i was privileged to attend an ag school in my younger days and ideal consistency of turf, soil, subsoil were hammered into our heads.At home I was used to plow the fields with horses in fall. Let the temperature changes of the cold winter and the thawing and refreezing, in spring do some of the leveling job. Then we took the big roller out and started to compact the soil.
Then in the practical part at the ag school, we learned differently. We were "invited" and the second WW had just been over a few years, to dig foxholes in a plowed field.( For me over 6 foot tall but a little less # that was a substantial hole). Now the foreman with a small farmall tractor went past our line of foxholes and we could see how, what we by plowing and the temperature changes had done so nicely to prepare a seedbed, was being destroyed by the roller compactation.
Not all rollers are bad and about at that time a concept came out of Sweden with a roller that had 4 inch wide fixed rollers and next to it a concentrically moving with starlike 3 inch disks. The concentric movement was also observed by us in the foxhole. The result was that the cracks from plowing several inches below the surface were reduced and little or no additional compactation could be seen.
But that is initial seeding, we are maintaining a finished seedbed called turf. We ride on it with tractors, fert. spreaders, garden trailers, Children playing.
If you want to level the soil, use less fertilizer topdress your turf. Topdressing is a great way to get read of your composted leaves your wife and children's horses manure piles. I know this really does not belong here really, in this forum but your turf and grass plants are dear to me.
The starlike aerator has the similar effect on the soil in that when the spike entries the turf the soil is very little removed but creates a sideward pressure and adds to the compactation also. Contrary, the plugger does two great things: removes pressure in and around the ground next to the roots and depending on the soil strata even below the roots
a tilling action without destroying the feel and look of the lawn the plugs create a seedbed for new seedlings.
Here is some equipment we use and a good write up for feeding your lawn naturally:
http://www.earthandturf.com/topdressinfo.htm
http://www.earthandturf.com/multispread.htm
sorry, you have to past the URLs yourself i ws not able to add them during my editing prosses
The Compactation Preacher