# Dethatching blade?



## MichiganGreen (Aug 7, 2018)

Ever seen this before or used it? Love the concept.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@MichiganGreen awesome idea, poor execution.


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## MichiganGreen (Aug 7, 2018)

Have you tried it? Or you just think it's a bad design?


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

I've tried it. It isn't just a dethatcher, it removes everything. I used it during s Spring scalp, before I was going to cut the lawn short, and it removed everything including the green, growing grass. Again, the idea isn't bad, but a rotary blade is spinning so fast that you are just weed whacking the entire lawn.


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## MichiganGreen (Aug 7, 2018)

Haha, yeah that was my only concern. I love the idea but it was VERY stiff. Maybe would stand up to some insanely strong grass but not mine


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## Shadow4478 (Aug 22, 2018)

I tried it this spring and what FAIL
It's closer to a tiller then a dethatcher 
I should have known better

If it's set to high it doesn't touch the ground. 
The blade actually mowes and if you want to touch the ground with the nylon spikes, the mess it makes is awfull it rips good grass and the blade scalps everything


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

I would think even if the nylon is super stiff that it would still be thrown somewhat horizontal by the centripetal force of the blade. Essentially a mower blade with trimmer string on the end.

Perhaps if there was some sort of RPM reducing mechanism, with stiff metal tines, it would be a working concept. Not even sure that would work, since you really want vertical slicing vs. circular slicing.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

They actually used to make one with a spring steel tine on each end of the blade (they might still??). I never tried it, but don't think that would work very well either.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

I have used this blade several times including this Fall. In the past I didn't really know a lot about lawn care. Now I realize that blade doesn't do a good job of dethatching and it tears the hell out of your existing grass. I even sharpened the blade this time before using it. Total fail.

Nothing beats a power rake. Huge mess but worth the results.


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## Shadow4478 (Aug 22, 2018)

Spammage said:


> They actually used to make one with a spring steel tine on each end of the blade (they might still??). I never tried it, but don't think that would work very well either.


1+ 
I heard those are much better 2 metal spring loaded peace's 
I have not used but heard of them


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## OnTheLawn (Jul 23, 2020)

Reawakening this thread as I'm debating what to do about dethatching for my renovation. I have about a week left - waiting for second round of glyphosate to set in - until I scalp and then dethatch. I'm wondering if this is actually a good option for that situation specifically. Any thoughts? I'm not really looking for a traditional dethatching to keep the good grass there, so if this does well at ripping everything up maybe it's a better, cheaper option, as opposed to renting a power rake or buying a dethatcher while being less laborious than the manual dethatching rake I've been using.


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## mwemaxxowner (May 30, 2020)

Stupid question, but this still might have a good use for getting areas ready for sod, or a fresh start and re seed? I know that's far removed from the intended purpose though haha.


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## OnTheLawn (Jul 23, 2020)

mwemaxxowner said:


> Stupid question, but this still might have a good use for getting areas ready for sod, or a fresh start and re seed? I know that's far removed from the intended purpose though haha.


This was my thought as well! The intention was to be a dethatcher, but it effectively rips up anything in its way. If we're not worried about ripping up "good grass" though, no big deal. So I'm wondering if this would actually be a great tool for renovations and clearing ground to get the best seed-to-soil contact. I think I may just pick one up and give it a go. I'll report back!


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

I think I'd want to run that on a mower with a 1" crankshaft. That's a lot more torque to apply to the shaft that's unlikely to be evenly applied. Not to mention and axial forces that would attempt to bend the shaft.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

I have used the metal spring style, and am happy I bought a sunjoe dethatcher this year.

Even the spring style hurts the grass much more than something like the sunjoe or power rake.

If the extra $80 and storage space for the sunjoe or the like are a problem then a spring dethatcher blade can get the job done.


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