When it comes to removing leaves from your lawn, shrub beds, and garden, there’s one very important, must-have tool in your shed: the ubiquitous leaf rake. There are many leaf rakes out there. Some are great and some, well, aren’t so much.
For a garden tool that you’ll use most likely more than any other, make sure you have a great one. It used to be that you had two choices of rakes: bamboo or steel. These days, leaf rakes come in a variety of widths, materials, and sizes.
The range of tasks that leaf rakes can tackle has grown considerably as well. Leaf blowers are great but they’re primarily good for broad, general yard work. To tidy up your space in a more detailed fashion, take a look at our list of handy leaf rakes. Better be quick, though: pretty soon you’ll need to break out the electric snow shovel.
Want a commercial-grade leaf rake that can also thatch and is strong enough to pick up a pile of large river rock? Then allow me to introduce you to the Bully Tools 92312 Leaf and Thatching Rake. It’s made in the USA, comes with a limited lifetime warranty, and is extra strong like bull.
The solid red, triple-wall fiberglass handle is 66 inches long and topped with a cushioned end grip. If you’re a person that’s rough on tools, that’s okay; this rake was specifically designed to resist abuse. You’re going to have a hard time breaking this handle.
Solidly bolted to the handle is one of the toughest rake heads you’ll find. The tines round and made of spring steel. They’re secured by a solid professional-grade steel rod that allows the rake head to (get this) pick up incredibly heavy loads. Check out the photos and videos from Bully Tools to see for yourself. This is one lawn rake you’re not going to break.
The TRG GK102R Groundskeeper II Rake is not your average rake. As its name implies, leaf rakes like this one are the preferred choice of professional landscapers across the country. When you’re working hard to keep a sports facility like a ballpark looking its best, you need a rake that’s lightweight and nimble and this one definitely fits that description.
The tines of this rake are thin, round, and stiff (almost plain wire) to allow green stems of plants to pass between them without harm. It can move sticks, wood chips, bark, mulch, and even gravel, if you can imagine that. Hard enough to keep their shape with flexibility offered up by the loop spring at the top of the rake head, this rake can pretty much do it all.
The head is bolted to a 55-inch long fiberglass handle that won’t be as cold as metal in the late fall and winter. And when it’s late in the year, its yellow paint job will help keep that sunshine in your soul when it’s cold and gray out. This, my friend, is an awesome rake. Buy it.
Sometimes a large rake isn’t the best solution working underneath shrubs or in sensitive areas like gardens or flower beds. Enter the AM Leonard Narrow Shrub Rake. It’s perfect for cleaning all around plants, perennials, and tight spaces all throughout your yard.
The rake head is 8 inches wide with ten steel tines reinforced with an additional spring to help you really scrape hard to get all that schmutz out of areas you don’t want it. The head is bolted strongly to the 54-inch long, one-inch thick hardwood handle. Comfortable to hold and easy to use, this shrub rake by AM Leonard deserves a place in your tool shed. Plus, it’s painted orange to go with the season when you’re using it the most!
The Corona RK 62061 Fixed Tine Leaf Rake features an extremely large head with 25 extra-wide tines that apply light pressure without damaging your lawn roots. This rake has a bi-curved bow design that gives even pressure to all of the tines at the same time so you collect more leaves at a pass and save time.
The rake head is made of tempered spring steel that should give maximum durability for years to come. The handle measures 54 inches and made of aluminum with a non-slip vinyl handle. This rake clears two feet of debris at a whack? Yes, please.
Now you’re playing with fire to round up all those leaves before the chuckwagon arrives. The Gardenite 63-Inch Adjustable Garden Leaf Rake features all-steel construction and coated with zinc to prevent rust. The head features 15 flat tines and adjusts from a wide 22 inches for general use down to a tiny seven to get in between plants and under bushes.
The handle is a long 63 inches so it’s great for taller people to use. Lightweight and easy to use, this leaf rake is ideal for most of what you need a leaf rake for. If you’re not satisfied with the rake after you’ve tried it out, Gardenite provides a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee and will make it right.
With a 63-inch long extruded aluminum handle and a set of quality steel tines, the Fiskars Pro Leaf Rake is a great choice for leaf removal this season. Metal tabs keep the tine rod locked in place so the tines won’t come loose or break under pressure. That extra-long handle will come in handy to keep your posture straight so you can keep raking until the job is done.
The profile of the handle shaft is shaped like a teardrop so it fits your hands better which means you’re more comfortable. The handle is attached to the raking head with two secure bolts for great durability with a vinyl non-slip “softgrip” cover at the top. This leaf rake is lightweight yet tough enough to last many, many years.
The Orientools Garden Leaf Rake is light, maneuverable, and comes packaged with a telescoping handle made of powder-coated steel as well as two different plastic rake heads. One head features 26 tines for lighter shrub bed work, the other is larger with 30 tines for major leaf removal. The tines on both heads are solid and closely spaced to avoid stuck leaves.
This leaf rake is shipped in four pieces that can be assembled using snap-lock fittings once it reaches your home. Connecting the handle segments and rake head is quick and easy. The handle extends from 43 to 59 inches with the 26-tine head attached and 55 to 69 inches with the 30-tine head. While not as innovative or compact as other leaf rakes, the Oreintools Garden Leaf Rake is a good solution at a fair price.
Raking is all fine and good but if you’ve ever tried to use one along with your other hand to pick up the piles, you know that it simply doesn’t work. Take a look at these Gardease ReLeaf Leaf Scoops. They feature more than 1,900 reviews on Amazon with an average score of 4.7, better than any other leaf scoops out there.
The closed design of the scoops gets the job done quickly no matter if the grass and leaves are wet or dry. Just slip your lower arms and hands into the outer sleeves and start scooping up what you’re working on. The scoop halves provide protection against sharp, cold, or slippery yard waste and they’re oversized to really get a large quantity of debris with every scoop.
If you take care of a garden, you know that working on your hands and knees is standard operating procedure. Help yourself out and get more done while you’re down there with this MB Hana Small Garden Leaf Rake. It’s perfect to get leaves and other debris out from narrow spaces.
The metal tines adjust to four positions between three to six inches wide and extend from 10 to 12 inches long so you can easily reach around and behind plants with either hand. The small leaf rake is ideal for cleaning gutters, spreading mulch, and to clear hedge trimmings. And the handle is molded in durable orange plastic so it’s easy to find.
If you’re determined to own a leaf rake with a plastic head, you’d better make it this one. The Bully Tools 92630 30-Inch Poly Leaf Rake is a commercial-grade landscaper’s tool designed and built to take a beating and ask for more. What do you expect from something made in the good ol’ USA?
The 50-inch handle is made of thick, reinforced, triple-wall fiberglass and will give you a lifetime of high performance. Tines on the rake head include double-sided support ridges to prevent breakage and a 90-degree angle design for greater efficiency. This lawn rake wants to go another three rounds if you’re up for it.
Berry & Bird have made quality garden tools for more than ten years the old fashioned way: by hand. The hand rake’s wooden handle is made of Manchurian ash that will only get smoother over time. The stainless steel rake tines are flat, durable, and easy to clean.
This rake is perfect for gardening, weeding, loosening soil, and raking leaves. The handle is comfortable and sturdy and the rake head with nine tines is excellently produced and secured to the handle. It also looks fabulous down to the leather loop tied into the end of the handle for handing in the shed.
The rake and all of Berry & Bird tools are designed with the environment in mind, using eco-friendly materials in conjunction with the Forest Stewardship Council, so feel good about playing a part in saving the planet while you’re raking those leaves away.
The Truper 32401 Tru Pro Steel Leaf Rake features a 26-inch rake head and 48-inch fiberglass handle. A protective 10-inch long sleeve on the handle helps to provide comfort and ergonomics in cold weather. In other words, it’s easy on the hands.
Truper’s Tru Pro line of yard tools is optimized and designed for the professional market which should be more than tough enough for your backyard. Balance is the name of the game here with a rake that offers optimal control. The rake head bolts to handle with bolt-through construction and heavy gauge steel tines. Looking to step up to a higher-end tool? Here you go.
This Corona RK 62060 Fixed Tine Shrub Rake is an ideal tool to quickly and easily rake up clippings, leaves, and other garden debris. Like it’s larger brother, the Corona RK 62061, this rake features a bi-curved bow to give even pressure to all tines for maximum raking efficiency. The head has 11 extra-wide steel tines that can remove waste without damaging plants and roots.
The 54-inch aluminum handle has an anti-slip vinyl sleeve and is attached to the 8-inch wide tempered spring steel rake head with two stout rivets. That red powder-coating is sure to protect your rake head season after season as well. Comfortable to use and easy to control, this great shrub rake is just what you need to handle all your clean up work out in the yard.
This is about as basic a leaf rake as you can get. Truper 989516 Tru Tough 48 Plastic Leaf Rake is made of a 48-inch long wooden handle made of Ash and lacquered for strength and durability. The 22-inch wide plastic rake head makes for quick cleanup of leaves and other lawn debris.
The tines are spaced close together to prevent leaf sticking and the head has two series of molded horizontal braces that offer strength while pulling across the ground. Truper’s Tru Tough line is meant to give the homeowner a serious, long-lasting tool at a fair price. This leaf rake comes with a 10-year free replacement warranty as well.
Quick and versatile, the Buyplus Telescopic Metal Leaf Rake is perfect for leaf removal and raking debris from off your lawn. This rake both telescopes and contracts to clean more areas of your landscape than a typical rake can. The tines extend from 8 inches to 23 inches wide and can lock in place in any position using the adjustable lever.
Need to sweep in between garden plants or flower beds then clear large swaths of grass? This rake will do that. The lightweight steel handle extends from 32 inches to 63 inches and anywhere between those dimensions with a quick turn of the handle.
The Buyplus rake is ideal for large jobs as well as clearing out under those shrubs and between plants. And once you’re done with that, it can be shortened and contracted to fit in a much smaller space out in your shed or garage. If you’re going to purchase just one rake, this might be the one.
For a different take on a good all-around leaf rake, take a look at this Clog-Free Poly Leaf Rake from True Temper. The raking head is made of stout plastic with tines that taper wide from the handle to the ends. Each of the tines feature a connecting bit that prevents leaves from getting stuck in between them.
The handle measures 48 inches long and made of hardwood. It’s covered with a cushioned grip for comfort and colored yellow for nice visibility; you won’t miss this rake in the tool shed! Ideal for medium to large yards, this True Temper leaf rake is a thoughtful step up from what you’re used to.
This adjustable, flat-tine metal leaf rake from MLTOOLS features an extendable handle and a rake head can expand from 7-1/2-inches to a full-sized 24 inches. The entire rake is made of lightweight steel coated with anti-rust zinc along with plastic adjusting lever and comfort grips.
Need to shorten the rake for smaller shrub work? No worries, just twist the handle and collapse to 31 inches. Need some size to clear that big lawn free of leaves? Do the same in reverse and extend to 64 inches. When you’re done for the day, shrink everything down to its smallest size for compact storage.
