Sun Joe Electric Lawn Dethatcher & Scarifier with 8-Gal Bag, 12 Amp, 12.6 Inch, Black – Heavy Duty Gardening Machine and Equipment for Lawn, Yard, and Grass, AJ801E

Very impressive, great value.
I think I had the same first impression as a lot of other people: this thing is way too lightweight to be any good. After 15 minutes of using it though, I was sold. It churned through all of my tough Arizona Bermuda grass with ease and pulled up tons of thatch. A full mow with my lawn mower usually results in a full garbage can’s worth of clippings, and I pulled 4 full cans of thatch out of the yard with a couple of passes with this machine.Managing the power cord is a bit of a chore since you really don’t want to run over it, but otherwise this is a fantastic tool that I wish I had bought years ago.

Smaller lawn- Heavy Duty- Success!!!
(no endorsements here. Just my two cents)_My yard was getting worse. I had to research how it fix it soon.I had thinning grass. To many worm hills. possible fugus. And other issues._I came across a you tube video by a guy who calls himself the “the Pest and Lawn Ginja”. He was entertaining and packed with tons of knowledge. (As goes with most of his videos) One video had a review on this device and it got me interested to learn more. Looking at the reviews here, it seemed somewhat of a gamble, as many were saying how this device is not sturdy and breaks._ Well. I’m here to say. Mine was REALLY put to the test and won with flying colors!!! I had heavy debris and made about 6 passes in the front yard and about 4 passes in the back. I have about 1500 square feet in front and about the same for the back yard. So the use was equivalent to about a single pass on a 1/3 acre of land!!My hopes were- if this unit just held together to the end of this project, it would have served it’s main purpose. But I can happily say that this has worked far more than that!_I had to get this project done with less work involved so that I could continue with my lawn renovations/repairs. My purpose was to aerate and pick up the dead debris that was choking out the grass and creating a fungal issue. I decided to bag my debris instead of putting in my compost area. If there was any fugus that was damaging to my lawn, and I used this compost again for a later lawn fix, I would just reintroduce this fungus into my lawn. There ended up with much more debris that I had thought. It did a REALLY GOOD JOB!!! _As the aforementioned video states it’s a good light duty unit that’s far cheaper than a commercial unit but an extra pass does the job. I thought that if it’s light weight enough, this is a good compromise from buying or renting a professional unit. I was hoping that this unit will pay for itself in the first use. Any time I needed it after that, it would have been a good investment. I am happy to say that it has been a good investment so far. I like this unit and how affective it is. I might use this every year to keep things well groomed._The solid tines that come with this unit could be useful but I wasn’t interested in scalping my existing grass. I did reseed, but I used tons of new topsoil so I didn’t need to use it. Plus, my thatch wasn’t to bad and I didn’t need to aerate the old soil before I put the top soil down. But if the thatch does get a little to thick in the future, I’ll look forward to using this Sun Joe for my next reseeding. I will update this review if I do._Also Note: Core aeration is something I do yearly. But not this fall. Aeration is very popular for this claylike Colorado soil. I serves a real purpose here. But the holes are often to deep to use this practice for over seeding. So the solid tine attachment will be more useful for proper soil contact and germination in my future. And aeration will be left for the seasons I don’t seed._Also Note: Some people out there have been misusing the term dethatching. Thatch is the dead root system and other dead debris that is IN THE SOIL not ON THE SOIL. This layer is has some soil nutrients, but to much of it can cause the rest of the healthy and living root system to suffocate (among other reasons).The spring tines are to pick up the debris. Which is the dead grass and stuff on the surface of the soil. That was what I had. I also have WAY TO MUCH worm activity and it was destroying my grass and surface. It was hard to walk on. The tines helped knock down these hills to provide me with a more flat surface._Work day one: Easy enough to assemble. I like the light weight so that I can lift and maneuver with less effort. This was especially important because I had a solid TWO FULL days of other heavy work to accomplish this task, and I didn’t want to put more effort into this than I had to.HOLY COW!! I knew I had a lot of debris, but this was a lot more than I was expecting. First off. Others who had problems with their unit. I saw what they were trying to mow threw grass that was way too tall. THAT’S RIDICULOUS GUYS!!!Use your tool wisely!_So plan ahead_ Mow your lawn 30 percent lower, then wait a few days. Then continue until you get the last mow down just above the crown so you can start with this task. If the lawn is to tall, I wouldn’t be surprised that you end up over taxing this device._The other reason for device breakage: Improper setup. Watch a video on how to use this correctly. Be aware the correct way to install the tines. And don’t go to deep. Start high and be aware of your various yard surface heights and adjust accordingly so that you are not going to deep into the surface._overall observations_Flimsy: but use with care and this is not much a problemLight weight: can be thought as cheap. But simple is best here. It’s much easier with less effort to get the job done. and is more affordable this way. A product that is not under designed, just not over designed. Yes there are better units for heavier use (like commercial). But this is not my use.Easy installation: Be aware how to correctly install the tines.Corded hassle: Yes. I hate cords with a vengeance. But it still is the lesser of evils compared to a heavier, more expensive unit.Durability: well. It might be if used correctly. Time will tell. But I’ve used mine about 11 times so far… I believe it’s paid for itself. So that’s a WIN for me. :)Handle/operation: As said before. light flimsy. And the power ON feature needs your attention to correctly activate with side button (as a safety measure obviously) but still a little clumsy._overall_ great value.I’ll try to post some before and after pictures. I power raked with this Sun Joe on September 18th on a hot summer day. And my after pictures are in chilly November 19th!!! One word. Success!!!:)

Buena tarde donde le puedo dar servicio en Puebla ya que perdió potencia mi equipo

A pesar que es eléctrica cuanta con un motor de gran velocidad muy buna lo único malo es la bolsa recolectora es muy pequeña para el uso de esta maquina

It took a good long while to get here, and as other reviewers reported, it does feel somewhat “too light to be sturdy” and rather flimsy at unboxing, but let me tell you, it packs a punch!Took all of 5 minutes to assemble; the main unit comes fully assembled with the sacrifier tool in place, you basically need to put in two Phillips screws for the handle posts, then it’s just a matter of hand screwing the 4 handle bolts and voilà, ready to roll. Switching from scarifier to dethatcher is also a breeze and is done in a manner of seconds; simply flip the unit over (the “lightweight” is already coming in handy), unscrew both 10mm retaining bolts, switch “drums” and put the bolts back in, not too tight, just nice and snug.Deck height adjustment is quick and easy, and once underway, I was amazed at how much thatch came out of the seemingly “clean” parts of the lawn. I quickly found that the “catch bag” is rather useless if you’re dethatching for the first time in a long time, you’d have to empty it every few feet. The best approach I found is to leave the bag off, make one complete pass on the whole section of lawn then blow everything out on the driveway with a leaf blower and shovel the resulting mountain of thatch in a trash bag (or compost bin in my case). The only real reason I could see the catcher being useful if is you have very little thatch but have some debris hidden away in the lawn ( little rocks, small sticks, stray pieces of mulch and whatnot), then it would be super useful…The fact that it’s lightweight is in no way indicative of its sturdiness or effectiveness, it simply makes it easy to operate, and the fact that the drum turns in the same direction as the wheels makes the machine almost “self-propelled”; I found myself having to hold it back rather than pushing it when scarifying. It’s also much quieter than the “commercial” gasoline unit from the tool rental place; this one actually sounds like a shop vac.Oh, one helpful little tip; always walk “away from the electrical outlet”: start your passes closest to the outlet, and gradually walk away from it, that way you’ll hardy notice that annoying electrical extension, and won’t have to constantly fight it out of the way.I had a huge problem with chinch bugs this year, I solved the problem, the bugs are dead but so were big parts of my front lawn (approx 2000 sq.ft), this little machine was a huge part of bringing my lawn back by taking all of the dead grass out, then scarify the soil making it ready to re-seed. I did two passes (left to right then front to back) with both tools, picked everything up between each pass and cleaned up the driveway, all in an afternoon…This is by no means a “commercial grade” machine, and it’s obviously not meant to be used all day everyday, but as a home owner, you’ll only be using it a handful of times per year (and maybe lend it to your neighbour once in a while), and in that regard, it’s a great little tool to have around. And, it’s light enough to be hanged on the wall or tucked away on a high shelf when you’re done.Couldn’t be happier with it!1 YEAR UPDATE:Still very happy with the machine, a real soldier! It managed the fall cleanup very well with the “rake drum”(picked up the leftover leaves and twigs nicely), stored it away for the winter in my un-heated tool shed, pulled it out last week for the full spring clean-up and I just finished renovating the side part of the yard using both drums extensively, and the “little scarifyer that could” never missed a beat. I even lent it to both my neighbours for their spring clean-up, and both were flabbergasted at how much stuff was coming up from their seemingly clean-ish lawns.I love this little guy, easily my favourite garden tool, if sadly it were to die on me (not that it’s showing any signs of it), I’d bid it farewell, thank it for services rendered, and order another one in a heartbeat!