De-Thatching help needed

[Grott]

Just picked up a Husky power de-thatcher. No manual, it is running and all of the adjustments and bagger seem to work.

First - How deep do I set the flail's? Currently it's set to just touch the ground and it kicks up a good deal of soil.

Second - When do I run it? I'm in Northern Michigan so the grass is still brown, hasn't really come out of dormancy for the season.

Thanks,

Garett:confused:

[Grasskeepers]

husky has all the manuals on there web site
i printed one off this weekend

[Grott]

Thanks I didn't know that...I'll go check that out.

Garett

[txgrassguy]

Grott, the depth is dependent upon the amount of thatch needed to be removed from the turf site. since you are dealing with C-3 turf, get a cheap soil thermometer and when soil
temps rise to around 50*F you can commence the removal.
A tip I have is to rake aggressively in 2 directions like an X, re-seed then apply chelated iron as the remaining turf will absorb the iron and turn green quite quickly. Really makes the completed job stand out.