Nowadays, a new form of equipment has emerged, and it’s called a rotary tiller moto-raker, or more commonly a power raker. This is the best way to dethatch your lawn. The bottom of the machine is lined with tines that spin upward, thus lifting the thatch up in the air as opposed to scraping it against the root zone of the grass. These machines are available for rent at an hourly rate, but before you decide to shell out some money and rent a raker to do it yourself, you need to keep a few things in mind.

Because this is an hourly rate, you’ll feel pressure to move really fast so that you can get it back to the rental place without paying too much. But in order to power rake correctly, you need to move slowly, so expect to rent the power raker for three to four hours.

If you were planning on just throwing the thatch in your green or garbage can, you have about 20 moto mower of them around because you’re going to get at least four to six cubic yards out of your lawn. That’s about two pickup trucks worth of thatch, so be prepared for that. Imagine your sprinkler water is trying to get through all that so it can enter the soil and to the root zone.

Be ready to use a normal rake and comb your whole lawn right after the power raker lifts it out, and put the thatch in piles to bag them. You’ll need a lot of stamina for this, too.

Be prepared to pay a dumping fee when you get to the city green waste center, usually $2 to 15 per load depending on the center. Don’t forget your pitch fork or something to get the thatch off your power sweeper truck.

This may sound like a lot of work, and it is, but it can also be a fun activity for the whole family to do on a weekend afternoon. Everyone will be amazed how much thatch was under their feet the whole time.