On average, yard work takes up 53 hours of manual labor every month. More than 32 hours goes into maintaining the garden and yard looking fresh. So why slave with rakes and basic lawnmowers when you can do the same work comfortably at your own pace with lawn scarifiers.
To find that right scarifier, you have to ask these questions to know what will work for your lawn:
How Does It Work?
You would be used to running lawnmowers around your garden for years. But if you notice, they do not cut out matted dead grass shoots and living grass. This is where lawn scarifiers come in.
It looks identical to the lawnmower, but it has small blades and tines in the place of a spinning blade. When mounted on the rotating roller, the blades can cut into the soil. The tines will rake the lawn and remove thatch while the blades will cut through the soil.
Some scarifiers are also designed with a collection box, just like a lawnmower, to collect the dead plants as you run them around the lawn.
Which Is The Right Scarifier For Your Garden?
If you have a small lawn, less than 100 m2 in size, you can invest in a few hours of work with a hand scarifier. These lawn scarifiers work just like a rake and are environmentally friendly and inexpensive. But after the process, you have to spend time sweeping up the moss with a grass broom into the bin bag.
If your lawn is a little bigger and stretches over 300 m2, you will need a low-powered electric scarifier that comes with a collection box.
For lawns and gardens measuring anywhere around 300 to 500 m2 and has a power source nearby, the best pick for you will be electric scarifiers with an extension cord and a power rating of 1500 W.
Lawns that are more than 500 m2 in size will require petrol-powered scarifiers. Go for the ones with a cutting width of 42 cm or more so that you can cut down, making multiple trips around the lawn. But petrol engine requires care and maintenance from time to time. If you are not keen on that, then you can choose the electric models.
Tines vs. Blades – Which One To Choose?
Scarifiers with tines are sometimes called detachers. These are fitted with tines that can clean the surface of your lawn. You can go for this only when the size of your lawn is lesser than 300 m2. If you meet the size requirement and want to use electric-powered scarifiers, you can choose the ones with tines.
Blade scarifiers can cut through the soil and organic matter, and they can collect weed and plant debris on the go. They can be both petrol and electric powered. If you want to save time and work efficiently, blade scarifiers can be great for you.
The electric ones have a power rating of around 1000-1800 W while the petrol-powered ones have an engine capacity of 144-160 cc.
How to Maintain the Scarifier?
Once you have started using a scarifier regularly, you must maintain it properly to experience its longevity. You have to clean the blades and tines after each use.
Keep a check on the oil levels and drain it regularly based on the model’s requirements. Lastly, clean the spark plug and air filters after each use.
Power tools like lawn scarifiers minimize the time and effort spent on yard work. From pulling out weeds to sweeping them into bags, scarifiers make it all easy. With the scarifier giving you so much, all you have to give in return is some time, a slow walk around the yard, and proper attention to get the best out of it.