Ideas for Aerator Weight

Benefits of Aeration

• The primary goal of aeration is to allow moisture-borne nutrients to more easily enter the soil, where they can be absorbed. When water travels deeper into the soil, it encourages roots to burrow deeper. Grass also benefits from the relieved tightness of the soil; roots can grow more easily. Runoff is substantially reduced, saving the expense of wasted water from sprinkler systems.

Why Add Weight

• The most common size of tine is 3 inches long by three-eighths of an inch in diameter. Adding weight is normally necessitated by extremely heavy, clay-based soil. If the tines are unable to penetrate the soil to full depth -- for instance, if 3-inch tines yield only 1-inch cores -- more weight is required. Without extra weight, the effectiveness of the process is markedly reduced.

Modified Tillers

• Motorized tillers tend to be intentionally heavy in design -- they have an on-board engine and are manufactured from sturdy materials -- so that the tiller blades will perforate and turn over the soil; they therefore work well as aerators. The makers of Aeroller, one such tiller/aerator modification attachment, note that, “The rollers are made of solid cast iron so they add about 40 pounds to the tiller to achieve deeper aeration in heavy clay soil.” Although adapted tillers nonetheless weigh less than tow-behind units, they also have fewer tines; the result is that the weight-per-tine ratio is comparable. If such a setup does not produce good, deep, uniform plugs, there is no safe way to add additional weight.

Tow-Behind Aerators

• Manufacturers typically give a minimum horsepower rating for the lawn-care machine that must be used to tow their products.

  Some units have a tray designed specifically for adding weight. This tray is intended to be filled with concrete blocks or paving slabs. Try a medium amount of weight first -- three concrete clocks is a good place to start, although five is not an unusual load -- to see if the added “punch” has been realized. Add more as necessary up to the maximum weight loading advised in the operator’s manual.

  Water-fillable tow-behinds are available in two styles: a metal type in which the tines are welded directly to the drum, and a type with a plastic drum and a separate aeration roller. Both work in the same way, but the latter tends to be less costly. For less resistant soils, the machines can be used with little or no water on board; water volume -- and therefore weight -- is increased for heavier soils.

Considerations

• An aerator will penetrate wet clay-based soil more readily than dry; your machine will probably behave differently in altered conditions. Soft, moist soil that has not become muddy is ideal, and one day after a heavy rain is recommended by the staff at Aeroller. Learn the best weight-loading for the various situations you encounter, and note them down in the operator’s manual for reference.

  Dropping the level of the aerator’s tongue reduces the angle at which the weight shelf is pitched; if the blocks or pavers incessantly teeter or fall off, purchase an adapter hitch that will lower the aerator’s tongue. The reduced angle should solve the problem.