Will,
Best I could find on name brand rental last spring was $125/day, wasn't worth it...but I borrowed an Agrifab from a friend. It didn't break, thankfully, although the lever had to be tied in position /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif, and I was able to load it up enough to pull out 2-3" cores from the clay, right after some rain had softened things up. It rained some more after the overseeding and I could see the benefit of the aerating. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
That experience led me to believe a sturdy version for $200 less than FC could be a reasonable compromise, if one could be found, considering that $$ are tight this year. (again, I'm not disagreeing with you and Hazmat, if the $$ were no obstacle this would be a no-brainer).
Thanks for your comments.
Jim