Bob wrote:

look up verticutter

Seems to me that in the UK, scarifiers are a common product to be found
for sale at the average lawn/garden store (ie the eqivalent to Home
Depot or Lowes) but in Canada (probably US too) all you will see
(seasonally) for sale are lawn mowers and snow blowers.

Does anyone know for sure is a scarifier is the same as a verticutter
(verticle cutter), and is either of them also known as a de-thatcher?

Examples:

AL-KO 3800VB Powerline Petrol Lawn Scarifier:
http://www.mower-magic.co.uk/acatalo...l_Aerator.html

Honda GX160 Petrol Verticutter:
http://www.camon.co.uk/Verticutter.htm

Dethatcher (pictures):
http://www.landscape-america.com/pro.../dethatch.html
http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/ma...lawndethatcher

Then we have other types of equipment:

Billy Goat CR550H 5hp Honda Compact Power Rake
http://www.cairnsmowercity.com/prod559.htm

Billy Goat AE551 5.5hp Core Lawn Aerator
http://www.cairnsmowercity.com/prod551.htm

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Earlier this spring I was looking for an all-in-one machine that would
be used primarily in the spring, and it would do the following or have
the following capabilities:

- gas powered, 5 to 10 hp
- push or walk behind (not ride on)
- important feature is that it's a high suction vaccum cleaner
with large canister recepticle
- vacuum deck contains brushes, knives, blades, wires, or some
other spinning, whirling mechanism that can beat the ground
and dislodge loose debris for the vacuum to pick up (like a
beater bar on a vacuum cleaner). Minimal harm to grass.

Uses:

- pick up gravel, sand, pea-sized stones or small broken bits of
asphalt on driveways, small parking lots, or the roadway in front
of your house in the spring that was left behind by winter road
dammage and sand/gravel put down by road maintanence vehicles
during the winter.

- clean the lawn in the spring of all the various loose organic
debris, leaf and twig fragments (etc) that even a lawn mower with
a bag and with the deck set low to the ground will not pick up.

- grind up (to an extent beyond what a lawn mower would do) and pick
up leaves in the fall.

Cost: Between $500 and $750 USD.

Is there such a machine?