The Clog Free Rake - A Human-Powered Leaf Blower?
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 12. 1.08
Raking Without the Cussing
Sometimes the greenest products are those not marketed as green at all – take the humble rake for instance. As a TreeHugger I already know that leaf blowers are the scourge of humanity (and don’t even get me started on leaf blower hockey!), so I guess I’m predisposed to like the rake. But I must admit to having been tempted, as I unclogged the tines of my rake for the umpteenth time on a cold November morning, to consider a mechanical alternative. Luckily there’s no need – just as with the human-powered mower - a little bit of thoughtful and effective design can go a long way.
I recently purchased an Ames True Temper clog-free rake, and I can honestly say it’s been a delight to use (and no, I’ve never got excited about a rake before!). The specially designed tines – arranged in a ridged triangular pattern, really do remain clog free – allowing much faster raking yet remaining free of the noise and fumes of a leaf blower. What more can I say? I love the thing, and I’m going to remain leaf blower free for the foreseeable future. Amazon is currently selling 8-inch clog-free rakes and 24-inch rakes (though the 24-inch one is inexplicably listed at $159!) – but I found my 30-inch model at the local hardware store for about 40 bucks.
More on Eco-Gardening
Leaf Blowers are the Scourge of Humanity
Testing a Human-Powered Mower
How to Go Green: Gardening
10 Commandments of Eco-gardening
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- Handy Guide for TreeHugger's Conversion to Metric
- Underwriters Laboratories Introducing Green Label
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I've been angry about this for a while, the disgusting overuse of pointless, wasteful leaf blowers. Here on the campus of Youngstown State University, there are teams of people who do nothing but walk around wearing the noisy, gas-powered things, doing nothing but blowing leaves from the sidewalks into the grass, where a team on mowers does nothing but chew up leaves with the mowers, even when the grass does not need cut. It shames me to see such irresponsible use. They haul the leaves off to who knows where, and put down chemical fertilizers to do the job that the leaves would do. Don't get me started on the Kimberly-Clark products in every bathroom...
I have one of these rakes and it is the greates effing thing to happen to fall cleanup since the compost pile.
As I came here to the US from Austria and I saw the first time such a leave blower I was completely alienated by these devices. I simply could not understand why somebody would invent such devices and people would buy and use them, and even so excessively. I simply do not understand the use or advantage of the leave blowers since they are merely loud and do not do the job. When I am on a video chat with somebody from Austria people keep asking me what that loud noise is and I have to explain the supposedly use, which people back in Austria also do not understand.
I've got one of those babies myself, they're great rakes.
Leaf Blowers are the bane of my existence. And why is it that every time I see one, it's being operated by a young able-bodied male?
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who hates leaf blowers. I'm intrigued by the rake and will look into getting one, but I figured out how to create my own human powered leaf blower... I bungie corded a rake to my bike and wow, it really makes rakling a lot easier, faster and way more fun.
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Author's comment:
Wow! Don't suppose there's any video footage on YouTube?