Aerator designs American versus European designs

[radios1]

Here's a Leinbach design from several years ago..........

I use it on my 3 acre place for over seeding/aeration. Some critics prefer the plugger type aerator saying that the spiker type compacts the soil. I like this one since it has little maintenance.

It weighs 285 lbs empty and 670 lbs when filled with water.

Cheers,
Mike

the spiker type DOES compact the soil. where does the soil go except for being compacted around the spike holes??. with the plugger, the soil is removed at each hole, so there is no compaction!..

 

[John0829]

Here's a Leinbach design from several years ago..........

I use it on my 3 acre place for over seeding/aeration. Some critics prefer the plugger type aerator saying that the spiker type compacts the soil. I like this one since it has little maintenance.

It weighs 285 lbs empty and 670 lbs when filled with water.

Cheers,
Mike

I have a small spiker that I pull behind a lawn tractor and I can asure you mine DOES NOT compact the soil, in fact if I go over an area to many times it will begin to look like a harrow has been pulled across it. Next time I use it, which is rarely anymore, I will take some pics to prove it. Fact is my soil, clay, is so hard a plugger could/would NEVER penetrate.

 

[radios1]

I have a small spiker that I pull behind a lawn tractor and I can asure you mine DOES NOT compact the soil, in fact if I go over an area to many times it will begin to look like a harrow has been pulled across it. Next time I use it, which is rarely anymore, I will take some pics to prove it. Fact is my soil, clay, is so hard a plugger could/would NEVER penetrate.

I assure you, the soil where the spikes penetrate DOES get compacted the soil gets displaced, and compacted around where the spikes penetrated!.. unless you employ TRUE magic!!..

 

[kthompson]

Darryle, if you used a straight shank subsoiler over the curved shank subsoiler might solve your issue. Straight shank does not upset the soil the same. I have one and it leaves a slight uplift. You probably could have a straight shank made to use the frame you now have.

 

[John0829]

I assure you, the soil where the spikes penetrate DOES get compacted the soil gets displaced, and compacted around where the spikes penetrated!.. unless you employ TRUE magic!!..

Like so many things in this world this will just have to have be a difference of opinion on this for I KNOW what I see and think the soil is like after the aerator has been over it.

 

[kthompson]

Darryle, that Lawson aerator is something special. With their spikes designed and welding on to cross cut and not in line like those on the Leinbach looks to tear up or loosen soil as it sort of flips it. Amazing it is heavy enough to cut brush as it does. Wonder how well it is really cutting it. Sure would be safer than a rough-cut mower. Even though I retired from farming last fall will be checking on one of Lawson's for our hay land.

Before I watched the Lawson video would have agree a spike or such aerator has to pack the soil, they seem to have a design that does loosen the soil. It sort of remains me of flipping a pancake with a spatula.

I went to flat planting of row crops last few years and heavy quick rains did not soak in as their ad on youtube video mentions. I have no doubt they are correct there. Moved all our crop land to bermuda for hay over the last four years and had last few acres sprigged late June. The land was rolled to pack the roots on the sprigs and we had a heavy rain and then more rain the following few days. The ground is hard enough there was NO rain marking across the ground. Made me wonder how little rain was absorbed.

The first guy who did sprigging for me had a very fine roller he bought out of Oklahoma. He was a oil well pipe maybe 20 inches or little larger. Might be a source for drum for your aerator.

From my farming days a chisel plow and subsoiler don't do the same job. Maybe the chisel plows used else where are different but all I ever seen here are only used at most 10 inches deep and normally 6 to 8 inches. Subsoiler here is normally run about twice that deep and they will cut tree roots a chisel plow here will leave alone. The vertical shank subsoiler I have and used have front edge on the shank that would cut through a root leaving the ground reasonable smooth where a chisel plow would at best rip it out the ground and the bigger roots trip up over them. Here chisel plows are used to shatter the top few inches of soil, subsoilers are run deeper to open up the hardpan and leaves ground disturbed very little.

 

[Darryle]

Darryle, if you used a straight shank subsoiler over the curved shank subsoiler might solve your issue. Straight shank does not upset the soil the same. I have one and it leaves a slight uplift. You probably could have a straight shank made to use the frame you now have.

I have a straight shank, it's to the right of the tractor in this picture, it is horribly disturbing, actually worse than the parabolic ripper. I had a Rome 5 shank parabolic that I used when we raised peanuts. I prefer the parabolic style since they have a tendency to pull deeper, although they are also harder to pull than the straight shank.

The problem is that this is black land soil and it is tight and tough, hasn't been worked in more than 30yrs, so either style severely upsets the soil.

My goal is to subsoil every few years and aerate every fall and spring, possibly summer if we have an extended drought, especially if the forecast calls for rain. The spring and fall aerating are solely for helping wildflower overseeding for the honey bees.

Good thing is, if the blade style doesn't work well for me, I can always buy 5" wide AR plate and cut and weld them parallel to the centerline of the other tank. My fear is that that style takes more horsepower to pull and I don't know that my little tractor will handle it.