A skid steer landscape rake is the attachment that combs rock, root and debris out of the top few inches of soil and windrows it to one side, leaving a graded seed bed behind. Yards hire it as a daily line on top of the machine, commonly $60 to $120 a day, and it is booked together with the loader rather than on its own.
What the attachment actually is
A powered rake is a rotating drum of hardened teeth in a frame, driven off the loader's auxiliary hydraulics, with an angle adjustment so the drum windrows material to one side. The non powered pull type is a simple tine bar that drags behind. The powered version does in one pass what the towed one only approximates in several.
Check hydraulic flow when you book
The rake runs off the machine's auxiliary circuit. Most models want standard flow while a few of the wider drums want high flow, which is a different loader again. Confirm the pairing with the branch when you book both, because a rake delivered for a machine that cannot drive it properly is a wasted day and two haulage charges.
The jobs it suits, and the ones it does not
It shines at preparing lawns after construction, cleaning stone off a paddock, breaking a light crust and levelling a seed bed. It is not a rock picker for buried boulders, not a grader for shaping falls, and not a tiller for compacted ground. Rip or till first where the top layer is hard, then bring the rake in.
Working it without losing the topsoil
Set the drum shallow and take a second pass rather than one deep bite, because a rake set low throws good soil into the windrow along with the stone. Work across the slope, keep ground speed slow enough for the drum to clear itself, and pick the windrows up before they dry into ridges nobody can level.
Questions people ask about skid steer landscape rake
How much does a landscape rake attachment cost to rent?
Roughly $60 to $120 a day as an add on line, with the loader itself at $250 to $350 a day for a mid frame machine. Weekly rates for the pair sit near three to four day rates. Delivery is quoted once where the machine and attachment travel on the same trailer.
Do I need high flow hydraulics for a landscape rake?
Most rakes in the six to seven foot width run happily on a standard flow machine. Wider and heavier drums want high flow, which is a dearer loader. Tell the branch the rake width you want and let them pair the machine, rather than booking the two independently and hoping they match.
Will a landscape rake remove buried rocks?
Only what sits in the top few inches. Anything deeper needs ripping or a rock bucket first, and true boulders need the excavator. A rake is a finishing tool: it makes a seed bed out of ground that has already been broken up and roughly levelled by something else.