Scarifier Choice ?

Wasn't sure whether to post this in the tools section or here but......

I am thinking of buying an electric scarifier for my lawns , about 100 sq metres in total . Looking in Argos they have
Einhall Scarifier / Aerator - 1200W. £79
or
Qualcast Raker and Scarifier - 1200W £99
You change the cartridge on this to rake or to scarify , what is the difference ?

Anyone with experience of these two types ? I was going to scarify , seed and top dress in early autumn . How often would I need to do this every 2 or 3 years ?
TIA

 

I bought a cheap and cheerful raker/scarifier from B & Q some years ago but have only used it once. Although it did the job well I found it a very clumsy machine to manouvre.

I haven't used the raker on mine because the clippings box on the back of the machine couldn't cope with the amount that was being produced, I resorted to using a hand rake to clear the worst and went over the lawn after with my mower.

If I was to buy again I would buy the scarifier/aerator, the aerator being of much more use than the raker.

I hope this helps Harry.

 

I’m new here but I hope I can offer a bit more useful info to what Sheal has already given you.

There’s not a great deal of difference between raking and scarifying. Scarifying cuts out thatch from your lawn using blades. Raking tends to remove moss from your lawn; moss isn’t rooted in so the wire tines in rakes simply lift out the moss.

Some people recommend doing vigorous lawn scarifying only every other season as it puts quite a lot of strain on your lawn and it’ll need some time to recover.

You could take some time to read customer reviews online before you buy anything. They’re un-biased sources of useful info!

Good luck!

 

Thansk for the advice on this Sheal and Lovelawn , I'll start having a serious look at the end of next month. Both of the scarifiers above seem to have good reviews.

 

I can certainly support the idea of only scarifying every second season , it does remove alot of actual grass as well and the lawn certainly looks worse before it gets better. yes long term it helps alot but you certainly wont want to be doing it too often.

 

I scarified , it did remove allot of grass , but did help the grass.. 6 months later and its looking loads better than before.. did scare me though seeing it just after it was scarified.

 

Thanks for the advice Ryn and Katie. As it seems the correct usage is about once every 2 years , I will look for a decent second hand one on Ebay. Spotted a Bosch and a Qualcast for sale near where I work !

 

In the process of getting my lawn ready for a good scarifying!
Found this on eBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUALCAST-...werTools_CA&hash=item4d03ee9f54#ht_2518wt_922
Might get this instead of hiring one!

 

Good find Mowgley Looks like they must be stock of last years model , from the reviews - all in 2011.
http://reviews.argos.co.uk/1493-en_gb/7304211/reviews.htm