A landscape rake is a great tool for a wide variety of projects around your property. Like the DR Power Grader, it consists of tines that dig into dirt, gravel, or the grass when towed behind your towing vehicle. Many landscape rakes are also designed to attach to a tractor’s 3-point hitch mechanism, which gives them the added benefit of hydraulic lifting and lowering. There are a lot of projects that are often done with a landscape rake that can be done just as well, if not better, with the DR Power Grader.

Grading your driveway

The DR is designed first and foremost for driveway grading, and it does it like a pro. A landscape rake may look like it would dig deeper into your gravel for decompacting compacted areas, but their tines are usually flimsy and bendable. This means that despite the length of the tines, they are actually only able to scrape the very top layer of gravel.

The DR Power Grader, on the other hand, has rigid teeth that are tipped with carbide, so they dig deeply into your gravel driveway to redistribute compacted gravel. The remote controlled actuator allows you to raise and lower the teeth right from your towing vehicle, so you can dig deep on your first pass to dig up hard-packed material, then a bit higher on a second pass to fill in potholes and ensure a level surface.

Planting a new lawn

Another use for these tools is leveling out your soil for planting a new lawn. The landscape rake is often used for this task, but you can get a much better end result with the DR Power Grader. Notice that the landscape rake only has one row of teeth that touch the soil, whereas the DR has a row of teeth, and then a rear leveling blade. This means that especially with finer material such as dirt and topsoil, a single pass is probably enough to decompact the soil, break up clumps, and leave you with a smooth, level surface for planting.

Preparing your garden for tilling

Landscape rakes can also be used in your garden prior to spring rototilling to break up the hard top layer of soil that your tiller may not be able to break through. Any gardener would be pleasantly surprised to find that the DR Power Grader can also accomplish this task effectively. The rigid teeth break up clumps of dirt and that hard ‘crust’ that forms on the top of your garden soil. It also allows you to drive through your garden with a lighter towing vehicle than a tractor. Many landscape rakes require a 3-point hitch-equipped tractor which will compact your soil much more deeply than an ATV or lawn tractor which could be used to tow the grader.