40 in. Dethatcher Plug Aerator Combo

Was a little difficult putting it to gether . But the tacther worked well with the proper weight add to the tray.but the disengage handle to the wheels broken at weld point while trying to disengage the tacther. Call John deer and an replacement was sent out on 4 days

Although this machine basically does the job, when I added weight per the manual, the lifting lever turns out to be made of way too soft metal, and bent with the gentle force needed to lift the implement. I needed to reinforce it with steel angle bar, and may replace the angle bar with square tube bar. Sheesh. I added the photo with the angle bar added, so I'm sure the marketing staff won't like it.

I've owned and used this product for over a year now, I have about an acre and I used it to de-thatch twice and aerate twice. I can say that it does an okay job when it's working in the down position and seems to provide an adequate experience for either tool. However, this is likely a re branded agrifab unit by comparing the designs. Or some other knock off. And while that doesn't necessarily bother me, the cheap anyone can build this construction does. There is a major flaw with the "bolt together" design. The wheels are attached directly to some pipe tubing, no axle, and then that pipe tubing is mounted inside the pipe tubing used around the back as the "axle/hinge" of this unit. While this design seems to work okay at first, the bolts will loosen up over time and the lack of connection will cause your wheels to ream out the bolt holes. I noticed before it was too late, but I also decided to weld the shaft into the "axle/hinge" to provide a secure fit. This is quite silly to do especially since uniform piece of tubing would have worked better and would even fit in the box. So not sure about that, but it works okay... But I cannot say for the price that this is a solid unit. You'd be better off investing in another unit or welding the pieces before you start. I also replaced the wheels and bearings, the wheels are cheap and the bearings are even cheaper.

Unfortunately, JD ships this unit where the dethatcher base is within the main base. The black dethatcher base chewed through the cardboard scratching/defacing the main base, essentially removing the coating from the main base, leaving bare metal exposed, which will eventually corrode... Otherwise, minor shipping container issues, which are related to the quality of the product, not due to the shipper, leave me disappointed. When I purchase a new tool (or whatever I purchase new), I expect the coating intact, and the product to appear new without scratches or dents, as it was intentionally built to last. Aerator worked great with the correct amount of weight, and the dethatcher will need to wait until the end of summer or fall before use, as described by others on the inter-webs. I would highly recommend this tool, because it is easy enough, with the removal and installation of a support bracket, to swap the parts. I will know if the Agri-Fab roller will simply attached, soon enough. Too bad JD does not offer a roller to attach to the base. And, the assembly instructions are a bit too difficult to interpret, though I was able to assemble within two hours of taking my time to ensure the parts were properly placed and that I did not scratch the coating off of anything. Unfortunately, the handle to raise and lower the unit, bent at the top-most bolt when attempting to use, while weights were atop the main base. The unit was simply impossible to raise while weighted, without breaking the handle. I need a new handle. With these drawbacks, and the fact, the unit will likely rust away soon enough due to JD packaging protocol, I would still highly recommend this unit to anyone for its ease of storage and swapping tools. -LawnMan

The weld on the axle broke on first use. John Deere promptly replaced it.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I returned it since it broke during first use.