Gardening Essential – The Amazing Rake

Jun 26, 2025 by The Jewish Voice And Opinion Staff

By The Jewish Voice And Opinion Staff

We enjoy discovering products that provide a new spin on an old idea. While many inventions are complicated, high-tech solutions, the ones that interest us most are simple, reimagining everyday activities. Inventors often approach problems differently and use this perspective to develop creative, practical solutions. The expression “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door” comes to mind.

The Rake

The first rakes are thought to be a branch used to scrape soil and leaves. Rakes made of wooden tines with a handle were found dating back to 1100 B.C. China. There have been advances in materials, with metal used instead of wooden tines, and ergonomic considerations, but the basic rake design is unchanged.

Yard and lawn cleanup can be taxing on the back. There have been products designed to improve yard work, including using electric leaf blowers for piling the debris, but they can be noisy and costly, and the debris still needs to be collected and placed in a receptacle for disposal, requiring bending and lifting.

The Amazing Rake – Design Changes

The Amazing Rake is a three-in-one tool that can rake, scoop, and pick up, created by Lyle Ethington, making yard work easier on your back. It replaces the traditional metal tines with a two-panel shovelhead, made of strong, durable, flexible Copolymer Polypropylene and comes in bright colors (Green, Yellow, and Pink), making it more reminiscent of a children’s toy. Visually, it resembles an excavator, with two opposing digging surfaces edged with short teeth.

The Amazing Rake lets you position the head to reach under a pile of debris, then close the mouth around the pile. It comes with a “Twist Lock” feature that lets you secure the rake head in position. We found this convenient for carrying the debris without having to expend energy keeping the mouth closed, and it allows the Amazing Rake to mimic a traditional rake, with an open mouth. This rake is designed for heavy yard work. Its two-panel shovelhead is rust-resistant, substantial, and able to lift a heavy load without bending, and so is the sturdy steel handle. The unit weighs 2.5 pounds, making it heavier than a traditional rake, which can take some getting used to.

Some Assembly Required

The Amazing Rake requires some assembly, which can be off-putting to people who dislike following directions. Fortunately, the website includes instructions, a video “Assembly” and “How-To-Use”, and you can get the full instructions on your smartphone or tablet.

Begin by building the head (top portion) of the rake by aligning the male ends of the rake bottom over the female ends.
Lay the wishbone handle end strut across the rake head.
Extend the telescope handle by a simple twist to loosen and extend the handle.
Insert the rake handle through the slide grip and finally screw the rake handle into the rake head.

It sounds a bit confusing at first. We found the “how-to” video simplified the process.

Our Impression

It took some time to adjust to The Amazing Rake. Like anything new, change takes time, and sometimes the best solution is a combined approach. We found some tasks were easier using The Amazing Rake, which eliminated bending and stooping down when transferring piles into the pail for disposal. It let us simply pick up and move items from a pile to a pail, which was a big back and time saver.

We used The Amazing Rake to lift and shift heavier debris, something which would have been impossible with a conventional rake, and we were able to handle most of our yard clean-up tasks, using the Amazing Rake as a powerful picker-upper.

For raking dry leaves, the Amazing Rake a little heavier than the old-fashioned rake, and its thicker tines/teeth made it harder to clean beneath bushes, that said, with practice we we able to acclimate to the new tool which is great for lifting light loads like leaves, pine needles, and grass clippings, and it could also handle heavier items like mulch and sticks.

Amazing Rake is available for purchase at stores

Raking Tips

Rake in the direction that the grass grows to reduce the risk of uprooting or damaging the grass blades, and you will collect more leaves and debris.
Rake regularly, not just in the Fall. Spring and Summer raking prevent debris from accumulating. Ranking in the Winter prevents mold growth from matted leaves.
Practice good posture while raking to avoid back strain, bend your knees slightly, keep your back straight, and use a sweeping motion rather than pulling with just your arms.