Okay, let me tell you about this time I had to deal with a real mess of a yard. We’d just cleared out a bunch of old shrubs and junk, and the ground left behind was… well, awful. It was bumpy, packed hard in places, soft in others, and just littered with rocks and old roots. Honestly, trying to level it with hand rakes and shovels was getting nowhere fast. My back was killing me.
I remembered seeing guys use this attachment on a skid steer, looked like some kind of power rake. Did some asking around, found out it was called a Harley Rake. Seemed like just the ticket. So, I went ahead and rented one for the weekend, along with a small skid steer to run it.
Getting Started with the Beast
First thing was getting it hooked up. Pretty straightforward, just like any other skid steer attachment. Quick connects for the hydraulics, lock the pins, and good to go. Hopped in the machine, fired it up. Then I engaged the hydraulics to get the rake drum spinning. It made this whirring sound, ready to chew up whatever was in front of it.
I started slow. Lowered the rake just enough to bite into the high spots. Pushed forward a bit. Man, you could see it working right away. It just pulverized the dirt clods. Stones I hadn’t even seen got kicked up and sort of rolled along in front of the rake. It was like a giant, angry rototiller but way better at smoothing things out.
The Nitty Gritty Work
Here’s what I ended up doing, basically:
- Breaking up the rough stuff: My first pass was just about busting up that compacted soil and ripping out the smaller roots the main clearing had missed. I kept the rake fairly level and just drove over the whole area.
- Collecting the junk: As I worked, the rake naturally pulled rocks, roots, and other debris forward. After a pass or two over a section, I could angle the rake slightly, maybe lift it just a touch, and kind of bulldoze the pile of junk off to the side. Way easier than picking it all by hand.
- Leveling and Grading: This was the cool part. Once the big junk was gone and the soil was loose, I could adjust the angle of the rake. By tilting it side-to-side, I could move soil from high spots to low spots. I made several passes, going back and forth, overlapping each time, just watching the ground get smoother and smoother. It took some practice to get the feel for how much to angle it and how fast to go, but you get the hang of it.
- Final Finish: For the last pass, I kept the rake pretty level and went slow. It leaves this nice, slightly fluffy, but level finish. Kind of like corduroy, but with dirt. It was perfect, all ready for grass seed.
What I Found Out
That Harley Rake thing is a serious workhorse. It doesn’t just rake; it really conditions the soil. Breaks it up, pulls out the trash, levels it off. It saved me probably days of manual labor and did a much better job than I ever could have by hand. Before, the yard was a lumpy, rocky wasteland. After a few hours with the rake, it looked like a proper seedbed, totally transformed.
Strong points? Definitely breaking up compacted ground and pulling out rocks and debris you didn’t even know were there. And the leveling ability is fantastic once you get a feel for it. It really turns a rough site into something workable pretty quickly.
So yeah, if you’ve got a big area of ground to prep, especially if it’s rough, rocky, or compacted, using a Harley Rake is the way to go. Made a believer out of me. That weekend job went from being a nightmare to actually kind of satisfying, seeing the ground change so drastically under the machine.
