# Dethatcher / Verticutter



## JSC1964 (Apr 19, 2019)

This winter I'm looking to add a dethatcher and / or verticutter. Which machines do you guys like? And can one machine do both dethatching and verticutting?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

A lot of guys have the sun joe. Comes with both attachments. Most swear by it considering it's made of plastic. I'm looking to get one for next year.


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## Prospect (Mar 19, 2019)

I bought a sun joe in September 
Worked great. Tore the thatch up
Used verticutter on one pass to see what it would do
Very impressed with a electric machine for less than $150
I figured I would try it out considering it costs a little more than one rental. I'm very satisfied and I can use it anytime I want.


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## dmouw (Jul 17, 2018)

I found a Billy Goat power rake off CL from a rental company going out of business. Hardley used for $400. I plan on converting it to a slicing or verticutting shaft this winter.


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

dmouw said:


> I found a Billy Goat power rake off CL from a rental company going out of business. Hardley used for $400. I plan on converting it to a slicing or verticutting shaft this winter.


I found a similar deal on a Blue Bird power rake with bagger. I plan to try out @J_nick's DIY Flail-to-Fixed mod at some point (maybe next year). @Iriasj2009 did it on his Classen power rake too (a bit differently).


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## dmouw (Jul 17, 2018)

I do wish mine had a bagger


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

@adgattoni my shaft wouldn't come all the way apart so that's why I made mine like I did. Although it works well I think Irias' blade setup would work better with more teeth closer together.

@dmouw the bag doesn't catch as much as you would think, at least on sub 1" Bermuda. You still need to go over the area with your rotary. Maybe it works better when dethatching taller grasses like TTTF or KBG :dunno:


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## dmouw (Jul 17, 2018)

dmouw said:


> I found a Billy Goat power rake off CL from a rental company going out of business. Hardley used for $400. I plan on converting it to a slicing or verticutting shaft this winter.


Just bought my new Vertislicing reel.


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## Reelrollers (Feb 6, 2018)

The Swardman mowers have cartridges that allow you to verticut ($259), dethatch ($399) and mow ($499) with one machine.


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## Obi-Lawn_Kenobi (Aug 13, 2019)

JSC1964 said:


> This winter I'm looking to add a dethatcher and / or verticutter. Which machines do you guys like? And can one machine do both dethatching and verticutting?


I bought the sun joe last year, had 3" of thatch and it went through it with ease. Neighbor like how well my yard looked that he's using it this weekend. Highly recommend it!


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## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

I'm happy with my Ryan Ren-o-thin with cutting blades. I also have a rain bird 21" flail blade dethatcher that I do not prefer to use as much. Others have told me they prefer flail due to their grass having a high sand content. 
And yes. Verticutters will dethatch.


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

AZChemist said:


> I'm happy with my Ryan Ren-o-thin with cutting blades.


How thick are your blades and what is the spacing between them?


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

JSC1964 said:


> This winter I'm looking to add a dethatcher and / or verticutter. Which machines do you guys like? And can one machine do both dethatching and verticutting?


I'm converting a 22" Greensmower to a verticutter this spring. You can follow along here: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14983


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## dmouw (Jul 17, 2018)

dmouw said:


> dmouw said:
> 
> 
> > I found a Billy Goat power rake off CL from a rental company going out of business. Hardley used for $400. I plan on converting it to a slicing or verticutting shaft this winter.
> ...


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## vwbeaner (Nov 30, 2019)

I bought a Turfco Slice N Rake for $100 off facebook marketplace last year. It does a good job of verticutting.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

I've owned many including the electric sunjoe kind. My favorite is a Classen. Heavy duty, simple design, good parts availability online, greaseable ball bearings. It can do verticutting and dethatching with different reels but the reels are very expensive.

My least favorite is the electric one. It needs a really long cord which is a pain, very small width (takes a long time), spring tines tend to easily snap off, short handle. Somebody correct me if I am wrong but as I remember, there are no bearings. Maybe there were some bushings but everything is cheap plastic. The good thing is it is very light and can hang it on a wall but I would spend a little more and get gas powered unit like Classen, Bluebird, Ryan, Billygoat, etc.


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## Pawel (Feb 1, 2019)

Prospect said:


> I bought a sun joe in September
> Worked great. Tore the thatch up
> Used verticutter on one pass to see what it would do
> Very impressed with a electric machine for less than $150
> I figured I would try it out considering it costs a little more than one rental. I'm very satisfied and I can use it anytime I want.


ditto. i was shocked how well this this performed for what looks like a 25$ plastic toy. obviously being tied to a cord is annoying but worth it so far.


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

I picked up an almost new Earthworks dethatcher a few months ago from FB. Can't wait to give it its maiden voyage. Too bad or doesn't have interchangeable cartridges like the SunJoe.


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

If SunJoe offered the cartridges that Allett and Swardman do they'd really be on to something with the diy guys.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

I purchased a classen W/Honda engine in great shape from Home Depot rental department for $450.


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

I had been looking for a smaller slicer without having to do any mods. So, I grabbed this vintage Ryan Ren-O-Thin out of OKC (sellers photo) for only $250. Although it looks ancient, it starts on the first pull. For the two hours a year that I am going to use it, it makes more sense to be part of my lawn equipment arsenal.





I also love the fact that I can switch out the blades to DynaBlades and the spacers to whatever width I want.


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

@TulsaFan I'll help you put some more hours on it if you want!


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

Kballen11 said:


> @TulsaFan I'll help you put some more hours on it if you want!


I was surprised the OKC members weren't paying more attention! :lol:


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

TulsaFan said:


> I had been looking for a smaller slicer without having to do any mods. So, I grabbed this vintage Ryan Ren-O-Thin out of OKC (sellers photo) for only $250. Although it looks ancient, it starts on the first pull. For the two hours a year that I am going to use it, it makes more sense to be part of my lawn equipment arsenal.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just picked up a Ryan Ren-O-Thin myself with the same blades as yours. What are these Dynablades you speak of and have you changed over from the OEM style?


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

cglarsen said:


> TulsaFan said:
> 
> 
> > I had been looking for a smaller slicer without having to do any mods. So, I grabbed this vintage Ryan Ren-O-Thin out of OKC (sellers photo) for only $250. Although it looks ancient, it starts on the first pull. For the two hours a year that I am going to use it, it makes more sense to be part of my lawn equipment arsenal.
> ...


I have decided to not change over to DynaBlades. They're too aggressive for my zoysia after using them with my former Graden GS04. The stock blades work fine. Sometimes...less is more....as with the Graden!


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Hijack! (Pardon me)

I have that exact reel brand new. Sold my old Ryan but still have the reel. New, never used and has new bearings installed on the reel (came as a unit). Sell for $100...I think msrp is like $300+ Located in SW Michigan.

$250 you paid for that whole thing is a REALLY good deal!


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## JayGo (Jun 13, 2019)

I used to own a SunJoe. Absolutely loved that thing. Excellent bang for the buck. Yes, being tied to an extension cord is inconvenient, but if you have the typical ~1/4 acre lot, a 100-foot extension cord is all you'll need.

Also, it's only rakes a 13" path, but again, for the $125-150, it does a bang up job. Light and small foot print, too, so you can hang it on the wall when not in use.
(I sold it to a fellow TLF member, when I bought my mower cartridges.)


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

TulsaFan said:


> I have decided to not change over to DynaBlades. They're too aggressive for my zoysia after using them with my former Graden GS04. The stock blades work fine. Sometimes...less is more....as with the Graden!


Gotcha, yeah I thought that the stock blades did a nice job as is in my initial test passes. I'll probably sell my Classen flail blade power rake if this Ryan holds up for me. It's so much easier to maneuver than the Classen even though they are 90% the same machine.


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## Hoghead22 (Jul 1, 2021)

JayGo said:


> I used to own a SunJoe. Absolutely loved that thing. Excellent bang for the buck. Yes, being tied to an extension cord is inconvenient, but if you have the typical ~1/4 acre lot, a 100-foot extension cord is all you'll need.
> 
> Also, it's only rakes a 13" path, but again, for the $125-150, it does a bang up job. Light and small foot print, too, so you can hang it on the wall when not in use.
> (I sold it to a fellow TLF member, when I bought my mower cartridges.)


Mower cartridges?? What mower do you have?


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## littlehuman (Jun 10, 2020)

Hoghead22 said:


> JayGo said:
> 
> 
> > I used to own a SunJoe. Absolutely loved that thing. Excellent bang for the buck. Yes, being tied to an extension cord is inconvenient, but if you have the typical ~1/4 acre lot, a 100-foot extension cord is all you'll need.
> ...


Both Allett and Swardman reel mowers use a cartridge system that allows you to replace the reel with other attachments like verticutters and dethatchers (and the user in question uses an Allett, per their TLF profile).


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## JayGo (Jun 13, 2019)

@Hoghead22, I went with an Allett Kensington.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Maiden voyage verticutting with the Ryan Ren-o-Thin. 12k sf takes some time.


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

JayGo said:


> @Hoghead22, I went with an Allett Kensington.


Hey mate what cartridges do you have?

I've got the Scarifier but thinking about adding the verticutter - just want a real world review of it.


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## JayGo (Jun 13, 2019)

@JerseyGreens , currently I just own the 6-blade and the scarifier. Been considering the verticutter for a while, but I'm waiting to see how they handle a pending warranty claim. 🤞🏼
I've been eyeballin' the 10-blade so I can experiment going sub .5", but we'll see how this plays out first.


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## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

cglarsen said:


> Maiden voyage verticutting with the Ryan Ren-o-Thin. 12k sf takes some time.


Are you doing a criss-cross pattern? Curious as to how many bags of thatch 12k produces? :shock:


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

TulsaFan said:


> cglarsen said:
> 
> 
> > Maiden voyage verticutting with the Ryan Ren-o-Thin. 12k sf takes some time.
> ...


Starting with a single pass this time - it was pretty aggressive cut. I'm guessing that'll fill the lawn sweeper a couple times today once they are good and dry. Then I will have another 15k to do in the front!


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