DIY Telescoping Yard Rake For Tall People


Only after wielding a yard rake that was actually long enough for me did I realize what I’d been missing out on; getting the rake closer to horizontal (without slouching that is) and being able to rake in leaves from a greater distance make for a far superior raking experience. The expression ‘right tool for the job’ comes to mind. Explained below is how I made my extra long rake for tall people.
demonstration of using a rake for tall people

Materials:
– Metal rake head (either on it’s own or just remove from a rake handle)
– Telescoping broom handle (these can be found for cheap on eBay, or you could just use any old long pole)
– 2 x Hose clamps
– Electrical or other tape

Telescopic Broom Handle
Rake Head

Making it: This one’s super easy; just stick the handle thick end first in the rake head, tighten the two hose clamps, and cover the sharp hose clamp ends with tape.

How to connect a rake head and telescoping handle for tall people

My resulting rake handle can go from 5′ to 9′ (a bit excessive, I know…), as opposed to an average conventional rake handle length of about 4′.

A couple downsides with this adaptation are first that the rake is fairly heavy (perhaps I will shorten it) and second that the metal rake head isn’t sufficiently wide to allow me to become the gargantuan raking machine I so desire to be.

Below is a video with the rake handle set to a bit over 6′. Looks like a good length, right? Now you see why a 4′ rake handle just wouldn’t cut it!

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