Has anyone seen a FRONT dethatcher attachment?

[Pitbullawns]

I want one for my 33" walk-behind, but can only seem to find tow behind dethatchers for tractors. Anyone know what i am talking about?

[kj330]

jrco.com i think this will help you

[CrystalCreek]

JRCO will deffinitly have what you want, but it will be pricy. About $500 for the dethatcher and $150 for the mounting rack. Good luck.

[Allens LawnCare]

I want one for my 33" walk-behind, but can only seem to find tow behind dethatchers for tractors. Anyone know what i am talking about?

There is one on Ebay going cheap right now, you can take anysize and cut it down to fit your machine. They work great, I lucked out and got a 60 inch JRCO for $100, I had to fabricate the mount to fit my machine, but spring cleanups and matted down leaves and grass are no match for the JRCO.....looks great when your done!

[Pitbullawns]

Okay, great - thanks! JRCO didn't seem to have one that fit my machine but if it can be modified all the better.

[mnglocker]

Speaking of this... I'm actually building a 48" front mount dethatcher for my JD z425 right now.
Here's what I put together tonight, the mounting bracket and front casters will come tomorrow.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher2.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher1.jpg

[Allens LawnCare]

Looks good, you should sell them

[Pitbullawns]

That's cool. Want to build one for me!?

[mnglocker]

Looks good, you should sell them

Thanks, I'm thinking I should give JRCO some competition...

That's cool. Want to build one for me!?

Let me test this one out and we'll see. If it works I'll need some measurements and specs... :cool2:

[Runner]

That's not only alot heavier built than the JRCO, but those tines dig alot harder, as well. I have seen a few like that on here that were fabricated by guys. One guy even had one that had like four rows of those tines - all off set. It was like one pass, and you will have brushed out half the lawn. How far apart are those tines? I will measure the ones on the JRCO and see if they are close. They sure look to be the same. Another thing with those tines you are using, even though they won't really need to be replaced all too often, when you DO replace them, they will be much cheaper to replace. If I remember, each one of those is like 4 bucks, or something, and that is with two tines on each one. that nit will do everything YOU will need it to do. Nic job on the design, placement of the tines and the dial in of the angle (pitch) of the angle iron that holds them. They are pointed where you will want them, and the bolts are subsequently easy to get at for tine replacement.

[mnglocker]

Thanks for the props again on my work guys. I'm seriously thinking about fabbing these things for a side job now. Here's what I got done tonight... tomorrow comes a lift lever for curbs/walks and a bath in TSP, then primer and paint. :D

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher8.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher7.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher6.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher5.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher4.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/953kdjs/dethatcher3.jpg

BTW the tines are spaced at 3".

[Allens LawnCare]

That looks great. You need to think about a height adjustment for the thatcher deck. Since I purchased my JRCO I've had to make a bunch of test runs with it to find the perfect height....too low and the grass looks like you hit it with a york rake, too high and nothing...every yard is different and I've had to change it during work. Just something to think about....it's an easy mounting set up...4 nuts to loosen and make the adjustments

[heather lawn sp]

excellent work mnglocker

We have modified a JD tow dethatcher to a front mount on a JD F725 about 12 years ago. It does work well, but is considerably lighter duty than your fabrication
You might want to consider making the casters adjustable in height to adjust for different 'thicknesses' of lawns. Hinge it at the front cross bar and bolt at the back cross bar. raise and lower it at the back with bolts and spacers

Those are the heavy agriculture grade tines, aren't they?

Retail it for $900 and it will last forever

[Runner]

Ok. NOW I see some design flaws. The tines - need to be staggered. You have them right in line. You staggered the series of tines, but you did it exactly half width of the tine sets, so the tines still line up front to back. This is not only redundant, but does no good, and as a matter of fact, COULD be adverse, as it could just double dig lines of grass. This is an easy fix for you on this particular unit. Remove one of the rows and stagger it over. You will have to cut a little off one end, and weld it to the other end, but hey,....let's consider this a prototype. Next, you are going to want to use different casters. The height adjustment is not only necessary, but related to that, these wide wheels are going to have a tendency to ride up on thick and/or matted grass. The thinner casters tend to slice through better.
Another thing, you are going to want to redo your mount system, as it attaches to the mower. You HAVE to have a slider system of some sort...in the very least, a series of holes (lined vertically) for rear height adjustment. When the height of the unit is adjusted, it is imoerative that the rear is set to match the height of the front - as to level the unit. Otherwise, only one set of tines actually does anything. It is amazing just how little difference of front to back height affects these.
Here is one idea I would have for this that keeps it simple, keeps it easy to adjust, and fast. Where your square tubing that runs straight front to back is welded to the frame tubes that run crosswise,...instead of welding these points, use large bolts. Where these bolts are, (they will be long shoulder bolts with the threads only being toward the bottom where the nut(s) will be). A series of round slide spacers (shims with U's stamped in them) will be used that will allow them to slide into place. This way, the bolts do not have to be removed...they are just loosened up a bit, allowing spacers to be slid off the bottom and placed on top (or vice-versa) to adjust the heights of the front and back). Once they are in place, the bolts are tightened back up...holding the frame firm. as long as these are tight, there will be no wear to wobble out the holes drilled in the square tubing. This is just an idea, but would certainly make this unit adaptable to different conditions and different machines.

[mnglocker]

<---taking notes, I'm allready sketching up version 2.0. One question, should the rear of the thatcher "float" freely as to make constant cantact uner it's own weight? I'm thinking I should hinge the front of the mounting bracket. I've got an even niftier idea on making the caster adjustable.

As far as stagering the tines, yeah, there should be more stager, maybeI shouldn't put these idea together starting at 10pm... :hamerhead: There is about a 1/4" of stager though... back to the drawing board... (I"m still gonna try this out though.)

Cripes I'm going to need to find a cheaper place to buy steel....

[mnglocker]

I'm thinking my next prototype will be for the JD 2210 compact utility tractor however I'm going o build it with a universal mount. Maybe I'll even make a hydro lift for it...

[Allens LawnCare]

Look at the mounts for the JRCO rake....you can see the type of sliding adjustment you want to use...and the tines do need to be stagered more,even spacing. If you were to drop that on some dirt you'll see tine marks front and rear in the same groove....you want the front and rear to make contact in different spots....Still Looks great!

[Allens LawnCare]

Here is a diagram of the JRCO system....you can see the front casters have an adjustable spacer and the mount system

[unit28]

Hey glocker,
Nice design you have.
With my experience.......
the angle iron off the deck down to the dethatcher will bend.
I see you have crossed braced it, but with the amount of force
of the tines digging in and turning it will bend. Go with square tube.

I put a small winch on the front to raise and lower the unit.
Mine busted to pieces yesterday, so I have to redue a few things.
Like, add tubing...LOL

Good luck

[mnglocker]

Hey glocker,
Nice design you have.
With my experience.......
the angle iron off the deck down to the dethatcher will bend.
I see you have crossed braced it, but with the amount of force
of the tines digging in and turning it will bend. Go with square tube.

I put a small winch on the front to raise and lower the unit.
Mine busted to pieces yesterday, so I have to redue a few things.
Like, add tubing...LOL

Good luck


I concur with the tubing idea, I'd much prefer it also, but I was pushing thach with it like a plow into my compost pile... to the point that the front of my ZTR was in the air without issue so far.

BTW this thing works GREAT. Next project, prototype v2.0 more universal mount, beefier tubing and another trick that you guy are going to dig. (I'm going to need a pattend attourney)