place.

Not only that, but the top 4"-12" of needles were dry (kindling), but below that, moisture was causing bark rot, mold, fungus.

 

[losttrail61]

Yes pine straw rakes are much easier on the grass, how much easier would depend on a lot of factors.

That was my thought. Initially I was going to get a landscape rake, but watched a couple of online videos and decided it would have torn our thin, delicate topsoil to pieces and uprooting what grass we do have.

 

[quicktractor]

After much thought with the same question I ended up with the titan. It works great. I have some video but cant figure out how to post so I just took some screen shots for before, during, and after. All the dead stuff was gone and the live grass (little that there is) is still there.

 

[losttrail61]

After much thought with the same question I ended up with the titan. It works great. I have some video but cant figure out how to post so I just took some screen shots for before, during, and after. All the dead stuff was gone and the live grass (little that there is) is still there.

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I see you're in Flagstaff. Kinda, sorta the same issues we have here: very little topsoil and tender vegetation. What little grass there is, has to fight to grow on decomposed granite and battle the acid from the pine needles.

I like what that rake is doing.

Thinking I maybe should have gone with the Titan and maybe received it sooner. I'm not anticipating the EA shipping before the end of May, maybe even in to June.

 

[losttrail61]

Well, I'm working through cancelling the EA rake since it appears it would not even ship until some time in June.

Going to get a Titan that I can have by next Thursday. Can get the 5' for $282, 6' for $345, both with free shipping, as opposed to the EA 5' which was $544 with shipping.

I'm sure the Titan is not up to the quality of the EA, but is the EA nearly twice the quality?

Now the debate of 5' or 6'. Thinking that 5' will get between some trees where 6' won't.

 

[RLinNH]

Great thread loaded with information on an implement that I have been looking into since I bought my tractor last year. I am headed off to purchase the EA in about 30 seconds. IMHO, I don't mind paying for quality.