For moving the dirt around and digging, the
FEL works great. For getting a yard really smooth, not that great. I agree, a power rake works great, but they are expensive, and I don't think I could rent one around here. I box blade might work O.K. to smooth things out. Using a tiller to break the dirt up and then back dragging with the
FEL might work O.K. also. I have seen people talking about the Ratchet Rake. This might imporve the
FEL and help smooth things out when back dragging, but I'm not sure. A landscape rake also is good for smoothing things out. I would say the power rake is the hot ticket for getting a yard ready to seed all things being equal.