Rake: For Hay, Leaves and the Corners of the Box
One rake is not like another, and if you work with the wrong one you feel it in your wrist after ten minutes. The difference lies in tine spacing, width and weight. That is why you find three designs side by side here: the hay rake for open ground, the leaf rake for yard and garden, and the short box rake for work in tight spaces.
Hay, leaves and the right tine shape
The Fix hay rake in aluminium is wide and light, so you pull swaths together without losing strength on every stroke. It is available with and without a handle, and the matching aluminium handle at 190 centimetres is long enough to keep you standing upright. The steel version with a swan neck socket is the tougher option for heavy, damp material. Leaf rakes carry far more tines, 20 to 26 of them, and so pick up fine material as well. The combination tools with a grab function lift what you have gathered straight away, so you do not have to swap between two tools.
Short, light and made for the box
In a horse box a wide rake is only in the way. For that there is the box rake in glass fibre reinforced nylon at around 40 centimetres wide, which doubles as a scraper and reaches into the corners. The plastic rakes with 16 tines and 64 centimetres of width are the light all rounder for yard and arena, and double sided versions and models with grass catching tines cover both jobs. A handle retainer at the socket stops the handle from working loose in use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Aluminium or plastic?
Aluminium holds its shape better and copes better with heavy material, plastic is lighter and cheaper and is plenty for arena and yard.
How long should the handle be?
Long enough to keep you standing upright. For open ground around 190 centimetres is usual, in the box you work with something shorter.
What does the grab function on a leaf rake do?
You gather and pick up in the same movement, without changing tools. With bigger quantities that saves a lot of walking.
Hay Rakes, Leaf Rakes and Box Rakes
Which rake suits you is decided by the material and by the space. For open ground you take the Fix hay rake in aluminium, wide and light, so you pull swaths together without losing strength on every stroke. It comes with and without a handle, and the matching aluminium handle at 190 centimetres keeps you upright. For heavy, damp material the steel version with a swan neck socket is the tougher choice. Leaf rakes have 20 to 26 tines and therefore a much closer spacing, which catches fine material too, and the combination tools with a grab function lift what you have gathered straight away, so you never swap between two tools. In the box all of that would be in the way. There you work with the short box rake in glass fibre reinforced nylon, which doubles as a scraper and reaches into the corners. Light plastic rakes with 16 tines round it off for yard and arena.