dethatching question

[crc13]

I am brand new here and have fallen in love with this site. I have just became a teacher and am looking into doing a small business during the summer months. I have a question on dethatching. I have one of these pull behind cheap rakes, but it does not seem to work that great. Should I have someone come in and do the work? Does it work better than raking? I hate having someone else do the work, but if it is going to do a better job, that is alright. Thanks.

[Critical Care]

Most dethatching is done in the spring, and typically before the landscape season gets into full gear. If you wait until you're not teaching, then you may be waiting too long. There is also a window for dethatching in the fall, however once again you're back at school.

The pull behind rakes are not a substitute for a good power rake. If you're particular about the work you do, or if your clients are, then you may want to rent a power rake. You could always line up some dethatching jobs now, and then on a weekend go out and take care of them with a rental power rake.

Be advised that you can pull up a whole lot of thatch with one of these machines. That equates to a lot of debris, a lot of raking, and quite a bit of time. So plan carefully.

[dcondon]

Do a search because there are other threads talking about the same thing.

[crc13]

I plan on dethatching now, but want to start the business this summer. I will check into renting the machine. Is this what you guys use to do someones lawn?

[upidstay]

I like the kind that attached to the front of my walk behind mower. We have always had great luck with that. Put two gator blades on each spindle, to form an "x", and rake/mow. the baldes chop the stuff up nice and fine, so that light stuff can just be left to decompose. Or you can add a bagger. We would also blow heavy debris into wind rows to make it easier to clean up. I