ames true temper 163115800 True Temper, 15-1/2 -Inch, Thatching Rake

I have St. Augustine and needed to dethatch badly. This does the trick without pulling the stolons up too much. If the thatch is too thick then the stolons can't take root. Thinning the thatch plus an enzyme treatment is working.It also works great at pulling out weeds and cleaning flower beds of leaves and limbs.

The True Temper Thatching Rake lives up to the previous five star reviews. After an awful winter storm in Texas, we are now using the rake to rejuvenate our devastated backyard lawn. While the act of detaching is arduous, the hard work and excellent rake quality is creating a wonderful backyard area to be reseeded. So happy with this purchase!

My review, from a Seattle area perspective: Dethatching should be done in early Spring or in the Fall because it will stress the grass being exposed to more heat during the Summer.My thatching rake did not come with any damage and came in a really big box. The tines were also wrapped in cardboard from the manufacturer. Some people might consider the big box it comes in a waste, but I’m ok with it because I’d rather not waste my time having to return it and wait for another to arrive.I got this because I only needed to do a small area of my yard (10ft x 15ft). If you plan to use this for your whole yard, set out a cuss jar and you’ll probably never do it again. I recommend always renting a thatching machine for doing your whole yard, it does a better job and it is still an all day project after raking up everything. You could also go in together with your neighbors to reduce the overall cost.There are two sides of the tines on this rake. From looking at the tines, point facing you, the straight side is for getting rid of the thatch. The side that has a slight curved section is for getting more aggressive and is good for cultivating if you plan to overseed afterwards. I recommend watching videos online for proper technique so you don’t work harder than you need to (The guy from Minnesota is really helpful).Its a good idea to mow your grass before you thatch it, but remember you should never take off more than 1/3 of the grass blade in one mowing or this will also stress out your grass.

This is very difficult to use in my opinion. I had a whole section of St. Augustine that was killed by chinch bugs while we were away. I had hoped I could pull out the dead grass with this, and you can, but I can get on my hands and knees and pull it out by hand with half the effort and do a better job. I am not sure how sturdy it is but since I won't use it again it doesn't matter.

The only problem that I have is it came with 2 bent tines which I'm sure is from UPS shipping but still should have the end covered better than what it was.

This is one sturdy tool and made ripping out all my dead grass such a breeze.

Good gym workout for 2 hours with breaks. Suitable for healthy men. Removed almost 75% of the dead grass and tiny green weed.

The Rick is very good most people don't know how to use it. It does a great job.