The BroomRaker
On one of the many occasions when I was trying to find something to clean out the grooves on my Ifor Williams horse trailer I got so fed up that I decided to buy the right tool for the job.
So I started googling equestrian/equine/trailer tools and to my amazement there was no such tool. That is where it all began…
I started sketching and thought, why couldn’t it do two jobs as I’d still need a broom to do a proper job even if I could rake it out. So it became a rake and a broom, or a broom and a rake – BroomRaker!
I found a local design company and arranged to meet them. I took along my drawings and told them my idea and they helped me turn it into something that was viable. I was then armed with CAD drawings that could make my tool. I wanted to make it in the UK but couldn’t find anyone willing to do it. I rang lots of companies but got nowhere and kept getting told that almost all products start in China or are made in China these days.
In desperation I found an English company in China who said they could do everything for me and find me a manufacturer to make BroomRaker. It is a long story with a disastrous trip to China and a few years of getting nowhere involved, it was to hold me up for at least 2 yrs. By chance I met someone at BETA who said they could help me and it is through him that I am where I am today.
When I eventually got my first prototype I used it on my trailer and around the yard, that is when I realised it was more that just a trailer tool. It is a great stable tool with many other uses and is a very handy garden tool too.
I am proud to say it is now British-made and extremely good quality; a unique robust and versatile equestrian and gardening tool unlike anything else, but just like I wanted. BroomRaker is my first design to go to market, but it is just one of many of my ideas. I look forward one day to sharing some of the others with you, but only if they don’t take so long. As they say, hindsight is a wonderful thing!
More Detail
- Handle Length 1150 mm
- Handle Length (Imperial) 45.5 inches
- Bristle length 70 mm
- Bristle length (Imperial) 2.75 inches
- Head Length 306 mm
- Head Length (Imperial) 14 inches
- Head Height 101 mm
- Head Height (Imperial) 4.25 inches
- Head Width 140 mm
- Head Width (Imperial) 5.25 inches
- Head Weight 680 g
- Head Weight (Imperial) 1.5 lbs
- Overall Weight 1.2 kg
- Overall Weight (Imperial) 2 lbs 10 oz
- Trademark no: UK00003138260
- UKIPO no: 6006053
- EUIPO no: 01578331
- USPTO PAT: 02851-682
- Rake and Head: Polypropylene a recyclable material
- Fitted wooden block FSC approved
- Durable Nylon bristles