Difficulties in choosing - metal or plastic?
As already mentioned, the plate rake can be made not only of flexible steel, but also of plastic, which is also given a certain degree of elasticity. What is it is better to choose from materials, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each of them? Start with durability. Metal corrodes, everyone who deals with agricultural implements knows this.
Plastic rake
There is no exception for elastic plate rakes, since they are made of ordinary steel, which is easily susceptible to rust. In this respect, plastic is preferable, since it does not deteriorate at all from time to time. However, there is another side to the coin. When choosing a rake for a garden, fan plastic models must be considered very carefully for the quality of the material. If there is even the slightest suspicion that flexibility at any time can turn into fragility, it is better not to take such a tool.
This is precisely the main problem of plastic fan nozzles - they break very easily, especially with heavy use. In addition, they can have a rather weak connection with the handle, since the sleeve is often also made of plastic. However, the main difference between the above materials is the price. It is logical that a plastic fan will cost you much less than a metal one, and even made of elastic steel. Therefore, if you need to rake several leaves a day from your lawn, it is better to choose a plastic rake attachment.
Plastic nozzle for garden tools
If the area sown with grass is very large, and you need to regularly rake out a huge number of acorns, fallen from fruit trees and foliage with knots - purchase only a metal model. Moreover, with proper care, that is, by wiping it after work and lubricating with oil for the winter, you can keep the steel tool in good working order for a long time.
Attention - there are models that combine metal and plastic parts, for example, wire raking elements in a plastic base
Types of teeth
The most important characteristic when choosing a rake is the shape and position of the tines.
Quantity
For lawn care, a standard 8-10 teeth rake is suitable, for more jewelry work with flowers or shrubs - a tool for 2-4 short teeth.
It is better to remove a large area of hay with a tool with twice the number of tines, located more closely together.
The form
Depending on the form, they are distinguished:
- Straight - flat prongs of a standard shape. Installed across the base to effectively rake leaves, debris and grass.
- Twisted - also located across the ridge, but with a turn at right angles in the center or closer to the base. The ends of the teeth are pointed. Great for loosening the ground.
- Nail - rounded thin teeth, shaped like nails.
- Sickle - pointed, sickle-shaped teeth. Have a bend towards the handle. They are used for soil aeration.
Rake material
The rake with a wooden handle and a painted iron base is the cheapest. This is a weighty tool that will only last a couple of seasons - the iron teeth will wear out very quickly.
Heavy, but more durable - steel base rake.
The most expensive rake is made of titanium.They are much lighter and stronger than steel, even suitable for loosening clay. Before buying, you must definitely request a quality certificate from the seller - because of their high cost, many Chinese fakes have appeared on the market.
A lightweight, wooden-backed tool - great for hay picking. Despite the apparent fragility, they are more durable than many metal models. There is no factory production of wooden rakes, mostly they are made by home craftsmen for themselves or for sale. For their manufacture, you can use ash or birch wood.
The lightest and most durable tool is the one with the holder and base made of hardened aluminum. The weight of the largest aluminum rakes is 800-1000 g.
Even lighter is a plastic tool - weighing in the range of 200-400 g. For their manufacture, a strong and resilient material is used, which will serve for more than one season.
Types and features
What are the rakes for giving? Now a dozen types of tools are produced, for example, classic straight lines of different widths or with twisted teeth, fan-shaped for collecting leaves, planning, thin with a short handle for loosening the soil, and others. If you are serious about gardening, then it is advisable to have several models for work, since each item is used in the garden under certain conditions and types of work.
Straight (Soviet pin)
The most common rake is Soviet with straight teeth and a straight-shaped working part. They are used for loosening the soil, and for leveling the beds, and as planning, and for collecting the remnants of greenery after mowing the lawn. As a rule, the tool consists of a wooden handle with an iron tip, due to which such a rake is quite heavy and not always convenient to use.
The rake is available with different base widths and a different number of teeth on the attachment. For an ordinary summer cottage, a rake with a standard cutting length (about 1.5 meters) and 8-12 teeth is suitable. If the territory is large, then models with an increased working part are produced, the number of teeth on which can reach 16.
Twisted
Stronger twisted-tooth tools are usually made from stronger steel and have a higher weight. The twisted rake is designed to loosen hard caked earth, break up clumps of clay and remove roots from dug beds.
Iron twisted teeth are quite heavy due to a more durable steel top and a wooden handle, and therefore are used less often in the country than conventional rakes.
Rake aerators
In appearance, aeration rakes are not much different from ordinary ones. But, this working tool has such a feature as wide, pointed teeth along the entire length, sometimes with hooks on the bottom, which are located quite often.
Such a rake is intended for clearing the lawn from moss and dead grass. When processing the site, sharp teeth stick into the sod and cut through it, breaking the soil crust, which is why more air and water flows to the roots of the lawn.
Fan-shaped
To collect fallen leaves from the lawn, a fan rake is useful. Their working part is made in the shape of the letter V, and has many fine wire teeth. The tool can be metal or plastic. The metal options are less commonly used because the hard tines often damage the turf and tear the stems, which spoils the view of the field. It is recommended to use them to remove debris and leaves from a freshly trimmed area with short grass.
The softer plastic grab rake is intended for use on flower beds and already grown grass lawns. They spring better than metal ones, do not stick into the ground and are less entangled in uncut stems on the lawn.
Lawn
You can quickly and easily clear cut grass from a field or lawn with a lawn rake designed to remove cut stems.They are distinguished from the usual by a more frequent arrangement of thin round nails, similar to nails, a wide working part and a wire mesh-limiter over the grab, which does not allow the collected debris and cut stems to crumble.
Such a rake is needed both in agriculture and in summer cottages. Collecting grass with them is much easier and more enjoyable than the usual technique used in the garden.
Mini rake
For cleaning small areas, for example, flower beds and flower beds, which cannot be reached with ordinary working equipment, a hand-held mini-rake is suitable. They do not have a handle, which is replaced by a small one-handed handle, and the base is usually in the shape of a V, like a fan rake. The working part is rather narrow, and therefore it can be used to remove garbage from the most difficult-to-reach zone of a flower bed or garden bed.
Some small hand-held models are available with curved tines to loosen and aerate the soil under flowers and plants.
Transformers
If it is too expensive to buy several different tools, and there is nowhere to store them, then you can purchase a universal transformer rake at a gardening store. This model of equipment consists of one or more cuttings and a set of removable grips of different widths, types and qualities of fasteners, with and without stops, which can be interchanged as needed, and which are designed for different types of work in the garden. Different types of transformers include different parts, including shovels, baking powder of different types, and other devices, the purpose of which is all-round processing of the garden.
Features of use
The rake is a versatile garden tool. Much has changed since the time of the famous Sovtechstrom model, but the quality has remained the same. It is worth buying only those models that are durable and reliable, since the tool is constantly used and at the same time experiences a huge load.
If metal options are used, then close attention should be paid to their maintenance. This is the only way to be sure that corrosion does not damage the tool so quickly.
If the tool breaks down, then its further use is not recommended, as this will only aggravate the situation. Many gardeners, after cracks appear on the nozzles, continue to use them further, which leads to complete breakdown, and in this case it will not be possible to fix the rake. Therefore, if some element is out of order, then you need to immediately carry out repair work, otherwise the tool will have to be thrown away.
You can learn more about the fan rake from the video.
Criterias of choice
Correctly selected rake lies well in the hand and successfully cope with its functions
First of all, it is important that the rake is suitable in height. Too long or too short a grip will be inconvenient to work and caring for the site will take more energy
When placed directly on the ground, the handle should reach armpit level. If the whole family or team will use the rake, it is better to buy a tool with a telescopic handle, the height of which can be adjusted to the height of each user.
If you have a lot of different jobs, it is better to buy a transformer model with several attachments for one handle. They are easy to transport and take up much less storage space than a bunch of individual rakes.
Details that make the rake more comfortable:
- ergonomic shape of the handle;
- additional crossbar on the working surface;
- D-shaped handle;
- rubber pads on the handle.
Do you use a rake on your site?
Constantly! Rarely, but it happens
What you should pay attention to when buying:
- in the place where the holder is attached to the base, the handle should sit as tightly as possible, without the slightest movement. In operation, the rake must move as a whole;
- if the grip is wooden, it should be smooth, free of knots, notches and dents.
Thus, to make it easy to work with the rake, before buying, be sure to think about what kind of work you need it for - if for infrequent cleaning in the garden, then the classic straight lines will be enough, if you need to use the rake often and the amount of work is large - it is better to opt for transformers or highly specialized models.
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Varieties
Direct
A standard model that can handle any kind of gardening work. This is a T-shaped rake with a straight holder and a perpendicular rake.
A tool with wooden teeth will do a good job of picking grass and leaves, with metal ones - it will loosen the soil, break up clods of earth. The shape of the teeth does not matter - whether straight or curved will be equally comfortable.
Usually these rakes have 8-12 teeth. If you are working on a large area, it will be easier to work with a tool with an increased grip (14-16 teeth).
With twisted teeth
This model has a rake with pointed teeth turned 180 degrees at the base. They are very convenient for working the beds - breaking up clods of earth, loosening the soil.
Their working surface is made of a thick layer of metal, so they are more durable and weighty. They are not afraid of breakage and are suitable for the roughest jobs.
Rake aerator
This is a rake with pointed sickle teeth. This design allows you to thoroughly rake debris, comb thick grass, remove moss from the lawn and thin out the soil in the garden, giving the roots access to air.
For the production of such a tool, hardened galvanized steel is used. They will do an excellent job of working on heavy, dense soil. With their pointed teeth, they easily dig into the ground and loosen it.
Expert opinion
Vasily Kuznetsov
Aerator rakes with wheels have been developed for processing large areas. They are easy to operate and allow you to tidy up an entire field without much effort.
For the lawn
Whether you're making hay or on a large lawn, this rake is ideal for cleaning grass. It is a tool with a wide rake (50-60 cm) and rigid, densely spaced teeth.
Thanks to the built-in restraining arches near the base, they can collect even the smallest thin grass.
Fan-shaped
It is a lightweight lawn care rake. Their working part is made in the shape of the letter V, and the teeth can be in the form of a thin wire or plates.
For harvesting grass in a flower bed, plate models are more suitable - they will not damage the stems of plants or sod and will effectively collect all that is superfluous. Models with a wire rake are more suitable for caring for low cut grass.
If you have to harvest different grass - high and low, it is better to take a sliding fan rake with a wire rake. In this model, you can adjust the distance between the tines and, accordingly, the working width.
An important feature is that the upper part of the working surface of this rake is equipped with an additional arc, which helps to retain the grass.
Mini rake
These are short narrow rakes, the width of the working part of which does not exceed 20 cm. They are convenient to put things in order in inaccessible places of the site:
- loosen the soil in the flower garden;
- take care of the soil around ornamental shrubs;
- process the soil near the hedge.
Expert opinion
Vasily Kuznetsov
You can find a miniature version of the straight and fan (sliding) rake.
Milling
For domestic summer residents, this is still a novelty. Thanks to their two working surfaces, they have many applications. Thus, the crescent-toothed surface is suitable for loosening the soil and maintaining the lawn. A surface with more frequent teeth will perfectly crush clods of soil, level the soil in the garden and collect small debris from it.
Features of the choice of fan rake
The main purpose of this type of tool is to collect debris and fallen leaves, not only in flat areas, but also in hard-to-reach places. A distinctive feature of garden fan rakes is the shape of their nozzle, which looks like a fan.
Modern manufacturers offer 2 main types of rakes: wire (bar) and plate. By the type of material used, these 2 types can be conditionally subdivided into plastic and metal rakes.
Serrated rake
The functionality of the instrument depends on the following factors:
- fan type;
- the size of the teeth;
- the ability to adjust the angle of capture.
As for wire rakes, their teeth are made of thick and strong wire. To extend the service life of the tool, the surface of the rods is covered with a polymer layer. This rake is convenient to use for cleaning flat surfaces with small vegetation. According to the technical specification, the teeth in them are located at an angle of 90 degrees. Thanks to this, a high hook rate is provided, which makes it possible to use them for collecting small branches and dense debris.
Important! The disadvantage of bar fan rakes is that, with strong pressure on the working part, deformation of the teeth is not excluded.
For fan rakes with a lamellar base, the fan is made of plates with high elasticity. They are ideal for cleaning areas located on a multi-level area, as they repeat all its irregularities. Even with increasing load on the fan, they do not deform.
The fan can also be made of plastic. The plastic rake is not functional or durable, but it is quite lightweight. The plastic fan does not damage plants when picking up small debris. For hay, a plastic rake is the ideal tool.
The possibility of purchasing a flat fan rake with a compensator is not excluded. Spring steel is used in the manufacture of teeth. The special feature is the presence of a strong compensator plate, which prevents the steel teeth from breaking, prolonging the life of the reinforced metal fan rake.
Note! When buying a rake, you need to consider how wide the fan is. A sliding mechanism is used to adjust it
With a slight movement, you can adjust the width of the fan.
As a rule, gardeners buy a garden fan rake with a shank. The material used to make the handle and its length are factors that determine the functionality and ease of use of the rake. If the handle is too long or too short, it will be very inconvenient to work with the tool. The most optimal length is when the stalk reaches the person's armpits.
You can also use wood to make the handle of a fan rake. Each species has certain properties and characteristics, for example:
- Birch. Inexpensive and easy to process material. It has a high strength at high loads. Suitable for use on hard soils.
- Pine. It is easy to process, grind and remove irregularities, has an attractive appearance. Among the disadvantages, one can single out the fact that with too much load, the handle can break.
- Oak. A distinctive feature of the handle made of this material is a high strength indicator and an extensive area of use.
Features of choice
The type of working handle depends on the type of material used to make the handle.
A fan rake with a telescopic handle is considered extremely convenient. Their practicality lies in the fact that through the presence of a special mechanism, a person has the ability to adjust the length of the handle. Such a tool is not only functional in operation, but also convenient for storage and transportation.
If the garden fan rake is chosen correctly, they will serve for a long time on the farm. For this, experts recommend taking into account the following criteria:
- type of terrain - park, garden, vegetable garden;
- the type of debris that the tool will be used to clean;
- load level - often or seasonally.
Important! A good fan rake will help keep the area well-groomed and attractive.