10.6.2014

The `Lawnraker` parts arrived in a box and it was easily put together to make it look something like the picture (I did have a couple of bits left over but that`s quite normal for me). I found the assembled machine to be surprisingly lightweight although there`s not much to it really so I shouldn`t have expected anything more.As with any electrical gadget, you just have to try it out in the living room first regardless of where it`s actually going to be used and after plugging it in and turning it on, I pressed the usual `button and trigger` combo and it sprang into life. When I say `sprang`, it was more of a rattle and clatter as the rotating bar flung the vicious little metal tines roundsending the poor cat into a haphazard frenzy of jumping and climbing over a variety of furniture items until sanctuary was found under the sun lounger in the garden.As always, I didn`t read about it first as the excitement was too great and as I later found out the setting was at maximum rake (number 3 of 3), I quickly realised to my horror that the innocent looking tines had taken a number of tidy grooves out of my carpet and after panicking to turn the thing off and grab a large glass of wine (any excuse), I knew that the years of moss build-up in the lawn would be no match for this little devil and I wasn`t wrong.I rearranged the furniture in an attempt to cover up the damage and actually quite liked the look of a rug slightly off-square in the doorway (although the other half wasn`t amused when the truth came out) but back to more important matters, the lawn. Now knowingly on it`s maximum rake depth, I turned it on again and the machine skipped across the top of the lawn in a half hearted escape effort but as it was so lightweight, I stood my ground and pulled it sort of backwards and downwards which then caused the tines to dig into the lawn/moss/thatch build-up and spew a huge load of debris into the awaiting grass box and it`d only done about a metre !Luckily I had the foresight to have my wheelie-bin handy and after emptying the grass box into it, I refitted it back on the rake and resumed work .... Yep, you`ve guessed it - another metre and the grass box was full again and another metre - empty it - and another - and another .. you get the idea. Technically I`m not sure how the design could be improved but the grass box is so small that I was walking between rake and bin so many times, I genuinely lost count and that was the smallest of five grassy areas that need it doing so when I finally finished that one, I rewarded myself with (another) glass of wine and after that, I really couldn`t be bothered to carry on so I packed the rake away and consoled the cat who by that time, was watching me from the garage roof and giggling at me.Quick conclusion: Even though it`s got a slightly flimsy feel to it, the rake does exactly what it supposed to do and does it well but the size of the collection box really lets it down although I`m not sure how they could improve it sensibly. Purely for the collection box size, I`m giving it 4 stars but if they allowed me to give 4.5, I`d do that as the machine itself really does do the job.Just a final comment you should be aware of - If you use the rake on maximum depth rake, your lawn will be brown as it pretty much strips away the top inch or so but if your lawn is made up of mostly moss, as in my case, then you won`t be too worried as you`ll know you`re getting rid of the nasty stuff and allowing the grass to re-establish itself even though it will take a little while and if you strip too much away, then you can always reseed in areas of emptiness.

21.5.2013

I needed an electric lawn raker as I am no longer able to rake the lawn by hand, I looked at the models available and was horrified at the prices! I had used a friend's Black and Decker model before, but the price of purchasing the replacement model varied so much I wasn't sure enough to commit to the purchase. Reading the reviews posted by other users also made me less sure of the wisdom of buying this model. Then I saw that Amazon were offering used models at around £26, so I thought it was worth the risk at that price. If it was no good, it wasn't a great deal to lose. When it arrived I unpacked it and I was amazed! It looked brand-new, there was no evidence it had even been unpacked,

27.5.2018

The lawn had not been scarified for at least 10 years, after spending hours cutting the grass with my lawnmower straining and having to empty the bag countless times I decided I needed to do something about the moss.I tried the good old fashioned take - until that broke (probably a good job as I think my back was close to breaking too!) then did some research before trying to buy a cheap second hand scarifier on eBay unsuccessfully.I actually got a £150 machine from amazon as a gift on the same day this one arrived - the expensive one went back (twice) as it didn’t come with any means to plug it in (Bosch seem to have a unique cable that plugs in and needs to be purchased separately and amazon don’t sell it!!!)As for this machine - I was amazed,

12.4.2016

Ordered on a Tuesday and delivered on Thursday. I was slightly suspicious that the Black & Decker box looked as though it might have been resealed. When I opened it, the bolts, washers and orange wing-nuts that clamp together the upper and lower parts of the handle were MISSING. I first tried B&D to see whether they could supply the missing parts, but they said it was not their problem as it was "Amazon's job to check that all the contents are present". Odd I thought. I've never previously had a problem with Amazon goods, but when I then contacted them they were great. The agent Evon and I worked together looking to see whether Amazon could order the parts for me from B&D but we couldn't be 100% certain about part numbers,

19.7.2016

I finally bit the bullet and get myself a lawn rake and scarifier rather than constantly borrowing my dads, or staring at my grass with sad eyes as I seen the moss take over. If you haven't used one before, you will be amazed how much this thing gathers even out of a lawn which you have just recently cut.What I like about this is that settings are clear - 3 settings, from a full scarify which will get right down to the moss, a setting a few cm higher which will get rid of the surface thatch and top of moss, and then one that is a few cm higher again and will just speed up general raking tasks.It comes with a wee bit of setup to do out of the box, you'll need to attach the handle with a screwdriver,

10.1.2020

Nice and simple to use, not the simplest but not the worst assembly, I would prefer metal spring tube connectors as that would make it easy for adjustable heights (I guess that's more a product development feedback).The use is easy with different height setting on a dial that is easy to change. The collector is easy to attatch/detach but a bit on the small side. My front lawn is small (maybe 2 small cars size), this takes multiple squashing and emptying trips to the compost pile and it's not even a poor quality lawn as it is in sunlight all day. It's just down to the fact it's a small front situated, open collector. When it fills up which is pretty quick,

31.3.2016

We are clearing an area of our lawn to plant an block of wild flowers to attract local bees. Our gardener suggested that we kill off the lawn (which we did last autumn) and then scarify the area before planting to clear out all the moss, dead thatch and to generally aerate the soil.I was a bit sceptical that such a small and low powered device would be up to the job, but decided to give it a try anyway.I was amazed! It pulls itself along and so there is very little work for you to do other than holding it back.It just ripped through all the rubbish under the lawn and we were taking wheelbarrows full of stuff away in no time at all. The area looks great now and we will be planting the wild flowers next week.We also used it,

7.5.2017

The bad news - despite being of simple construction the machine was difficult to assemble. All the user has to do is to put the handle sections together, push them into holes on the body of the machine and do two screws up. In practice the parts were difficult to align, the handles are a very stiff fit in the holes and you can't apply the required amount of downward pressure to push them in as the tubing angles away from the holes. I also found the holes in the tubes didn't align well with the holes in the body. I did eventually manage to get the screws in but they sit at an angle. Fortunately they seem to do the job as the handles are still firmly attached after several hours of use.The good news - my very mossy lawn is now a lawn with hardly any moss.

1.4.2014

I owned a Black and Decker Lawnraker for 18 years until it gave up recently, due to debris getting into the motor compartment and burning the motor out. The product was unservicable due to lack of access, but as it was used only twice a year it worked and was acceptable.Because of the competitive price, and the positive reviews I decided on another.This is a different animal altogether -1. The grass box is foldable and is therefore easy to store.2. The grass box does not jump off the raker when in use. I have 3 medium sized lawns and it did not dislodge once during the first use.3. To remove grass from the motor compartment one simply removes 4 screws from the top plate, blow out any dried grass inside,

3.7.2015

Good item for the price, but I imagine would not take a lot of abuse or rough handling. Grass tray can catch on debris and small ground depressions and the grass tray falls off quite frequently in use - so the operator needs to work smoothly to avoid this happening. I have small gardens front and rear of house, and overall the lawnraker is ideal for the job and works fine with the motor appearing to be robust for the job in hand. I haven't used the lower height adjustments yet, however, he lawnraker gathers grass easily, and saves a lot of tiresome manual work. On areas of thicker moss and grass I have removed the grass tray completely, in order to take the heaviness off the first sweep of the area,

6.7.2016

I borrowed my neighbours gd300 a few months ago and was so impressed that when I saw this for £55 I thought I may as well have one.It is so light and does the job perfectly. Lots of reviews mention the grass/moss collection system being too small, but when you see the amount of dead grass, weeds and moss that this rakes up you would need a wheelie bin on the front to collect it all. In reality I found the collection bag was totally adequate. Most of the time I used the rake without the collection bag then just went over with my Bosch Rotak 37 lawnmower which sucked everything up and compacted it ready for disposal. Why didn't I give it 5 stars? well the height adjustment system must have changed in this latest model from a lever to a knob.

14.6.2015

Having used a previous Black & Decker lawn rake I stuck with what I knew and am not disappointed. It's true the build quality does feel quite as solid as the previous blue model but it works very well. I have a medium sized garden and it coped very well with a whole afternoon spent raking the lawn.Having moved recently its the first time I've raked this lawn so I erred on the side of caution, after cutting the grass, I use the rake on the highest setting first. I was surprised how much came out of the lawn on this 'rake' setting. Once I'd raked it twice at that level I set it to the lowest level and raked the whole lawn 2 more times. I got an incredible amount of moss and thatch out of the lawn.

14.5.2015

This Lawnraker is the second one that I have owned. My previous one gave me faithful service for many years, (probably in excess of fifteen,) until one day it just died. This newer, updated model is the same old beast with a slight facelift, i.e. a redesigned handle that folds for easy storage and carries the control switch; bodywork panels (!) now coloured a tasteful orange and a lightweight folding hopper at the front to catch the rakings.Assembly is easy. I accomplished the task in about twenty minutes and that included a cup of coffee and an argument with next door's cat.It operates just like the old model; efficiently. I have however one adverse criticism. The scraping height has only three settings.

8.5.2019

If you have ever raked the moss from your lawn manually, you will understand exactly what I'm going to say, it is tedious, boring, back breaking hard work and the results are generally .. not very good. This machine makes lawn raking almost a pleasure, there are three height settings, the lower of which really scarifies your lawn getting right down to root level and pulling dead moss, live moss and thatch out into the collector with ease. The other two settings are higher, use them for running over the lawn after mowing, just to remove any cuttings left behind preventing the build up of thatch and allowing air to get to the grass roots. A really excellent product, inexpensive and reliable.

23.5.2018

When it arrived I thought "No, obviously too small, light, weak and feeble for my needs." I spent the next few hours composing a review in my head that said "How wrong could I be?" Then the rake/roller element literally jumped out of the machine and I'm back where I started. (It's held in place with a spring steel clip that goes through its axle - where it sheared off. D'oh. See pic.) Let's see how the service is... OK! Replacement arrived inside 48 hours. Once bitten, I discovered the tine were fouling after about 5 minutes' use, necessitating 15-20 minutes' clearance effort. Then an epiphany: mowed it all again and hey presto it works like magic. The instructions say "We recommend you use on short,

Black and Decker GD300 - Reviews

Info

Analysis

Detail