# Harley or Turf Teq power rakes?



## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

Hi,

Does anyone here have experience with a Harley or Turf Teq power rake for maintaining flow trail?

Our club has a budget requisition for one of these and I don't see info on their use for trail maintenance. Some of us with more dirt shaping experience have used compactors as shaping and tools and are not wrapping our head around how a machine like this might work. Our methods have been shovels, mini ex, and walk behind dozers with hand tools or power compactors.

I don't want to be against the requisition without knowing more, and with a lot of berm and jump shaping experience with more traditional or at least different tools I don't want to be closed mind either.

Thank you for any input here.

The items requisitioned by a trail steward.

Power Rake - Professional Grounds Care Equipment - Turf Teq
https://www.everythingattachments.c...-Power-Box-Rake-p/har-power-box-rake-wb36.htm


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

No experience. Subscribed. Interesting concept for trail use. I could think of only a couple trails in my area where it could be used, though. Like you say, a "flow" trail with the right soil conditions. I could have used one yesterday while working on generating those nice "fines" for my final compaction when redoing a segment and a turn. I watched the video but didn't delve in too deep and it would be interesting from a mechanical longevity standpoint to see just how the drum/teeth are constructed. That could prove to be an insanely harsh environment they're operating in and that's a spendy piece of gear.

How much trail would you have to utilize this?


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

Just pave it instead.


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## tbmaddux (May 22, 2012)

bitflogger said:


> Does anyone here have experience with a Harley or Turf Teq power rake for maintaining flow trail?


I have seen something similar used at Blackrock Mountain Bike Area, which is a flow/freeride bike-only trail system in Oregon. Predominantly wood and dirt features with only a few rocks. Oregon DOF isn't permitting any new trails, so they are entirely in maintenance/tuning mode at this point, with occasional realignments.

They don't have excavators or walk-behind dozers. Probably not even powered wheelbarrows, as far as I know. So they use a machine like you've linked to break through the hardpack of existing tread. Then rebuild and pack using hand tools (shovels, rakes).

Example:


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## twd953 (Aug 21, 2008)

bitflogger said:


> Hi,
> 
> Does anyone here have experience with a Harley or Turf Teq power rake for maintaining flow trail?
> 
> [/url]


I could see a use for something like that for a high traffic flow trail at a lift-served bike park where you've got tons of braking bumps and bomb holes to deal with on a regular basis. Could be pretty handy for dealing with a big section of hardpack braking bumps leading into a turn, but I wonder how well that would would work, if at all on a berm.

Seems a bit overkill for a flow trail that needs occaisonal maintenance to fill in a few holes. These machines obviously completly tear up the existing tread which you then need to re-shape and re-compact. And you've got to deal with any debris that gets sidecast by the machine. So, it could save some work in loosening up the soil but that's only step one in the process.

So, for $10K, you have to ask yourself, how many times a year are you completly reworking sections of trail tread?


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## Cotharyus (Jun 21, 2012)

Maintain? No, I wouldn't say maintain. I've seen one used to rehab a flow trail that was blown out and where rocks had come up in it, etc. - but I would call that a 10 year project and not a yearly project. I've used similar machines to open trail on basically flat ground where undergrowth, rock and small root removal was really the only thing needed, follow it with a rake and then ride it in. It's not completely useless as an investment if there's a LOT of flow trail and it gets eaten up pretty badly. But it's overkill for periodic maintenance on most of what I've seen.


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Sounds like you got everything else, why not?


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## HypNoTic (Jan 30, 2007)

We actually use a Harley rake for BMX track maintenance. It works great but I would not see that being used for any kind of trail work in my area!


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## HacksawReynolds (Dec 1, 2017)

Why oh why would rock and small roots ever need to be removed for building a trail for MTB?👽


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## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

HacksawReynolds said:


> Why oh why would rock and small roots ever need to be removed for building a trail for MTB?


Because a part of my bike posse is as into shaped dirt, pumping, speed and flight as much as we love rocks, roots, logs and stream crossing.

Because maintaining a broad amount of trail inventory has done a lot to make our efforts and the sport more sustainable.


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## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

HypNoTic said:


> We actually use a Harley rake for BMX track maintenance. It works great but I would not see that being used for any kind of trail work in my area!


A skid steer mounted unit or the two wheel walk behind type?

Thank you.


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## HypNoTic (Jan 30, 2007)

bitflogger said:


> A skid steer mounted unit or the two wheel walk behind type?
> 
> Thank you.


Both. A BCS-mounted unit and one on our Terex PT60. I'm currently looking at replacing the BCS with one for the Ditch Witch instead.


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