Kioti Core Aerator

[miltrade]

I have a four foot Kioti core aerator, three point hitch type, on reserve at a local dealer. I haven't paid for it or picked it up yet.

Does anyone have experience/knowledge of this particular type of core aerator? Is it sturdy enough for use with my John Deere 27 horsepower tractor, for twice yearly use over about two or three acres? I will, of course, only use it when conditions are damp enough. But it is Virginia clay and there are some rocks out there, nothing huge, but probably just smaller than a golf ball (the previous owner liked white-rock flower beds).

I just have this bad feeling that since I only paid $800 for it, vice the $2000 heavy duty models, it is going to bend and become useless after one use. I recently severely bent a landscape rake that I thought was a bargain. It is now a piece of junk after only three uses.

 

[weesa20]

I have a 60" Kioti core aerator that I run behind my GC2300 with no problem. It weighs around 350+ lbs I think and I put another 150-200 lbs on it for good penetration. It has held up well. I have mistakenly hit the sidewalk or driveway without any damage to it. I think (not positive) that it may be made by First Choice which makes some of their other equipment and is a quality manufacturer.

I actually wish I had gotten the 48" for my tractor but they were all sold out and I didn't want to wait any longer.

W

 

[kentrodngun]

Just so I won't continue to be ignorant guys, just what is a core aerator and what does it do?

 

[schmism]

think 8 or 12" pipe with a bunch of hollow fingers poking off the pipe.

as the fingers poke into the ground they grab a little core of dirt, as it rolls over the figer gets pulled out taking the core with it leaving a little finger sized hole in the ground.

great for getting air (aerator) to the roots and then applying fertizer or permerge/lime etc so that it penitrates to the roots well.

promotes good health green lawn

 

[schmism]

as for the Koti aerator... i thought you could fill some of them with water to increase the weight of them?

 

[Ductape]

I'll do my best to explain. There are a couple different types of aerators. Aerators are an implement that you would tow, or attach to your 3ph and "roll" over your lawn. Basically... they poke holes in your soil to allow nutrients into the dirt. A spike aerator just uses a solid spike to poke a small hole in the ground. A core aerator actually uses a "hollow" spike..... and as it rolls, the spike removes a plug from the soil, leaving a larger hole for water, fertilizer, and such to get into the soil. As each spike rolls and contacts the ground again, the spike pushes into the soil and as it does..... the "plug" (of soil the spike cut out of the ground) gets pushed out of the hollow spike. Hopefully i've described it in a way that lets you visualize how a core aerator works...... not sure my descriptions are all that good !

 

[Ductape]

I was beat to it !

 

[kentrodngun]

Schmism & Ductape, thanks for the 101 on core aerators. Pretty simple. I wonder how long they'd last aerating my 20+ acres of fields complete with rock land-mines ?

 

[Ductape]

Just a guess..... but i'd say about a minute and a half !

 

[weesa20]

Schism-

I use concrete patio blocks on my aerator for extra weight. The top of the frame is the perfect size for concrete blocks.

W