Bought a core aerator

[NoTrespassing]

Mainly because of the ease of shipping, my local dealer carries Woods equipment, I plunked down the big bucks for a Woods/Gill core aerator.(5ft.)

I'm using the aerator on our pastures. The clay soil we have here in Vermillion county Illinois is some tough stuff. I sure wish I had some topsoil like they do a few miles west of me but then I wouldn't have the wooded land either, just corn and beans.

I'm using this aerator on my L3710 Kubota, it claims to be able to lift a max. of 2310 lbs. 24 inches behind the lift points. The aerator itself weighs 440 lbs. and I have put 800 lbs. of sand on it. In fairly moist soil conditions I'm still only getting about 1 1/2" of penetration.

I feel like I'm pushing the limit of my tractor with this amount of weight. According to the manual the heaviest implement I see listed that would be lifted with the 3 point is a rotary cutter at 880 lbs. That weight would be a lot farther back than my aerator though.

The aerator is rated to hold up to 1000 lbs. which I would like to try to see if I can get a litte more penetration. On the other hand I don't want to damage the tractor. It pulls it just fine in medium (hst) but I think the most danger is hauling it around lifted. I've been driving fairly slowly with 1240 lbs. up in the air. The tractor really knows it when you lift it up.

Any opinions?


This soil hasn't been tilled in years and was a hay field about 2 yrs. ago.

Kevin

 

[KiotiJohn]

It really seems to me that it should be disked up or tilled a bit now rather than simply cored and that later after it has been compacted some, use the aerator. However, I may be wrong about that and coring may be all you need.
That said, I wouldn't worry about adding some more weight, but I'd only lift it just enough off the ground to move from one spot to another. There's no real need to raise it to full height is there? If you go slow, and just keep it a bit off the ground, you should be good to go. Possibly you'll need just a bit more weight on the front with the added aerator weights, but if you're keeping the loader on, just add some concrete blocks or a bucket full of heavy dirt. I doubt you'll do any damage this way unless you simply exceed the lift cap. but you'll know that in time not to do any damage. At the worst, you'll probably just have to run in low range instead of med.
John

 

[Bowhunter]

Do you have a FEL attached or other counterweight? I'd add counterweight on the front to keep the front wheels firmly planted then add weight to the aerator up to Woods' recommendations.

 

[JackIL]

Kevin,

Core Aerators work best when the soil is moist at least to the depth of the spoons. An aerator designer and manufacturer told me that the optimum time to aerate was while it was raining. That surprised me at first but in thinking about it carefully it seems to make sense. Having enough weight per foot of working width is also important, but if the soil is hard and tight, the best thing seems to be to wait until it is softened by water.

JackIL

 

[NoTrespassing]

<font color="blue">It really seems to me that it should be disked up or tilled a bit now rather than simply cored and that later after it has been compacted some, use the aerator. </font>

Well, I thought about doing that but I've really got a pretty good stand of grass growing already and I'm not going to start over at this point.

As far as adding weight to the front, I'm running with the loader on and the front isn't light so no problem there.

I guess I'll wait for rain early next week, put another 200 lbs. on and give it another shot.

I don't feel like I'm doing much good unless I get about 2-2 1/2" penetration.

Kevin

 

[oliver28472]

You would probably be better off doing this in the fall, and as another poster said, when the ground is moist. I've heard that spring aerating does more damage than good.

 

[ducati996]

Your machine is considerably larger than mine as well as the core aerator but I will give you some of my results using a 48" aerator (midwest co). I feel you shouldnt have to put that much weight on your aerator in order for it to core into the soil. I use at most 200 lbs and it sinks into the ground correctly at the correct depth. I also played around with the aerator when the ground was dry as a bone. No amount of weight would have helped get the cores into the ground. You dont want to start bending your cores either with too much weight. The key is to work with moist soil but not the muddy mess type...after it rains and the water just evaporates would be a great time....you want that "goose dropping" effect from each core plug - you will know exactly what I mean once you see it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif it really looks like that when its done correctly !! LOL

I think you have more than enough weight on it, maybe too much already. You just have to catch the soil at the best time. I do it 3 times a year (spring, summer, fall)

wish you success in anycase !!

Ducati