De Thatching More Labor Than I Thought

[intgr8all]

I went to my local home improvement store and rented me a De-Thatcher. I practiced on my yard for Equipment use and labor intensity. THIS IS SOME SERIOUS LABOR and TIME! My yard is about 6k SQFT worth of grass. The equipment rented was a Blue Bird. I thought it would have some type of bag and it didn’t . Just scraped up thatch and I had to <b>“GET AFTER IT” </b>with the good ole rake. I read post about use <b>LESS </b>rake as possible, but I don’t see any other method. <b>What’s your method? </b>I’m not sure if I want to offer this as a service.I even tried to mow that stuff and it just created a HUGE DUST STORM! I have to go back and finish with a rake unless someone can shed some light. <b>Is there equipment that will be able to suck up thatch?</b>. <b>What type of attachments could be purchased for walk behind?
</b>Thanks in advance for your input

[Extreme Lawns]

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You need to scalp your lawn next time. Then go to HD and rent a blue bird core aerator. Fertilize your lawn with lesco, and next year you will not have to scalp or use a de-thatcher. Do not offer de-thatching as a service. Most people in the dallas area don’t know what the hell de-thatching is or does. All they know is Scalping and Aeration.

[Scott]

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Hey I miss quoted my first couple of dethatch jobs too. So you live and learn.

I get a dethatcher, do my thing then I use my handy dandy little snapper rear engine rider w/bagger and then vacuum away. I'd have to say that snapper does a great job of sucking up everything.
I've tried yard vacs, raking, other mowers with baggers but nothing can compete with that lil snapper.

[Ric]

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$0.07 Per Square Foot.

[intgr8all]

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Thanks for the information..

[mariner]

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I wish I had a dethatcher for those people that did not clean the leaves up from last year. It is a bit#$ hand raking that stuff out of the lawn. Right now I just go over the lawn with a rake then suck it up with my walk behind. A dethatcher would save me some time.

[CCLS]

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If you have a walk behind mower, there is a dethatcher attachment that you can mount on the front of your mower. You can dethatch, mow and bag at the same time. This will save you the hassle of renting a dethatcher, plus will save you a lot of time. If you are talking about power raking, than that is a whole different story.