[Lawn Lad]

Our lawn installation work is focused on a niche market in established surburbs where we remove and replace lawns or renovate them, generally no more than about 5,000 sq ft at a time. We use a Dingo, and recently purchased a lawn cultiavator to give us another option in the tool box. We hydroseed with a Turfmaker using a 100% wood fiber mulch.

I've been asked to do lawn installation work that will require more than our Dingo. We do have a NH Lx885, but no Harley rake or rock hound, etc.

A new building in a 'country' setting was built, surrounding grade has been bulldozed/graded. There is a fair bit of gravel/concrete and asphalt rock in the "soil", which appears to be compacted clay. Not large rock or rubble pieces, but enough little pieces that they need to be addressed. I need to prep and seed the lawn area which measures a total of about 26,000 sq ft.

It looks like from reading that the Harley Rake is a good way to go with soil prep, particularly if their budget allows little or no top soil in the budget. Judging by other lawn areas, they need green cover to minimize mud and errosion - so turf quality isn't the highest priority. The ground is solid enough I feel very comfortable with taking the skid steer in the areas.

How does the harley rake perform? What are the steps in the process of prepping this lawn using a harley rake? Would I be better off using a rock hound to remove the rock from the site? Or, what is the best method for picking up rock the harley rake leaves behind?

If we do add top soil to this type of square footage, how would we spread it? I can get it dumped right in the lawn area, and use the bucket/skid steer to relocate/dump and spread for the most part. Is there a preferred method of spreading an even one to two inches of soil across the area to assure a more consistent or uniform distribution? Is there where the york rake would come in?

[Pelican]

I've tried both the Harley Rake and the Preparator. I rented both, but I never returned the Harley. It was new the day I rented it and I bought it outright.

I found too much soil was removed with the Preparator, it didn't take much debris to clog the holes the topsoil is supposed to filter through. If there is the least bit of moisture in the soil, the holes clog quickly too. I think a load of spoils would be about 50% topsoil that should have been left behind. You can't angle the Preparator either.

The Harley doesn't retain the rocks so it doesn't collect soil either. The way I attack a fairly large area is to angle the rake without the end wings and make a deep pass going forward. (I use a skid steer) This will kick the stones out to one side in a windrow. Depending on how rocky the soil is you might have to do this more than once. Then switch to your bucket and skim off the stones.

Next I attach the wings on the back of the rake and straighten it to the machine. If you are happy with the grade, you can start skimming the rocks off by setting the rake so the tips just penetrate the soil. The wings will hold most of them in the rake and just leave the pile at the end of your pass. Again, how rocky the soil is will determine how many times you'll need to do this

Next switch to the bucket and skim off the stones. The process will require switching attachments quite a few times, but it not as bad as it might sound. Once you get the swing of running the rake, you'll be surprised how quickly you'll shape up a yard.

[Pelican]

I missed your last paragraph. Rough grade the new soil with the bucket, then put the wings on the Harley and pull straight backwards. The rake will act like a box grader and smooth things right out.

I spread nearly 50 tons of item 4 on a driveway, roughing it in with the bucket, then grading it with the Harley. When I was done it looked like it had been put down with a paver!!

[Stonehenge]

I’ve never tried anything other than the Harley, but have been pretty happy with it. The main tip I’d give, is if the grade is pretty rough/bumpy to begin with, (using a skidsteer-mounted harley rake) start at one corner of the lot and push (go forward) with the rake to smooth out the bumps. I’ve found that if you start by pulling (going backwards), you only amplify the hills and valleys of the grade.

Oh – and I never have the rake in the “float” position – it just doesn’t do enough in the float position.

The way we grade a yard doesn’t sound like it involves as many swaps of implements as Pelican, but we still have to go back and forth a couple times between rake and bucket. This is how we approach a grading/seeding job in very general terms (which addresses the topsoil spreading, too):

Grade the yard with a Harley to remove debris and get to within ½” +/- of final grade.

Put on bucket, remove debris, then use bucket to spread 2 – 18yd loads of topsoil evenly over entire property (we just drive and dump soil – the skidsteer is in constant motion making topsoil “delivery” loops around the yard).

Put harley rake back on, finish grading by machine and by hand where needed.

Seed.