Corded Electric Dethatcher & Scarifier with 8-Gal Bag, 12.6-Inch Cutting Width, 12-Amp Motor - Heavy-Duty Yard Trimmer for Gardening Care and Lawn Maintenance, AJ801E

I bought the Sun Joe Electric Lawn Dethatcher & Scarifier after reading positive reviews on Amazon. At 70 years old, I was reseeding part of my lawn that had been overrun with nimblewill. I tried dethatching manually with a rake but found it exhausting, so I decided to give this machine a try—and I’m very glad I did. Unboxing & Setup: The unit arrived in its original Sun Joe packaging, well protected and clearly labeled. Assembly was simple and only required a Phillips screwdriver. The instructions were clear, and everything fit together easily. It even comes with a separate scarifier attachment for slicing grass roots to promote new growth, which I haven’t tried yet but appreciate having included. Performance: I used the dethatching roller on a section of my lawn, and the results were excellent. The machine was easy to push and handled the job quickly and efficiently. It lifted a surprising amount of thatch without bogging down, and the motor showed no sign of strain. I do recommend mowing the grass quite low before using it—it helps the machine work even better. Pros: Very effective at removing thatch Easy to push and maneuver Straightforward assembly with good instructions Solid power for an electric unit Great value for the price Cons: The collection bag is small, but I simply used the dethatcher without it and raked up afterward—it worked fine for me. Value & Verdict: Considering the cost of hiring someone to dethatch my lawn, this Sun Joe has already paid for itself. It’s easy to use, saves a ton of physical effort, and I expect it to last for years based on the solid performance so far. Highly recommended for homeowners of any age who want to keep their lawns healthy without the back-breaking work of manual dethatching.

So, I purchased this item after my boss told me about it. He showed me pics of his usage, and I figured, why not? It was relatively inexpensive, costing about the same as a one-time rental of a dethatcher from the local rental place. I figured if I get 2 uses out of it and destroy it, I'm ahead of the game. Plus, I could use it at my convenience and not have to worry about returning it. We take pretty good care of our lawn/yard (it's not perfect, especially in the area that used to have an above ground pool, but we try). It's a larger lot (about 1/4 acre) in our neighborhood, and we mow every week with a push mower. We alternate weeks of mulching and bagging, so we really didn't think there would be very much thatch coming up. Boy were we wrong. We started off with my husband cutting and bagging the grass in one direction, and, as he moved to a different section of the yard, I started with the Sun Joe going in the opposite direction, using the dethatching attachment. I followed him around the entire yard doing this. Because we didn't use the bag on the Sun Joe (see "cons" below), he then went OVER the thatched material with the lawnmower to bag it up - first in one direction, and then he did the entire yard AGAIN in the other direction to ensure that it was all picked up. We were going to use our Billy Goat blower, but figured that would make an absolute mess, so we opted for the mowing route. Total time for about 9000sf - 4 hours. And well worth every minute. I should have taken photos, but rest assured that I was completely and utterly dumbfounded at the amount of dead grass and compost-like material that we raised, and it takes quite a bit for me to be impressed by a yard machine. Pros: - easy to assemble - only tool needed was a Philips head screwdriver (also, make sure you push the angled handle portions of the metal tubes ALL THE WAY into the body of the machine - many review complain about this, but I can see where the issue is not pushing in all the way). The rest of the handle is assembled using large, easy to turn plastic thumbscrews. Very convenient. - the height/depth settings are easy to change. Simply push the green t-handle in and move it to the setting you choose. I tried the "0" setting first so as not to damage any grass, and found that moving it to the "-5" setting worked even better and caused no damage. On the areas where we had moss, I moved it to the "-10" setting. Moss no more. - works exactly as described and as needed - they're not inflating the value of this machine, I can safely say. Cons: - the bag. As most other reviews stated, the bag is a joke. True, but we just left it off. See above for how we picked it up without breaking our backs raking. Notes: seriously - make sure you're using the right size extension cord. I used a 12 gauge cord at 100 feet and had ZERO problems. Machine didn't shut off, overheat, or otherwise explode. Also, you can use a tiny bungee cord to wrap around the handle to keep it powered as you move through your yard. The angle of the power switch can get a little uncomfortable over time. Overall - 5 out of 5. I wouldn't change a thing - even the bag. It would take a REALLY big bag for it to be convenient, and the only other option would be a giant vacuum, so I can't count that against them.

First off, hat's off the the people who came up with this product idea. Regardless of longevity, it's nice to see an affordable homeowner de-thatcher. That said, there are some issues people should know about, or at least my experience and suggestions. 1. The instructions mention NOT to use this product on moist/wet ground. Also, not to spray it off with water to clean it. These warnings should be taken very seriously. Not so much for fear of electrocution, but because the unit's electronics are definitely not well sealed. Yards to be de-thatched or scarified should be very dry in regard to both the grass itself AND the soil. Most homeowner's are going to expect to be able to just use their lawn equipment as they have time to do so. I would recommend being very careful with it comes to moisture with this product. 2. Because it's not all that well sealed inside, it's not all that unlikely that you won't have a buildup of material inside from de-thatching etc.. Because it tends to build up between the framework and the electrical motor there is a potential for both overheating and possibly fire. I have found that after summer use, I need to remove the body screws and do a thorough cleaning using an air hose to remove all the buildup. Also, as stated above, if you even suspect you may have gotten moisture inside I would suggest removing the cover and taking the time to ensure there's no water inside before using this thing. 3. Disassembly. I'm sure they would prefer you don't remove the plastic cover, but given the issues noted above, I think it's fairly likely that you will need to occasionally. I had to return my initial Sun Joe because of electronic failure. It worked until I went in for lunch, and when I came out it didn't. Sun Joe customer service is great, but their solution seems to be to just replace the unit (within 1 year). Not sure how they respond after warranty, so my advice is periodically do some under the cover cleaning and never use when there's any moisture on the ground. As for cover disassembly itself, it's not difficult but obviously make sure to unplug the unit first. The screws can be problematic because the channels fill up with muck so you will need to dig that out to get to them. The manufacturer definitely should have put plugs over the screw holes to avoid that problem. Also, the last screw is hidden under the stick on label. 4. Use.... Everything else considered, I have found that for lawn de-thatching (or in my case moss buildup removal), it doesn't work all that well with the wire drum unless you use it on a negative setting, which they do not recommend. Since I mainly purchased the machine for this purpose I was disappointed with the result, but then decided to just go negative and see what happened. What happened was pretty much lawn removal and wear out of the wire on the drum. But, if that's the result you need before reseeding and you don't mind springing for a replacement drum for around $30, then there you go. That said, I found the metal scarafier drum to be just the ticket. It's designed to be used at a negative setting and it works very well for moss removal at the -10 setting. Doesn't maim the grass too much and does the job. Might need to cross hatch the lawn to get it all but it's a good result. So in my opinion, set the wire drum aside and just go with the heavy drum for the whole show. So in summary, good product but could be better designed on the inside to avoid malfunction of electronics and buildup of dried material under the cover. Plugs over the screw holes would be great but probably won't happen anytime soon so just sub small pieces of electrical tape or whatever to keep the screw channels clear of debris. Definitely store inside a dry area and do not even plug it in if you see signs of moisture on the product. It isn't sealed all that well.

This review has two parts: 1. Product Review 2. Snow Joe Customer Service Product Review ----------------------- Let's start with the challenge I had to solve for. I have an lawn that spans 2000 sq. ft. that has never been dethached in the last 7 years. The lawn health has been steadily decreasing and no amount of chemical fertilizers or weed control have been able to restore the lawn to its early glory. After giving up on the chemical treatment path, I tried aeration. Presumably it helped, but I saw no real improvement in the health of my lawn. Finally, I hit upon dethaching. My lawn has become a patchwork of living and dead grass. I picked up the Sun Joe AJ801E for three reasons: 1. It had the highest powered motor (amp consumption) on Amazon for dethaching 2. It had a scraper / scarifier, which presumably will allow me to more easily reseed targeted areas of my lawn. 3. My "Mow, Blow, & Go" gardener claimed that all the dethacthers for a lawn my size were rented out to golf courses. Assembly is super easy, but I had some issues with one of the metal arms not fitting correctly into the main dethatcher. More on that later.... Product performance: I ran the Sun Joe at 0" across a small section of my lawn. In one pass across 10ft of lawn, the catch bag was full of thatch! I was shocked. Looking at the lawn, I could barely tell that the Sun Joe had actually lifted anything out, but the full bag told me otherwise. I ended up covering 200 sq. ft of my lawn, having to run multiple passes to get all the thatch. This little machine is super efficient, but I found the catch bag filling up way faster than expected. I've got another 1600 sq ft of lawn to cover, but will have to attack it one week at a time. Just covering 200 sq ft filled my yard waste bin. Pros: - Easy to assemble. - Efficient in picking up thatch. May need multiple passes if your lawn has been neglected. - Safety switch makes it impossible for my young children to accidentally turn this on. - Dethacther and Scarifier rollers are easy to swap Cons: - Small catch bag - Safety switch is a bit of a bear when you need to stop and empty the catch bag often. - Assembly requires some force to get the bent metal arm into the main dethatcher or the screw holes will not line up. - Changing the Dethatcher roller for the Scarifier requires a 10mm wrench. Not a big deal if you have a crescent wrench or socket set. It just took me by surprise since I thought they would use sizes a little more common for the American do-it-yourselfer that has minimal tools. Time will tell if this holds up over the 2-year warranty, but so far I am really happy with the performance. Customer Support --------------------------- All too often we hear about poor customer support. I am here to tell you that Sun Joe has top-notch customer support. When assembling the Sun Joe, you must insert the metal poles / arms into the main unit. If you look at the product picture, I'm referring to the black metal arms that support the power switch and push point. The portion that connects to the actual unit is bent at approximately 135 degrees. You must use a bit of force to get the arms into the main unit or the screw holes will not line up. On the unit I purchased, I was not able to push in the metal rod far enough to line up the screw holes, even after putting my weight into it. I was reluctant to use a rubber mallet for fear of bending the actual metal rod. When I called Sun Joe, the gentleman listened to my concern. He immediately said they would ship a new one out. Here is what totally blew me away.... Sun Joe support never questioned my ability to follow instructions, troubleshoot, or even verify that I followed the instructions correctly. I was preparing myself to verbally defend myself, which is exactly what you need to do when calling for support from nearly any other manufacturer. Nope. Not here. Sun Joe sent a brand new unit and provided a pre-paid slip to send the old one back. They didn't even ask for any credit card information to secure a deposit! Sure, I could have gone through Amazon to do the return process, but I wanted to give the manufacturer a chance to own the problem. No question about it, Sun Joe actually made it easier than Amazon.

The dethatcher prongs wore out. The scarifier blades wore out. And the cylinder stopped turning. So why am I giving this 5 stars? Two reasons: First because it is the most effective tool I've ever used for preparing a lawn for new seeding or renovation. Secondly, because SunJoe customer Service is fantastic. This is not a commercial machine. And, it is not a tiller. But it is a must-have for the resident who wants to make a drastic improvement to his ugly yard. It costs $115. I figure it can handle about an acre of heavy use before blades need replacing. What do you spend on seed and fertilizer per acre? A small fortune, if you have repeated failures like me. The SunJoe scarifier can allow you to "slit-seed." No raking required. That saves time (money) and gives better germination results. With SunJoe, I can prepare a strip of ground in less than 1/10th of the time I spent with a manual garden rake. For detailed videos, search YouTube for SunJoe Scarifier/Dethatcher by David Deutscher. Basically, I used SunJoe to bring my ugly yard down to bare ground. It yanked up my poisoned crabgrass/moss/thatch. Then I used the scarifier to cut slits in the exposed ground. Used a rotary spreader to sow fertilizer and new seed. Afterwards I did use a rake to cover the seed. But, later discovered that raking was not necessary. I accomplished the same thing by turning on my water sprinklers. It was quick, easy, and fun. It resulted in the fastest and most lush new lawn I've ever seen. Is that worth $115? I don't know how it performs on an already established lawn. (I used the deepest settings for everything.) My advice would be to start with shallow settings and go deep only if necessary. Obviously, the deepest settings will create the most wear&tear on blades and prongs. Your SunJoe may last for many acres. On the second day, I broke my SunJoe. Maybe I hit a rock or a root. Perhaps my compacted soil was too hard for this tool. The cylinder stopped turning. I contacted SunJoe and they sent me a brand new replacement which arrived only a few hours after I had taken the broken one to Kohls for free return. Now, that's customer service. SunJoe has knowledgeable and courteous reps to handle your inquiry. However, you might have to first make contact with a seller's rep who will have no clue about the problem you are describing. Just roll with the punches and ask him to connect you with a SunJoe representative. If you want to see the results of my SunJoe renovation project, search YouTube for Jonathan Green Ultra grass seed by David Deutscher. SunJoe gave me a yard in two weeks that previously took a month or more. My recommendation is to purchase both the SunJoes Dethatcher/Scarifier and the SunJoe Tiller. The tiller is useful when dealing with extremely compacted ground or when penetration deeper than a half inch is required.

So I started with the Greenworks dethatcher because it was cheaper, a neighbor said it was good enough, and others gave it great reviews. Had a problem with the assembly and availability issues led me to try the Sun Joe instead. While the SJ is a bit more money, the materials and design issue I had with the other unit were not an issue with the SJ. In both cases, I wish the machine had a on/off switch and then a deadman lever that I could hold with either/both hands (like a mower). Between futzing with the cord and such, I'd let go of the handle with my right hand. So I'd have to hold in the button and pull the trigger to get going. It'd be safer and easier to operate to have both hands on the handle and use a pull lever to engage the unit. Not a show stopper, but something to consider. This unit did a great job (!) chewing up the thatch and many others have offered nice reviews. Didn't have to run over anything twice or three times. So I won't discuss that. I will add that dethatching the whole yard was finished in maybe 30 minutes versus the raking I've done in the past (many hours). It also did a great job of pulling up thatch. In some places, perhaps too good of a job. I didn't use the scarifier. What remains a pain is cleaning up the thatch. The unit doesn't really save any time there. The bag that comes with the unit is awfully small. I'm not sure why they even bother with it. Some other reviewers mentioned running over the refuse with the mover. I found the mower gets filled pretty fast in the past when I raked the thatch. I tended to prefer the rake to a tarp method unless the thatch is really fluffy. The SJ got up even more material (esp. dried out moss), so the mower filled too fast. Worse, the mower made a LOT of dust in the air, making a mess along with some breathing concerns (fortunately it was breezy). And, the mower didn't do a good job of picking up bonus items like acorns. You have to set the mower somewhat lower than I like to use on the grass to pick up the detritus. So, the grass ended up being extra short, which is its own thing. So after a good test, I decided to bag the mower approach. Instead, I used a lawn sweeper that I got to avoid bending over to pick up leaves. It didn't have much more capacity than the mower, but it didn't create a huge dust storm. It also tended to pick up the twigs, acorns and other heavier items the mower whiffed on. It proved a better choice than the mower. My two cents...

Every few years my neighbor and I rent a dethatcher to do our lawns and inevitably the thing is too powerful and rips the heck out of the grass until we get it set up correctly and then it pulls us across the lawn and you fight with it for a few hours and are beat by the time you are done. This unit is lighter and easier to control around the yard. The height adjustments make is super easy to dial in the setting you need and away you go. This is well worth the money and being a corded electric unit you can go all day without having to recharge a battery or worry about low/slow performance. We did find that the storage capacity of the bag is quite small and wound up leaving it off as it would fill after a pass or two. Using this to dethatch and then raking or blowing the dead grass into a pile is the way to go. The scarifier is a great attachment as well. It helps to loosen up the soil and areas of thick thatch. It also did a good job of loosening the top layer of soil where we needed to plant some new seed. All in all, this will definitely pay for itself by the end of next season.

I recently purchased the Sun Joe AJ801E 12-Amp 13-Inch Electric Dethatcher and Scarifier with the hopes of rejuvenating my lawn. However, my experience with this product has been nothing short of disappointing. From its lackluster performance to its questionable durability, I found myself regretting my decision to invest in this machine. First and foremost, the performance of the Sun Joe AJ801E left much to be desired. Despite the manufacturer's claims of efficient dethatching and scarifying, I found that it struggled to effectively remove thatch and debris from my lawn. Even after multiple passes, it failed to achieve the desired results. The tines seemed too short and would frequently get clogged, necessitating frequent stops and manual unclogging. Furthermore, the 5-position height adjustment feature, which is supposed to provide versatility, was unreliable. It often resulted in uneven cutting, leaving patches of my lawn untouched while damaging other areas. This lack of consistency was frustrating, as I had to constantly readjust the height settings, wasting both time and energy. One of the main reasons I chose this dethatcher and scarifier was the promised Airboost Technology, which purportedly enhances lawn health. However, I failed to notice any discernible improvement in the health of my lawn after using this product. Despite following the instructions carefully and ensuring proper operation, my lawn appeared no different than before. The marketing claims about Airboost Technology seem exaggerated and misleading. Moreover, the build quality and durability of the AJ801E were disappointing. Within the first few uses, I noticed signs of wear and tear. The collection bag, touted as a convenient feature, started showing signs of fraying, and the zipper became increasingly difficult to operate. Additionally, the plastic housing of the machine felt flimsy and susceptible to damage. Considering the price I paid for this dethatcher and scarifier, I expected a much sturdier construction. In terms of usability, the Sun Joe AJ801E falls short as well. The machine is quite heavy and cumbersome to maneuver, especially on uneven terrain. This made it difficult to navigate around obstacles and maneuver in tight spaces. Furthermore, the power cord provided was relatively short, limiting the range of operation and requiring the use of multiple extension cords. This inconvenience added unnecessary hassle to an already underwhelming experience. Based on my personal experience, I cannot recommend the Sun Joe AJ801E 12-Amp 13-Inch Electric Dethatcher and Scarifier. Its lackluster performance, unreliable height adjustment, questionable Airboost Technology, and subpar durability make it a poor investment. There are other dethatchers and scarifiers on the market that offer better results and are more durable, making this product a disappointing choice for anyone looking to improve the health and appearance of their lawn. In conclusion, the Sun Joe AJ801E fails to deliver on its promises. Its underwhelming performance, inconsistent height adjustment, questionable Airboost Technology, and poor durability make it an unsatisfactory choice for lawn care enthusiasts. I strongly advise potential buyers to explore alternative options that offer better performance and reliability.