# First dethatch of 30+ year old lawn w/new SunJoe dethatcher



## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

For $87, I'm very pleased with my first use of my new SunJoe dethatcher/scarifier.



I used the highest setting/lowest dethatch. I was a little spooked on the first few passes, I saw green blades mixed with the dead thatch, but no worries, after my pick-up with my Toro SR w/bagger, the lawn looks healthy IMO.



I know that late July is not the best time to dethatch, but at my latitude and with the weather forecast for the next days along with deep watering, everything should be fine.



Here is the evidence of the effectiveness of the SunJoe machine on about 2.5k sq ft of my front yard:


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2019)

Same here I'm amazed at how much it picked up


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## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

Nixnix42 said:


> Same here I'm amazed at how much it picked up


Wow! That's a pile of thatch. I told my wife that dethatching our lawn is to vacuuming a carpet as having Stanley Steamer steam clean our carpet. That is, that there is no way a home standard vacuum can pull out the deep junk like a deep cleaning machine, like a dethatcher, can do for a lawn.

My wife was very impressed with all the thatch on the lawn as she went to go grocery shopping this morning. She asked me to take a picture she was so impressed 

Thanks for the photo of your impressive pile of thatch.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Did you do all 8K and how long did it take for:
1. Dethatch
2. Raking

It's always amazing how much thatch is down-under, even in lawns that get bagged.


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## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

TommyTester said:


> Did you do all 8K and how long did it take for:
> 1. Dethatch
> 2. Raking
> 
> It's always amazing how much thatch is down-under, even in lawns that get bagged.


No, did not do all 8k ( I get exhausted just thinking about that  ) My back yard is 5k and the total front is 3k. I skipped the part of my front yard, about .5k, that is in direct sunlight most of the day. I thought that the sunshine and late July dethatch might over stress that part of my lawn.

In terms of time, the 2.5k that I dethatched from start to finish (did not rake - used Toro SR w/bag to p/u thatch) was about 2 1/2 hours.. I took my time and worked slowly being as this was my first experience with dethatching and using this machine.

Thanks for asking


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2019)

Just finished up the front.2nd pass


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## drewwitt (Jun 25, 2018)

Thatch or lawn litter (dead grass clippings)?


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## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

drewwitt said:


> Thatch or lawn litter (dead grass clippings)?


Good question. Before I ran the dethatcher I could not poke my finger through the layer of packed thatch or see the soil. If there was loose clipping (lawn litter) it was a very small amount. My Toro SR reduces clipping to tiny bits.

After the SunJoe dethatching, I can now see the soil clearly, so yes, the bulk of my material I picked up is thatch, IMO.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2019)

Either way it's much better for the grass &#128077;


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## bp2878 (Feb 13, 2019)

Really wish I had seen that deal on prime day. Looks good!


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

Did you try using the bag at all? Funny how it ends up on the ground anyways since it fills up after about 10ft.

I made like 3 passes with it before pulling it off for good.


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## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

Nixnix42 said:


> Either way it's much better for the grass 👍


Thanks 'Nix.


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## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

bp2878 said:


> Really wish I had seen that deal on prime day. Looks good!


Thank a lot BP' My lawn never had a good start decades ago.

My lawn is now in "rehab"


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## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

smurg said:


> Did you try using the bag at all? Funny how it ends up on the ground anyways since it fills up after about 10ft.
> 
> I made like 3 passes with it before pulling it off for good.


As you and many have experienced with this SunJoe machine, the "bag" is about useless. I left it off from my first step with the SunJoe. Frankly, I was really impressed with the big clumps of thatch that followed each of my passes across my lawn.

This is when my Toro Super Recycler was again a joy to use. I do not like to rake anything, so I used the Toro SR to just bag up all the dethatched material.

Thanks for your thoughts on the SunJoe :thumbup:


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## Dawgvet (Jul 2, 2019)

Nixnix42 said:


>


 :lol: I was scrolling through the pictures and I thought this picture was still part of DIY Lawn Guy's post and was about to comment that I didn't know Kudzu had made it that far north.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2019)

Lol give it time kudzu is relentless!


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## DIY Lawn Guy (Jun 19, 2019)

Dawgvet said:


> Nixnix42 said:
> 
> 
> >
> ...


 :lol: :thumbup:


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## driver_7 (Jun 28, 2018)

Looks like it worked well!


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