Dethatching (Technical Question)

[TexLawn]

Hello all, I am in North Central Texas and I have a customer with a bermuda grass yard who would like me to de-thatch for him. I searched the archives extensively and found a good number of posts which discussed how to charge for this service and a few posts with substance as to equipment. I'm still unsure and have a few questions.

I located this at Nations Rent:

Bluebird F20 Lawn Comber
The F20 is designed for commercial use where rugged dependability is demanded. The F20 is available with the standard flail reel or optional Delta reel blades. The F20 has a lever-activated height adjustment control and clutch lever integrated into the rigid handle. A compact design makes it easy to maneuver through narrow gates and tight spaces around trees, shrubs, and other obstacles - without compromising efficiency.

Yes, I will be renting a piece of equipment to provide the service and wonder what the pros think with regard to the proper piece of equipment that has worked for them. In otherwords, given its bermuda grass, should I be renting a flail reel type or the blade type thatch machine? Is there a piece of equipment I can rent which de-thatches and bags? If so, where can I get it?

If no such equipment is available, should I run my WB Mower w/ bagger behind the thatch machine to pick up the debris or would it be quicker to use a blower and hand rake?

Last, what do ya'll think is a legitimate estimate of time to complete a large corner lot residential yard?

Thanks in advance for your help.

TexLawn

[TexLawn]

Pro's please respond.

Thanks,

TexLawn

[Ric]

TexLawn

Bermuda Turf requires Verticutting not a Dethatching. I am not familiar with BlueBird equipment so can not tell you which model to use.

Bermuda is both a rhizome and stolmatic turf. However it is the solons that cause thatch. Therefore if you were to Dethatch it with a flail mower it would tear it up pretty bad. Yes you would get rid of the thatch, but you would also have to grow it back in.

The basic different in Flail mowers and verticutter is the reel. A verticutter reel is like having 20 grass edgers line up 2" a part. Vertical cuts are made in the turf to cut runners. A flail mower will pull up these runners and tear out the roots.

I suggest you go to Texas A & M's website and do a search on "verticutting". You could also check out U of Florida's website. Although I verticut I don't think I can explain it to you on the net.

Finer textured turf like Bermuda requires thinner blades on the verticutter than course turf like St Augustine.

Good Luck