Aerating Preferences

[wbkuhler]

I don't have any experience with aerators so I am looking for some advice.

I am new to the biz and was wondering if you guys prefer spike aerators or core plug aerators and what benefits and drawbacks each has?

Trying to make a purchasing decision and could use some advice. From some people who know about these things.

Thanks for any help!

[KirbysLawn]

Core all the way. Spike "aerators" do no such thing, they only press the dirt further into the ground.

[grshppr]

Definately you want a core aerator. It is much better for the lawn than punching holes down into the ground. We use a Ryan, its a great machine.

[dklawncare]

could someone please tell me the price ranges of core aerators? Also, what is the average hourly rate that they bring (how much do you charge per hour of aeration?). Thanks

[Premo Services]

could someone please tell me the price ranges of core aerators? Also, what is the average hourly rate that they bring (how much do you charge per hour of aeration?). Thanks

There are different brands, but price ranges from 2500.00-3500.00. This would be for a core aerator. They come in 26,28,30 inch widths.

For the last two seasons I have used a lesco split drive aerator(cost 3500.00). I can average around 100.00-150.00 per hour, sometimes more than that. The jobs are bid by the square footage of lawn to be aerated. Some just aeration, some get seeding and starter fertilizer. And yes these machines will beat you up really good. I have rented a small bluebird(26inch width) and it was a waste of time, it could not hardly make a plug, just bounced all over the place. I am interested in the plugger, there are some on this site that have them and they say they do a good job, and are a lot less tiring to operate.

[65hoss]

You would probably be better off to try to line up some jobs first, then rent a machine for a while. At this point you have no experience with aerating, seeding, etc. One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking all I need is an aerator and just run all over a lawn. That is it. But what I know now, compared to what I knew back then is much different. Especially when your talking about seeding.

If you try to sell aerating and seeding to customers you really need to know about soil conditions, organic matter, nitrogen, ph, etc to really do a good job. So I would suggest before you spend big dollars for a new aerator you rent one for a while until you can get some hands on, real world experience. Things are not always like what the book said.

Just my thoughts...

[rodfather]

Originally posted by 65hoss
You would probably be better off to try to line up some jobs first, then rent a machine for a while. At this point you have no experience with aerating, seeding, etc. One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking all I need is an aerator and just run all over a lawn. That is it. But what I know now, compared to what I knew back then is much different. Especially when your talking about seeding.

If you try to sell aerating and seeding to customers you really need to know about soil conditions, organic matter, nitrogen, ph, etc to really do a good job. So I would suggest before you spend big dollars for a new aerator you rent one for a while until you can get some hands on, real world experience. Things are not always like what the book said.

Just my thoughts...


Very good points. One thing I would add is that it isn't easy work!

[wbkuhler]

Thanks for the tips fellas.

Coming from a farming background a thought the core plug was the way to go considering compaction but did not know if there may be some different rules that might apply to lawncare that I needed to consider.

Thanks again for the advice!:):)

[Lombardi]

Due to our drought last year I renovated a lot of lawns last fall which included core aeration. The ones the guys mention earlier are by far the best, but very expensive. I bought a pull behind core aerator from HD for around $165.00. It has pneumatic tires and is designed to hold several concrete blocks or sand bags for weight. I pull it behind my Polaris Quad. I had very good results with it. As with any core aerator the soil has to be slightly damp to pull up good cores.
This is just an idea to save some money at first. If I did more than 30 aeration jobs a year I would probably invest in a Ryan or Lesco.

[garyslawn]

I started off renting an aerator. Rent was $40.00 a day and I would do 8 to 10, 1/2 acre lawns before I went to a second shift job. I charged $90.00. (20years ago) I put out flyers in better neighborhoods. Any golfer knows about aeration and wants his lawn done. Chemlawn and the likes, would not aerate unless the get the fertilization. It was great, one neighbor would see you and before you knew it you did the whole neighborhood.:D

[brucec32]

Originally posted by garyslawn
I started off renting an aerator. Rent was $40.00 a day and I would do 8 to 10, 1/2 acre lawns before I went to a second shift job. I charged $90.00. (20years ago) I put out flyers in better neighborhoods. Any golfer knows about aeration and wants his lawn done. Chemlawn and the likes, would not aerate unless the get the fertilization. It was great, one neighbor would see you and before you knew it you did the whole neighborhood.:D

Whose lawns were you aerating? Your family's? You're claiming you aerated 10 1/2 acre lawns for $90 each 20 years ago in a day with a rental walk behind aerator, then went to your 2nd job? I happen to own a Ryan Aerator. Maybe I have it running at 1/3 speed or something?

I smell something when I read posts like this, and have to check my shoe. That rate would be about $180 a lawn today adjusted for inflation. Aeration pays well, but $1800 a day? And $180 for a small residential lot?

I would ask posters to please think twice and lay off the BS claims when answering people's questions. Claims like this make it look like you're either trying to sandbag and sabotage new guys (by having them run out asking ridiculously high prices) in the biz or you're drunk. People ask questions here to get factual information, not crazy boasts.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by brucec32
Whose lawns were you aerating? Your family's? You're claiming you aerated 10 1/2 acre lawns for $90 each 20 years ago in a day with a rental walk behind aerator, then went to your 2nd job? I happen to own a Ryan Aerator. Maybe I have it running at 1/3 speed or something?

I smell something when I read posts like this, and have to check my shoe. That rate would be about $180 a lawn today adjusted for inflation. Aeration pays well, but $1800 a day? And $180 for a small residential lot?

I would ask posters to please think twice and lay off the BS claims when answering people's questions. Claims like this make it look like you're either trying to sandbag and sabotage new guys (by having them run out asking ridiculously high prices) in the biz or you're drunk. People ask questions here to get factual information, not crazy boasts.

I dont' see at all where you are getting this attitude?
1/2 acre is a SMALL city lot? Not around here.
How much are you charging for a 1/2 acre? I woudn't do it for much less than that.
Now the doing 10 of them and then going to another job? Whew, he's tougher than me.

[garyslawn]

Bruce: Check your shoes. I can do 1/2 acre in 1 hour with a Lawnaire 4. Pick up the pace and you too can make $$$$$

[garyslawn]

Mike. I did not do it every day only when I accumulated 8 or more
As I said back then you could not find anyone to aerate and
I did say better neighborhoods. I did not keep up with
inflation as Bruce has. I only get $135.00 for them today.

[brucec32]

Read carefully. Doing 8-10 lawns a day is tough, but not impossible. I also know that the quality of the job varies widely. Years ago, I worked for a guy who make a few passes with wide gaps in lawns and considered it a job well done. As long as people saw turds in the lawn, they probably wouldn't pick up on it. To actually put enough holes in the lawn to do anything you need to overlap passes a little, at the very least.

But unless you've cornered the market on aeration in Manhattan or downtown Toyko, I don't believe anyone is consistently paying anyone $180 or even $135 for 45 minutes' work. Maybe if you only do 8 a year with a rented machine, you can find 8 suckers, but typical roll type aeration is even less skilled work than mowing, and I have seen offers here for $50 aeration jobs up to 3/4 acre, which is low, but it goes to show how crazy that price is. It does pay better than mowing, but that's because it's not scheduled work and it's tougher on man and machine.

My point is, you can't have it both ways. Yes, you can do 10 small lawns in a day. And yes, you can get $180 (in today's dollars) for an aeration job. But you can't get that big a price for that small of a lawn, unless you have some really gullible customers. But to tell guys to run out to buy walk behind aerators and make $1800 a day is to mislead them. I use both tow and walk aerators to maximize productivity, and I'm not sure even a high speed tow system can produce like that on small lawns.

And garyslawn, the Ryanaire IV's THEORETICAL aerating rate is only 21,000 ft/hour. Check their website, tt moves at about 2.5 mph, for heaven's sake! And we all know how realistic theoretical mowing rates are (no turns, no stops, no refueling, no slopes, no obstacles) . ON anything but flat rectangles, expect half the theoretically rate, due to loss of aerating width from the machine tilting, turns, and other maneuvers. 1/2 acre of lawn is a little more than its theoretical performance for an hour. . And if it's only 10,000 ft of actual lawn, you could do it in 45 minutes. but then you'd not going to get your $135 for it unless again, you have really gullible customers.

[Alan Bechard]

Well, I am not arguing any of the points, but here is what we do.

We have 2 pull behind type core pluggers from Lowes, probably Agrifab or something. My wife charges 2 to 3 times the mowing price, because she passes over two to three times what she would when mowing. We only do it when the soil is very wet or it is not very effective.

I have went in on mine and reinforced the hitches and boxes for the weights.

I also took and made concrete filler blocks for them for more weight. I took walmart bags and set them in the tray, then I poured the bags with concrete, and set in a handle that I bent up out of steel, I think there are about 6 in the big one. Anyway, when it hardens peel of the bags and spray paint #s or different colors on the blocks and the back of the aerator so that you get the blocks in, in the same order.

As a side note, I got both of mine cheaply by continuing to look in the corners for returns and damaged merchandise. I think one was assembled backwars and would not work, the other I think someone just used Lowe's as a rental yard. I bet I picked them both up for about $25 each.

Not saying they give a job anywhere on par with the powered units, but within their limits, and accurately portray to your customers what they will do, they have made us money every year.

Al B

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by Alan Bechard
but within their limits, and accurately portray to your customers what they will do, they have made us money every year.

Al B

Huh? The pull behind units that require blocks or weight are totall useless in my opinion, the only thing they will portray is how high they will bounce off the ground. lol

[gogetter]

Alan wrote: "We only do it when the soil is very wet or it is not very effective."

Not taking any sides Ray, but just thought you might have missed that part of his post.


Premo, your saying the Lesco split drive units beat you up? I thought I had read that they weren't as bad as say the Ryan or Bluebird types. Isn't the Lesco the same as the Classen split drive?
I thought these were supposed to be easier to use, or is that just easier to turn?

I ask because my local Home Depot rents the Classens and I was firguring on going with that when the occassion arises.

I sure would like to demo the Plugr (sp?) and the new Billy Goat model.

[strickdad]

bruce, i dont know if this will help or not but we charge 12.00 per k for this service.( $60.00 min.) for the 1st 10,000 sq.ft. 11per k for the next 10,000 sq.ft. 10.00 for the next and 9.00 the next. a half acre ( say 23,000 even) runs $260.00 .we dont have any problem at all getting this..

[KirbysLawn]

I did miss that and stand corrected.

[Andrew S]

Apart from the brands already mentioned are there any other core aerators that you guys would reccommend.

[Awilkinson]

Just thought I would add this site to look at www.z-spray.com

IF you are into aeration, this might be worth looking into. Price tag is 6K but looks well worth the investment!:angel:

[Premo Services]

Originally posted by gogetter



Premo, your saying the Lesco split drive units beat you up? I thought I had read that they weren't as bad as say the Ryan or Bluebird types. Isn't the Lesco the same as the Classen split drive?
I thought these were supposed to be easier to use, or is that just easier to turn?

I ask because my local Home Depot rents the Classens and I was firguring on going with that when the occassion arises.

I sure would like to demo the Plugr (sp?) and the new Billy Goat model.

Oh yes, the split drive units will beat you pretty good if the ground id dry. They do help a lot when turning though, making it a lot easier. I have used the same unit form lesco, without the sp-lit drive and was wasted after a nice long say.With the split drive, I was just not as wasted after the long day. I would definetley rent the classen.

[garyslawn]

Bruce: Now you have got it. You are only aerating a max of 12,000sq ft. And yes it is alot of money but they cannot find any one to do it and they know it is a speclised service. I want to make money and I never make more $ then when we go out with areators. When I started I made one pass and to this day we only make one pass except in bare areas where we will seed. I do them once a year. And if it makes you feel better I try to do it when no one is home. I dug through my files and found Leasure Lawns (Chemlawn in my area) price sheet (My buddie got it for me) from 1990. They charged $111.00 for 12000sq ft. (1990) Maybe you should think your work is worth more and raise your prices. Respectfuly; Gary

[garyslawn]

Bruce; I am spending too much time thinking about you. Good example of Specialized Service. My wifes Grandfather Clock quit running. I called the clock shop.(6 miles away) Said he was booked for 3 weeks. When he came out the charge was $95.00 to show up, $30.00 to service it. (He said all it needed was oiled.)
He spent 35 minutes of which most was talking to my wife. $125.00 = 35 min. Better than I make. (How about an air con. repair man?)

[BigDave]

Lombardi said he bought a tow-behind core aerator at HD for under $200. That intrigued me, so I did a bit of research. It seems that HD sells Brinly units now, but sold Agri-Fab in the past. Lombardi - which one do you have?

Does anyone know how the Brinly and Agri-Fab units compare with each other? Are there any other makers in that price range?

I actually didn't know a core aerator could be had at that price. If it does the job, even if I have to soak the ground, that will beat renting for me.

Thanks.

[cantoo]

Bigdave, I did the same thing as Alan I bought a returned unit from Home Depot. I mounted it to the front of my Walker it worked alright but not good enough for me. The lawn wasn't wet enough to do a good job but the customer was happy with it. At least the soil was kind of sandy so it loosened things up then the customer hand spread seed on it then drove around with his mower dragging a piece of chain link fence. I only did the one job with it then I bought this one at a sale for about Can$125 it needs a couple of spoons replaced. The Kubota blower in the pic was $175 I think.

[Lombardi]

Big Dave,
I have the Brinly aerator. Model PA-402 BH. $169.00 at HD. This worked very good for me. It did not bounce around as some people here have said. You have to weigh the tray down with concrete blocks. They are not as maneuverable as the walk behinds but it did just as good a job. I rented a Blue bird for a small job and the Brinly actually weighed more and pulled up better plugs.

[FrankenScagMachines]

I picked one up for $65. 36" MTD or Brinly used only twice. Next winter I'm going to weld small peices of pipe onto every other star on each tine or every other tine and have a cheap core aerator like BigDave and Cantoo mentioned.

[Alan Bechard]

I would like to add, that if you go this route, the solid concrete blocks that I mentioned add considerably more weight than cinder blocks.

Al B

[Hud]

I have a Ryan Lawnaire IV. It has a weight bar that can be removed if the ground's real soft. If the ground's kind of hard, you can leave the weight bar on and fill the water tank.

It's a great machine. Has a 4 hp Honda engine. Easy maintenance. Easy to maneuver. Does a great job on lawns; leaves soil plugs everywhere.

After I've been operating it for awhile though, I've got aches where I didn't have aches before. It wears me out. Still, it's a fine little machine!

[crazygator]

I'll take my Rock Solid Plugr anyday. And with its cam action I do not have to add anymore weight to it for it to pull a 2-3" core. It works great even in dry conditions, due to the cam action forcing it into the ground. Plus I am not all beat up after working it for a whole day or 2.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by Hud
I have a Ryan Lawnaire IV. It has a weight bar that can be removed if the ground's real soft. If the ground's kind of hard, you can leave the weight bar on and fill the water tank.

It's a great machine. Has a 4 hp Honda engine. Easy maintenance. Easy to maneuver. Does a great job on lawns; leaves soil plugs everywhere.

After I've been operating it for awhile though, I've got aches where I didn't have aches before. It wears me out. Still, it's a fine little machine!

Lawnaire IV - Easy to manuver = Oxymoron!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hud]

Originally posted by Mike Bradbury
Lawnaire IV - Easy to manuver = Oxymoron!!!!!!!!!!!
You're probably right; I retract what I said about easy maneuverability. Thinkin' about it, it's probably the raising and lowering of those wheels and swingin' that thing around that give me the most aches. :) It works great, but in light of my age and aches, maybe it's just a young man's machine! :D

Also, I guess "easy to maneuver" might be a subjective thing. When I started out, a lot of my equipment was not self-propelled, cause that's all I had. Nowadays, for me, any piece of equipment that moves on its own and I don't have to push it is "easy to maneuver".;)

I read another thread here a bit ago. Someone was talking about buying a 400 pound push lawnmower or something of the sort. Made me cringe!!!!

[PaulJ]

I'm looking forward to trying the new turfco aerator. There are a couple threads on it already so I won't go into detail.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38311&highlight=turfco

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39474&highlight=turfco


In short it is a walkbehind steerable core aerator.

It looks like the easiest handling walkbehind machine yet.