Introduction To Tractor Aerators and Lawn Aeration
First thing you need to do is to determine if your lawn needs aeration. One of the best ways to check is to dig up about a small area of grass about a shovel full and about 6 inches deep. If your grass roots are 2 inches or less your yard could really benefit from aeration. Lawns that are driven on a lot or have walking paths also does better with aeration.
So you determined that your lawn needs aeration the next thing you need to do is to prepare your lawn for aeration. It's a good idea to water the lawn for one to two days adding at least 1 inch of water to the grass. This helps the aerator penetrate the ground deeper to pull out longer soil coils which allows the grass seed to breath and grow.
Besure to research the grass seed you decide to use as some grass seed should be aerated during certain seasons. For example bluegrass & fescue work better during the cooler seasons.
Aerating Your Lawn
When aerating your lawn, try to aerate in a pattern that covers the area only once to prevent digging up to much of the lawn. For the most part there are 2 types of aerators. Spiked aerators which can sometimes do more harm than good as they can compact the ground even more. The other type of aerator is a core aerator also known as a lawn plugger which is one we highly recommend. The core aerator have hollowed out tines that pull soil cores out of the ground which gives the grass room to spread and grow. Below are a few examples of some of the best core aerators you can buy. View more Tractor Aerators here
Alternating Depth Lawn Plugger
The secrect to any plush green lawn is aeration. Aeration helps prevent compaction and helps allows grass roots to spread out in the soil. Core aerators have small tines that dig into the dirt and spits out small cores of soil. This allows the soil to decompress when filling in the holes and the grass seed and fertilizer to seep into the ground for the best results. 16 tines are installed per wheel, the tines will alternate between 2.5" and 4" to allow maximum penetration for awesome aeration, and shallow holes for grass seeds. The Everything Attachments lawn aerators have a 2" main axle with greasable wheels and outside bearings to greatly reduce wear on the axle.Learn More
3 point Hitch Lawn Aerator, Core Plugger
Because of weight being a big factor in tractor aerators the newly improved 3 Point Hitch Lawn Aerator (core plugger) has a hollowed out drum that has been filled and sealed with sand. You should avoid water filled drums that are prone to crack in cold tempetures. With the extra weight this tractor aerator can still pull out 3-4 inch dirt plugs in dry and harden lawns. It's also available in various sizes.Learn More
XTreme Duty Lawn Core Aerator
For smaller compact tractors there is the XTreme Duty Lawn Core Aerator. Each of the 6 wheels has 8 tines that can be easily replaced. This aerator is smaller version of the Alternating Depth Lawn Plugger.Learn More
