Landscape dethatch tool

Anonymous Poster · Feb 10, 2003

I was wondering if everyone could weigh in on PT's landscape / dethatch tool - I am considering ordering it - I like the idea because I perform this task on two acres twice a year - with 20 inch cut and no hopper - it makes for several very long and frustrating days - plus I have other ideas for use of this equipment - anyone want to chime in?

I think they only currently make it for the large unit

waterglyn · Feb 10, 2003

I would also like to know if it would work for picking up pecans. We have an orchard and picking them up by hand is killer!

bubenberg · Feb 11, 2003

unless you mow your grass very frequently, or you bought somebody else's place that did not properly mow the place before you you are wasting your money.

best proof for this is the big boys in lawncare have abandoned this detaching service for many years in our region. at least ten. i prefer not to go into to much detail but we, my company and the company that we do the topdressing for, only detach if we find an abandoned lawn that has more than an inch of not totally decomposed grass clippings/thatch. we then rent a machine. but have not done that in 8 years according to my rental records.

how to never have thatch is to apply the 1/3 rule (never cut more than 1/3 of an inch off in one passage on lawn type areas).

if you have mild amounts of thatch that is actually good because it acts as mulch and keeps the moisture better in the ground.

don't know exactly were and why you want a dethacher. but a well kept lawn is better served by at least two aeration application each year with several passages each time, and the pt core aerator does a wonderful job. don't let them talk you in to buying a spike aerator that only adds to the compactation of the soil.

there are two reasons for not dethatching: one it disturbs or uproots young grass seedling growth and two it adds to more passages of equipment on the lawn, therefore more compactation. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

good luck

bubenberg · Feb 11, 2003

we don't have pecans here but chestnuts and whatever does not get blown into the pile by the leave cleanup blowers we collect with a cheap mtd lawn vacuum. this little thing helps us to clean up parkinglots and abandoned real properties (coke cans, glass and all sorts debris. if you don't like the mtd line, billygoat has a more expensive line probably also made by mtd. mtd made my very expensive John Deer 36 inch snowblower.

Schultz · Feb 11, 2003

1/3 of an inch at a time??
Wow, I would be mowing my back yard every day to keep up with that rule of thumb. I knock down 3-6" in a pass. Yes we have to double mow some of those areas but we don't care to mow more than once a week.

Charlie_Iliff · Feb 11, 2003

1/3 rule (never cut more than 1/3 of an inch off in one passage on lawn type areas).


Hans: Don't you mean 1/3 of the height if the grass? As you know, my own procedure is to cut it to the height I want when I have time to cut, which usuall means taking a lot more than the top third off. Maybe after some top dressing and aerating and such I'll have to start treating it like a lawn instead of a pasture.
/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Anonymous Poster · Feb 11, 2003

Hey Hans

Thanks for the insight - i have had trouble over the years with thatch - which i first attribute to over fertilization (another big cause for thatch in kentucky blue grass - especially if you use quick release) also as you mention - if you cut over 1/3 of the height of the grass (I think that is what you meant) - which means you end up getting stems in the clippings which do not decompose easily -

My thatch problem was bad which i think is now have under control with core aeration and slicing twice per year - but even with that - this is a very dense carpet type lawn
(I used a combination of high quality culitvars - midnight is one and eclipse is another) - and it is still somewhat prone to thatch - usually around 3/4 of an inch when I remove and test a square of sod - but sometimes spots will go well over an inch

I also switched a few years back to 100% organic fert and I cut down on feeding.

In addition to the PT aerator - i own a ryan greens air which puts down 36 holes per square foot and really helps control thatch - i usually run over the holes with the deck to create top dressing

So what to do - I agree with you that dethatching is very hard on lawns and if not done properly can actually make lawns worse - but sometimes it has to be done -

I built this slicer attachment (for the PT - see photo) which does work great - you can control the depth - only dethatch or go deeper and slice into the soil if you want to overseed - the slice blades work great to dethatch and are much easier on the lawn (i do not recommend the flail type blades on the rental machines - they really do a lousy job if you want to save the lawn - they really beat hard on the top especially if the lawn in dense and if they penetrate to the thatch layer you won't have much lawn left - maybe they are OK for most less dense homeowner type lawns) - the slicer blades are very sharp and I can adjust the spacing down to an inch - golf courses in addition to regular aeration still frequently slice (or they call it verticutting) to control thatch on thatch prone fairways and greens where the grass is really dense - ( my lawn is very similar to this)

So after all this - why am I still rambling on - it sounds like I already have the solution - slicing when required and regular aeration - right - well the slicing really brings up thatch and without a hopper - it is a pain - but I guess i can solve this by going over it with the deck and vacuuming when I get the lawn vac hooked up - (i will have photos of this soon)

But the other reason I was looking at this tool is that I like the rake type tines - you could give the lawn a lighter raking to just remove some dead stuff - also - I will make a second rotary broom type brush shaft to clean up pavement using the hopper

Well I guess with all that said - I talked myself out of purchasing this attachment - I guess the slicer will serve my needs and I won't get enough use out of it - also it is very big and will take up alot of storage space

Anyone who slaved through reading all this care to talk me back into purchasing it - I guess I just can't stop thinking about and wanting attachments - So go ahead talk me back into it

bubenberg · Feb 11, 2003

Charlie, the 1/3 rule is always misinterpreted. cutting off 1/3 of ten inches is not what that means, for turf grass or what you want to turn into turf grass. cutting it by "that" 1/3 method is only leading to thatch. the 1/3 rule can only be applied during normal growth season. and weekly (4,5 or 7 days interval).

in case of seasonal changes, neglect on part of the owner/mowing crew you can do what the ag extension agents below suggest or either of the variations we are using.

( Do not cut more them 1/3 of the grass off during one single mowing. If you've just got back from a long vacation and the lawn is longer then usual, reset your mowing height so you do not cut more then 1/3 of the grass blades. After this "high" mowing, come back a few days later and cut again to get it down to its normal cutting height. )

this rule is what the homeowner is told by the turf specialists. if you do this for a living or you have better things to do with your time here is what we do.

if the grass exceeds my height of the deck i mow of the top, without lowering the deck. then i go in a different direction and take it down to the desired height, 1/2 inch at the time. if you mow the grass down to the required or desired height, in one passage, the aerobic and anaerobic decomposition of the grass clippings becomes retarded or non existing, and possibly you just started a thatch bed.

here in the north east this was the case all last spring, lots of rain and 85 degree weather. here again turf science suggests to go on a mowing rotation of 5 rather than 7 days. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

pajoube · Feb 11, 2003

Hans,
Thanks for that explanation; I was wondering what you meant by the 1/3 rule. Sure makes sense to only cut a very small amount each time and stick with the 5-day rule if possible. Heck, with the PT 425 it should be fun and very quick for mowing every third day. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif (non-commercial).
PJ

bubenberg · Feb 11, 2003

well one of these days the problems in Irak, Korea and Afghanistan are going to be over one way or the other. some changes in Wash. D.C. could happen thereafter, which would give investors the impetuousness to put their money were their mouth is and we can reap from our investments again. this will surely put a pt in your pot .... oh no, someone else said that .... some "[censored] democrat". but he was talking about peanuts .... wrong president again, Hans, it was chickens .... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif