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.

Pros: Fairly easy to assemble. Pulls up a lot of thatch. 16” width is worth the difference in price. Very light weight with a nice grab handle to lift and carry if needed. Cons: You have to be mindful of the cord. The directions say to use with a 50’ extension cord max at 12 gauge. I picked up a 100’ (which was just shy a few feet of what I needed). If I had to do over I’d would have bought a 10 gauge 150’ extension cord. The lower the number the less heat and strain it places on the motor. The wheels could also be a little bigger to help negotiate uneven lawns. If you have over a half acre you might want to rent a gas powered dethatcher. This machine did not disappoint and I would recommend it. It is not self propelled, which is a plus because it saves weight and allows the user a little more control as far as pace. Many reviews complain about the grass (thatch) catcher. The way this thing picks up thatch no bag would accommodate the quantity of thatch. I am going to try and figure out a was to keep the spring loaded door up to allow the thatch to more evenly distribute and not clump up. For $165 I feel this was a good value. 👍🏼

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.

This little machine is amazing! It pulled a ton of dead thatch out of my lawn, also pretty effortlessly. I did a small section of the lawn, about 60 + 35 feet, and got a whole truck load of dead grass! YES, JUST BUY IT.

Used this for the first time last weekend to de-thatch my lawn, which had never been de-thatched before in over 20 years. Kept the scarifier attachment on (it comes with a dedicated de-thatcher attachment as well) and put it on setting 3 (medium) as a "just in case" to see what this thing could do. At this setting alone, it "tore" up mound after mound of dead grass and organics that had been suffocating my lawn areas. I raked afterwards to pick it all up and then mowed over it again to pick up any extra straggling thatch. Have to echo many others here that the bag is almost useless as it fills up insanely fast. I took it off completely and just raked and mowed up afterwards, as above. All plastic (almost) but it did exactly what it was supposed to and then some, and I will be scarifying/de-thatching twice a year now to help improve my lawn heath. For what I paid for this machine, a lawn company was going to charge me almost exactly the same amount for just ONE de-thatching, so I am already way ahead of the game and will save mucho dollars by just doing it all myself with this great machine. Also, it is super light and can be lifted with one arm and then stored in your shed or garage with ease. Highly recommended.

I’m extremely pleased with how this worked for me. Easy to set up and easier to use. Worked great with or without the bag. I preferred not using the bag and then picked up the dead grass with my lawn mower, but the included bag worked just fine. Super easy to switch the scarifier to dethatcher. Definitely recommend this unit.

I purchased the WED DT1516 to tackle a ~1700 Sq. Ft. thatch-job in our front yard. After years and years of using a mulching mower that produced dead thatch and moss, our yard was in desperate need of a full renovation and the WEN dethatcher and scarifier delivered super strong results. You would expect a machine that delivers such good results to be heavy and tough to operate - not the case! The WEN is lightweight and is easy to push and turn. The side lock downs make it easy to adjust the angle of the push bar for operators of various heights. I've read some of the other feedback on here talking about how the bagger fills quickly in as short as 10-20 feet and that this is a negative - to me, this is an indicator that the WEN is working as it should as many may not realize how much dead grass they have embedded in their yards. This quick bag fill-up is just the WEN doing it's job. Looking back, the WEN also greatly reduced the amount of manual raking and time that it took to tackle this job due to the machines thoroughness. As a reference and using the included scarifier attachment, my 1700 square foot yard produced ~20+ heaping wheel barrow's full of dead grass and was able to get my yard properly prepared for overseeding. I am excited for future and lighter thatch jobs because I now have an easy-to-use tool to help me keep the dead thatch levels to a minimum. Overall, I am very pleased with the WEN, it far exceeded my expectations and am confident that it will exceed yours too!

This thing definitely dethatches. Some improvements could be made to the bag and size, but it beats the hell out of dethatching manually with a rake. Just like any corded machine, the cord can tend to get in the way at times. You will most likely still need to rake some, but it’s not as labor intensive. Overall, it’s a decent product that feels fairly solid and I expect to get several years of use out of it.

Assembly takes about 15 minutes. The instructions are not the best but its pretty easy to figure out. There are 3 locking positions for the handle. The handle is wide and padded. The handle is metal, the rest of the body is plastic. The handle is assembled with plastic toggles which have a quick release so you can toolessly fold them down for storage. Light enough to hang for storage. It comes shipped with the heavier scarifier blade attached which makes sense. The dethatcher is in separate box and you can easily switch them with the included allen key and 5 minutes. The dethatcher box does not fit the scarifier blade. Large shifter handle to adjust the cutter height. 2-prong male power plug. Detachable clipping bag. The whole unit is lightweight which is good for using with one-hand on an incline. The wheels are large and it rolls easily. The drive is not powered but during operation the blades will provide some self propulsion. I used the highest setting of 1 and it was enough to pull thatch without harming the ground. You do need a 2 prong extension cord. I found that 14 gauge worked fine although 12 gauge is recommended. The button on the side starts the motor and the orange power handle keeps it locked on. The handle is good to hold on top or on the side. The optional bag will fill up quickly because the bag is not too big. Any dethatcher, by design, does not have large enough blades to create the airflow required to fill up a large bag anyways. Even the professional $3000 gas dethatchers (that you can rent) dont have a bag. So don't judge ANY dethatcher by its bagging capacity. The noise is equivilent to a shop vacuum. Hearing protection not required but advised. This was very effective on my lawn and it took about the same time as cutting the lawn. For the homeowner who wants to dethatch and/or scarify twice a year this works well and should last many years. I chose corded because its better for the environment and noise, and you dont want to run out of batteries in the middle of dethatching or scarifying. My lawn is 5,000 ft2. A long cord needed but worked non-stop with no problems.

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

I have a pretty big lawn with tough thatch. This equipment shreds through the thatch with ease. Say goodbye to long, aching hours of raking. Save your rotator cuff and get yourself one of these. This even hits a thin layer of sand buildup over the lawn with ease as well, but be do be cautious for rocks and larger debris. This tripled my productivity and is a massive time saver. ONLY downfall is that the mulch bag is small and it only fills to about half before needing to empty it. Overall, a must have!