I saw a Ryan IV, 19" core aerator, 6 years old, for $850. It has new tynes and a new axle that the tynes run through. Engine in a 3 hp briggs. All bearings are greased and tight. Is $850 a good price ?
sounds like a very good price. Since aerators are not used more than maybe 10 days a year at most, depending on how much aerating they did im sure the aerator is still in very good shape. I bought a 5 year old bluebird aerator this year with a 3.5 briggs I/c for 600 bucks and im quite happy with it. The design the of the ryan is almost identical to the blue bird is buils very strong.
Not too bad of a deal. You can rebuild these machines, that is replace the wearing parts relativly inexpensivly. Replace chains, belts, tines, engine... and you are probally still less than the $2K price tag of a new machine.
Six years old...it has been around a while. It may be a good machine. a honda engine would be better. Who used it during those six years? Did it sit outside during the winter? Yes ...it is half price from new and so maybe it is good. How often do you plan on using it? I shoot for around 60.00 an hour when aerating. When a machine breaks down, especially if you don't have a back up (I don't) it is extremely frustrating. If you have 15 lawns it is a great deal... if you plan on growing and doing more than twenty or thirty maybe it would be a good second machine. Either way if it runs great and you have the money, I would think you could do worse. maybe it will become a back up machine. but what the heck run the sucker until it drops ... I'll bet it will pay for itself!
