Now, i "THINK" this will work. I ordered the equip and can tell you when i get my first thatching job. JRCO sells what they call the "Leaf Plow". It is a large bull dozer shaped rake. It mounts on the front of larger WB and Lazer type machines. I "THINK" that this will work on claning up thatch instead of raking. It looks that it could save me hours per job. That in mind i also have a bit of a problem. I was charging 35$ per man hour and a 25$ disposal fee for each thatching. Now i SUSPECT that i may be done in an amazingly fast amount of time. What do yall charge? I am hoping a SQ ft charge or other. I SUSPECT that i will cut 2/3 of my time off by using this machine. What would yall say? Bad part of this equip though is that it wont fit into any small gated back yards. It HAS TO BE MOUNTED ON A LARGER MACHINE i am told. It is a weight factor. But from earlier posts i have an inkling that most of you only have big open lawns so this may not be an issue. Hope this helps ya all out. Tell me what you think of the idea as well. Acute Cut
Charge the same dollar amount per lawn. Just increase your hourly rate, maybe to $50. And keep your disposal fee at $25.
I hate to say it,but I don't think your leaf plow will work too well for thatch, just won't clean enough of it.Once you get it surfaced,why don't you just blow it or windrow it with your mower? The plow is basically designed topusk large piles of leaves that are already piled. Incidentally,I have a JRCO tine dethatcher,and it works GREAT if you were considering getting one of those. I use it to push large piles also as well as plowing willow tree mess in the spring.
I pick up dried thatch with a 52" toro with 2 sets of hi lifts after I get my cradles cut. A 4 cu ft metal bagger picks it up. What I do is mow to 2" then power or tine rake then mow and side discharge then mow and bag.
I was thinking the same thing as runner that it wouldn't work too well on thatch cause leaves are more dense than thatch, and thatch is more stringy. hmmmmmm, if you do decide to try it, let us know how you make out.
Never "SUSPECT" a piece of equipment will save you hours until you've used it at least on a trial basis. I appreciate your sense of innovation, but this one will fail miserably.
I was wondering if anyone here has one of those leaf plows. I don't want to judge them because I've only seen pics of them on-line, but it looks like it can do some damage!! Lemme know what you owners (if any) think of it. You can use a mower to pick up thatch easily, and like stone said, cut the lawn short first, then thatch. Much easier in the long run, especially if you want to pick up the thatch with a mower or blow it with push or BP blowers. Good Luck though! Let us know how it works out! PS. Don't lower your prices because you find faster ways of doing things. Every piece of equipment that makes you work faster costs you money too don't forget. Those prices seem a little low for thatching though. That and aerating were the big EASY money makers back in CT.
I saw the leaf plow at Expo 2000 in Louisville. The leaf plow tines are too large and spongy for dethatching, IMHO. I hope it works for you but I have my own doubts.
