back to OKKMAX B0DSLL2RPV plug-in dethatcher

first impressions:


I assembled and used this de-thatcher for the first time yesterday, and here's my first impressions:

The instructions were in good english and well-organized, but were lacking in several respects. Several steps
were missing, including installing the power cord tender, leading to my having to take it apart a little bit to
install the cord tender. Some steps were ambiguous, such as which way to install the handle, which by my bad
coin-flip led to the power switch being impossible to mount, so I had to take it back apart AGAIN to install
that. The four handle-tightening knobs needed to be installed flipped around with the handle facing inward
instead of outward (as pictured) due to where the "square holes" for anchoring the bold were located. Lastly,
it said to store the scarifier blade "in the provided case" for safety, but no such case was supplied. Overall
though it went pretty fast and wasn't difficult to assemble. The handle bar is metal but pretty much everything
else is plastic, so it's pretty lightweight and is easy to carry up and down the basement stairs.

Prepping it was pretty straight-forward There were no instructions for how to use the cord tender but I think
I figured it out. It shipped with the scarifier bar mounted and the rake bar in packaging, so I had to switch
them. All that holds it in is a plastic bar with two allen screws, which seems like it might not be enough,
but we'll see I guess. It's easy to change now, but I wonder how that'll work out when it gets mucked up with
grass. Setting the height was also easy with the "pull and slide" adjustment knob.

It's easy to use, just pay attention to the power cord. The biggest let-down for me was the absolutely TINY
bag on the back. It reminds me of the dust pan that comes with a hand sweeper. It might hold half a square
foot of thatch if you're lucky. I have some heavy thatch in my back yard and could seriously only move about
eight FEET before I had to stop, bend over, uncouple the bag, set the de-thatcher on its side, scoop all the
remaining thatch just ahead of and under the unit into the bag, stand up, and walk to the can to empty it. Then
back at the de-thatcher I had to flip it back upright and re-attach the bag. I figure I had to do this about
40 times on this very small front lawn, and today my back is really sore. But I'll admit my back would have been
in much worse shape if I had deep-raked the whole front yard by hand. I ended up going over the entire lawn
north-south, and then east-west to remove as much thatch as possible. I filled my entire yard waste bin by about
the 2/3 way point, so I ended up transferring the thatch to three 55-gallon bags. That's a lot of thatch
for such a small area... but that's the joy of having "zoysia" grass that hasn't been de-thatched in years.
(and yes, I do bag my grass clippings)

I gave it a quick inspection after I finished, and it looks to be in good condition and pretty clean. The top
deck does tend to collect a bit of thatch, and there's what looks like a grill for cooling the motor that gets
pretty clogged with clippings - I'll try cleaning that out later and see if it's there for looks or actual
ventilation, though any electric motor sucking in grass clippings and dust without an air filter would get
destroyed pretty fast. I was able to loosen the handle knobs enough to fold up the handle into a "Z" shape for
more compact storage. This looks like a reasonable deal for a "use it once a season" piece of equipment. It's
not especially durable or high quality, but it doesn't have to be for what I need it to do, so I think it was a
good value for the money. (as long as I can get another 5+ seasons of use out of it)

I may see if there's some way to modify it to hold more clippings though. That is by far its biggest problem.
Maybe I can buy a new "bag" to modify, cut open the back and sew a pillow case onto it or something. It may not
have enough power to "throw" the clippings back into the bag though, since the spinning rake doesn't generate
any significant "airflow" like a lawn mower blade does. The other option would be to just remove the bag and
let it dump the clippings out the back, then after walking the lawn I can come back with the mower and use that
to bag the thatch. That's basically what the "professionals" here do. They walk your lawn, ripping out the
thatch, and then hop in a big riding mower with the dual collection tubs on the back to vacuum it all up. The
last time I had one of them here, he filled the dual tubs TWICE. It's just astonishing how much thatch this
tiny lawn can build up.

Looking at the lawn now, it looks to have lost a lot of its brown AND green color. The lawn had just started
growing for the season, and honestly it was a bit late in the season to be de-thatching, but this was the soonest
I could get it done. There are a few patches where a fair amount of dirt is visible - that happened when I went
over a high-spot in the lawn (it's not very flat) or in places where I lingered a little too long without lifting
the deck (by lowering the handle) and it spent a bit too much time power-raking a single spot. I got better at
that as time went on so it's not a big deal. Zoysia will recover really fast from this, as long as it gets
enough water. Removing all that thatch should also help a lot with growth. So while it looks pretty shaggy
right now, I'm expecting a much better looking lawn later this year. If all goes well, it'll be lush and green,
instead of the usual tan with green splotches. I also got an unexpected bonus from this run, as it cut down the
height on the tall patches of grass that had sprung up early, so I don't need to mow it just yet.




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