Electric rake #1
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Electric rake #1
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Raking leaves when your property has a lot of oak and Maple trees can be a big chore each year. Several years ago, I made my first attempt at an electric raking machine.
Yes, yard blowers and vacuums are available, but most of them are gas powered, and they do not really rake the lawn which clears thatch.
I built this contraption from a surplus gearmotor, a drawer slide, a screen door spring, and some rope.
The rake is lifted when the motor crank starts moving up, as the drawer slide has an adjustable rope that limits the handle up travel. Once the gear motor crank starts the down stroke, the rake hits the ground, and the rear of the handle responds by stretching the adjustable screen door spring, which is adjusted for the correct raking down force.The gearmotor arm sweeps rearward for the raking stroke, then lifts the rake at the end of the rearward stroke.
It works pretty well, but is a bit slow and has a fairley short stroke, so while it is a cool electric raking machine concept, It needed a lot of work to make it be a time and labor saver.
Back to the drawing board.
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