Power Rake vs Dethatcher vs Scarifier Which Should You Use?

Last Updated on April 18, 2022 by Grow with Bovees

There’s a big secret to achieving a lush, green lawn, which landscape professionals know, but most homeowners have no clue about. It’s called overseeding — the process of spreading grass seed across your existing lawn.

Even though planting new grass seed is a straightforward process, there are a few things you need to make sure to take care of to get the job done right. Most importantly, preparing the area by mowing and dethatching.

Thatch is a layer of dead matted grass, roots, stems, and clippings that get caught up between the roots and grass. If not removed, thatch can prevent new grass seeds from germinating, which defeats the purpose overseeding.

There are several ways to identify thatch including brown spots caused by lack of water owing to the presence of a thatch layer, and spongy soil.

Getting rid of thatch isn’t as easy as going over your lawn with a lawnmower, but you have the choice of one of two specialized tools — a power rake vs dethatcher (or a scarifier), depending on the state of your thatch problem.

Power Raking vs Detchatching

Many homeowners believe that dethatchers and power rakes are the same tool, with different names. And even though they are in fact essentially the same thing, they are designed to serve different purposes, they both remove a different amount of thatch.

What is a Dethatcher?

A dethatcher is basically a less-aggressive way of removing thatch from your lawn. This lawn maintenance tool is generally smaller compared to a power rake, and some models attach directly to a mower or garden tractor. Click here for the best dethatchers. (Amazon link)

Types of Dethatchers

A dethatcher is equipped with spring tines, which comb across the grass, and pull up less than half an inch of thatch up to the surface of the lawn. There are three common types of these tools to choose from — manual, tow-behind, and powered.

Manual models are highly affordable, and showcase a simple design that is similar to an ordinary garden or leaf rake. Using a manual dethatcher is easy, and is an ideal choice for hard to reach areas that are inaccessible with a power dethatcher or tow-behind dethatcher.

But on the downside, manual dethatchers do require a considerably high amount of physical effort to operate, making them suitable for smaller lawn real estate.

Tow-behind dethatchers are easier to operate than manual models, given that they attach to a tractor or riding lawn mower, so there’s no physical effort involved.

Further, tow-behind dethatchers can cover wide areas within a short period of time, but aren’t the best choice for reaching tight spaces.

So, if you want to remove thatch from a smaller area, a manual dethatcher is an ideal choice, whereas if you have large patches of thatch buildup spread across a wider area, a tow-behind dethatcher is perhaps your best bet.

Powered dethatchers look similar to lawn mowers, and are an ideal choice for revitalizing small to medium size lawns. They are often confused for power rakes, most notably because they are powered by robust motors.

But the biggest difference between the two is that a powered dethatcher uses spring tines, whereas a power rake uses blades to remove large amounts of thatch buildup and dead grass from your lawn. The Sun Joe AJ801E 13 is a great example of a powered dethatcher.

It is powered by a class leading 13-amp motor, and features Air Boost technology for optimal thatch pickup.

What is a Power Rake?

Power raking, just as the name would suggest is the process of dethatching your lawn using a larger, powered push mower type machine. It is a more aggressive process for removing thatch from your lawn, and a great choice for lawns plagued with major lawn thatch problems.

To power rake or not to power rake? That really depends on how much thatch you need to remove

A power rake is, in essence, a dethatching machine that is designed to remove 2 ½ — 4 times more debris than a dethatcher. They are fitted with blades, which can be adjusted to the correct height to only cut and lift just a thin layer of thatch, without damaging the healthy grass and grassroots.

As mentioned earlier, power raking is an aggressive process, and could destroy your lawn if not done properly. But this shouldn’t be a problem, if you know what you’re doing, and use the right tools.

There are several models of power rake on the market, and can remove a thick layer of thatch from your entire lawn in large swaths. These pieces of equipment are probably better suited to being owned by contractors or people with large areas of grass to maintain.

If you will only use a power rake once a year for a small lawn, you will probably not get good value from owning such a machine. You could consider a power rake or lawn scarifier rental if you only rarely carry out thatch removal.

What is a Scarifier?

Using metal rotating blades, the scarifier machine removes debris from beneath the surface of your grass. Powered machines and hand-held tools can both be used.

Water, air and nutrients are able to better penetrate the soil, resulting in a firmer lawn surface. An even better result can be had by using a pull behind aerator after you’ve collected all the dead grass debris.

In addition to pruning the shoots and runners of grass plants, the vertical slicing action of scarifier blades promotes new growth, the same way as pruning shrubs does, leaving your turf grow thicker and more dense.

In addition, it is effective against shallow-rooted weed grasses such as Crabgrass, creeping weeds and Clovers.

You can also use a scarifier before overseeding your lawn, the new grass seed will drop into the small grooves made by the scarifier blades.

Dethatcher vs Power Rake vs Scarifier – Which One is Right for You?

Dethatchers, scarifiers and power rakes are geared towards removing the excess thatch layer and other debris from your lawn. However, a dethatcher is a great choice for removing a thin layer of thatch, whereas power rakes are more effective at removing a thick layer of thatch from the top of the soil.

Dethatching is a light process, and power raking is a more aggressive way to get rid of thatch. A regular dethatcher is fitted with spring tines that dislodge the layer of thatch, while a power rake is fitted with blades complete with rotating flails that dig up thick layers of old grass clippings and debris from your lawn.

The Sun Joe machines with a combination of dethatching tines and scarifier blades represent excellent value with the ability to do both jobs with a simple change of blade.

If you have a regular lawn mower, you will very likely be able to find a special blade called a dethatching blade which fits onto your mower in place of the cutting blade, just lift your mower up and change out the blade, this effectively turns your mower into a dethatcher at a fraction of the cost of a complete new toy.

Final Thoughts on Power Rake vs Dethatcher

Now that you know the difference between a dethatcher and a power rake, you’re probably wondering which tool is right for you. First, it is important to use any one of the two tools if you notice dead thatch in your lawn that is preventing it from breathing, and good grass from flourishing.

The more often you mulch or fertilize your lawn or the thicker your lawn is, you will need to use a power rake or a dethatcher at some point to remove the excess grass material. Use a dethatcher if you have a thin layer of thatch or as a preventive measure to avoid thatch altogether.

If you have a heavily thatched lawn, and haven’t done any dethatch removal in a couple of years, then it may be time for dethatching. Power raking is a recommended way of fixing a serious thatch problem, but it’s worth mentioning that power raking cannot be done repeatedly, as it may completely clean out your lawn of healthy grass!

For most people, the combined capabilities of the Sun Joe machines will be perfectly adequate to carry out regular lawn care tasks and keep your grass looking lush.

And if you’re still undecided about how to deal with too much thatch, then maybe it is a good idea to speak to a lawn care professional.

For a lawn that’s gotten hard, and/or has a lot of bare spots, and is out of control, manually aerating your lawn with some lawn aerator shoes, or if it’s a larger lawn, using a pull behind aerator may be a better option.