VonHaus 2 in 1 Electric Lawn Scarifier and Rake 1500W
VonHaus 2 in 1 Electric Lawn Scarifier and Rake 1500W – Garden Aerator with 28L Collection Box, 10m Cable, 32cm Working Width, 4 Height Settings, 2 Interchangeable Rollers, Safety Switch
 |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use | Electric lawn scarifier and rake | Electric lawn scarifier and rake | Electric rake | Electric soil cultivator | Electric soil cultivator |
| Wattage | 1500w | 1800w | 1300w | 1050w | 1400w |
| Cutting Width | 32cm | 38cm | 32cm | 32cm | 22cm |
| Cable Length | 10m | 10m | 10m | 10m | 10m |
| Size (L x w x H cm) | 111 x 50 x 102.5 | 120 x 65 x 110 | 96 x 49.5 x 111 | 33 x 25 x 142 | 105.5 x 40 x 106 |
| Weight: | 8.5 kg |
| Size: | 1500W 2 in 1 Scarifier |
| Dimensions: | 53 x 42 x 31 cm; 8.5 Kilograms |
| Part: | 15/109 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | VonHaus |
| Dimensions: | 53 x 42 x 31 cm; 8.5 Kilograms |
| Reference: | 15/109 |
| Size: | 1500W 2 in 1 Scarifier |
Level 1 was too much, on the setting, as it left my grass with bare patches, so level 3 was perfect and it got 2 wheely bins full of moss out without much effort- really impressive! So much better than trying by hand with a rake- no competition .
Good value for money. It wasn’t the easiest to assemble as there were no instructions. I’m not DIY person but once I got my head around it I assembled it fairly quickly.
The machine is light and easy to use. I have read reviews that question the longevity of the motor. Only time will answer that question but as of now I am very satisfied with the product.
I bought this scarifier with some trepidation as I was a bit dubious of its capabilities
Please if anyone is thinking of this product do no hesitate it’s fantastic
I am a garden addict and I can honestly say this product has transformed my lawn overnight and also taken the back breaking work of raking
Again the best 99 I have spent and next day delivery what’s to not like
Five sta
Does what it says. Gets rid of old dead grass and thatch
Better than I expected for the price. Done the job really well and easy to assemble Thanks
Ignore negative posts. Easy to assemble
I’ve never raked lawn before so thatch build up was significant without me realising it.
Emptied bag every 3 min or so on first and second pass, whilst starting high then on second pass lowering.
Vast difference in lawns presentation.
I then Scatified again started high and second pass lowered for improved aeration.
I’m no gardener, but this really works.
Obviously don’t run constantly, obviously if you hardly take bag will fill quickly.
It’s a great product and super happy with my purchase.
Nice to handle give me a clean lawn without bits, light easy to use pretty sturdy good buy
As a scarifier it works really well and save so much time and effort. Never buy a manual scarifier.
Liked everything, dose a good job, lawn really needed some attention, good machine at good price.
This scarifier is easy to assemble, and light weight. I can lift it with one arm- I’m not a body builder I’m a 58 year old woman
It removes moss and clover well.
My husband loves it. Does the job and refreshes the soil. Thanks
Used this to both rake, scarify and heavy scarify the lawn and it seems brilliant. Enough power that deep scarifying doesn’t cause any problems at all.
Height adjustments for both scarifying and taking work well.
Like all of these if you have heavy moss the collection box is pointless. That isn’t really a criticism of this device; it applies to all of this design.
Not the cheapest but best I’ve had for the money.
It works. But the rollers are a bit difficult to change. I think your grass needs to be soft otherwise it can’t penetrate dry soil.
This is pretty good at pulling out the moss and thatch, but the collection basket is not the best. I ended up removing it and then just raking up afterwards.
Its also pretty cheap, so 4 stars seems about right.
A scarifier doesn’t usually doesn’t require a lot of use. So this is ideal for a medium size lawn . It removed m3 of moss out of the lawn .
This is my first electric scarifier and I used it mid April 2022. My small north facing front garden had a lot of dead moss (following treatment). I used the raking attachment on the second to highest setting. Following advice I scarified a strip of lawn then went over the same area in the opposite direction. I repeated this over 3 consecutive days until I was happy that 99% of the moss had been removed. After a few days I reseeded and now have a lovely green, lush lawn with no visible signs of moss.
Pros
Quick to assemble.
Easy and quick to use on a small lawn (25 feet x 10 ft).
Good results that are instantly noticeable.
Can be stored hanging from a strong bracket in shed/garage.
Cons
Collection box could be slightly bigger.
A little fiddly to clean.
Would have preferred a handle that folded instead of having to partially dismantle it for storage.
I would recommend the product.
We have had a slight (we thought) issue with moss in our garden, we have tried the traditional rake, weed and feed solutions to reduce it with little success. We purchased the Scarifier with the hope of resolving our problem. I have now used it with both attachments and was staggered by the quantity of moss removed, It will require further uses to remove the remainder of the moss and some seeding may be required before our grass looks really good but the improvement to date is impressive
I am delighted with the Von Haus scarifier and lawn raker. It appears to be well constructed and strong despite extensive use of plastic materials. I have only used it briefly as I don’t scarify until the end of the growing season. However, during its brief try out, the amount of dead grass and thatch which it removed was quite amazing. In addition, the whole exercise was effortless and the scarifier is light and easy to lift into the storage hut when the job is complete. The Von Haus is also great value at around 90.
Excellent machine great at getting dead moss and weeds out of lawn, only thing that would improve it is a larger collecting box as it fills up in no time but really pleased with it.
Easy to assemble and produced good results. The lightweight proved to be a problem in that it tipped up easily.
Easy to assemble/set up. Easy to use. Amazed how much it extracted from my lawns. Battery lasted quite a while when in use. Bin could be a lot bigger as I find I needed to empty it every few yards! And cable could be longer. But overall I’m very pleased with my purchase.
Lightweight, but powerful! Collection box is joke , to small – better withou
Excellent piece of equipment and easy to use and effective on the law
Love this. Scarified backyard couldn’t believe the amount of thatch this thing removed. Brilliant product.
The scarifier is great it get more up than you think there is, certainly recommend it’s small & compac
Used this for the first time and I was impressed at how easily it lifted the moss and thatch from the garden. The only downside I have came across is the size of the collection box. I had a lot of moss in the garden and spent more time stopping and starting to empty the collection box as it fills up very quickly. I ended up removing the collection box and raking the lawn after using it.
Overall a very good product but 4 stars due to the collection box.
Brilliant to use does the job very pleased with this purchase
Easy to put together, lightweight and whilst I have only used the scarifier, I have no hesitation in recommending this machine.
To scarify my lawn which is quite large and it really removed a lot of moss and dead grass.
Does the job really well. Ok so the bits may not go into the waste bag but it leaves it easy to rake. i would buy this item again. Roll on spring.
Fairly straightforward to assemble. Used it to scarify quite large lawns. Easy to use and not heavy. As other reviewers have said Collection Box is small so frequent emptying required and I had to rake the lawn afterwards to clear things up. That said, I liked this machine and it took away a lot of the effort required if just raking by hand.
Hubby got it put together in a very short time – and was straight out to do both lawns ! Very lightweight and easy to fold and store in the store area. Good collecting capacity too.
I cannot recommend this enough! I did my lawn and pulled up so much thatch I thought it would never end. I knew my lawn was bad though. So did my dad’s as well which seemed in good condition – we filled barrow after barrow of brown thatch my dad is a keen gardener and even he was blown away.
Very light weight and easy to handle.Easier to keep the collection box off and rake up than stopping every one or two runs.I work for a LAWN CARE company and this sacrificed in my opinion does a great job.I will be sharing this machine with my neighbour.By keeping the collection bag off it puts less pressure on the motor and and less pressure on all other parts
Assembly instructions need to be more clear.
Build quality very good.
Very powerful motor.
Light weight and easy to manoeuvre.
Only drawback is that the collection box is to small.
It’s very light, bit of a issue but easy to use. Basket is a waste of time. Machine is SO efficient it fills in seconds. Easier to remove basket and tie up the ‘flap’. you have to use a grass rake to clear up. A re design with a proper method of holding the flap would be a good addition.
The only problem was it didn’t collect all of the thatched grass into the basket so had to hand rake the thatched debris.
Much more powerful scarifier than I expected. My garden is at least 25 metres by 25 metres and it done the job brilliantly. As others have said, leave the collection bag off and just rake up the moss and dead grass after scarifying. You’ll be amazed at the amount of moss it removes.
Easy to assemble in just a few minutes, most of the pieces are self explanatory. The collection box is a little on the small side, if it was any larger the operator would have to walk bow legged so I guess it is designed that way, I didn’t use the box as it would have meant emptying every few yards, I just raked up the thatch with a wire rake. The de-thatching roller made an absolutely brilliant job thanks to the adjustable height settings.The build is sturdy and well designed this will last me years. A brilliant machine for the money.
Very easy to use assembling took only a few minutes and were working. Also in use it is very lightweight makes the job easier.
I bought this after watching a YouTube video called “Mr Garden Story”. Our lawn was doing my head in. Kept cutting and cutting and it just looked more and more sad for itself. Rest of our garden is lovely (maintained by green fingered other half) and I was letting the side down with the lawns. Had watched a lot about the benefits of Scarifying and the guy used this Van Hausen machine. Arrived in a couple of days and after waiting a week or so until the weather was right I assembled it. Now I’m far from being practical minded but it was simplicity. The machine is well put together but I worried it seemed a little bit plasticy compared to my petrol lawn mower. Shouldn’t have worried. When it turned it on was apparent that the motor was plenty able to do the job as it propelled me forward at a rate of knots. You will be astonished at how much dead grass and thatch this brIngs up. 2 cuts completely filled our large garden waste bin. I was amazed. Need to rake it all up after and I realised after taking the lazy mans way of using the mower to try and lift the stuff that it didn’t get everything up. The raking also helps the soil below in prep for seeding. I’ve gone on to aerate, seed and dress the lawn and after watering am now crossing fingers (while sitting our 7 hours a day to deter starlings from eating seed) to see the results. The lawn looks and feels better under foot straight away. Was really springy before but can now feel the Earth below. In conclusion I can completely recommend this item. It’s sturdy, powerful and the results will surprise you. Hope it helps for anyone thinking of buying.
It is a good bit of kit does the job well scarifying and slitting.
The only negative is standing in the shed its balance is not good its heavy at the back
With one pass it removed all the moss and weeds from my very bad lawn.
The item works OK. But on 2 occasions the instructions are incorrect. This resulted in damage to the lawn.
Seems to have lots of oomph. Comes with two ‘blades’. The chain one didn’t have much effect on my lawn. The moss just laughed at it. Ha-ha.
The blades did a lot better clearing lots of moss and dead grass. Does anyone know why this has been a particularly bad year for moss. Would have pleased ancient Japanese Emperors who had slaves to remove any blade of grass that dared to appear on their lawns.
The only thing I disliked was the way the push handle attached to the main body of the scarifier. When you pull the machine towards you which you have to do from time to time with the motor off, the handle comes away from the machine. Apart from that it did a thorough job of lawn raking the lawn.
Bought this to scarify a fairly large lawn and it does a really good job at doing so. Two attachments are included, one to scarify and one to aerate. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed with the aerator as it doesn’t seem to get deep enough. I ended up just using a fork i.e. the traditional way. The other disappointment is the basket to collect the clippings – it doesn’t really work and I now use it without and rake up any moss. Much quicker doing it this way.
Even with these two negative points, I bought it to scarify and in that regard it does an absolutely stellar job. Would I buy again? Yes, definitely.
I wanted something to help ‘clean’ our lawn of mass and thatch. After using contractors for some years I was worried that I wouldn’t find a tool that was ‘non-professional’ to do the trick. How wrong I was! This 2-in-1 scarifier is very good value and does a great job. It’s a bit fiddly changing over the two rollers and the unit is light so can tumble backwards when free standing if you’ve not parked it properly. The collection box fills up quickly – but shows it’s doing a good job! Very pleased.
Good scarifier. Saved the lawn as well as our backs. We’d started removing the moss and thatch from our very dead lawn, it was yellow and thick like straw, it was back breaking! We only got maybe a wheel barrows worth out a 50+sqm garden. This little machine really packs a punch. We removed about 7 heaped barrows worth of thatch moss and dead grass. First we mowed the grass down to 7cm. Used this twice collecting in between then mowed one final time. So we basically scalped the lawn. It looked terrible, but it needed doing as the grass was mostly dead. We sewed some pre turf fertiliser then put one pack of grass seed down. The grass started growing and coming back a rich green colour in two weeks of August even in scorching temperatures. We watered thoroughly every evening for half an hour. I then put the second bag on in September to fill in any patches. The lawn is now thick and well established. It’s green as could be and has had its first mow before winter. I had to spend half a day hand weeding it, they got spread around despite us thoroughly clearing them before raking. We might roll the ground so it’s not so bumpy next time but it’s so much more acceptable than before. We’ll probably continue to use every other year if we continue to get thatch and moss.
Read instructions which said this product is not for use outdoors! I don’t want to scarify my carpets so I think I’ll ignore them.
Good price, good functionality with poor assembly instructions, but didn’t take long to assemble once I figured it out. However worst of all is the small grass collection bag which is quite difficult to fit and requires emptying after 25 feet because of how well this machine scarifies. The machine needs a redesign to give a grass collection bag 3 times the size which would make it a 5 star machine
Very impressed with this Lawn Scarified which is a lot more powerful than my previous machine and a lot more efficient. The only reason I have scored 4 is that you seem to be emptying the collection box quite frequently however this may be due to the state of my lawn.
Wow, never used a scarifier before (as you can tell by the lawn),so easy! Lightweight but strong machine.We read all comments & video’s first as we had never done this to the lawn before. The attached photo shows how much moss etc the machine took off,this was on number 2 setting,it went low enough we thought. Didn’t bother using the grass collector as one strip of our large lawn would fill it,so just left it on ground then it was easy to clear up after.This was with the scarifier tool,then put the rake on & took another load off! So far we have then top dressed with topsoil & that was a week ago 21/9,so will update when the grass grows. Overall a good machine IMO,the handle folds so easy to store,both rake & scarifier are metal & as it will only be used once or twice a year should last(fingers crossed). We are both OAP’s so if we can do it easily….
Anyway, I filled a wheelie bin and three bags on the first go. My only criticism is the small grass collector on the back of the machine isn’t really much use to man nor beast – just two or three yards along and it was full, so instead of going to the bin every 2 minutes I gave up and left it on the grass and raked it into piles, before bagging/binning. The machine had done the hard work so it was not really too difficult to rake up. And I needed a workout!
I’m used to a battery mower and not a fan of electric cables but as it’s not something I would use every week, it wasn’t too much of a problem. It’s got a good long cable that should be fine for most small to medium gardens, though I needed to bring out an extension. Haven’t tried the aerator yet but I’ll do this after giving the lawn a bit of feed. It looks easy enough to change over with an allen key. Also, setting up the push handle was very easy, too.
So, if you’ve got a lawn, especially one that desperately needs scarifying, I’d recommend this machine – very good value and it does the job well.
I very quickly learned two lessons though. Lesson one, you are required to hold the thing back slightly, otherwise it will simply run away and skim the surface of the lawn. Lesson two, don’t stop moving while the machine is running. I did, just once and it scalped a patch of lawn. I found the best technique was to tilt the machine back to lift the blades clear of the ground and release the power switch at the same time at the end of each run. I quickly got the hang of it. I was absolutely amazed at just how much thatch and dead weeds it pulled out of the lawn. I found I was filling the 28 litre collector box at the end of every twenty pace run and I very quickly filled my wheely bin. Overall, I’m very pleased with my purchase, I wish I’d bought one years ago. Now, hopefully I will be on course to getting a lawn I can be proud of.
Very easy to assemble, I managed by myself. Very lightweight. I’ve only used itwith the times. My lawn is on a slope and is about 100 sq metres, I went over it twice and the machine didn’t struggle at all, it took out a lot of moss and dead grass, I used it on the second lowest setting and although the lawn looked less green than it had before, it didn’t wreck the lawn. 2 weeks on, the lawn seems to be recovering but might need deeper raking next year. It’s also easy to change between the rake and the scarifier.
Great value, I’m usually a Bosch man, however their version was out of stock. I have been blown away with how good this product is. Used it for the first time yesterday and I have a big lawn, it has picked up two Sulo bin of thatch and dead grass. It has an amazingly powerful motor and the blades are easily interchangeable with a tool to help you do it. Very impressed.Like other reviewers I cut the grass first and then used the aerator. See photos for details. Oh and half the price of the Bosch. I’ve been converted
Sept 2020. Arrived well packaged. All bits were there. I found the instructions a waste of time, not that you need a lot of instructions if you look at the two diagrams and you’ve assembled a lawnmower before. Firstly the negatives: As stated in other reviews the collection bag is too small. It fills up very quickly. I did a very small area and emptied it twice. The handle makes it top heavy and it may tip over, not when your holding it only when its left alone. The clips for the wires are not secure enough and pop off. Don’t let these things put you off. 4 height settings which didn’t seem to make a lot of difference when using the rake. Results were very good although not used the blades yet as we are short of rainfall in the south and the garden is very hard. Not no more noisy than my bosch lawnmower. Lightweight and easy to use and does the job well. Plastic so doesn’t feel as strong as it might but I haven’t paid premium money for something I will use twice a year with each blade. I’ll probably use the rake without the box and rake up the thatch and the mow over the lawn to take up anything I missed with the rake. Folds down easily for storage. All in all I cant find any reason not to like it and it will save hours of raking with a sprung rake. UPDATE. Still not used the blades but fully raked my 180sq meter lawn today. I filled two wheelie bins. Machine handled it easily although I have been watering the grass as I am going to treat my leather jacket problem. Apart from the clips coming off I am very satisfied. I would give it five stars but the couple of niggles listed have made me mark it down.
The rake/scarifier is an excellent machine. The grass collection box is too small. I do not think the manufacturer can do anything about it because the process of scrification dig up so much of rubbish. I learned quickly and made big hole like a flap in the back of the grass collector and allowed all the rubbish to go into the lawn and collected it manually afterwards. I thought that was the quickest way to complete my task. It took 2 days to finish scarifying my large lawn. At the end I am very pleased with the result.
This had to be the best scarifier in the range. Small lightweight with small bag to catch moss.
I used it and found that if you tie the back plate up you get on better. No matter what happens a garden rake is still needed so I put everything in rows and scooped it up after with the bag provided. At the end off the day what do you expect for 100. This machine has all the power you need with good cutting levels.
Cheaper than other models with loads more power. RECOMMENDED
Excellent product, have only tried the scarifier so far to pick up the moss and dead grass. It is very easy to push compared to my previous Black & Decker and so I do not get tired as I did with that one.
I have only given it 4 stars because it is very poor at picking up the grass and leaves a lot of grass on the ground. Also the grass collector is too small and has to be emptied annoyingly too often.
Bought my VonHaus scarifier 2 years ago. Excellent little machine, however you will need to empty the grass box frequently. Very light and easy to use. Forget the instructions which are poor and study the picture on the box to confirm that you’ve assembled it correctly. Good price for an item that you’ll use once or twice a year.
Unpacked and built in under 10 minutes. It came with the tining blades inserted and the rake as an optional attachment so I decided to use the blades. The level has four height options and I used the third highest setting first. I didn’t need to go closer to the ground as this setting worked well, leaving 2 mm lines in the soil under the grass. When the blades grip the ground it wants to pull forward so be ready for it as uneven ground will create surges as it grips on higher ground. As others have pointed out the basket fills very quickly. Stopping to empty it can be frustrating but when you see the quantity and recognise that each stop allows the motor to cool down, its not so bad. Something to smile about – the instructions say not to use outdoors. All in all though a good solid machine that seems to do the job well.
Like most other reviewers, I was impressed with the way this little, lightweight tool scarifies the lawn. The only downside is the very small collection box. Having read some reviews I followed one of the tips and forced the flap at the back to stay open – this makes the job a lot easier – following the scarifier with either a landscape rake or a lawnmover to pick up all the dead matter that had been raked up.
The other downside is that there are no real instructions about use and having looked at a lot of questions and answers about the unit on Amazon I realised that there is some confusion about the aerator. And so I invested some time looking at some youtube videos about scarifying the lawn. There are a few good ones out there (and some bad ones – but these are easy to spot). A key thing is the mow the lawn first, otherwise you will just rip up green material and not get to the tangled matter at the soil surface.
I’m giving a 4 star because of the two failings above – otherwise a great little machine. And I’m hoping to see the benefits of my labour once my lawn recovers.
Makes a very time consuming job quick and simple. Our lawn is 80 ft X 50 ft and it scarified in less then an hour. It took approx 20 loads of moss in that time with minimal effort and didn’t destroy the lawn in the process. Easy to assemble and four height settings ensure the correct level of intensity! Agreed the collection box is a bit small but otherwise faultless. One tip make sure you clip the fabric to the frame of the collection box otherwise the moss will randomly empty which it did to me until I realised!
Great device, highly recommended.
Order arrived on time. Due to weather I’ve not been able to fully test this item, but on trial run found it didn’t have power to push/blow moss into the ‘bag’. It just rolled the moss up into rolls and then left them and a mess on the lawn. Found it best to forget the bag, and follow up with rotary mower set high.
But good power to remove lots of moss.
Great service, scarifier arrived promptly.
The assembly instructions are sparse but it was easy enough to assemble.
The leaflet does not explain why there are two different rakes. I set off with the one with teeth like blades. This has done a great job and very quickly and efficiently hauled up all the thatch and moss. My only complaint is the collection box is way too small. In the end I took it off and collected the debris with a rake. Over all very pleased, much better and more robust bit of kit than previous black and decker scarifier and price about right too.
I bought this to use on couple of smallish lawns at our new home, both of which needed a bit of attention (despite being looked after for the previous owner by Green Thumb!).
The unit comes ready to assemble with an instruction leaflet that’s really not the easiest to follow as it’s all diagrammatic and the pictures aren’t that clear. Having said that, if you’re used to an assembly process you should be able to work it out easily. It took me 10 minutes.
It’s easy to operate, but as it was the wrong time of year to scarify, I tried it only on a small patch of my lawn in the shade that was overrun with moss. It removed the moss well enough along with a load of thatch, and as expected left this part of my land looking shocking. A couple of weeks later and it had recovered somewhat. I haven’t tried the aerating bar yet, but it’s really easy to exchange the bars in the machine.
So far I’d give this a hearty recommendation, it’s relatively lightweight and hence easy to manoeuvre due to its plastic casing. There’s a decent size collection basket to attach to the back, although I’d expect it to fill up quickly even with minimal use.
You will probably need an extension cable with this as the cable won’t be long enough for most lawns.
In practice the machine does what it is supposed to and is excellent for an average domestic lawn. There’s a lot of good advice posted here about only using the machine in spring and autumn. However, apart from these two periods, the purpose of my machine is to rake out lawn weeds, like clover, as they occur during the entire summer season. For this fairly regular job I use the lightest setting – 4 – attacking any significant areas of weed as they arise, rather than the whole lawn. When used lightly in this way, over moderate areas, the grass collection basket is perfectly adequate and the lawn recovers quite quickly if it is suitably watered. However, as I usually perform the light raking as part of the mowing job I normally leave the basket off, using the mower to do a final tidy up. I’d agree with others that deeper raking should be done in the appropriate season and that the collection basket is then best left off as larger volumes of thatch are being produced.
Whilst you should only push the machine forward whilst scarifying I do not always find this convenient or quick when I’m clearing clumps of clover etc. For this I simply raise the tines off the ground by pushing the handle down slightly when I need to reverse between short forward moves – rather like a sweeping movement.
I didn’t keep going until all the moss and clover was gone, just enough to give the grass room to breathe, and then applied a lawn feed and weed killer combo.
The collection box is a netted bag on a metal frame with a plastic base, and does its job but, as other reviewers have also written, it is really small, and needs constant emptying … my son helped by keeping a garden sack nearby, so I quickly got into a routine of scarify a bit, stop and empty, tfor the catcher and continue.
I’m really pleased with the results!
Haven’t used the “rake” yet, but that looks like a vicious piece of equipme
The VonHaus is a better size although still compact and light to manoeuvre. The starting mechanism is straightforward.
Our only negative is the same as everyone else’s – the size of the bin. We have decided not to use it but to just tie up the flap and let the moss fly out to be raked up afterwards. This saves a great deal of time in not having to empty bin numerous times.
We are very happy with the results.
We also decided to buy from amazon rather than direct from VonHaus. We had tried to contact their customer services only to wait 15 mins to be connected to ………Manila!!!!
If we do have any queries in the future, I would rather contact Amazon.
I did use a lawn weed killer first and that did pay dividends as in two weeks there was enough dead moss to show where I had raked it out.
The only con so far is the trigger needs a button pushing before you can start. It can be awkward and I trapped a finger more than once, which I could still feel several days later.
Only negative is the basket is to small. But no matter how much you spend on one of these machines the collection basket will always be to small. Because your be amazed at how much moss this machine pulls up.
I don’t see Any problems arising with this scarifier/aerator any time soon. For the price I paid I’m very happy with purshase. Just to note, make sure a keep brushing the moss/grass out of the air vent grill for the motor. I had no problems but didn’t want to take chance of it over heating.
My only reason for deducting a star is the size of the collection box. One run up the lawn and it needs emptying so you are likely to spend as much time emptying it as you are pushing it. That said, if it’s picking up that much rubbish then it’s doing its job. My lawn is 10m X 8m and scarifying once horizontally, then once vertically I filled one of the large wheelie bins. On setting number 4, the lawn looks like it’s had a serious “seeing to” but I know from last year that, with plenty of water, it will recover well. Happy to recommend this.
Assembly was relatively easy – only tool needed was a cross head screwdriver.
Changing the scarifying tool was also relatively easy – though i think when it has been in use a few times the allen key operated bolts will need cleaning before opening and care will be needed to avoid dirt getting into the holes for the bolt.
I tested both tools on my lawn. The moter seems much more powerful than my old machine (possibly this is why its a bit heavier than i expected) and lots of thatch was extracted from the lawm very quickly. The only drawback is that the grass catcher inlet area became clogged very quickly and the extracted materials were left on the lawn. with the thatch in my lawn i estimate the catcher will fill up every 5 yards of use. i’d say a bigger catcher would make it better but it is not that much different from my old scarifier.
I am very pleased with this machine – in reality i only expect to use it twice a year – spring and autumn – so any niggle about the catcher’s size is not going to be a big problem.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this machine. I hardly ever give anything I buy and review five stars but it’s great value and will do the job for me.
After two days the lawn looks good especially after the amount of rain we had.
I used the aerator for the first time during October after scarifying. I set the aerator at the deepest setting as I wanted to get down into the roots. The aerator also removed a lot more of the thatch that remained after first scarifying. I used the hover mower to remove all the thatch that was loose after scarifying (a lot easier than raking; however I do agree with previous answers that the size of the collector is far too small). I finished the autumn preparation by adding autumn fertiliser. The deep aeration enabled the fertiliser to penetrate into the root area. Only time will tell if this was the correct decision.
As previously mentioned it does turn a reasonable green lawn into a poor looking brown one, in the short term but then with care, water and feeding you get a much better lawn back. It does remove an extraordinary amount of material, far more than a long grass cut. I actually had to go to the local dump twice in a day as all the garden bags were full of removed moss and other dead material. The collection box does fill very quickly but at least it collects efficiently so whilst you have to empty it very regularly, most of the stuff gets removed. I did find a suggestion on here useful – after you’ve used this just cut the grass on high to use your mower to pick up all the rest of the stuff.
I have only used the scarifier as I have an aerator but the device comes fitted with the aerator and swapping to the scarifier was easy enough for a DIY numpty like me.
Received this amazing machine today and I am absolutely delighted with it. Very easy to assemble. It feels like a good quality scarifier as soon as you lift it out of the box. It is very easy to use. Yes the “box” does fill up quickly, but that is because it is ripping out all the old dead stuff really fast. The box holds a lot of grass, and is easy enough to empty. I just can’t believe how easily it has transformed my lawn, it hasn’t been scarified for years so it was in need of sorting out, this machine is exactly what was needed and I can’t speak highly enough of it. I also bought the lawn feed to help the grass to recover. I haven’t used the tine roller yet, but I’m sure it will do exactly what it is supposed to do. I am hoping to have the best lawn in the neighbourhood this summer!
We had a good look at the options and the reviews and chose this one partly on reviews and partly on price. Delivery was quick and I, as the only practical person in the house, got it all out to assemble it with a bit of trepidation as some reviewers had reported problems. Note I am over 70. I found it easy. Great relief there were clear instructions in words not just pictures as you get with some gardening equipment. As long as you look at the pictures and read the words I don’t see how you can go wrong. So himself then took it out onto our very mossy lawn and proceeded to give it a go. Now he is apt to find fault with things but the comment was “better than I ever hoped for”. So great success. Did the back lawn, about 15 metres by 20 metres in about 20 minutes. Not using the collecting box but picking up the debris to go straight in the garden bin. The blade was easy to change too. Saves a lot of back breaking work by hand.
The outer box whilst plain brown cardboard did have printed on it the contents of the box, (the Raker/Scarifier), so it clearly was not to hide what was in the box. An unnecessary waste of cardboard/packaging.
The instruction leaflet was easy to understand and the diagrams were clear and large enough to identify key items for assembly.
I have now used the Raker/Scarifier for the first time and have made the following assessment of using the product.
1) Using the Aerator (As pre-installed) it does an excellent job of removing thatch and moss.
2) As has been mentioned by numerous previous purchasers, the collection box does fill extremely quickly and this requires very frequent emptying. I am not too sure that the manufacturer could do much to improve the size of the box, as this would
(a) possibly make the raker unstable
(b) the extra weight of grass in the box would alter the centre of gravity of the raker making it very heavy at the back and it may therefore cause it to dig in and become difficult to handle.
Emptying the collection box is easy, and quick. One has to remember that the product would, in my situation be only used twice per year, and over the period of 12 months, certainly 2 years, the lawn would become more and more thatch free, and therefore the amount collected in the box will decrease.
As previously stated this product I would see as being used only twice per year, so looking after it as I tend to do with all my gardening tools I would expect many, many years of good use.
Im very pleased with this purchase, and would recommend it as a good lawn care tool.
First thing to be aware of before tackling a lawn scarify is there are only 2 times of the year (Spring and Autumn) recommended to do this job. This is because this is when the grass is actively growing and will have a better chance of recovery. Bear this in mind when buying this machine as it could be sat in your shed or garage for up to 6 months before you come to use it.
I bought this scarifier based on all the positive reviews on Amazon. Having now completed the scarification of my lawn I am blown away by the effectiveness of this little machine. Our lawn hadn’t been scarified in 5 years, and as a result it was in a very poor condition. Moss and thatch had taken over, hampering the growth of any grass across large sections of the lawn. At first it was quiet a surprise to see the amount of rubbish this machine extracts. I filled our garden recycling bin in around 10 mins! After going up and down in one direction and then again left to right in the other i could have filled the garden recycling bins 6 times over! At this point, the lawn was looking pretty sorry for itself, but all the videos I watched and articles I read online all mentioned that it needs to get a lot worse before it looks better. After raking up all the thatch/moss, I then used a petrol mower with the blades set very high to run up and down the lawn to essentially hoover up any last bits and pieces not picked up after raking. Following this I spread an even dusting of rich in nutrients topsoil across the lawn and then scattered new rye grass seed on top of that. I then watered with the “EverGreen Spray and Lawn Feed” hose attachment to give the existing and new grass the best possible start. So far so good, the new seed has grown and the lawn is looking much better. Still early days, but i will repeat the process again in spring. Fingers crossed it should start to look much more respectable.
Some reviewers have commented on the small collecting box but personally I feel any bigger would make the whole thing cumbersome. You’d need one the size of a wheelie bin! I simply kept a humper close by and emptied the basket into that 4 or 5 times before taking it to the compost heap. No bother, and the fact it fills up so quickly shows what a good job it’s doing!
I have no reservations in recommending this machine.
The instructions could be a little clearer as to how to assemble the rake and there is almost nothing at all regarding its use. So: start with the shallowest setting, more is not automatically better. Operate as if using a hoover on a carpet. Scarifying works by ripping/cutting out ‘thatch’, in my lawn the horizontally growing grass that eventually leads to brown patches and a tired look no matter how much the lawn is fed and watered. You want to rip/cut out the bad stuff not the good, so STOP early and consider another session when the lawn has recovered. Don’t keep going until the rake stops ripping/cutting, that happens when your lawn is trashed! The rake itself is simple enough: a fast revolving cylinder of ‘blades’. It works perfectly well and exactly as expected, just take care and the time required to understand what the rake is doing and you’ll be very pleased with your purchase. I certainly am.
Pros
Easy to put together.
Scarifying and aerating options that are easy to change.
Very light and easy to handle.
Effective. In fact almost too aggressive even on the lower setting so I found you have to keep it moving but this means it doesn’t take long to do an effective job. It definitely removed more dead grass and moss than I can with a heavy raking. I would estimate that 70% of what was removed was old grass and moss.
Cons
Build quality is OK but body and wheels are plastic so needs to be handles with care if you want it to last a few seasons.
Grass collector just fills within 5 seconds and is useless. It is better to just lightly rake up the cuttings after scarifying.
It is electric so watch out for the cable.
Only tried it on my astroturf so far, but it has good lifting capability and fairly pulls itself along.
Cleaned up my turf in half the time and effort as my failed Qualcast unit.
On my astroturf I’m just picking up bits of light garden debri from on and in the turf, it done this very well, and the bag is usable for this.
However one it was only 30% full the bag was catching on the turf and allowing the debri to escape, so it needs a more secure connection at the bottom.
I have not tried it yet on the main issue of lawn moss, but the bag would fill in a couple of meters so this will need to be left off. Could do with being able to leave the back flap up to allow the moss to escape without a bag, we’ll see how it goes.
If your lawn has not been aerated before, then this accessory is probably not going to go deep enough, So we will fork it over for the first time.
There were no problems in assembly and the machine is comfortably powerful, but I would suggest that you give it some help on a first occasion by going backward every couple of feet to allow the volume of raked material space to escape.
Very impressed so far.