WEN DT1516 16-Inch 15-Amp 2-in-1 Electric Dethatcher and Scarifier with Collection Bag, Black

First, buy a good quality 12 gauge extension cord. My yard is pretty big and thankfully I have a 100 foot long 12 gauge extension cord. Do not use a standard outdoor extension cord since most of these are only 14 gauge. Another recommendation is to use a dedicated 20 amp outlet. If you use a 15 amp outlet, make sure that nothing else on that circuit is using electricity. I noticed a difference in the sound of the motor when I was plugged into a 20 amp outlet on its own circuit breaker verses another outlet that is on a 15 amp breaker that is shared by other outlets in the house. Now for the de-thatching. I used the scarifier blade for my front yard because it hasn't been detached in years. This machine pulled up piles of thatch while also digging a bit into the soil, which later allowed me to more efficiently seed and fertilize. I filled five large contractor bags with thatch. When I cut the grass with the grass catcher on, I barely fill half a contractor bag. As other reviewers mentioned, the catching bag is much too small; it tends to quickly fill up. I pretty much ignored the catcher and let the thatch overflow, then I followed up with a rake. I still had to stop and empty the catcher, but that really wasn't a big deal. If I had rented a de-thatcher, I would have had to rake anyway and go through the hassle of picking it up, using it and returning it. For the price, I figure I only need to use this machine three times and I will have saved money. I switched to the de-thatching attachment for my back yard. It did a decent job without digging down into the soil. I'll probably use the scarifier the next time to pull up more thatch. Another nice thing is NO EXHAUST FUMES!!!! Yes, handling the extension cord was a bit of a hassle, but once you figure out how to swing it out of the way, it's not a big deal. Just be careful you don't run over the extension cord. Aside from destroying the (expensive) cord, you may get a dangerous and bad electric shock. It's a good machine and did a much better job than the gasoline powered de-thatchers I have rented in the past. It is well worth the investment. It's relatively light weight, folds up and can be stored on a shelf, under a table or some other dry place that is out of the way.

Easy to assemble, lightweight and very easy to maneuver. After a little trial and error it was amazing how well it picked yo the dead grass and lifted my grass. If there was a complaint, I wish the rear bag was bigger, but it is what it is. I'd definately buy again and now my neighbors asked me if I could do theirs, lol.

You'll need to unbox and attach the less aggressive Dethatcher blade if that's what you're trying to do. How did I find this out? 1) I didn't read the manual well enough before starting. 2) I had a patch of grass on side of my driveway by alley way that I tested it on. Thing was super aggressive in removing material even on setting 1. I tried setting 2 and it practically made the ground bald. I felt like I was doing something wrong, and didn't want my front yard looking the same. So, I read the instructions carefully, and looked at the bottom of the machine to notice the scarifier blade was attached. It's attached by default to save space in the box, since scarifier attachment is bigger. So, I understand this decision by the company. I just wish they would have added a bright neon piece of paper that stuck out like a sore thumb explaining this from the start. The patch I tested it on was mostly clover, old bermuda, and weeds. It did a great job ripping a bunch of weeds out, so I could overseed bermuda. However, it didn't really scarify very well. IE: leave grooves in the dirt. Granted, I was using level 1. But, like I said, level 2 was hyper aggressive and left the ground practically bald without grooves. So, I'm taking a star off, because I feel the scarifier is lackluster in scarifying the ground like it should. But, it's an amazing "weed be gone" attachment if you want to scorched earth an area for new planting. The dethatcher attachment works like a charm. Has metal tines / wires that dig down into the grass to rip out that old thatch while leaving the pliable green grass behind. I experimented with level 1 and 2. I think I ended up going with level 2. The machine goes down to level 4. For really thick bermuda grass it might be worth it to get down to level 3 to get that really deep down that caked under the grass. I'm at a rental, so didn't want to risk the yard looking too bad. But, even level 2 woofed off enough material that I was out there raking for an hour and got several garbage bags of thatch off and into the trash. (Didn't have a compost bin ready. If you have a compost bin ready, you're gonna be set to mix this with other yard waste, food waste, etc and make some great compost.) The machine is light weight. The small wheels in the BACK make it awkward to wheel up and down into things (like over the step up into the garage). Once the machine gets going it pretty much SELF-PROPELS (emphasized, because this thing will move along quickly if you let it and you need to control it!) The bag on this thing is a bit of a joke. If you actually use it, you'll have to stop and empty it every 5 seconds. I ditched the bag, and just dethatched. Then spent an hour raking up the thatch. I don't mind that. This machine saved me the hard work of dethatching. So, I can do a bit of raking. The plastics on the machine make it feel a bit "fisher price", but it was durable and held up to my needs. It's not like a mower where you'll be using it every weekend. It's a once-maybe-twice-a-year thing. For that, it's more than enough. I only have like a 1/4 acre, and of that it's mostly house. So, this was more than enough for my needs. It actually got some neighbors coming out asking me what I was doing, because they thought I was mowing until they saw all the material coming off. That's when we all got to discussing dethatching yards. So far I'm the only one on the block that's done it. But, wish I would have gotten this for my last place. The yard was MUCH bigger, and DESPERATELY needed a dethatching on the front yard. I just threw grass seed on that front yard when I moved in, and nothing grew. Dethatching the yard helps get the seed down into the dirt for overseeding, and protects it from birds that might eat it or wind that might blow it away. Overally, I'm very satisfied adding this to my yard care arsenal.

So far so great. Took about 15-20 min to assemble but was pretty ez. I changed the blade to the dethatcher and went straight to work. I had 3-4 years of debris to pick up and yard has several grass dams that happen after heavy rains, but this had no problem picking those up. I found it best if I used it more like a vacuum and pushed forward, pulled back, then forward again. Had to dump the bag every 20-25 feet but I had years of debris. My favorite was picking up thousands of acorns that fell the last two years. It did good on mulch that had overflowed as well as small sticks. It doesn’t get long or heavy sticks, but wasn’t expecting it to. Way better than raking by hand. Only have had it one day, but it worked like a champ. Might be the most satisfying yardwork I’ve done in 15 years. Can’t wait to see a better looking yard this summer.

This machine does a great job de-thatching the moss out of our grass. The bag is small and doesn’t hold much as we have lots of moss in our yard. So I am constantly stopping to empty the bag. I end up not using the bag as it’s faster to take the moss into a wheel barrow later for disposal. For a corded electric machine it works great and I would definitely purchase it again if needed. It arrived on time and was well packaged.

Very powerful, works great. Easy assembly. I used the scarifier to obliterate clumps of fescue grass in my Bermuda lawn. It worked great, I can only imagine how long it would have taken me to it by hand with a rake. Was done in no time. The bagger on this model fills quickly so I just kept going then mulched it and picked it with my mower.

A few small issues but nothing affecting operation. Used it to day on my lawn that had been neglected. Over about 1800 square feet removed 5 wheelbarrows of dead grass and moss, very easy to use. Minor issues, some minor assembly instructions were not very clear, but could figure everything out. Manual says height adjustment is 1 to 5. Actual setting on machine is 0 to 4, appears to correlate 1 to 0, 2 to 1 etc. Handle is supposed to have height adjustment, can't figure out how since bolt goes through both pieces, and only one hole in each piece. So loosen lock and the handle will not move due to bolt holding in place. Was able to use handle angle adjust to get the right height. Last at least for me the bag is not very useful. May be my issue because lawn need a lot of work. But was able to only cover about 10-15 feet and the bag would fill up already.

A good machine at an affordable cost. It arrived quickly, was easy to assemble, but I gave it a four because the padded handle bar was cut open due to the way it was packed. Used it 10 minutes after set up, worked great. It does fill up quick.

It is fairly easy to put it together and the two optional blades give a variety of options. The metal will remove pretty much everything except for grass, and worked well for my backyard full of moss and weed. After the initial cleaning, I use the smaller Valdes once a year in the spring to do a cleanup before sending and fertilizing for the year. My lawn has been weed and moss free since I use it

Máquina potente y funcional de diseño bonito y moderno. Vi comentarios que la bolsa se llenaba muy rápido y que debería ser más grande pero pienso que es adecuado el tamaño; el problema es que si vas a escarificar antes debes de podar lo más corto posible el césped y con esto se evita que se llene tan rápido la bolsa. No conocía la marca y me gustó además de que el precio es muy competitivo, motivo por el cual voy a ver que otros productos tiene Wen.

After reading mostly good reviews I bought it and while I had a little issue with the assembling, I looked at some bad bad reviews and wanted to put it back in the box and return it. I read about the fact that you couldn't use any longer than 50 ft and I already had bought two of them, but the heavy duty 12 gauge 15 AMP. So I gave it a try and it worked just great. Nothing different than using just one 50 ft extension. The dethatcher is very light and quite powerful. I put it on level 2 out of 4 and there is so much dead grass that came out in no time. I have quite a bit of grass and it's so much faster and easier than doing it manually. Hopefully it will last for a few years.

El artículo llegó en tiempo y forma,aún no lo he utilizado pero se ve de buen material

Machine runs great, height adjustment is very easy, rear bag not so good. Falls off easily and makes it harder to use the machine. Easier without the bag catcher.