Press ReleaseBTR announces a new trail-building-specific tool; the Tough Rake.
As one of the few suppliers of McLeod rakes in the UK with our Trail Tool, we've taken it upon ourselves to produce a broader range of dedicated tools for building bicycle tracks. First of the new additions is the Tough Rake, which is exactly what the name suggests—a rake that's well 'ard! Just like a spade is a spade, the Tough Rake really is a rake that's tough.
The new Tough Rake was originally built for sculpting the jump lines of Spooks Trails but has plenty of uses beyond dirt jumps, or even beyond mountain biking...
Made for breaking up, moving and packing down soil, the Tough Rake comes into its own when building dirt jumps and trails. Its 40cm wide head takes the hard work out of dragging earth and sculpting contours. The teeth are aggressive enough to bite into and move packed soil, and the straight back creates smooth lines with ease. Once you’ve created the shape you want, the Tough Rake is strong enough to tamp down your creation.
The head of the Tough Rake is fabricated from high strength, high toughness steel, and zinc plated for longevity. The wooden handle is 30mm diameter and 1.4m long and is secured into the head by a taper and two screws.
The Tough Rake retails for £80, plus £15 shipping to the UK (international shipping available). It's available now from btr-fabrications.com
www.btr-fabrications.com
MENTIONS: @BTRfabrications
Jesus.
Even if the thing were titanium with a carbon handle you'd still have to be a fvcking idiot or filthy rich (in which case you're probably not building your own shit 'cuz you've got wetbacks for that cuz') but this a piece of steel ugly welded to another piece of steel with a shitty wooden handle that gon' break at some point. Oh ya, it gon' break. What a fvcking crock. :/
Fvckin' Ripoff rake for rakin' in more dough than dirt, amirite?
www.amazon.com/Nupla-E-FHR-NuPole-System-McLeod/dp/B004UMIHBS/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1485970254&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=macleod+tool
nsmb.com/the-warlord-battle-axe-mk-ii
nevercomingbackmtb.com
I'm making all this fuss because I HATE tamping. Seriously, you can throw me in the dirt pit all day to fill buckets, but f*ck tamping with a tool that gets clogged all the time.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/14365552
Rake culture.
Oh and a bottle cage (for stubbies).
"You'll shall not pass....until you get a hit of this sh1t"
I'm going to get me one of these 'Pimpin rakes' now.... Ohhhhh yeah....
lol
Tools needed are dependent on local terrain. Dry, sandy, dusty, rocky vs. Wet, woody, weedy, rooty, rocky. I'm in the latter. After building trails for, say 20 years, I've got it boiled down to the following tools...
Traditional fire rake. Not only does it rake and move soil well its an excellent cutting tool for brush, roots, branches - if you keep the blades sharp. Blades can be sharpened and replaced.
Cutter mattock. Heavy weight flavor.
Folding saw. Corona is my favorite. Fits in side pocket of my Carhartts.
Hand nippers. Goes in the back pocket.
Other than than, special jobs might require the chain saw and shovel.
Rogue tools are nice. I have a few. This BTR rake looks nice, but pricey and does little more than old fashioned garden rake. A tried and true fire rake is far more versatile.
I've used a McLeod many times before and its a great tool, but rather bulky and not as versatile as the fire rake, for the type of terrain we have. I've found the McLeod better for moving a lot of bulk - soil, deep duff, leaves,... Our terrain is shallow soil with a lot of rock, weeds, shallow duff, and lots and lots of roots and thin shoots from beech. The fire rake is better at cutting in that terrain and you are able to take a more surgical approach with a shorter, easier swing. Cutting 10,000 sucker roots and shoots from beech trees with a McLeod will wear anyone out.
The cutting edges on the fire rake don't take the brunt of the hit when raking. The tips of the tines take the blow. So, the cutting edges remain sharp, and there V shape creates a trough that grabs and cuts very well.
Do some homework pinkbike!
I wonder how much of that £36M is Ferrero Rocher, couldn't they just make do with cadburys buttons like the rest of us?
Fair play on the leg work though dude!
woulda 80 Pounds for a rake is a little bit too expensive?
can you get 5-6 rake with some DIY + leftover steel form junkyard + free wood handle picked from the forest?
i guess its like 'high end' rake or something.
nevercomingbackmtb.com
www.pinkbike.com/photo/10627244
wheres mah royalties?!?!?!?!?!?!
but tbf the build quality is top notch, whereas mine left more than a little to be desired. mk2 should be better and lighter (mines about 7kg in total)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLeod_
they think goats open up the trails...
#nodignoride
Sincerly team Tool.
Rake review