Thinking of buying an areater from Home Depot

[Jeffd1979]

They have this cheap areater at home depot for like 60 bucks.. it does not look like it pulls plugs but just spikes down in the ground.. I live in charlotte nc and we have alot of clay in the soil.. would this thing even help at all or is it just a waste of money?

 

[Green & Clean]

Aerating is best when a plug of soil is removed to allow air, water and fertilizer to get down into the soil. Microbes in the plugs left on the surface will also help reduce thatch. Many Home Depots have a rental area that rent core aerators, or you can call a local lawn care company to core aerate for you. Although the spike type "aerators" put holes in the ground, and can help with water etc. getting to the root zone, they can also compact the soil unlike the core removal type.

 

[Big M LawnnSnow]

Home depot also sells there rental machines.
Most of them have a price already on them.
Some are a good value and reasonable, and of course some are beat up.
But there worth looking at.

 

[BigDave]

HD also sells this aerator, which is a plug aerator:

http://www.brinly.com/products/aerator/aeratorplug40.htm

It costs about twice as much as the one you're looking at, but many people say that spike aerators actually compact the soil, which is the opposite effect that you want from an aerator.