Types of Scarifier & Raker

Electric

Quite often marketed as power scarifiers, garden scarifiers, electric scarifiers or lawn rakers. Electric, though called scarifiers, many have just wire tines and are lawn raking machines at best. They are good value, and if you have a mossy lawn between 100 and about 250 m2, they are a significant investment.

Some manufacturers have machines with interchangeable cassettes: wires for moss and blades for scarifying. These machines make good moss rakers and reasonable, though lightweight, scarifiers are ideal for small to medium lawns.

Petrol

If your lawn is much larger than 300m2 and needs scarifying, the only way to make the work less arduous is to use a petrol scarifier. If you’re caring for a fine or ornamental lawn, only a good-quality sharp petrol scarifier can cut through the thatch cleanly without excessive damage.

Petrol-powered scarifiers start at £300 and go up to several thousand pounds for professional pedestrian machines. Hiring a machine for a day or so will be your best bet if your need is not twice a year. Most hiring companies have them, but do check for the following:

• Blades – they need to have a reasonably sharp point and should not be too rounded
• To reduce damage to a bumpy lawn, try and get a scarifier with swinging or flail-type blades
• If moss is your problem, ensure the wire tines fit into the machine. If not, flail or swinging blades will do
• Sharp, fixed blades are the only way to go for top-quality lawns!

If you decide to buy, the above will help you decide what to look for. Interchangeable cassettes are the top priority if you have a moss and thatch problem. Of course, if you have an electric lawn raker or can put a raking cassette into the mower, all you need is a machine with scarifying blades.

There are many manufacturers and prices, so get the best you can afford. Quite often, a pre-owned machine makes sense, and if you can grab one, perhaps a SISIS from a bowling club, then do so. You’ll have a superb machine with all the variations you’ll need.

Lawnmower Cassettes

Qualcast mower raking cassette

Atco, Qualcast, and some other cylinder mower manufacturers produce scarifying cassettes for their cylinder mowers. These cassettes are excellent for light raking or de-mossing the lawn and are a good way to get additional use from your mower. They are no substitute for a scarifier if de-thatching the lawn is your goal, but they do mean a simpler and perhaps cheaper choice if a scarifier is also required.

Handheld or Manual

A manual lawn scarifier effortlessly removes moss, dead grass, and thatch without snagging like a rake. We have Manual scarifiers available in our online store.