Customer Reviews

Hound Dog Products HDP1-6 Weed Hound

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Weed Hound is all steel and is very well-made. The (few) moving parts are heavy-duty and two seasons of use have failed to damage it, beyond wearing the paint off the parts that actually penetrate the ground. It has the added advantage of leaving a tidy little aeration hole in the soil every time you pop out a weed. Just place, step, twist/pull and the weed is extracted, with all or most of the root. It generally works better on broadleaf weeds than on stuff like crabgrass that have spreading root systems but you can't beat it for dandelions.

And it's made in the USA.

I got this from the local home improvement store to help on a handfull of weeds. This actually works well on crabgrass and pulls out the roots--at least better than hunching over and pulling (and tugging) them out by hand (then, to find out that you didn't remove any of roots will all the straining).

This device lets you place it on top of the root of the weed, then step down to penetrate and grasp. With some turning (much turning in some of the bigger crab grass) and pulling, I was surprised to pull out 6" of roots from a problem crab grass cluster on my neighbor's lawn bordering my own. (it probably takes more effort to bend over to try to pull manually than it is to use this weeder to twist and pull.)

I cannot imagine how to achieve similar results without having a shovel and remove much more dirt than needed.

One thing that you need to watch out for is if you have to pull out a large cluster of crab grass, you may want to get some soil available to patch up the area. This device removes a small amount of dirt while clasping the roots. (not really an issue for most weeds, but if you have a large crab grass cluster of 3-5, I have found having a handfull of soil to level out the small holes is helpfull.)

I can't say enough wonderful things about the weed hound. I first bought was as a gift. Then when our yard had a dandelion problem (it is great for other weeds too) I borrowed it from the person I gave it to. Then I didn't want to give it back. All of my neighbors were laughing at the 9 month pregnant women out there battling weeds with the contraption. But it worked. The next year we had much fewer. It is easy to use just center over weed, step, twist, pull out weed and pop it off. My arm gets a little tired sometimes if I am doing a lot of weeds but now that I finally bought my own I can take my time. Definitely worth the price and no more weed killer to buy!

I just bought this tool today and had to try it out in the yard as soon as I got home. This thing is amazing. You can pull about 50 weeds in 10 minutes. I had 2 people stop and ask me what it was as I was using it. After I showed them how it pulls weeds effortlessly, they both asked me where I bought it so that they could buy one. After you pull the weed, the ergonomic plunger handle at the top is fun to pop with the palm of your hand to launch the weed to the growing pile of weeds you've extracted. I don't think I've ever been quite so satisfied with a tool of any kind. This is one product that actually lives up to every claim made by the manufacturer . . . a must have for every homeowner.

I've had this yard tool for about 2 years and haven't gotten to use it much until this year. I had a nasty invasion of dandelions in my yard this year due to neglect from renters the previous 3 years while we had to move away temporarily. I knew I had this but I remembered it being not very good at getting the weed root. It would basically break the taproot right off about 2-3 inches down, thus not really killing the weed but merely getting the visual side of it gone. Well, I did it again this year and sure enough, it was doing the same thing. I was NOT happy! Everyone swore by this thing and I felt I got robbed. It wasn't doing what it was supposed to do! ARGH!
Well, I happened to run across a web page about pulling dandelions that said the taproot is very fragile and that one would have better luck pulling one out complete if the ground was moistened. I thought maybe this would work with the Weed Hound. So after a gentle rain, I got in the yard and tried it. Sure enough, reading that was the key! It was pulling dandelions, taproot and all, with very little effort! I was shocked at just how effective it was. Some of these taproots were up to a foot long! And once I got this figured out, pulling those nasty buggers actually became fun and addictive! Once I started, I pulled and pulled and the next thing I knew it was nearly 5 hours later! I'm loving it now! There's something strangely satisfying when you see that taproot just hanging down off the end of the Weed Hound's spikes...
So if you are having troubles with this tool doing the same thing, try doing it after a rain or watering of your lawn. Night and day difference, LITERALLY! I nearly thought about throwing this thing out until I read that. After this, I'll never get rid of this guy! There's nothing that works better than this short of some chemical.
I don't remember reading anything about using this on moist soil on the packaging, thus only the four star rating. (Which, really, I would have only knocked maybe half a star if Amazon let me) Had I known this all along, this easily would have been the firmest 5-star rating I've ever done. That's how much I love this thing. And as an added bonus, it even does aeration! Good thing, because my yard needs that, too...

I got this tool and fell in love with it first. I walked around my dandelion-ridden yard popping out plants and putting the little holes in the ground. Even one of the nails that are the prongs (yes, they are just nails) bent, but it still did okay.

The thing is, it only works well when the ground is soft. Hard ground (like much of my yard) will stop it, and you end up just grinding up the plant instead of pulling it out. And believe the other reports that it doesn't always grab the root all the way. And it will also grab a decent chunk of dirt too.

Today I gave up fighting in hard dirt and got down on my knees with the fishtail weeder, like I'd done before I got this tool. Works like a charm. It's a 5 dollar old-skool tool whose design has stood the test of time. If you have a hard time bending over, then try out the Weed Hound (borrow one if you can first). But if you can work on your knees, or don't mind bending over, stick with a hand weeder. It's actually faster and more effective.

After reading the other reviews, I had high hopes for the Hound Dog. The tool is mediocre at best in my opinion. It's probably great in certain conditions and with certain weeds. My weeds are varied and my ground conditions range from pea gravel to dirt to grass to soil. The other aspect that doesn't work so well for me is the time. I guess I should have seen this coming but it's just much more efficient to be on your knees with an old fashioned dandelion puller (not even sure what they're called but the long metal tool with the prong on the end) than a tool that has to be centered over the weed, then steps 2 and 3....When I weed, I want to get it done quickly even if it causes me a little extra pain. That said the Hound Dog is inexpensive enough that I don't feel I got screwed, I think my expectations were too high.

This weeder works well. One advantage is being able to weed from an upright position which saves you from hunching down
all day. Most of the time, the entire root system is removed.

The Hound Dog did wonders helping me pull up large amounts of crabgrass in my yard. However: The tool quickly wore out.

The first point of failure on the Hound Dog was the moving central shaft that pushes the nails into the ground. If you are working in sandy or gravelly soil, the shaft will bend if you apply too much force or weight. Once the shaft is bent, the nails will not come together at a point, and the tool will no longer be able to pinch the weeds to pull them up. You can only push down from a step located on one side of the tool, which greatly increases the chances of slowly bending the shaft in one direction through repeated use. If you get one of these, my suggestion is: Don't put all your weight on it. If it feels like it doesn't want to go into the ground, reposition and try again.

I managed to hammer the shaft partially back into shape. This got me a little more use out of the tool before I hit the second point of failure. The nails came loose from the tool and fell out. Beating the tool with a hammer might have brought this on of course, but I wouldn't have gotten any more use out of the tool otherwise. At this point, the Hound Dog was unfixable and I threw it out.

Of the tools that I have seen, the Hound Dog has the best mechanism for pulling weeds. I will probably buy another one, even though I know it will not last me very long. I would be willing to spend more on a similar tool that lasts longer, as I feel wasteful having to treat such a tool as a disposable item.

The design concept is good but this tool needs some reconfiguration before it's truly effective.

1. The pulling tines should be a bit longer. (They aren't long enough to grab on and pull up the whole dandelion root, even in wet soil.)

2. The diameter of the base of the tines (where they are mounted) needs to be about 1/4 inch more. (Would give a better chance of grabbing onto the root as the exact center of a dandelion is sometimes hard to eyeball.)

3. Shaft of tool needs to be about 3 inches longer. (So the tool-user doesn't have to bend over so much to use this thing.)