Making a de-thatcher

MillWeld · Sep 15, 2014

I am thinking of making a de-thatcher in the form of swinging blades which will be operated by my 5' cut Woods mower. Specifically, I plan to take a 1/4" x 3" x 20"(approx) steel bars, drill holes and mount de-thatcher springs (maybe torsion springs) via bolts thru the holes and cut a 1.5" hole in the end of bars and replace the mower blades with these "dethatcher" blades. Do blades like this exist or is it a crazy and dangerous idea? All sorts of dethatchers on on the market but I have never seen this idea in practice. The rotational speed is 540 rpm - too fast for de-thatching?

CNC Dan · Sep 16, 2014

I saw a lawnmower blade at the local ACE hardware store that had a single spring tine at each end. Spins a lot faster than 540 rpm.

oldnslo · Sep 16, 2014

Unless your gear box is a 1 : 1 ratio I suspect you blades spin faster than 540 RPM. I have used the spring style tipped blades that CNC Dan mentions. They work OK on level ground but scalp like crazy on uneven or rough ground.. Typically kind of fussy on high adjustment also.