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211 of 217 people found the following review helpful.
It really works well - I was surprised
By MrFixIt
Why I bought it followed by how it worked for me.
If you don't want to read on, here is what I have to say. I abused it on a very tough 5000 square foot St. Augustine lawn, that was somewhat damp at the time, and it did great. I was shocked at how well it did. I was expecting it to fail based on reviews of other similar de-thatchers.
WHY I BOUGHT IT:
My lawn is St. Augustine and requires a special de-thatching machine/process/tools so as not to kill the lawn.
A rental ( vertical mower with tines spaced 2"-3" apart ) was not available in my area nor do landscapers have these on hand. Rentals cost [...]. Two healthy adults using modified de-thatching rakes with some tines removed could only cover 300-400 square feet in an hour and the results weren't great.
I was skeptical in this purchase, but also tired and desperate, so for [...] with free shipping I decided to take a chance.
It appears the Craftsman model is more expensive and has complaints about its motor failing. The craftsman reportedly uses a 10amp motor as does this unit. I was worried that this unit might be under powered.
My lawn was green and growing like mad for two years prior - the envy of all the neighbors. I wasn't shy using fertilizer. I had to mow every 5th day. Last summer, I couldn't find a way to keep the lawn alive. Fertilizer didn't really help. Watering as recommended didn't help. Insects invaded despite my use of pesticides that had worked in years prior. It wasn't long before large areas of dead grass formed and mushrooms popped up all over. My lawn was also very spongy to walk on. You can only cut St. Augustine so short before killing it, so I was hesitant to cut it below 2".
I finally determined that my problem was with excessive thatch - a problem I probably created by over fertilizing and not bagging the grass clippings. Thatch can stop water as well as fertilizer and pesticides from getting down where it needs to, and provides a great environment for fungus and insects.
HOW IT WORKED:
I'll be frank. When I un-boxed it and took a look at the tines on the roller, it appeared so cheap I felt I would be making a mistake if I didn't return it right away. They don't picture the bottom of the unit or the tines. Had they, I probably wouldn't have bought it. It just doesn't look like it has a chance of getting the job done. The roller resembles a large vacuum brush roller, and is driven by a cogged belt attached to the motor. The tines are thin and short. These look like super heavy duty paper clips.
When put to use, It removed a lot more thatch, more thoroughly, in less than 5 minutes, without breaking a sweat, than 2 physically fit adults with rakes spent an hour trying to de-thatch. And, the grass and thatch were damp at the time I used this unit.
Someone posted a video online of a similar de-thatcher (possibly the Craftsman) in use, with tons of thatch being left behind as the unit moves forward. That is exactly how well it worked for me.
If you don't use an adequately sized extension cord, (or plug it into an outlet than can actually deliver the 15 amps it should be rated for) you may end up overheating the motor from low voltage issues and damaging it. I used a 100 foot, 14 gauge cord plugged into a 20 amp GFCI outside outlet and had no problems. The motor never hinted at bogging down.
I started out with the thatcher in its highest setting as per the instructions, but found it did a better job for me on its lowest setting. I think the difference between high and low is less than ½ an inch. You wouldn't think it would make a difference, but it did.
I began by de-thatching 300 square foot sections at a time, stopped to rake it all up and bag it. At the end, I just ran this over the remaining 3000 square feet of lawn non stop - about 20 minutes time - and the thatcher had no issues keeping up.
The spinning tines are all that propel this forward and it takes little effort to control the pace, but if you intentionally go slow, be prepared to see it remove a lot of grass - probably more than you want. This works fast.
It isn't recommended that you pull this backwards while using it - one reason being that it is hard on the tines. I did this regularly as it just made it easier to maneuver and helped kick out any excessive thatch built up under it or around the wheels that it didn't discharge on its own. I frequently ran this over a pile of grass I already de-thatched as I maneuvered it around, and it just kept humming away.
The end result for me on my lawn: about 35 minutes of run time on the de-thatcher did a better job than two adults with rakes could have done in 14 hours. Thatching 5000 square feet of area left me with thirty, 33 gallon garbage bags full of all the crap it pulled up, the vast majority of which was dead grass and thatch and very little healthy green stuff.
I would expect this to make short work of any lawn not resembling the vine-like thickness of St. Augustine.
The pictures (if I can attach some later) show the modified hand rake used at first along with the underside of the power de-thatcher. Because St. Augustine is supposed to be de-thatched with a vertical mower with blades spaced 2"-3" apart so as to reduce the chances tearing up the vine-like structure of the grass and killing it, I removed every other set of tines on the roller to get the spacing I wanted. As the pictures show (hopefully), each set of tines is two wires sticking out from a single spring wound tine mount. Three of the sets each lost a single tine wire and I wouldn't be surprised if it was from my abuse. Since I removed some of them before I started, I have spares.
This saved so much manual labor, had it died on me after one round of de-thatching, I'd still buy another one when the time comes. And most importantly, the thatched areas have new grass popping up all over. This did the trick for me.
My only con, maybe the tines could be a thicker gauge.
50 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
Brilliant! Pays for itself in 1st use. Perfect for overseeding!
By Nbot
After realizing that dense thatch was likely the cause of my stunted grass' health, I decided to buy this machine. I leave the clippings on my grass, which likely caused TOO MUCH thatch. At first you'll think that $150 is too much money to spend, but if you are spending $400 a year on TruGreen or even $200 on DIY fertilizers, and you aren't dealing with the thatch, eventually your grass' health will plateau.
If you have ever tried to rake out the thatch with a metal rake, you know that it is a back-breaking affair (if you are doing it right). Heck, you'd have to pay a college kid for 10+ hours to de-thatch the yard area that I just cleared in well under an hour. Multiply this cost times the # of uses you'll get out of it over the years (including friends/family yards if you're a nice guy), and it's a no-brainer. It really does a fine job of removing the thatch, and not tearing up your existing grass either (it does pull up "some" but not enough to worry about). It feels like you are "vacuuming" your yard, that's how easy it is to use this thing (it's self-propelling, just don't stop or dig in anywhere too deep).
Also, I was going to overseed this spring, and if you watch how much you are pressing down into the grass, you can just scratch the top layer of dirt (especially in bare areas), so after you rake up the thatch, apply some fertilizer (with no weed killer obviously) then just spread the grass seed & water!! This will very lightly graze the surface (more so if you press down & dig in, ie on bare areas etc). No need to spend hours raking the topsoil...I mean, you could spend hours raking the top soil, and it would probably do a slightly better job, but do you really have hours to spend raking top soil? I just ran this machine, raked up the loose thatch, & threw down the seed in a few hours...if I had waited for when I had time to do a full weekend of raking, I would have missed the spring rains that are about to hit (to help the seeds). Throwing a big bag of grass seed down after using this to clear the thatch just makes sense depending on the condition of your yard. I'll try to post a photo in a month or two to see how much this helped.
I uploaded a before/after pic, & here are some (hopefully helpful) tips:
1. You MUST use a proper extension cord plugged into an adequate outlet. All the complaints on here about "over-heating" are from people that didn't follow the SPECIFIC instructions about cord gauge (or using an outdated outlet on an old garage etc). The instructions say that the machine WILL overheat if you aren't supplying the proper electricity.
2. The instructions say that you aren't supposed to use this on hills over 15 degrees. I was able to use it on a steeper hill just fine (the machine basically propels itself up the hill). This is a tool and just like any other tool, you can use as needed once you understand how it works. Just going "up & down" the hill (not sideways) worked for me. Basically, don't dig in too long or deep at any time, just pay a bit more attention while on a hill is all.
3. The little "kick plate" on the backside of the machine kept getting forced off the holding screws by a mass of thatch. So, I just left it off, works fine (better actually). Sure, if you run over some rocks they might get spit backwards at your feet, but hopefully you aren't wearing flip flops:)
4. The machine will effectively "mow" your grass at the height of the spinning tines. If you are over-seeding, you are supposed to mow the grass as short as possible anyways, so that you don't have to mow for as long as possible to let the new grass grow in. This is perfect for that...the grass is basically cut short and the top layer of soil is very lightly agitated, which, saves you another hour or three from having to manually rake to loosen the soil. At least that's how it worked for my beat up yard, if you have picture perfect dense grass, you may not get this benefit, not sure...is the dirt "perfectly" loosened up by the machine? Probably not, but it's definitely better than the time I had available (none) to do it perfectly by rake (while at the same time, addressing the main thatch problem...a big bag of grass seed isn't that expensive, just throw it on when done with some fertilizer)
5. The instructions say to start off with the height of the tines at the highest level, and then as they wear down, lower them (which makes sense). Also, the machine ships with an entire bag of replacement tines, which is really a nice touch. Another reviewer said to use the "high" level on the hills, and the "low" setting on flat ground to dig in more, your call...
6. Instructions say not to have kids or dogs within 50? Man, the silly things companies have to say these days to protect themselves from lawsuits. My dog would be upset if I left him inside for a day of yard work...
Click "Yes" if this was helpful, "No" if not! Enjoy!
50 of 55 people found the following review helpful.Nice Machine, Saved Me Hours of Work
By DYI Chick
I bought the Greenworks Dethatcher based on another positive review and am very satisfied. I've used it twice so far. It got the thatch up and saved me hours, if not days, of labor using my back and arms to swing my heavy thatch rake. The Greenworks Dethatcher helped accelerate our yard work so that we could get new seed down sooner and take advantage of the spring rains earlier.
We put some seed down last fall and we were a little worried about running the Greenworks Dethatcher over the areas that already had some new growth. The Greenworks Dethatcher didn't pull up or harm the new growth. I used the highest setting for the hilly part of my yard so I wouldn't harm the machine's prongs and the lowest setting for the more flat areas to get as much thatch up as possible.
Read the manual, it has a lot of good recommendations like the gage extension cord needed so you don't burn the engine out. It also is not to be used for ground elevations of more than 15% grade but I used it on my steep hill, which is more like 30% grade and was just very careful. The machine seems to propel itself, although I haven't found that advertised anywhere.
Product Feature
- Robust 10 Amp motor delivers comparable power to gas powered dethatcher without the hassle
- 14" dethatching path gets your work done faster
- 3-position tine depth adjustment provides greater control by removing matted layers to promote continued lawn health
- Stainless steel tines stay sharp longer for reliable performance, also includes full set of replacement tines for a total of 36 tines.
- Ergonomic, padded grip and adjustable handle for user comfort
Product Description
Includes 10 Amp 14-in Electric Dethatcher (Open Box) - 27022
Product Detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2819 in Lawn & Patio
- Brand: Greenworks
- Model: 27022
- Released on: 2010-03-01
- Dimensions: 36.00" h x40.00" w x.0" l,25.92 pounds
GreenWorks 27022 10 Amp 14" Corded Dethatcher
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