# Homemade Rake



## Gary 207 (Jan 22, 2019)

I bought 3, 20 ft lengths of 1/4 inch cold rolled steel for $18.00 locally. Cut into 26 inch pieces

(A&B) Bend the rod at 2 inches pound the bend flat by either method shown on A or B.

(C&D) Drill 1/4 inch holes at 2 inch centers, test the rods in all the holes in the unistrut at this time. Unistrut is available at the Home depot in the electrical department. 

(E) I used 3/8 inch thick ABS plastic cut to fit between the rods to keep them inline and to prevent side to side movement at 2 inch centers. I used electrical tape to hold them in place at this time.

(F) To mount the tines on the unistrut I used a 1/4 inch X 2 inch aluminum flat bar on the top. Tape the bar on or clamp it on, drill the holes between the rods through the aluminum, plastic and unistrut, I used 1/4 inch bolts, lock washers and nuts or use a nylock nut. Tape the nut onto the end of a screw driver with a hole in the tape to start the nut.


(G) Once the rake is put together you will find it will fall to the tine side with the round on it because of the weight of the steel. I used 4 inch angle brackets bolted on the strut and I had to make a plate for the open end you cold also use a wood filler instead of the plate.

(H) The bending jig I made was on a 3/4 inch X 2 inch board the round part was from a 2 inch hole saw cutout plug use a piece of wood or a 4x4 electrical box cover to go on top of the plug so the rod does not slip off while bending. You can move the board around to different positions on the vise to help make the bending easier and also slip a pipe over the end of the rod to help bending. Then bend the bottom 2 inches in the vise by hand.

(I) I used a 3/8 inch bolt and a screw to hold the rod in place while bending the screw head held it in place. Gary 207


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

That's awesome! Nicely done Gary.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Gary, if you ever want to save cost on the finger grabbers, get a wire-form closet shelf and split the fingers out.   For the mounting, just use the same hardware that mounts the shelf. I use something like that to rack up the loose hay around the barnyards. And I didn't think this up. The wife did originally.


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## Gary 207 (Jan 22, 2019)

bmaverick,
Thanks for the tip good to know. Gary 207


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