Aerator and Dethatch - finally made a move

c-and-a · Apr 26, 2007

I will get some closer pics of the spoons this weekend - and yes the bottom is a closed tube that widens and opens to a half-tube a the top - so yes, the 2nd plug forces the first out of the spoon.

While the ground absolutely must be moist - ground speed also impacts depth and performance. Without appropriate ground speed, it rides on top of the turf... I played around with speed, more than a crawl, but nothing too agressive.

I bought direct from Leinbach - the price I stated was for the 4' - comes in 5' and 6' - too big for my needs... shipping to my house was ~$150...on top of the $595...

Call Tonia @ (336) 924-4115 she is very helpful

Scott_F · May 5, 2007

Curt,
I just picked up a Leinbach aerator like yours yesterday and I'm initially dissapointed in it. I'm hoping it's just that my lawn is not wet enough. It just rode on top of the soil and didn't penetrate at all. We had a little rain here this week, but I guess I need to wait until after a good soaking rain? I was also surprised that the tines (core pullers?) are not sharp at all. Other aerators I've seen (albeit cheap ones) are fairly sharp where they poke into the soil.

Chance of rain here tonight. Hopefully, I'll have better aerating conditions tomorrow.

Regards,
Scott

c-and-a · May 5, 2007

I have some very packed areas in my yard - not to mention by 2350 has been packing it down too for a while.

I aerated after about 1" of rain. I filled the cylinder 3/4 full - as totally full I was popping the front end of the ground...

I did learn that not only is the cylinder weight important, but also ground speed. I was not "speeding", but was moving along at a pretty good pace.

I have rented walk-behinds and hired others to aerate - the spoons on the those machines were not sharp, but were designed differently, more open-ended.

Once i figured out the weight (and I am working on a front weight addition so I can fill the cylinder full) and the ground speed, I was leaving plugs all over my lawn as I would expect.

Tell me more, I am very interested - how full did you fill the cylinder? Did you vary speeds at all? Like I said, 1" of rain may be the difference, but let me know...

I am sorry to hear this as I was very pleased with my unit - thus the positive post...

Curt

Scott_F · May 5, 2007

Curt - I filled the cylinder all the way (had the loader on so balance wasn't a problem). I didn't try many speeds other that slow and slower. Maybe I need to go faster. The good news is we've had about an inch of rain today, so hopefully it will work better tomorrow.

Thanks for your input.

Scott

jerkyboy · Sep 22, 2009

Did you ever get pics of the dethatcher in action and how satisfied are you with its performance?

c-and-a said:
I will try to get some pics of the ground this weekend - cored last Monday.

Yes, it is a core aerator - weighs about 250# dry, guessing ~350-400 with water...did a good job in my opinion, I have rented walk-behinds and hired other people to do it - comparable job.

I will be able to get some shots of the dethatch - plan to do that work next weekend when I put the MMM and bagger back on for the season - too much FEL work left to do this week(end)...

Will post more pics when I get them...

aerator is Leinbach - $595 + shipping
Dethatch is JRCo - this is the HD version 5' with 3" wheels - $625

JRCo site is pretty good - pics and videos - I may be a looking at the leaf rake in the fall - mounts to the same front brackets...