This machine works wonders. It will scoop up an amazing amount of thatch. One downside is that it needs a bigger bag. I use it with no bag and then rake up the mess. If you keep the bag on you’ll have to stop every few feet to empty. Overall great product though.

Fonctionne très bien

Buena tarde donde le puedo dar servicio en Puebla ya que perdió potencia mi equipo

This was easy to use and quiet, though it is louder than the mower. Changing between the blades and the Dethatcher though, has proven to be a bit of a pain. Requires screw and compartment detachment component removal and replacement . Screws require a ratchet. It is not as easy as it seems. Nor will the description or details tell you about this. The machine works amazingly though! Aside from the difficulty in changing the components, this is a very worthwhile machine to have!

It took a good long while to get here, and as other reviewers reported, it does feel somewhat "too light to be sturdy" and rather flimsy at unboxing, but let me tell you, it packs a punch!Took all of 5 minutes to assemble; the main unit comes fully assembled with the sacrifier tool in place, you basically need to put in two Phillips screws for the handle posts, then it's just a matter of hand screwing the 4 handle bolts and voilà, ready to roll. Switching from scarifier to dethatcher is also a breeze and is done in a manner of seconds; simply flip the unit over (the "lightweight" is already coming in handy), unscrew both 10mm retaining bolts, switch "drums" and put the bolts back in, not too tight, just nice and snug.Deck height adjustment is quick and easy, and once underway, I was amazed at how much thatch came out of the seemingly "clean" parts of the lawn. I quickly found that the "catch bag" is rather useless if you're dethatching for the first time in a long time, you'd have to empty it every few feet. The best approach I found is to leave the bag off, make one complete pass on the whole section of lawn then blow everything out on the driveway with a leaf blower and shovel the resulting mountain of thatch in a trash bag (or compost bin in my case). The only real reason I could see the catcher being useful if is you have very little thatch but have some debris hidden away in the lawn ( little rocks, small sticks, stray pieces of mulch and whatnot), then it would be super useful...The fact that it's lightweight is in no way indicative of its sturdiness or effectiveness, it simply makes it easy to operate, and the fact that the drum turns in the same direction as the wheels makes the machine almost "self-propelled"; I found myself having to hold it back rather than pushing it when scarifying. It's also much quieter than the "commercial" gasoline unit from the tool rental place; this one actually sounds like a shop vac.Oh, one helpful little tip; always walk "away from the electrical outlet": start your passes closest to the outlet, and gradually walk away from it, that way you'll hardy notice that annoying electrical extension, and won't have to constantly fight it out of the way.I had a huge problem with chinch bugs this year, I solved the problem, the bugs are dead but so were big parts of my front lawn (approx 2000 sq.ft), this little machine was a huge part of bringing my lawn back by taking all of the dead grass out, then scarify the soil making it ready to re-seed. I did two passes (left to right then front to back) with both tools, picked everything up between each pass and cleaned up the driveway, all in an afternoon...This is by no means a "commercial grade" machine, and it's obviously not meant to be used all day everyday, but as a home owner, you'll only be using it a handful of times per year (and maybe lend it to your neighbour once in a while), and in that regard, it's a great little tool to have around. And, it's light enough to be hanged on the wall or tucked away on a high shelf when you're done.Couldn't be happier with it!1 YEAR UPDATE:Still very happy with the machine, a real soldier! It managed the fall cleanup very well with the "rake drum"(picked up the leftover leaves and twigs nicely), stored it away for the winter in my un-heated tool shed, pulled it out last week for the full spring clean-up and I just finished renovating the side part of the yard using both drums extensively, and the "little scarifyer that could" never missed a beat. I even lent it to both my neighbours for their spring clean-up, and both were flabbergasted at how much stuff was coming up from their seemingly clean-ish lawns.I love this little guy, easily my favourite garden tool, if sadly it were to die on me (not that it's showing any signs of it), I'd bid it farewell, thank it for services rendered, and order another one in a heartbeat!

So I started with the Greenworks dethatcher because it was cheaper, a neighbor said it was good enough, and others gave it great reviews. Had a problem with the assembly and availability issues led me to try the Sun Joe instead. While the SJ is a bit more money, the materials and design issue I had with the other unit were not an issue with the SJ.In both cases, I wish the machine had a on/off switch and then a deadman lever that I could hold with either/both hands (like a mower). Between futzing with the cord and such, I'd let go of the handle with my right hand. So I'd have to hold in the button and pull the trigger to get going. It'd be safer and easier to operate to have both hands on the handle and use a pull lever to engage the unit. Not a show stopper, but something to consider.This unit did a great job (!) chewing up the thatch and many others have offered nice reviews. Didn't have to run over anything twice or three times. So I won't discuss that. I will add that dethatching the whole yard was finished in maybe 30 minutes versus the raking I've done in the past (many hours). It also did a great job of pulling up thatch. In some places, perhaps too good of a job. I didn't use the scarifier.What remains a pain is cleaning up the thatch. The unit doesn't really save any time there. The bag that comes with the unit is awfully small. I'm not sure why they even bother with it.Some other reviewers mentioned running over the refuse with the mover. I found the mower gets filled pretty fast in the past when I raked the thatch. I tended to prefer the rake to a tarp method unless the thatch is really fluffy. The SJ got up even more material (esp. dried out moss), so the mower filled too fast. Worse, the mower made a LOT of dust in the air, making a mess along with some breathing concerns (fortunately it was breezy). And, the mower didn't do a good job of picking up bonus items like acorns. You have to set the mower somewhat lower than I like to use on the grass to pick up the detritus. So, the grass ended up being extra short, which is its own thing. So after a good test, I decided to bag the mower approach.Instead, I used a lawn sweeper that I got to avoid bending over to pick up leaves. It didn't have much more capacity than the mower, but it didn't create a huge dust storm. It also tended to pick up the twigs, acorns and other heavier items the mower whiffed on. It proved a better choice than the mower.My two cents...

I wish I could give this 6 stars!When I put this together yesterday I was apprehensive. The handle felt cheap. It went together cheap. I know I can fix the handle if need be, but I don't much care for thinking about it when I'm putting together brand new things.Once everything was together, however, it felt ok.It came with the scarifier installed, so I had to switch that out. It would have saved me an extra trip to the tool room if I'd known it was a 10mm bolt. If it says so anywhere, I missed it. So keep a 10mm socket or wrench handy. Switching it out for the dethatcher was simple and easy.Now, my lawn isn't pretty. In fact, I've been fighting with it off and on for about a year now. It finally occurred to me it needs dethatching, so here we are. If it has ever been dethatched, it was a long, long time ago.Due to the current heat wave I had about 1 1/2 hours between melting and darkness to take care of business. After mowing the lawn I brought out the dethatcher.It's not self propelled, exactly, but it does tend to pull itself forward just by the way it operates. If my lawn were flat I would have had no trouble at all moving it around, however medium-ish dips and bumps would block its progress. I had to twist it a bit to get it to continue. Not really a big deal, and certainly not a problem with the design. Sure, you could maybe trim some of the plastic off the front to minimize this problem, but that would leave exposed quickly rotating pointy sharp things, which is a bad idea. Next time I'll carry a bucket of dirt with me and use this as an opportunity to even out the lawn somewhat.The instructions say to walk this forward and go over the lawn in an orderly, once-over type fashion. That's probably the best way to do it.For most folks.I, however, didn't have much time for such things, nor is my lawn orderly, either by condition or shape or anything.So at times I used this more like a vacuum cleaner.I also didn't use the bag. I followed the advice of other reviewers here and used my mower to clean up.A wise move.Mowing my front lawn typically fills my bin half way. After using this, and going over the lawn again with the mower, I nearly filled two bins.Maybe you won't have that problem. Maybe your lawn has been cared for properly. Mine hasn't.It's something to be aware of. Aside from the thought of emptying the dethatcher bag every 30 seconds, I've filled my green and trash bins, and that was with just my front yard. My back yard is over twice as big, so any more work of this nature is going to require trash bags or my neighbor's bins. If you have limited means of disposing or storing cut grass, you want to plan your lawn care schedule accordingly.Despite the instructions warning against going bagless, it worked fine. I didn't feel anything get thrown at me, but then I was wearing shoes and jeans. If you're doing your yard work in a Borat Mankini your mileage will vary...just please don't be my neighbor.One of the reasons I bought this over the other brands is the switch. The safety switch on the competition looked very awkward, and the reviews confirmed that. I'm not interested in awkward, and when it's too much of a hassle to operate the switch folks tend to leave the gear running rather than fight to turn it on again, which makes things LESS safe. It's like requiring a password that's so 'secure' and complex you pretty much have to write it down to remember it, making it less secure than requiring something simpler.This switch isn't terrible. In fact, I got used to it quickly, so I didn't have any problems.One huge pet peeve of mine is equipment that doesn't work for tall folks. I'm 6'4", and I can't tell you how many times I've had to stoop and slouch just to work with stuff designed for 'normal' people only. I was a little concerned about this.I didn't have to worry. No slouching or crouching was required. This makes me VERY happy!The height adjustment on this works wonderfully. It's simple, easy, and solid.Highly Recommend!