VonHaus 2-in-1 Lawn Scarifier Review

Written by: - Landscape Gardener
Reader rating

While I wouldn’t recommend the VonHaus 2-in-1 Lawn Scarifier to anyone who is looking to aerate their lawn, I have nothing but praise for its scarifying function. Its design features and depth settings make it versatile enough for a variety of different lawn types, and it’s simple enough to be used by someone who doesn’t have much scarifying experience. If you’ve been searching for a machine to help you scarify a small or medium garden, this would be a good buy.

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Best lawn scarifier
Tested

VonHaus 2-in-1 Lawn Scarifier[ SAVE 13% ]

VonHaus 2 in 1 Lawn Scarifier Review
Overall Score 4.4
Assembly
4
Design
5
Performance
4
Ease of Use
4
Noise
5
Safety
5
Value for Money
4
Working Width
32cm
No. of Heights
4
Weight
8.5kg
Capacity
28 litres
Power
1500W
Power Source
Corded Electric
Cable Length
10m

VonHaus is a company that produces a variety of home and garden tools – you may already own some VonShef kitchen appliances, which is VonHaus’ sister brand. Whether we’re talking about their kitchen tools or their garden machinery, VonHaus products are reputed to be powerful and well-designed, so I was hopeful that their 2-in-1 Lawn Scarifier would also meet these high standards. 

How I Tested

This product confused me a little at first. It’s a 2-in-1 machine, but the brand isn’t very clear about what those two features are. On their website, they state that the machine is a scarifier and a lawn rake, whereas on their Amazon store, they advertise it as being a scarifier and an aerator. If anything, a lawn rake is a scarifier, which means that this isn’t really a 2-in-1 product but the result of a clever marketing department. 

After taking a closer look at things, I decided to test it as a scarifier and aerator, because this is what the rollers seemed to be made for. 

While the other lawn scarifiers I tested stated whether they were designed for small, medium, or large gardens, this one didn’t. However, going by the size of the motor and the machine’s operating width, I set aside a medium-sized area of grass to scarify. I intended to follow this up with some aeration, before sprinkling over some top soil and grass seed.

Assembly

4

VonHaus-2-in-1-Lawn-Scarifier-Review-assembly

VonHaus states that their 2-in-1 Scarifier requires simple and minimal assembly, and I would definitely agree. The entire assembly process took about 15 minutes, which was faster than many of the other scarifiers I tested.

It helped that the bag was already assembled, which I very much appreciated. All that needed to be done was attach the handles (you’ll need a Philip’s screwdriver for this), as well as the trigger. I did find this a little odd, as the other scarifiers I reviewed had their triggers pre-attached.

VonHaus also supplied a plastic clip with this scarifier to clip the cables out of the way. However, there wasn’t actually much point to this – I clipped it on anyway but it didn’t make much of a difference, and the instructions weren’t much help.

Finally, since the scarifier came with the aerator roller already inserted, this needed to be swapped over to the scarifying roller. Two Allen key screws need to be removed in order to do this (an Allen key is provided), after which it’s easy to swap the rollers around. Be careful not to over-tighten things when you’re inserting a roller.

Overall, assembly was relatively quick and painless – even someone who has never scarified before would be able to put this machine together pretty easily.

Design

5

VonHaus-2-in-1-Lawn-Scarifier-Review-assembly-design

With its grey, black, and orange colour palette, this scarifier fits in well with the VonHaus product line. Many machines with plastic housing often feel a little cheap, but this one has a sturdy metal frame that gives the scarifier a more robust quality.

Just like the other VonHaus tools I have used in the past, this one has been thoughtfully designed. Its 32cm width makes it suitable for small and medium-sized gardens, and the fact that it has four depth settings (4-12mm), makes it even more versatile. Even better, you only need adjust one handle to change the machine’s depth/height – the single lever alters all four wheels, compared to other scarifiers (such as the Einhell GC-SA 1231) that have multiple handles to adjust.

As mentioned, this machine comes with two interchangeable rollers; one with metal tines for scarifying, and another with blades for aerating. Both feel strong and sturdy – they won’t break easily!

The collection bag that comes with this scarifier can hold up to 28 litres in volume. In my opinion, this is nowhere near large enough. However, a bigger bag means a heavier and bulkier machine, so there are both pros and cons to this.

From the design alone, it’s easy to see why this scarifier is a best-seller. It offers multiple features and has been well-made. Of course, even a beautifully designed machine can still struggle when it comes to performance, so I was eager to see if this one would continue to impress.

Performance

4

VonHaus-2-in-1-Lawn-Scarifier-Review-assembly-performance

Scarifier

I set the scarifier on its highest setting before turning it on. This is important – start off too low and you’ll end up causing more harm than good to your lawn. 

I was expecting the highest setting to be enough – this was the case with some of the other scarifiers I tested, such as the Einhell. However, the VonHaus didn’t seem to go quite as deep, so I soon lowered its height. Once I did, it scarified beautifully. Ok, “beautifully” may be the wrong word because there’s nothing beautiful at all about a newly-scarified lawn, but it cut into the ground at the perfect depth, removing all of the thatch that was growing through the grass. 

Thanks to its large 1500W motor, the machine didn’t seem to heat up at all while it was in use for long stretches. For this reason, it would probably do very well on larger lawns too, although its smaller width may slow you down. As a comparison, the AL-KO scarifier also has a 1500W engine, but its operating width is 38cm instead of 32cm.

VonHaus-2-in-1-Lawn-Scarifier-Review-assembly-performance-2

Aerator

Once I was done scarifying, it was time to aerate. A quick changeover of the rollers and the machine was good to go. 

However, I was disappointed with how the aerator roller functioned. It didn’t seem to actually aerate the ground. Instead, it worked in a very similar way to the scarifier, except more intense, meaning that it ended up churning up all of the healthy grass that the scarifying roller had left behind.

Ease of Use

4

At 8.5kg, this is a pretty lightweight machine. Moving it in and out of a vehicle, or up and down steps, isn’t a bother. 

However, there’s a downside to the machine’s lightweight quality. It’s very tempting to quickly whizz around a corner while scarifying, but I ended up damaging the soil the first time I did this, so take it slow!

I have to say that the collection bag made the scarifier a little frustrating to use. Its small size means that it needs to be emptied every minute or so on your first pass, although this does also mean that the scarifier was doing a great job. Thankfully, the machine works just as well when the collection bag isn’t inserted. Leave the thatch on the ground and then go back over this with a lawn mower – it’ll save you a fair bit of time and will allow you to continuously scarify your lawn, rather than having to keep stopping and starting to empty the bag.

Noise

5

The VonHaus lawn scarifier is a relatively quiet machine. VonHaus states that its sound level is 98dB. To be honest, this didn’t mean much to me, but I would say that this scarifier is a little quieter than the average lawn mower. Ear defenders aren’t needed and you won’t need to worry about disturbing your neighbours too much, especially if you’re only going to be using it a couple of times a year.

Safety

5

VonHaus-2-in-1-Lawn-Scarifier-Review-assembly-safety

You need to be careful when using electric scarifiers – it’s all too easy to accidentally run over the cable, which would be pretty disastrous. However, this VonHaus scarifier had a cable measuring 10m, making it easy to keep flicking it out of the way. The fact that its cable was also bright orange in colour was a big plus, making it easy to see in the grass. 

This scarifier has also been equipped with a safety button that you need to press before you can turn the machine on. This is a key safety feature as it prevents someone from accidentally pulling the trigger and sending those tines spinning.

Value for Money

4

In my opinion, this scarifer is pretty reasonably priced – its cost is in-line with the 2-in-1 models from other brands. That said, those other 2-in-1 models really do scarify and aerate, whereas this machine only excels when it comes to scarifying – its aerating function is sub-par. 

It’s worth noting that this scarifier comes with a two year manufacturer’s warranty. This sounds good at first, but don’t let this alone sway you into purchasing this model. Think about it – if you only plan on using the machine once or twice a year, then that warranty is only going to cover you for four uses at most, which makes it pretty much pointless. 

However, the machine is solidly built. There’s nothing about it that would make me doubt its quality. If something did break, spares are available, but you’ll need to purchase this from DomuBrands rather than VonHaus – this is the umbrella company that owns the brand (along with the VonShef sister brand).

Overall

4.4

While I wouldn’t recommend the VonHaus 2-in-1 Lawn Scarifier to anyone who is looking to aerate their lawn, I have nothing but praise for its scarifying function. Its design features and depth settings make it versatile enough for a variety of different lawn types, and it’s simple enough to be used by someone who doesn’t have much scarifying experience. If you’ve been searching for a machine to help you scarify a small or medium garden, this would be a good buy.

Tested

VonHaus 2-in-1 Lawn Scarifier[ SAVE 13% ]

VonHaus 2 in 1 Lawn Scarifier Review
Overall Score 4.4
Assembly
4
Design
5
Performance
4
Ease of Use
4
Noise
5
Safety
5
Value for Money
4
Working Width
32cm
No. of Heights
4
Weight
8.5kg
Capacity
28 litres
Power
1500W
Power Source
Corded Electric
Cable Length
10m

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