Any garden owner knows how important to have a solid, high-quality rake in the arsenal of garden tools. This tool greatly facilitates the process of soil cultivation and helps to keep the site clean.
- The rake is a garden tool used for:
- lawn cleaning
- removal of overflying leaves and dry grass
- easy loosening and leveling of beds
- shredding of recently excavated soil clods
- Jump To:
- How to Choose a Rake
- Garden Rake Types
8 Best Garden Rakes at a Glance
- Corona RK 62060 – Good cheap garden rake.
- Adjustable Garden Leaf Rake – The best ratio of price and quality.
- Midwest 10024 – Great landscape rake.
- TRG Inc Rake The Groundskeeper II – Best twig rake around but the most expensive.
- Japanese Ninja Claw Rake – Also great small and lower priced rake.
- Truper 31391 Tru Pro Heavy Duty Road Rake – Editors Choice. Excellent professional rake.
- Truper 32120 – Best overall tough thatching rake.
- Ames Hardwood Handle Floral Shrub Rake 2916600 – Best Value.
Garden Rake Compared
Preview | Product | Details | Price |
---|---|---|---|
Corona RK 62060 | A lower priced quality rake for garden | $$ | |
Adjustable Garden Leaf Rake | Best adjustable leaf rake 7 Inch - 22 Inch | $$$ | |
Midwest 10024 | Best aluminum rake for landscape. | $$$$$ | |
TRG Inc The Groundskeeper II | Best overall twig rake for move sticks, twigs, bark, mulch and even gravel. | $$$$$$$ | |
Japanese Ninja Claw | Excellent ergonomic mini rake for good soil aerated. Small hand Japanese rake for garden:15 inch. | $$ | |
Truper 31391 Tru Pro Heavy Duty Road | Editors Choice Strong professional garden rakes. Metal garden rake. | $$$$$ | |
Truper 32120 Tru Tough Thatching | Best tough thatching heavy duty garden rake. Steel garden rakes. Rock garden rakes. | $$$$$$ | |
Ames Garden Rake 2916600 | Affordable alternative lightweight and durable. | $$ |
How to Choose the Best Rake
When choosing a rake, you should take notice not only to it’s type and features, but also to materials quality which goods are made of. The most durable are considered to be wooden and plastic items; the most durable are galvanized and steel rakes. Iron tools, which are now the most common, will certainly serve well at first, but it have its disadvantages.
Before you make a purchase you should decide for what purpose the tool will be used. Wooden and plastic rakes are designed primarily for cleaning dried grass, leaves and small twigs. For soil works metal item is preferred.
To gather large amounts of garbage, rakes with rare tines are suitable, and for small ones – with frequent tines.
For work on flower beds, models with narrow grip are chosen, and if work is planned on large spaces – better to choose wide.
The other important parameters are:
- how the fixing mechanism is made
- whether its execution is reliable enough.
Take a closer look at the handle, whether it will be convenient to work with such a tool. If the cut is too short or too long, it will be uncomfortable to work. The correct cut length is especially important when working with a soil, as it takes more effort than working with leaves and dry grass.
Place the cut next to you and see if it reaches your armpits – this is the best length. If several people will work with the tool, it makes sense to buy a rake with a telescopic handle.
If the hilt is made of wood, you should make sure that there are no chips, nicks, twigs or other flaws on the surface. Whatever it is made of, be sure to look at the place where it is attached to the rake.
Its good to have different modifications of rakes, as they all serve for certain purposes.
You can also find and compare the most popular models on the Amazon or other websites, read the features and reviews.
If you are going to use the tool often, you should contact gardeners on forums. Ask if they know anything about or have an experience with the model you’ve picked up.
Garden Rake Types
1. Garden Rakes
These rakes are multipurpose and used in almost any household. It’s applied for loosening the soil, forming correct seedbeds, leveling the ground surface. They can be used to clean up plant debris, crush large pieces of soil that were formed during digging, and pull out the remaining roots.
2. Rakes for Lawns
This type of tool have densely tines. The width varies from 20″ to 25′ and the top part of the rake is covered with limiting arcs, which prevent the grass from falling apart.
The tool makes it very easy to collect the mown grass (e.g. if the mower does not have a grass catcher or was mowed with a trimmer or a regular hand mower).
Rakes for lawns have 8 to 12 tines. Most often they are painted with dark enamel. There are models with increased grip (with 14 and 16 tines), they are suitable for work on a large area. A wider tool saves time and energy.
3. Twisted rakes
This type of rake is made of thick metal and therefore it’s heavier and more durable. The twisted design of tines make it more heavyweight and reliable. Suitable for heavier and coarser work.
4. Aeration rakes
If the soil on the plot is very heavy, then even twisted tines will not help. In that case it’s better to look closely at the aerator type.
They have very sharp teeth, bent in the form of a sickle, and it literally cut through the ground. With this tool moss and dead grass on a lawn can be carefully removed. At the same time you can perform aerating or leveling the ground with it.
In fact, an aeration rake is a rather versatile tool that is able to perform various tasks, including shredding lumps of soil, contribute to better care and deeper penetration of nutrients and fertilizers into the soil. The tool can be double-sided.
5. Mini rakes
For specific purposes mini robberies may be used. They are intended for care of small flowerbeds, indoor plants, for rows loosening.
If you work with large rakes, you can easily damage the plant, and using this mini-helper on a short handle it’s easy to get to hard-to-reach spaces.
6. Transformer
It’s a whole set with a few accessories. Usually it includes a rake to pick up leaves, regular ones, a flower bed nozzle and several other options.
Purchasing such a versatile device will provide an opportunity to do different garden and yard jobs. Rake with removable attachments takes up much less space than a bunch of stand-alone tools, and it’s easy to transport.
7. Grabbing rakes
Here is another handy tool with two working parts, one of which moves and fixes leaves and grass. The tool allows to gather waste without numerous inclinations and saves your back. So you can clear out your yard much easier and faster.
Browse: Bosmere Garden Care Rake and Grab