I purchased this aerator last fall to aerate a 10x20 section of my front yard that gets pretty heavy foot traffic.It worked flawlessly!
After reading some reviews, I followed some key advice:
1. Water your lawn first! I set up a sprinkler in the morning and let it go for about an hour and a half. Then I let the water settle into the soil and started aerating later that afternoon. Don't expect this aerator to work on your lawn if it hasn't rained in weeks and you have not watered your lawn.
2. Soak the coring tips in a bucket of water when you're done using it for the day. This will prevent soil from drying out inside the tips and plugging things up.
I followed these two tips and this aerator did exactly what I needed it to do. I'd highly recommend it over renting a big machine to aerate a small to medium lawn.
About Yard Butler
Tough, Sustainable, Innovative and Built For Life: the values that form the core of our vision devoted to connecting people with the earth. Yard Butler tools help people work with the land sustainably while helping stoke gardeners’ passions for their yards and gardens. Our primary mission is to design products that make it easier and more satisfying for you to fulfill your gardening dreams. Everyone knows that the right tool makes the job easier. Now, more than ever, we can say, 'There’s a tool for that!'
Yard Butler’s roots stretch back over 60 years to my father, Jim Wright, who was a lifelong gardener and the original Yard Butler. Jim got his start tending the family’s 'Victory Garden' during WWII. Throughout his thousands of hours weeding, hoeing, tilling and planting, he was always looking for a better way to get the job done. Yard Butler honors Dad’s original vision to produce the highest quality innovative solutions for most common yard and gardening tasks. Our tools are built to work and to last. We share the planet and we welcome all who share our love of the land and who believe that we can elevate our spirits by digging in the soil.
- Dan Wright, President.
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Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com
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1,371 reviews
Ajkissin
... a 10x20 section of my front yard that gets pretty heavy foot traffic
19 January 2018 -
Published on Amazon.comStyle Name: Coring AeratorVerified Purchase
Monkeee2002
Works better with a very wet lawn
13 July 2017 -
Published on Amazon.comStyle Name: Coring AeratorVerified Purchase
Works better with a very wet lawn
Reviewed in the United States on 13 July 2017
This review is for the "coring tool".(updated after using twice). This thing worked fine in my lawn. My lawn is a new lawn in what was previously a no-till Hayfield. Silt loam, and extremely compacted. I have done all of my roughly 3000 sq foot back lawn, TWICE. (First time: It worked best for me if I run a sprinkler for a while, and give it time to soak in, then give it another shot of water so it's very damp on top. Have not had the plugs get stuck in it, has not bent or broken. Any time I find gravel, I just keep moving over until I get out of gravel. No metal tube is going to work right if you're trying to punch holes in gravel.Reviewed in the United States on 13 July 2017
Second time: I watered my lawn thoroughly before aerating the second time. I found that "wetter is better". It was easier, I used less effort, and it went much faster.
I leave it in a bucket of water with a few drops of dish soap (to keep the mosquitos out of the water) whenever I leave it sitting for more than a few minutes. The coating on the tubes wears off pretty quickly, and it already has some surface rust on the business end. I'm sure if I clean it well and shoot it with some oil after the last use it should store fine until I need it again.
The handle is a bit more flexible on this than on the tool with the 4 solid spikes. I don't know why they did that. I find that if I stomp it in, then rock it a little back and forth and/or side to side, I can get it to sink all the way into the soil mist of the time, and pull out nice neat cores.
It is quite a work out. Don't expect to do too much each day, trust me.
If your soil is heavily compacted. Water the crap out of it, the tool works better with wet soil. My lawn was so wet in spots when I did it the second time that I could occasionally punch full-length holes by simply leaning on the tool.
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cjr
Good tool, if you understand it's limitations
9 April 2019 -
Published on Amazon.comStyle Name: Coring AeratorVerified Purchase
Good tool, if you understand it's limitations
Reviewed in the United States on 9 April 2019
Purchased this to do some aerating upkeep in our yard. We live on about 1/4 acre that's pretty significantly landscaped (so less grass) and made up of Virginia's infamous clay soil.Reviewed in the United States on 9 April 2019
We had light rain for about 24 hours and I first used this during the end of the rain. It worked very well, no clogging and really no issues other than everything getting very muddy. With very wet soil, if it was an area with little to no grass, it did tend to just destroy the ground rather than pull cores.
After use I cleaned very well with clean water and an old tooth brush to get all dirt off.
Then I waited about 48 hours after rain ended to try it again. It went better. Still no clogging but less just destroying bare areas. Much less mud this time as well. Again, cleaned the same way after use.
What I learned:
- This will work for small areas or spot aerating, but spending the $100 to have a large lot done once a year may still be worth it. You're going to spend a lot of time and energy effectively doing it with only this tool.
- Wet ground is VERY helpful, but too wet may cause a new set of problems.
- No back pain but gloves may have prevented a small blister on each hand.
- That middle bar is going to hit your leg pretty consistently, which may start to hurt after-awhile. I ended up duct taping an old piece of pool noodle on for day 2 and that seemed to help a lot!
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T. Chu
Great tool. I tried this after a heavy rain ...
4 March 2018 -
Published on Amazon.comStyle Name: Coring AeratorVerified Purchase
Megan
Worked well... and then kept clogging
1 June 2018 -
Published on Amazon.comStyle Name: Coring AeratorVerified Purchase