# Leaf rakes, have a favorite that lasts?



## jimrb (Dec 30, 2020)

I do trail cleaning for mountain bike trails. It seems that I get a few days use before the cheap red steel tined rakes from Ace Hardware have taken on a new and not helpful shape. The chrome spring also has sprung. Seems I had some other rake with black tines that did not do so swell either. Anyone find any rakes that handle some work? Note that I am not a burly guy so in theory I am not overloading the rakes. Yard raking does not see me abusing or deforming a rake the same way trail clearing does. Not interested in wide rakes either. I tried a few different wide plastic tined rakes and they did not work well. Too wide to start with. I do not recall what other reasons I did not like the plastic rakes. I do not recall tearing up rakes 45 years ago when I raked leaves for money. On the other hand rakes were not made in China when I was a child.


----------



## Tin-knocker (Dec 30, 2020)

I use one like this. https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/755625/755625009029.jpg works great for me. The only thing I did was run a bolt through the handle and the rake to hold them tighter together and to keep the rake itself from falling off.


----------



## jimrb (Dec 30, 2020)

Tin-knocker said:


> I use one like this. https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/755625/755625009029.jpg works great for me. The only thing I did was run a bolt through the handle and the rake to hold them tighter together and to keep the rake itself from falling off.


Maybe I need to consider that. I have always used a regular leaf rake for leaf and branch clearing. The stiff steel tines rakes are what I use to move dirt and gravel.


----------



## medalist (Dec 30, 2020)

The one labeled "Ames" is about par with others, available at Ace. Not the same as the old Ames but squeezing down on the stiffener so it doesn't slide out and keeping a thru bolt holding it together in with a locknut sure helps.

Curious, would a backpack blower be out of the question?


----------



## Del_ (Dec 30, 2020)

This is the best rake I've used:









The Groundskeeper II Rake


The Groundskeeper II rake is lightweight and extremely durable. With the fiberglass handle and co-polymer head it makes this rake almost impossible to destroy.




www.treestuff.com


----------



## jimrb (Dec 30, 2020)

I ordered one of the Grounds Keeper rakes. AM Leonard shipping was much lower.

I do use a leaf blower but when you are in 6 month old pine straw hatch woven in to vines and muscadine vines and small branches I have to pull things out of the way with a rake. A bit less raking going from an Echo PB500 to a Stihl BR 800 CE. That Stihl twists me around when at full throttle. Good thing I am belted in or it might twist off my back. Or it seems like it might. 

Thanks for the ideas!


----------



## triktor4411 (Jan 6, 2021)

the groundkeeper 2 is an amazing hidden gem of a rake but not really for this, it's great for prepping for seeding etc to gently remove thatch without ripping up good grass, it's not extremely durable for vines etc this guy mentioned.

I'd go at it with a weed wacker then blow it all to the side.

I picked up my first dual tine plastic rake after heavily using mostly wide plastic regular ones for years, I have metal ones but they're rougher on the turf usually I only rake for leaves that a blower can't reach or shrub cleanup or scalping a lawn before seeding, and plastic is the most gently and doesn't let as much stuff slip through. Metal is good for branchy cleanup.

But anyway, the dual tine, while not as gentle as a regular plastic one, when that doesn't matter, it really does seem to reduce the amount of strokes needed to move something, it sort of digs in and grabs the stuff but don't have to pull any harder than normal, it was a ~$25 Craftsman from Lowe's I believe. I need to get another more gently regular plastic one though.

Dual tine rakes are usually wide and can become fatiguing or awkward if moving a lot of material, but I Think the ends could be cut off.

One tip I'd give if you're really out there raking hard for a while, is that short snappy strokes get deeper and seems to be less fatiguing, like, if you're a righty like me, I hold the tip of the rake handle in left hand and left hand is way up in front of my face, then right hand around waste level and right hand does all the work just short snappy pops with both arms extended and while slowly walking backwards, it'll get deep and thorough compared to the long, sweeping, throwing motion usually done.


----------

