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the recent lawn thread made me realize that I could get a tow-behind aerator for my lawn tractor. Previous owner had a third of the rear lawn topsoil removed because he was an person. We've had a significant amount of that replaced, because when the topsoil was removed, they sloped the lawn towards the rear door. I suppose I should get someone to come in and replace the rest of the bad dirt, but in the interim, I'm thinking aerating and working compost in would help a lot.
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I have one, and use it twice a year. This is a plug cutter type, and fits the 3 point hitch of a compact tractor. I think aerating helps with quite a few things: it helps decompose thatch, obviously provides O2 to the grass, and does relieve compaction somewhat. It may be wishful thinking on my part, but it seems to help with water absorbtion when it rains. There are probably others, but the first three are why I got mine (used). At our last house I rented those Bluebird walk behinds (beware, it's more like a RUN behind). They worked fairly well, but not as well as the tractor mount model.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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For as often as you'd use it, it's probably cheaper to rent one instead. Unless you find one on Craigslist or something like that.
I would never buy one for my own use.
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and you can even get your exercise for the day
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This is a woodworking forum. You should be able to take some 3/4" plywood & about 50 nails and make a pair.
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I have one that tows behind my mower. I had 4 concrete blocks on it and it didn't do much in my dry clay soil. If the clay is wet enough that it would actually cut plugs then I'd tear the lawn up riding over it. I also discovered the tires aren't really holding air and need to be replaced. I think rather than spend any money on it I'm just going to rent one once or twice a year.
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I have one and use it 2 times a year. I find it really helps with over seeding. It is the plug style, I don't use cinderblocks on it as they are not really that heavy and make a bunch of noise. I find that 3-4 bag of fertilizer/lime on top make a much better weight.
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According to the guy that taught the lawn class I took (He used to have a lawn care radio show in this area) it is critical that one use a plug aerator. If one uses spikes that is actually compressing the soil and making things worse. He said the soil cores need to be pulled out and dropped on top of the soil, anything else is making it worse.
He proved it this way: when they want to compact soil at a building site for a house, big building or a road, what do they do? They use a roller that has spikes on it to form localized areas of high pressure. Those localized high pressure areas compact the soil.
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Curlycherry said:
According to the guy that taught the lawn class I took (He used to have a lawn care radio show in this area) it is critical that one use a plug aerator. If one uses spikes that is actually compressing the soil and making things worse. He said the soil cores need to be pulled out and dropped on top of the soil, anything else is making it worse.
He proved it this way: when they want to compact soil at a building site for a house, big building or a road, what do they do? They use a roller that has spikes on it to form localized areas of high pressure. Those localized high pressure areas compact the soil.
Correct however with one exception. Aerator type depends on soil. Clay based needs a core aerator but sandy soils require a spike aerator as you can't pull plugs of sand out.
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Robert Adams said:
[blockquote]Curlycherry said:
According to the guy that taught the lawn class I took (He used to have a lawn care radio show in this area) it is critical that one use a plug aerator. If one uses spikes that is actually compressing the soil and making things worse. He said the soil cores need to be pulled out and dropped on top of the soil, anything else is making it worse.
He proved it this way: when they want to compact soil at a building site for a house, big building or a road, what do they do? They use a roller that has spikes on it to form localized areas of high pressure. Those localized high pressure areas compact the soil.
Correct however with one exception. Aerator type depends on soil. Clay based needs a core aerator but sandy soils require a spike aerator as you can't pull plugs of sand out.
[/blockquote]
That's true. Around here we have clay and topsoil. In the few places the sand does come to the surface (glacial deposits) they cover it with a foot or so of clay/topsoil mix so it will hold water better.
