# Attaching a rake to the lawn mower



## Inglebrooke (May 7, 2020)

Has anyone ever had the idea to attach a rake to the front of their lawn mower?

I've seen pull behind rake attachments on riding lawn mowers, and I know many real mowers have tines along the front that helps stand the grass up.

I'm thinking for just my standard Honda rotary mower sticking some type of rake at the front to similarly stand the grass up before I cut it. Has anyone tried something like that before?


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Inglebrooke said:


> Has anyone ever had the idea to attach a rake to the front of their lawn mower?
> 
> I've seen pull behind rake attachments on riding lawn mowers, and I know many real mowers have tines along the front that helps stand the grass up.
> 
> I'm thinking for just my standard Honda rotary mower sticking some type of rake at the front to similarly stand the grass up before I cut it. Has anyone tried something like that before?


Deere had a front dethatcher attachment for the 14/JA/JX series as a factory authorized attachment.

https://www.mytractorforum.com/threads/deere-bm22339-thatcher-accessory.1037338/


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## Inglebrooke (May 7, 2020)

MasterMech said:


> Deere had a front dethatcher attachment for the 14/JA/JX series as a factory authorized attachment.
> 
> https://www.mytractorforum.com/threads/deere-bm22339-thatcher-accessory.1037338/


You sir are amazing! That's exactly what I'm talking about!


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Would you really need something like that with a rotary mower since it's designed to lift the grass anyway.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Mightyquinn said:


> Would you really need something like that with a rotary mower since it's designed to lift the grass anyway.


These were great in snow country for just dematting the grass and leaves compacted down from a long winter snowpack. Just scarifying the grass a bit allowed the excellent suction from the 14/JA/JX series mowers (man I wish they still made these!) to do it's thing. If you had grass that liked to go dormant and you wanted to remove any dead material come spring time, it would scrape all that up to the surface as well. Most would run them for the first 2-3 mows of the season and then pull them off.

Then again, on a small property like most of these units were deployed to, a rake worked pretty good too! :lol:


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## storyadahayden (Oct 17, 2021)

Red Magic has one available.

I have the Rake and Stripe, it does clean out some light thatch.


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## grumpsterfire (Jun 26, 2021)

I also have the red magic rake n stripe for my timemaster. I bought it mainly to get my fine fescue areas to stand up for a mow after its flopped over. I've been happy with it for that purpose. My lawn is a "level 1" and I keep my hoc at ~3" or higher. At that height, once my ff flops, my timemaster won't stand it up with suction alone.

I don't like using it if I have to mow with any moisture as the added drag can make the wheels slip. It's also harder to use along irregular borders. So I put it on and take it off somewhat frequently which can be a little tedious. The added striping is a bonus for me though I've never used a real striping kit.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Came across the Red Magic unit myself today - would be nice if they made one for the Super Recyclers too.

https://www.redmagicperformance.com/rake-n-stripe/

The swivel bracket for Commercial ZTR's with a 60"+ deck looks great too. The cone shaped gauge wheels were the OEM's answer to this problem, but I like that swivel bracket. May only be feasible in an owner/operator situation though. At $110/ea, could get pricey if the crew tears them up regularly.

https://red-magic-performance.square.site/#ImiBah


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## vancwa (Oct 28, 2021)

Snapper made a "thatcherizer" that attaches to the front of a 21" mower.

https://images.app.goo.gl/d4cL2q15TAhgmmTaA


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## FrankMc (Jan 17, 2021)

MasterMech said:


> Came across the Red Magic unit myself today - would be nice if they made one for the Super Recyclers too.
> 
> https://www.redmagicperformance.com/rake-n-stripe/
> 
> ...


Thank you for the info. Heard a lot, but I've never ever used it before. Btw got a lot of practice with Husqvarna stuff like this one


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