Learning to choose a fan rake. Repair of fan rakes Defects for writing off fan rakes
We have chosen such a rake this time. The next step is the purchase of a plate fan.
A fan rake is a fairly popular garden tool. Once upon a time flattered by stories experienced summer residents, I bought these, moreover, the first ones that came across, but I was very unhappy with this tool. So she threw him into the barn.
Time has passed. Experience (alas, someone else's) showed that a fan rake is not such a bad and very necessary thing for garden plot... But, unfortunately, the last purchase was irretrievably lost, and I had to go to the store again for a rake. It was then that a number of discoveries awaited me.
- Something small, they are somehow, - I complained, considering the only kind of this tool available at the moment in the store. - The past I had more, and soft, flexible. And this rake is tough.
- So it depends for what purposes to acquire a fan rake. They are completely different both in structure and in size. And although the main purpose of the fan rakes is garbage collection, they are intended for different jobs, '' said Tatyana Kolach, a sales assistant at a specialized shop for gardeners.
Fan types
It turns out that there are several types of fan rakes: wire, plate and plastic fan rakes.
* Wire rake stiffer, their teeth are made of thick wire, and the ends are bent at right angles. This helps to avoid damaging already sprouted plants when cleaning up garbage.
But they are not intended for collecting foliage, since they will string leaves on themselves. After several movements, the tips of the fan are covered with a dense "skirt".
When cleaning a mowed lawn, excessive stiffness and sharpness of the tips can damage the lawn. The surface of the earth will be scratched, the grass suffers from this or is completely uprooted.
* Plate rake are based on a series of narrow curved plates. They spring well and do an excellent job on uneven surfaces.
They do not get entangled in dense grass, foliage is not strung and is swept away in whole bales. Garbage collection is fast and targeted. The elasticity of the material does not provide for excessive pressure, but in any case, the fan does not deform, and it always returns to its previous position.
The lamellar fan, due to its flexibility, cannot cope with tall, dense grass. He is unable to collect small twigs and twigs. It is useless for picking fallen apples, plums and other fruits, the prongs will bend and leave all solid objects on the ground.
* Plastic rake are seriously inferior to the previous ones in terms of their characteristics and strength.
Plastic is not afraid of moisture and rust. But such fan nozzles lack elasticity, they are more fragile than iron ones. Can break under strong pressure and vigorous use. Most often, they suffer from the sleeve - the connecting place with the handle. This problem makes them short-lived.
How to choose a fan rake
- If you have decided on the type of fan, then when buying, you need to check the flexibility - put it on the floor or counter and press on the work surface, - Tatiana continues. - Make sure there are no cracks. On metal, check the integrity of the protective coating.
The best option would be a rake with maximum surface coverage. They have 22 prongs and are always sold with a handle. The handle can be telescopic, aluminum or plastic.
If you have a small area and you rarely use a rake, then buy plastic ones, they are much cheaper. In large areas where there are many garden trees and bushes, metal models are needed. Caring for them is quite simple: before winter storage, treat with oil and the rake will serve for a long time.
The cost of a fan rake can fluctuate depending on the number of teeth, material, their general view and manufacturer.
A bit of history
The homeland of the fan rake is Japan. Initially, there was no transverse ridge - the teeth diverged from the attachment point. Then, for convenience, they began to modify the rake.
A tractor rake is an indispensable thing when collecting hay. Due to the features of production and ease of use, rakes and tedders quickly collect hay using a tractor machine or walk-behind tractor. Actually, there is no significant difference between a rake and a tedder. Their main purpose is to stir up the cut grass and collect finished products. Mounted rakes / tedders for a tractor can be purchased from a specialized store or made by hand.
Design features
Wheel rakes / tedders
All tractor machines and motoblocks accept 4 and 5-wheel tedders. Such a rake works well with low-power tractor devices (up to 25 horsepower), agricultural walk-behind tractors and walk-behind adapters. The rake is presented in the form of wheels with curved rods. Two types are most popular in use:
- Rotary... The design, called "finger", is fixed on the rotating motor sections. Special beams are attached to them by installing springs that are directly involved in the assembly and tedding of grass and hay. This makes it easy to control and change both the tedding height and angle.
- Wheeled... Convenient to use: wheels (their number can be from 3 to 5) are obliquely from each other. This significantly increases the productivity of work and the speed of their implementation. The wheels are capable of replacing each other, each of them is mounted on two bearings: this greatly simplifies the repair process in the event of a breakdown.
Regardless of the choice made, the quality of harvesting, tedding, and the speed of work performed will many times exceed the quality and speed of manual execution.
Preparatory work
Rotary rakes / tedders
Any agrarian can learn how to make a rake on a tractor with his own hands. If a person already has the skill of handling or creating such a technique, it will not be difficult to make a hay tedder for a tractor on your own. In order to independently make a rotary tedder, it is necessary to make a metal frame from a pipe of round and angular cross-section. The rotor, without which the tedder process becomes impossible, is easily changed to rear axle an ordinary car.
Before starting work, you need to sketch out the drawings, which will gradually be embodied in the design. If a hay rower is being made for a tractor, it is important to put a reduction gear on the power take-off shaft. In many tractor machines, the number of shaft revolutions per minute is approximately 540. And this is already an impressive figure for tedders. 10 tubes in the form of a "sun" are welded to the disc of the machine. The rake teeth are made of sturdy steel and are attached to the rotor with a welding machine.
Manufacturing process
Homemade tedders are easy to use, however, repairs may require the services of a master - especially if the rake was made from low quality materials.
The manufacture of mounted wheeled tedders is carried out mainly for mini tractors and motoblocks. For motoblock units, a three-wheeled tedder is used, for tractors - a five-wheeled one. To start making a tedder, you need to prepare the following tools:
- Metal pipe.
- Wire up to 0.7 cm thick.
- Steel layers 3-4 mm thick.
A frame is made of a pipe, brackets are placed on it. Wheels are attached to them. Special bends - "fingers" are made of the wire, intended for raking the cut grass. They are attached to the discs with special bolts. To install the wheels, two bearings installed in the hubs are useful. After that, the hitch is made, and only then - the installation of the rake on the tractor.
A well-made rake and tedder will help ease the process of picking up, tedding and baling hay. Rotary models are distinguished by careful handling of crops that require careful harvest (such crops, for example, include alfalfa). Tedder tractors handle tough jobs with ease: turning and collecting wet, heavy hay.
The weak point of the sliding fan rake is the furrow width adjustment mechanism. Household modelsequipped with tin clips break after two or three seasons of operation. Consider a simple way to restore the performance of a garden tool within half an hour.
The movable mechanism of the steel fan rake becomes unusable due to wear of the working part of the lever and deformation of its axis, which is usually an M4 screw. The clamp of the device ceases to crimp the tube and fixing the position becomes impossible. The problem is solved by replacing the pin with a new one and adding a homemade insert that compensates for the development of the lever.
For a quick repair of garden tools you will need:
- Screwdriver;
- Pliers;
- Open-ended keys for "seven";
- Scissors for metal;
- Flat file;
- Measuring tool;
- Galvanized sheet metal strip;
- New bolt, nuts.
Repair procedure for fan rakes
1) Unscrew the nut from the rod using a wrench and a screwdriver.
2) After pulling out the axle, disassemble the mechanism. 
3) Mark and cut out a strip of tin, determining the dimensions on the movable plate of the device:
- They will have the same width;
- To the length of the "tongue" add 20-25 mm on the folds.
4) Bend the edge of the strip 10 mm long with pliers at right angles. 
5) The folded end of the workpiece is brought under the "tongue". 
6) Pressing on the tin, press it until it stops. 
7) Using pliers, fix one side of the part. 
A similar bend is made on the opposite side of the plate. 
9) Turning the part, finally squeeze both metal strips together. 
10) Align the clamp so that the pieces return to parallel positions. 
11) File beads of metal from the lever.
A self-made "routine" repair of a metal rake of a fan-type takes less than 30 minutes and allows you to use the tool as intended for at least one more season.
The rake fanned out or discarded cannot be repaired.
A good thing is a fan rake. They work more accurately than usual. Yes, that's just not enough for a long time. It seems to us that the most weakness for a fan rake, this is the junction of the rake with a shaft seat or "cup" in which the teeth are attached. At least in our economy, both simple fan rakes (cheap) and adjustable (more expensive) rakes broke off exactly the seat for the shaft or the teeth fell out of the "cup". Here is one such breakdown, another rake, all the "teeth" fell out of the "cup".
Pay attention to the place of attachment of the teeth - the "cup" - it is composite. One wall is held by the folded edges of the other wall and in two places there are traces of spot welding. Steel is normal in thickness. The construction seems to be very solid. And it is really strong, but not very strong. In the process of work, during the removal of debris or foliage, or something else, the teeth work like levers and the "cup" gradually expands. The teeth keep getting weaker and at some point they just fall off. How quickly this happens depends on your hard work, diligence and accuracy. 
It would seem nonsense. I put the teeth in place, hit it a couple of times with a hammer and everything became as before. But it was not so. Look at the shape of the teeth at the attachment point. Each of the teeth has a semicircular part at the top, and one of the walls of the landing cup has a depressed part (it is visible in the photo above). Obviously, in production, the teeth are first inserted, and then the landing cup is crimped. Those. for a really strong insert of teeth, which is not inferior in strength to production, you will first need to bend one wall of the "cup", then insert the teeth into place and return and return the bent wall to its original position. But we will not get the former strength. After all, it will not work to bend the wall without breaking the welding. 
Therefore, we will have to make a new mount for the teeth. Strong and collapsible, in case of future possible repairs... Let's get started. We made a new mount of 10mm plywood. They took a small strip of plywood and attached a rake to it in order to determine the size of the future fastening. The mount will be trapezoidal and in two parts. We will clamp the rake between these two parts. Strong, strong. 
For the strength of the fastening, we decided to put a nail of a suitable size (diameter) in the grooves of the teeth. Cut off the excess part of the nail. 
The nail was cut off, now we will outline the places for the screws. Both parts of the mount will connect (tighten the rake) in seven places. Self-tapping screw from each lower edge of the mount. Two more self-tapping screws from each edge will not only tighten both parts of the mount, but also firmly hold the nail that fixes the rake. And one self-tapping screw will tighten the mount at the top. 
Next, cut out the mount. And we drill holes. Note. In one part of the fastening, holes are drilled with a larger diameter. The screws must pass freely through these large holes. And in the other part of the fastening, holes are drilled less than the diameter of the self-tapping screw. This is necessary so that both parts can be pulled together with self-tapping screws. The self-tapping screw freely passes through the first part, and then screwing into the second part attracts it very tightly. If both in one and the other part of the hole are less than the diameter of the screw, these parts can only be connected to each other, but not pulled together. 
Now, we take the first part of the mount with small holes, put a rake on it, put a nail in the grooves. The nail must be laid so that it is between the screws on one side and the other. In this position, the nail will not loosen. We lay the second part of the mount with large holes on top and tighten the entire structure with self-tapping screws. 
Now it remains to make a seat for the handle. We will accomplish this task using mounting tape. We take the handle, attach it to the rake and mark the place where the fasteners need to be made. Cut off required amount mounting tape. 
Marked. We fasten it. The lower handle for the handle is screwed with short self-tapping screws. Top fastening with long screws through and through, through both plywood parts. 
Install the stalk 
And we fix it for strength with three self-tapping screws. 
All. Now you can go to the garden. 
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Hello to all homemade lovers!
Recently, my almost completely new fan rake broke.
And I managed to work with them only three times, for 15-20 minutes. Already during the second time, they began to bend strongly so that they constantly had to straighten them. And for the third time, it became almost impossible to work with them.
Here's how they looked.
Upon closer examination, it turned out that this rake was made of completely useless metal (in fact, as thick as roofing iron), which from the first minutes of work could not stand it and began to collapse at literally catastrophic rates.
The photo below shows that quite large cracks have already appeared in the metal.
In general, they do the devil! : e101:
In my hearts I wanted to immediately throw this rake away, but, nevertheless, I felt sorry for the money spent and as a result, I decided to fix it.
At the same time, I decided to make a rake out of these, a mini-rake with a short handle, since such a rake is also often needed.
As a result, I put a spare fan rake on the long handle.
And in the broken ones the rake finally broke off the handle.
And the rest, he straightened a little and at the same time strengthened it with a hammer.
In order to turn a broken rake into a short handled mini rake, I needed the following accessories.
Materials and fasteners:
Broken handle from an old shovel.
Two screws with a 4x35 mm press washer.
The broken rake itself.
Tools:
Drawing and measuring instruments (pencil, tape measure and square).
Jigsaw with a file.
Electric drill-screwdriver.
Electric planer.
Drill for metal with a diameter of 4 mm.
Hole saw for wood with a diameter of 19 mm.
Screwdriver bit PH2, for driving screws.
Sandpaper.
First, I used an electric plane to cut a broken handle from an old shovel.
Then I sawed off a part about 40-45 cm long from it.
At one end of this handle, I drilled a hole with a hole saw in wood. This hole is needed so that you can hang the rake on a nail or hook.
After that, I processed the handle with sandpaper and painted it with paint that was at hand.
Then he drilled two holes in the broken fan rake (at the base and in the middle of the upper lintel) with a 4 mm drill.
And he screwed this rake to the handle with two screws with a press washer.
And this is how they are hung on the wall on a nail, which is very convenient.
After a while, I experienced this rake in foliage harvesting. It turned out that they are quite convenient to rake foliage, especially in hard-to-reach placeseg under low bushes, or low-growing tree branches, where it is inconvenient to use a fan rake with a long handle.
True, it should be noted that due to the fact that I screwed the end of the handle to the middle jumper, this rake became somewhat more rigid. But I think that for such a rake with a short handle it is even better, because when you work they basically have to be held with one hand, it will be even more convenient to work with them.
Well, that's all for me!
So far, all successful, and most importantly - useful homemade products!
