Core Aerator

[AMR]

Well I have been so happy not bagging with my B3030 that I think I am going to cancel the now on order bagger. My concern is thatch build up. I am thinking of a core aerator.

Does anyone run one? Couple questions. I have a lot of stones/rocks in and near the surface of my lawn, it is CT afterall, what happens when I run over these? What do I do with the cores, I will be aerating about 100,000 SF, I don't want to get into picking these things up? Any general thoughts?

 

[jeffinsgf]

I have one, and use it 4 or 5 times a season.

Don't pick up the cores. Part of the process, particularly when looking to control thatch, is to let the soil microbes in the plugs go to work on the thatch layer. That said, I have been known to pick them up 1 of 3 or 1 of 4 times that I aerate. I have a lawn sweeper that gets about 80% of the plugs in one pass. It fills up quick, but dumps easily. The plugs make great material to patch low spots or fill in washed areas.

If you have cool season grass (and I am guessing you do) aerate in the early spring and mid to late fall. Avoid mid-summer. You want to aerate when the grass is at maximum growth rate. Warm season grasses (zoysia in my case) should be aerated in late spring, early summer and/or late summer, but not early spring or late fall.

My aerator is a 42" 3 point hitch Turfco. Turfco has discontinued the 42, and now only sells a 60" hitch mount and a wide variety of self-powered units. I think too many guys were figuring out that if you put a 42 on a good heavy garden tractor, you don't need a walk-behind at all. To the pros, they try and sell a tow or 3-point for large areas, and a walk-behind for cutting in close to the house and shrubs. With a smaller unit, you might spend slightly more time on the large areas, but you don't need two rigs.

The outfit linked below has what appears to me to be the best deal going right now. Their 3-point rigs are available in what I consider the right sizes and their pricing is great. The web site says its for a "moving sale", but it has been going on for months now.

http://www.turf-aire.com/index.html

 

[lawn_king]

This is my B3030 with a woods pl60 core aerator, its a sweet match for the 3030 & built like a battleship!

 

[cp1969]

To answer your question, little pieces of gravel invariably find their way into the tines and plug them. You will get to remove them with a hammer and a rod, screwdriver, or whatever you have on hand. Once the rock is in there, they quit making cores. If you run over a rock that is too big to fit inside the tines, you will know it. A very loud clunk occurs.

 

[AceDeuce]

I just picked up an aerator this season but I had to wait for rain to use it. The ground was as hard as rock from 34 days with no measureable rainfall. My dealer said even the biggest units he sells/rents were not getting more than .5"-.75" penetration in the dry soil. Then people tend to put too much weight on it and something usually breaks. So recommendation #1 would be to wait until the soil is damp (not wet) to aerate. Recommendation #2 would be to make sure the spoons are heat treated. They will last a lot longer, especially if they encounter rocks. A screwdriver and a mallet will take care of any small rocks that get stuck in the spoons. My last recommendation is to go slow in straight lines and be sure to lift the unit up before making any kind of turn or change in direction. You can rack the aerator or bend your 3PH fairly easily, especially if you have a lot of weight on it. BTW, I use two 33 gallon trash cans filled with water for ballast. That gives me about 500lbs plus the weight of the aerator itself.

 

[Blagadan]

For 100,000 sq ft, you could do with having a larger aerator but I'll offer my 2c anyway.
I have about 45,000 sq ft of rock/clay soil. I bought a 48" agrifab tow along aerator a couple of years ago to deal with heavy compaction.

It has made a huge difference to my lawn. I use my aerator twice a year, once in spring and again in autumn. As was said above, The soil has to be damp, otherwise you are just wasting your time. Usually about 2 days after a good heavy rainfall is perfect. Too dry, you dont get penetration, too wet and the whole place gets destroyed with mud cakes. I usually put about 100-150lb of sandbag weights on my aerator to get best core depth and usually make about 4 passes in various directions. The lawn WILL look horrible afterwards but that only lasts a couple of weeks. You could sweep up the cores but I dont think its needed. I add sand to my lawn after coring to try to loosen up the structure of my soil and it is making a difference. I expect this is a long term project and will just be an ongoing ammendment for my soil.
As for hitting a rock with the aerator, You do feel it. I haven't bent a tine yet but I have hit plenty of rocks, My aerator simply rides up over the rock and back down again. I havent had a problem with the tines getting blocked with small stones?

For thatch I have a tow along 4ft rake dethatcher. I used to use it regularly before I started core aerating but have not used it in years. Perhaps the aerating is keeping control of the thatch, I never gave it much thought until now...

For my 50,000 sq ft area, with 4 passes, using a 4ft core aerator, it takes about 4-5 hours in the seat...

 

[AMR]

Thank you all for these helpful thoughts. I am sold, I am going to cancel the bagger that I have on order and order up an aerator.

 

[8561]

Blagadan -

I was so glad to see your post. I too have been considering an aerator for a while, but just didn't want to spend for the Woods or similar (they are great looking units though). I picked up one just like in your photo that looks brand new on craigslist for $100. I'm glad to hear you've gotten good results with it.

 

[Harry c]

A few weeks ago I bought one at Northern Tool that is identical to the Agri-fab except the tines are painted instead of galvanized. The A-f was $179 at Lowes, the Northern Tool version was $129. With a little welding, I converted it to a 3 pt mount. I use it on a BX24. The plastic bearings probably wouldn't last if I pulled it several miles a day in a large commercial or farm application but it works great in the yard. The 3 pt conversion was an easy mod with a great payback in performance and ease of use. Sears sells a 3 pt version for about $289 (same aerator tines etc) but didn't have it in stock. As usual I couldn't wait. Saving $160 didn't hurt either!

 

[Volfandt]

I just jumped on the plug aerator bandwagon this fall and am hopeing 2 or 3 times a yr will have me singing it's praises too
Got it on sale at Sears and and it is made by Agi Fab. Gave my ole 1966 Wheel Horse 856 another job job to do and it handles it very well.