This old york rake,and some story

Its my brothers


he has another one he uses with wheels on it


And,,I have one in PA



so someone said to me they were looking to buy a york rake

I mentioned it to my brother,he thought a while,,and said,,its been around since we were little kids,,I cant sell it

I thought about it myself,,,and lots of memories piled into my brain,,,lol

I was about 11 or 12 ,hes was 14 or so

New house devlopements were popping up all over the little farm town in NJ where we grew up.

My Dad,with that very york rake and his JD 2010,,did many,,many lawns

We worked all summers hand raking,,seeding,,spreading lime on and shaking hay over the new lawns,,,Many,Many lawns.

I was kind of a lazy little brat,,thought I should be playing,,like all my friends were,I can still remember,my Dad yelling at me,,and my brother too.My Brother was a much harder ,and more respectable worker than me.Still remember my brother running the tractor with that very york rake on
,,looking back and telling me to get moving!

During the summers or two,,I managed to save 85 dollars

Bought a sears scooter used,,for 85 dollars

Then I Was hooked,,,began cutting lawns around the neighborhood,doing side work,,saving money

Still was kind of nasty to my Dad,,but,,he was proud to see me working and saving.

Then after a while,,the JD 2010 broke down

My brother was an amazing mechanic at 15,He swapped motors in cars and trucks,,fixed everything around the farm,,,but,,if I remember correctly,,he took the Jd apart,,but it stumped him for a while.

My Dad needed a tractor,there were many driveways washed out around town after a big rainstorm hit.

He was planting corn for three farmers in town,,they were all real good freinds.He said,,I Cant plant your sweetcorn,,my tractor is broke.
They said,,we just bought an old Ford 8n,try it,we dont know a thing about it..bought it sight unseen.

So,,my brother got it running,,,spread the wheels out,,and they planted with it.

The old farmers insisted my Dad take the old rusty 8n home,,and use it till he gets his tractor fixed.

So home it came.

I did digress a bit,,but,,,now back to the york rake,,,lol

A big storm hit,,there are many steep gravel driveways in the town,all washed out

My Dad got many many jobs to fix them

The rusty old smoking 8n with that very york rake,,,,and me running it,as dad drove to the quarry pit with his 1960 ford f 6 dumptruck!

Since I never ran a live hydrolics tractor I learned how to run the 8n,,maybe as good as anyone,not even knowing how much better the live hydrolics are,,

As I was shaping up the driveway,,dad was going to this quarry,in town.
Its been closed for years now,,but,,I pulled over and took some pictures the other day










I learned to run the old 8n with that very york rake ,,all summer long,my brother had become a mechanic for IH Construction equipment,,and I was home,,so Dad had no choice,,,lol

so,,thats the story of this old york rake



and,,,my brother said,,he wants to store it in PA,,

Its fine with me,,it has soooo many memories

Such a good story, Larry. You should be very proud of what you did and what you have become. I bet your dad would be proud of you as a grown man. Great memories. Gary.

Thank you for sharing the story about the York rake and your growing up. When I was younger I put in quite a few lawns for new homes about the same way that you and your dad did. York rake, hand rake in the seed and mulch with hay shook out with a fork. I worked for an excavation contractor and he referred some of the work to me. Used a Ford too! My 1954 NAA which I still have and use to rake hay.

Thank you for good story.

I like what you said about not knowing live hydraulics were better. Just be the best with what you have! Great story. Thanks Larry!

Did you notice the sign on that fence?

Memories, the only thing we get to take with us! Nice story, I resemble you! Still don't like to do tedious work. But I'll ride a tractor till I can't walk.

Bill

Larry, it is neat to hear about others who also finished new yards- we did the same thing where I grew up. We were a small dairy farm just 5 miles south of Cincinnati in Northern Kentucky, surrounded by growing suburbia, so there new homes being built all the time. Since we had the only tractors around, we got called upon for a lot of things. We did not have a york rake though-but we did have an 8n Ford with a Dearborn backblade which had an adjustable tail wheel for leveling. That was our finish tool, and we also had a drag that was home built, 3pt hitch that we used on the 8n. What I liked was what you said about the lack of live hydraulics- you get very used to it, and it is no bother at all. We also used to plow about 35-40 gardens each year. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Mark.

Thanks for sharing. Judging by your status on this site your well grounded youth served you well. That York looks a site beefier than what we find at TSC now days. Because I’m cheap and now old and lazy I knocked apart a well used IH 45 cultivator and built a similar rake with the teeth and salvaged steel. I built it as a sleeve frame so it can run 3pt or on skid steer forks. So far it has worked well and has been a god send closing ruts after last fall’s Junkshow mudfest.

I have one of those York rakes with a one point fast hitch. It is really handy. Thanks for the story.

Thanks for the great story Larry.
Richard

Larry do you have any idea how deep that quarry is?
I worked in one when I was maybe 33? Hot in summer cold in winter.

Really great story, I can see this in that time period, farmland going and houses growing.
Was that by chance Millington Quarry in Bernards TWP ?

We've chatted about that one before, but having lived in the area for several years, going on almost 30 years ago, NJ had some rich Ag history !

no,,that was dock watch quarry,,a small oldtime quarry,,that Millington Quarry did buy and operate in warren twp nj

couldnt say,,its been closed for quite a while

I thought you would like to hear the 8n part of it,,,lol

Larry good story! Just wondering how many people call their landscape rake a York rake? The York Modern Company is about a half hour down the road in Unadilla N.Y. I have a York back blade that we bought in the late seventies and still use it. My nephew worked for them a few years ago and now welds for Medicoach out of Oneonta N.Y.

I think I see an old slip scraper almost under the York rake. I hope you didn't have to handle one of those following a tractor! Leo

Great story. Thank you for sharing!

Pretty neat story thanks