How To Build The Best Lawn Leveling Rake
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- Опубликовано: 21 янв 2021
- How To Build The Best Lawn Leveling Rake
I show you how to build an inexpensive lawn leveling rake that I think is better than what you can buy online.
Contact me: info@reelturf.com
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✅ Products I use for Cool Season Turf:
Fertilizer: Classic 18-3-6 (discontinued)
Alternate: Classic 18-0-6 shrsl.com/2zwjl
and 18-3-6 plus Iron shrsl.com/2zwjr
Pre-emergent: Dithiopyr WSB (water soluble bag)
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Plant Growth Regulator- T-Nex
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Fungicide- Propiconazole
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Pest Control- Talstar P
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✅ Products I use for Warm Season Turf:
Fertilizer: Classic 18-3-6 (discontinued)
Alternate: Classic 18-0-6 shrsl.com/2zwjl
and 18-3-6 plus Iron shrsl.com/2zwjr
Pre-emergent: Dithiopyr WSB (water soluble bag)
shrsl.com/2nl82
Plant Growth Regulator- T-Nex
shrsl.com/2nl5b
Warm Season Weed Control- Endrun
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Cool Season Grass Killer- MSM Turf
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Poa Annua Removal in Bermuda: Negate 37WG
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Pest Control- Talstar P
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Music by Atch
Breathe 
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Gold! Best demonstration I've seen on how to make one of these. The store bought leveling rakes are outrageously expensive. Thanks for helping us save a buck!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the video. I followed your instructions and the rake turned out perfectly.
Awesome! I’m glad it worked 👍🏻
My levelling rake is 1.5 metres (5ft) wide and made of 25mm (1”) square timber. It works a treat!
Thank you for this video. Bought the aluminum at Lowe’s and will build it tomorrow. Thank you also for the attention to detail!
Awesome! Let us know how it goes.
Wow, thanks for good idea! 👍
I was looking for such video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
New sub here, thanks for covering this topic. I really appreciate the level of detail you're providing for this project. Keep videos coming and keep watching!
Hey welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it. More to come!
Great instructions! I think I will make one as per your video and save a lot of money.
Awesome! Glad you like it.
Just built one. Thanks for the help:)
Awesome 👍🏻
Excellent DIY. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice detail + explanations . Will last for years.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback!
Nice! I'm definitely building one, and just like yours, I'd say. Thanks!
Glad you liked it 👍🏻
Looking good man. Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! More to come.
I definitely need to make a rake..this is a well built rake you have
Thanks! It works pretty great!
Thanks buddy i will be putting this together in the next couple days
Awesome! Let us know how it goes.
Great video!!
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for this excellent detailed tutorial.😉🙏🏼
I can't get these in my country and even if I couldn't the price would horrendous, and my lawn size would never justify the price for a simple rake.
I will build one that will fit me for my next lawn renovation.
Glad you enjoyed it and glad it will help!
Thanks for this. This vid ended up in my recommended feed I'm sure because I was searching for a lawn leveling rake, gathering ideas to build one just like yours, the ideal one for sale looks just like the one you built (plus improvements). Before watching yours, my idea was to braze it all together with aluminum brazing rods ($5 at HD) and map gas. I like the carriage bolts too, not sure which I like better, might end up trying one of each and seeing if the brazed welds hold up but I'm sure the bolts will. Or, bolts, plus aluminum brazing, to seal the joints and make it stronger than the bolts alone. Will find out soon enough.
Glad you enjoyed it! That's a pretty interesting idea. Please let me know how it turns out!
Very impressive. Going to make one for myself.
You’ll enjoy it!
Hey thanks for the video. It gives me a good idea to build myself a leveling rake. Like the hat 🧢 I work in the MCBU. 👍🏽
Glad you enjoyed it! My father-in-law retired there so I received some swag.
GREAT JOB SOLDIER
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent video
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice lawn bro
Thanks!
Thank you for the detailed information. I will cost it out within the next couple of days.
You bet! Good luck!
Great instructional video. I already have some 1" square tubing I was planning to use for a kayak rack but chose to use galvanized pipe instead so I'm glad now to have a use for the tubing. My question is the weight. Do you feel that the rake head is a little on the light side and you find the need to push down a little more? I haven't built mine yet, but considering putting some rebar in the square tubing to give it a little more weight. Would like to hear your thoughts since you've put yours to use. Thanks.
It’s light weight but works very well. I haven’t noticed the need for it to be heavier. That said, with your idea, you can add the rebar in there later if you feel otherwise.
You could save a lot of time if you use ribbed-neck carriage bolts. Instead of the square neck, they have a round neck with ribs (looks like splines). You drill the hole slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the ribs, and can either hammer them in, or you can tighten the nut and draw them in to the soft aluminum. They should install without denting the aluminum if you drill the proper sized holes.
Cool tip! I haven’t come across that style yet.
Great idea! One question though, why not pop rivets instead of carriage bolts?
Just my opinion but rivets wear out and the rake would become sloppy. I built it with the intention to be solid. At 48” wide it can move a lot of material.
You can always cut the bolts off. Nice video.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed it.
Good work! ..Only difference I would do is instead of trying to file all those squares..grind the right and left side of the bolts and just square off the round heads of the bolts. Than you can just hold them with pliers or a wrench and fasten the nuts to them
Glad you enjoyed it! That’s not a bad idea. I was aiming to keep the bottom as smooth as possible so it wouldn’t snag in the turf as well as keep any debris from getting inside the tubing. Either way, the rake works great!
I am going to try to make one. I thought of this though..instead of carriage bolts, what about use aluminum brazing rods and "weld" the pieces together?
If you have the correct tools, that would work just fine! Let us know how it goes.
I wonder if some self tappers from the top side would work too eliminate having any bolts on the bottom side at all or if it would be too weak or not possible to drill through the material?
It would probably work. It would be difficult to build it square since self tappers wobble quite a bit in the process. I didn’t do it that way for the same reason I didn’t use pop rivets. I wanted it to be strong and solid since a 4ft wide rake can push a lot of material.
I love the principle but for the amount this would get used by a diy type like myself I feel i could make a wooden structure out of 2 x 1inch timber and applya polyurthene varnish to do the job far cheaper and of course the woodscrews could be countersunk.
Being a carpenter myself, I thought about building it from wood at first. However regardless of what you apply to it, wood will expand and contract and often times 1x2 will warp over time. Even after sanding something like this, wood would cause a lot of drag. To your point of being far cheaper, I didn’t think $60 was that expensive of a build for this tool. I’m certainly not saying you’re wrong and not to try it. There would definitely be a difference in performance of wood vs aluminum. Just my two cents. Cool idea though 👍🏻
great job ! Did you use aluminum tubing?
Thanks! Yes, it’s all aluminum.
This may be a stupid observation since I've never used one of these leveling rakes before, but it seems like if the handle attachment was moved a bit closer to the user on the rake itself you'd reduce that chattering thats happening when drawing it back towards you. Although you'd have to add a second hinge point to your current setup which would allow you to not only bring the handle attachment back a bit on the rake, but also would allow the same handle reference position no matter which side of the rake you are operating on. Kind of like how a double action hinge or saloon door hinge works. Or am I way off?
Hey there! I see what you’re asking. In this video the chattering when I pull the rake towards me is happening because the turf was damp. It doesn’t do that when used with leveling sand or on soil. You can check out my other videos where I use this rake and see its smooth operation. The hinge point on the rake allows you to flip it to either side. Just like a saloon hinge would.
Thanks for this, would it help if I put a nylon washer between two metal washer on the hinge?
Wouldn’t hurt. It’s pretty smooth either way.
@@ReelTurf You should sell this, I would buy it minus the conduit of course.
Interesting! Hit me up at info@reelturf.com and let’s talk about it if you’re interested.
Can you double check the thickness? I was shopping for 3/4" aluminum tubing and don't see any 1/8" thick. At HomeDepot or Lowes. I'm only seeing 1/16" thick. Plus the cost of the 1/16" works out to be about $60. Which is what I think you said was your overall cost. Can you verify the thickness of your square tubing?
Yes, you’re right. The square tubing is 1/16 and the angle was 1/8.
Nicely done sir.. Question.. Your aluminum, was that bought at the big box store or online?
Bought most of it at Home Depot. They were the lowest cost at the time.
If you can find a metal supply shop near you you'll save a ton. Big box stores really jack up the price of aluminum
@@RMassey86 You're correct about that. However in West Texas, it's the opposite. Steel companies and many others cater to the oilfield and "cash" accounts are marked up extremely high. Yes, you should have much better luck at a metal supply shop.
What do you think about a telescoping pool handle for the handle? They make some that telescope all the way out to 16 ft, don't know if it'd be sturdy enough though.
Could it work? Sure. I think it’s probably a little much though. My experience with a pool handle is it always sways real bad when extended. I think you could use less expensive and stronger handles in my opinion. Cool idea though! I don’t know that having it extended trying to push sand and soil would hold up well.
@@ReelTurf ended up going with a telescoping extension painters handle. It's fiberglass and 1 inch stainless steel. Telescoping aspect helped with storage, and it's much sturdier than the pool wand I was thinking of using
Sounds good! Any solid handle should work out great.
Looks good but sucks to have to drill and bolt verses weld.
It’s definitely a lot of work but worth it. You could weld one out of steel square tubing pretty easily. At the time I didn’t have a welder and wanted something lightweight and used aluminum. It’s still going strong to this day.
Hey great vid! Wondering though how the lack of substantial weight of yours has been in terms of effectiveness? My understanding was that a lawn leveler should be somewhat heavy to do the job right?
I think there are two different types of lawn leveling applications. This rake is great for leveling bare ground and pushing sand into low spots. The back and forth motion makes this one effective. The “heavy” option you see out there is often guys pulling a drag. It’s physics when you get down to it. Pulling creates lift. That’s why a drag being pulled behind something needs to be heavy to stay down and low to push through the sand piles. The aluminum rake wouldn’t work well as a drag. I have a set of brushes I’ve built to drag sand and it pushes sand down into the turf and doesn’t create a lot of stress. So you’re right, it just depends on the application method needed.
@@ReelTurf Thanks for that, makes perfect sense. So would yours be good for top soil as well since top soil tends to be "heavier" to push than sand?
Yes it works great on top soil. You can see me use this doing that very thing in my other videos. You’ll find the more dry the soil, the easier it is to level.
@@ReelTurf Awesome! Thanks man, you just saved me at least $150 ... I'm in Canada where EVERYTHING is more expensive :(
Cool! What type of turf are you working on?
Any ideas on why it bounces so on back pull?
It bounced on me in this video because my lawn was damp. Otherwise, it glides very well.
Instead of carriage bolts did you consider counter sinking normal bolts
The metal wall is too thin to do a counter sink with a regular bolt head.
Could you please add parts details in the notes area? I didn't catch how long the aluminum pieces are to purchase, and I read your reply to a comment that the square tubing is actually 1/16" thick, not the 1/8" you said in the video. A parts list would be very much appreciated. Thank you for a great video, could you please post a "months later review video" on how it's held up over the summer, and any changes you might make next time? Thank you.
The parts are actually very simple. I left that option to the viewer to determine what size rake they prefer and where to source the aluminum since pricing varies all across the country. Mine is 48”x12”. You would need 4-48” pieces of square tubing 1/16” thick is fine and what I used. 4-12” pieces of angle iron. 2 sides and and 2 for the handle support. 1 stick of 3/4 conduit for the handle or any handle of your choice. Lastly 13 carriage bolts lock washers and nuts. You’ll need the tools. I give every detail in the assembly and sizes in the video as well. The rake still works perfectly! Best of luck!
@@ReelTurf Thanks! Did you use cobalt drill bit for the holes?
I use Milwaukee titanium bits but any will do. Aluminum is soft and very easy to drill.
Built one years ago 9 feet wide
Nice!
7/8 + 1/16 + 1/16 = 1" Did I miss something that would make it 1 1/16" spread between the handle angle irons?
Ha! Yeah you got me. What I was thinking in my mind that I didn’t say in the video was I allowed a little play in there for everything to move and not be too snug. So think of that extra 1/16 as split into 1/32 on each side. This allows you to adjust the tension on your handle to your comfort via the bolt.
What about riveting the pieces together rather than carriage bolts?
You could certainly try it. I didn’t do that because rivets tend to wear out and the whole rake would become sloppy when pushing and pulling.
@@ReelTurf I was looking at making one using some combination of L and square tube aluminum so I’m glad to see someone else had success with it. I’m going to use a clamp style mop handle and see how it goes!? Also going to use pop rivets attached from the top to see how well it will hold up since these take a lot of abuse.
Sounds like a plan! Let us know how it works out. 👍🏻
I have some of those plastic snow shovels where they have a metal edge that is riveted on. The bottom rivet heads always wear down eventually - that’s why I have more than one snow shovel now ;)
Of course, those snow shovel rivets rub against concrete and asphalt, surfaces that will cause more wear than a lawn, so that might not be as much of an issue here.
@@stevebabiak6997 All the rivets will be from the top, they wont rub anything. All they have to do is hold up to the forces applied to the leveling rake. Given you should be using as dry of material as possible when leveling a lawn. It should be more than sturdy enough. Rivets were my first thought when watching the video and how I think I'm going to make one as well.
Couldn't you have all angle aluminum instead of square tubing?
I suppose you could. It would want to dig some depending on the direction of the aluminum.
Some pop rivets put in from the top might also work. It wouldn't be as easy to disassemble but then there wouldn't be any bolt heads at all on the bottom. Also some tennis racket or or baseball bat grip tape might be a nice addition to the handle. Has the bolt for the handle wallowed out the hole in the aluminum at all?
I suppose that rivets would work. I would think over time the entire frame would become very loose. Rivets usually don't do real well with high use. Grip tape would be a nice touch. The bolt for the handle hasn't wallowed out. Although, i'm cautious in how I use the rake to prevent that from happening. I don't think it would wear out the 1/8 inch aluminum as much as it would the 3/4 conduit handle.
@@ReelTurf might help to put a small piece of 3/4" wooden dowel in the bottom of the handle and drill the hole through the metal and wood to support it a little more.
Yep, that would probably help!
Why didn't you tig weld it together rather than having any bolt head there at all?
Would love to! But I don’t own a tig welder.
@@ReelTurf gotta get more friends!
How much you paid for parts to build that rake?
At the time it was around $65 but material costs have increased some lately.
why not just drill through the top part and put the bolt inside the tube so nothing is on bottom. could use super glue to keep bolt in hole to put angle iron on. I think I might try it better then spending 140 on a good one from amazon.
How about I pay you to make that for me?
Sure! Email me at info@reelturf.com
Ill pay you to make me one!?
Great! Please reach out to info@reelturf.com
Too complicated, no tools ..So, I will buy a 4x4 and cut it to 3-4 feet, use 2 screw in eye hooks, attach a rope and drag it on my lawn...
Quante chiacchiere inutili per assemblare 4 pezzi di ferro !
Zzzzzzz
Then don’t watch it
😂