Power Rake vs Dethatcher - Same??

[dschribs]

What is the difference between a power rake and a dethatcher. Is there any? I'm looking for something to churn up all the dead grass I have in my yard so I can reseed and someone suggested a power rake. The guy at my local rental place said that they have a dethacher and that it's the "same thing as a power rake".

Is he right?

[ffemt1271]

i thought about a power rake, but after looking at them i think it might do a lot of damage to my st. augustine.

[turfcobob]

Power rakes and dethatchers are the same machines different names. Mostly they will have flail or spring blades. If a fixed blade is available I would get it. A fixed blade does less damage to the grass plant and will cut all the way down to the dirt. Flail blades are made to break away when they hit something hard like thatch and they tend to damage the top of the plant. Unless the thatch is a real problem like over 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick I would aerate the devil out of it and put down some lime. Much less damage to the lawn. Dethatchin is a last ditch effort and is very labor intense.

[dschribs]

I'm looking at using it to get rid of a large area of dead grass prior to seeding. I'm hoping it will also loosen the soil enough so that the seed will "set" better.

Would it work for this purpose. I'm thinking a few passes at deeper depths each time...

[ffemt1271]

i probably have a 1/2 inch of thatch, my house was built in 1948 and has probably never been dethatched, the previous owners didn't take good care of the lawn, i'm just thinking that a dethatcher with flail blades will chop my st. augustine to shreds beings it creeps along the ground.

[Lawncop26]

Mow the grass at the lowest level, then powerake also at the lowest level and collect the dead grass, you'll most likely have way less grass, if any at all and good seed to soil contact, however, with a aerate done also, even better seed to soil contact.

Is this dead grass all in the same area, or is it splashed throughout the lawn?

[turfcobob]

If you get the right machine you will be able to turn the soil some. Probably have to go over it several times and remove most of the debris.

St Augustine grass, with .05 inch of thatch should be ok to go. I would not rip it up. But you can verticut St Augustine every 2 to 3 inches with good results. .05 inches is normal if not low for thatch on St Augustine. I have seen it over 3 inches thick and doing well.

[pictureperfectlandscaping]

Hey man i had a power rake and i did 130 acres of seeding on Ky lake and it means buisness when you hook it up and drop it in the dirt!!! I wouldnt suggest a power rake unless you are completely starting over with the yard!!!. it is perfect for rocky soil that has alot of junk in it! It will wind -roll all the rocks and sticks for you creating great soil for your seed and or sod!!! It is big and heavy duty so not the thing unless you are starting over with the yard.

[cgaengineer]

Hey man i had a power rake and i did 130 acres of seeding on Ky lake and it means buisness when you hook it up and drop it in the dirt!!! I wouldnt suggest a power rake unless you are completely starting over with the yard!!!. it is perfect for rocky soil that has alot of junk in it! It will wind -roll all the rocks and sticks for you creating great soil for your seed and or sod!!! It is big and heavy duty so not the thing unless you are starting over with the yard.

I think you are talking about a tractor pulled root rake am I correct?

[pictureperfectlandscaping]

well it is kinda the same thing! I guess1 I put it on the front of our 80 horse asv posi trac machine! ( a skid steer on tracs)! It was haevy duty and it really did good for what we needed! i just thought it was a little to heavy duty for what you were saying you were do9ing!!! is there a smaller one????

[dschribs]

Ok, I think I have a plan. I also wanted to post some pics so everyone can see what I'm starting out with.

I have three tenative renovation plans and I'm not sure which one to go wtih. I'll leave it up to you guys to decide which one is best? I'll be mowing down as low as possible first off, no matter which plan I go with.

Plan 1
1. Power Rake - Remove as much of dead grass as possible
2. Aerate
3. Spread seed
4. Power Rake again - To work in seed and break up cores from aeration
5. Starter fertilzer
6. Spread weed free straw. My local nursery sells it for $18/bushell. Covers 500 sqaure feet per bushell.

Plan 2
1. Power Rake - Remove as much dead grass as possible
2. Aerate
3. Power Rake to break up cores
4. Spread seed
5. Roller to help seed to soil contact
6. Spread weed free straw

Plan 3
1. Power Rake _ Remove as much dead grass as possible
3. Spread seed
4. Roller to help seed to soil contact
6. Spread weed free straw

Here's the joy I wake up to every morning:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/dschribs/Lawn/Pics001.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/dschribs/Lawn/Pics003.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/dschribs/Lawn/Pics004.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/dschribs/Lawn/Pics006.jpg

[cgaengineer]

well it is kinda the same thing! I guess1 I put it on the front of our 80 horse asv posi trac machine! ( a skid steer on tracs)! It was haevy duty and it really did good for what we needed! i just thought it was a little to heavy duty for what you were saying you were do9ing!!! is there a smaller one????

Well I suppose you could use a root rake as a power rake but talking about some damage...a root rake will remove soil!! A power rake is a set of vertical blades either flail or delta and depending on the height of the blades to the soil you can take either a little or a lot of thatch and dead grass.

[dschribs]

FYI - I'll be putting down starter fert after the seed no matter which plan I use...

[cgaengineer]

What type of grass is that?

[dschribs]

Other than the obvious answer "dead grass" - I really don't know..

[cgaengineer]

Other than the obvious answer "dead grass" - I really don't know..

The thing is, it doesn't all appear to be dead...I would be reluctant to put out grass seed until I figured out what type of lawn you have. If you are not careful in seed choice you may end of with some type of Frankenstein lawn.

[dschribs]

No, it's dead. It looked like that in September/October of last year. I half killed it in July when I fertilized in the dead of of Summer and it got no water for a month. Then I pretty much kiiled the rest of it after Wild Violets infested it and I used way too much weed killer.

In the pics, you can see a section of the back yard that I removated last September. It came in great and had aready greened up.

Learning the hard way....

[Lawncop26]

Number 2, always include a aerate if you can, and dont power rake after seeding to break up the plugs,leave them to break down on their own. Mow low, power rake to take up as much dead grass as you can, aerate two passes, place seed (with a powerseeder if poss. no need to roll than) If your going to use a spreader to sow the seed, dont power rake to place the seed, invert a leaf rake and use that. Jmo.