Dethatchers, twigs & branches

[raykos]

Hi all,

How well do dethatchers work with small twigs & branches up to 3/4"-1" dia.? Does the dethacher clog easily, will the tines get bent back and finally, will I be spending most of my time unloading/unclogging? Yes, I know it will probably depend on how many trees I have and how dense the twigs/branches are. And that, of course, depends upon how much "pruning" Mother Nature does, i.e. wind & ice storms. But, just in general, how well does the dethatcher work? I do have a landscape rake, and if I turn it around and use it backwards, it seems to work OK. But, if my cabin fever gets to me and I try to clean up the yard before it's really dry, the rake can be a little rough on the grass. My yars is not exactly golf course flat and if I lift the rake just a weeny bit, its nicer for the grass, but it will miss some of the smaller twigs & branches; this is why I was thinking about a dethatcher.

Also, has anybody adapted a tow behind dethatcher to work with a 3pt. hitch? Any links, pics. etc.?


Thanks,
Ray

 

[amigauser]

Not sure about a dethatcher but a Pine Straw Rake might work. It is sort of like a landscape rake but lighter duty and made to rake up pine needles "pine straw". They are popular in the South I believe.

Leinbach Machinery Catalog

I am thinking about ordering one myself for small lawn debris cleanup to.

Norm

 

[ChuckinNH]

I used a tow behind dethatcher last spring behind my BX. It worked pretty well, but I did spend some time unclogging it. It didn't damage the tender areas though. I think that the rake that Amigauser suggested would work better perhaps, and cover the area more quickly. A front mounted rotary broom would be nice, but they are pretty expensive!