3 Point Core Aerators

Tractor_Chunks · Oct 30, 2019

I'm zeroing in on a final BX23S tractor + implement order with my dealer. One item that really caught me off guard in term of price is the Land Pride aerator he quoted me. For the Land Pride CA1548 aerator, they want $1400. I can wrap it into my financing, but that still seems really really expensive for what it is.

There are cheaper options, but it isn't clear to me if the Land Pride aerator wins out in terms of quality. There just isn't much information out there.

I do think 3 point will be much better than a tow-behind, as I'll frequently have to hop over obstacles like sidewalks.

RonBoyBX25D · Oct 30, 2019

Have you looked at Everything Attachments yet? They make some and they look nice and heavy duty, typically some savings over Landpride & I think the quality is even better.

DustyRusty · Oct 30, 2019

I bought mine about 10 years ago, and it cost $700 delivered. Considering how the cost of steel has risen, along with labor costs, I think that the price doubling is understandable. I rarely use mine, and if I could rent one, I think that would be a better way to go. You really don't get the use out of them to justify the cost. Now, if you are extremely wealthy, and it isn't going to hurt having a $1400 tool that you use one a year, then I say go for it. Land Pride is a premium product that will last you the lifetime of your tractor plus some!

orange crusher · Oct 30, 2019

chimpywrench said:
I'm zeroing in on a final BX23S tractor + implement order with my dealer. One item that really caught me off guard in term of price is the Land Pride aerator he quoted me. For the Land Pride CA1548 aerator, they want $1400. I can wrap it into my financing, but that still seems really really expensive for what it is.

There are cheaper options, but it isn't clear to me if the Land Pride aerator wins out in terms of quality. There just isn't much information out there.

I do think 3 point will be much better than a tow-behind, as I'll frequently have to hop over obstacles like sidewalks.

I thought about the same one but decided that it is a piece that gets used once or twice a year, unless you are going to use it commerically, then I can get quite a few rental $$$$ use for that money plus I don t have to store it when it is not in use.

BigG · Oct 30, 2019

I am unsure as to why you would use a core aerator but when we needed to open up the soil we would pull a disk with the "cutters" set to go straight with the direction of travel. Do not go to fast, but it will open up the ground for water and fertilizer to get into the soil. I just glanced at the EA page and was very surprised at the prices.

JackJ · Oct 31, 2019

I too was put off by the price of the Land Pride and EA attachments since I will put an aerator to use only a few times per year. After shopping around, I went with: https://gemplers.com/products/feldmann-engineering-heavy-duty-3-point-hitch-aerator. I got it for $100 less than the current price when I purchased it a year ago, but I believe I took advantage of some special offer Gempler's had at the time.

After the first use, several welds failed on the spools where the spoons mount. But when I contacted the company (Feldmann, not the retailer Gempler's) they acknowledged they had a batch go out with some faulty welds and they sent me a whole new set of spools with no hassle. Didn't have to return the old ones. Since then, it's held up great. I use it to aerate about an acre+ of lawn with pretty heavy clay content twice per year, making multiple passes in different directions.

I had to make some easy modifications to get it to mount on my LP QH05 Quick Hitch. I add about 80 - 100lbs of weight to the tray and, depending on how moist my soil is, pull out about 3" plugs.

I don't know that this unit would hope up to use by a commercial landscaper, but it works well for my purposes, and I don't anticipate it breaking down on me.

While I'm no expert, the advantage of a core aerator is that, in addition to allowing water and fertilizer to get down to the roots, it reverses soil compaction. Aerators that just slice or spike are squeezing the soil in order to penetrate it. What this actually means in terms of the health of your lawn, I'm not sure. But pulling out cylinders of dirt seems like the better method, to me.

Tractor_Chunks · Oct 31, 2019

Looks like the EA aerators are even more expensive. They look very beastly though. One big issue I could see is that the EA aerators are solid drums, so I imagine making any turns would tear up the lawn. I think the Land Pride aerators have independently turning tines.

I would be using the aerator to upkeep residential lawns. They're fairly small lawns, which is partly why they suffer badly from soil compaction. I'm really done renting the gas-powered walk-behind rotating machines. They don't work well and are hell to operate, and often damage lawns. I actually just ordered a reciprocating machine from DR Power. I don't have it yet. It is only 3 tines, but it has good reviews and looks very easy to handle. It will be rather slow compared to a 48" tractor unit. I have two female employees and big factor in some of my tools is if they can operate them. So everything I buy, I look for electric start and self-propelled and safe. Maybe I'll find the walk-behind, though small, is the better way to get things done.

Altogether, I'd probably be looking at an acre of yard spread over a dozen properties in a 4-block area (maybe more once my neighbors start asking me to do their lawns). Attaching the aerator to a small tractor and driving from property to property seems like an attractive way to get it done quickly.

I think the shape of the tines on aerators is probably really important to how well it operations. Hard to make a call here without customer reviews though.

I'm a bit of a lawn-freak so I would aerate at least twice a year. I definitely want plugs, not slices or spikes.

m.t.hands · Oct 31, 2019

for the amount of use you'll get out of most likely i'd check FB marketplace and Craigslist for a used unit, I bought a 5' and made my own spoons (it came with spikes) but I see them regularly on FB and CL 300-500 I gave 300 for the one I ended up with, works great, and pulling plugs IMO is the best for getting nutrients into the ground and reducing soil compaction

Tractor_Chunks · Oct 31, 2019

m.t.hands said:
for the amount of use you'll get out of most likely i'd check FB marketplace and Craigslist for a used unit, I bought a 5' and made my own spoons (it came with spikes) but I see them regularly on FB and CL 300-500 I gave 300 for the one I ended up with, works great, and pulling plugs IMO is the best for getting nutrients into the ground and reducing soil compaction

I watch my local craigslist pretty closely. I think I could be waiting a very long time before I saw a 3 point aerator.
Seems like the anytime I'm pining over the price of a new item, and I think I'm going to score something used, I just end up torturing myself for months or years and rarely end up finding the thing.

Here's what we've got from the past 45 days, only $3500 and a 4 hour round trip drive:

She's got character though.

m.t.hands · Oct 31, 2019

chimpywrench said:
She's got character though.

don't let them get your sense of humor

, they show up around here pretty regularly, hope something works out for you

BTW, mine started out pretty lite/ugly and I made a few modifications, which has greatly increased the durability, i'll try to get some pictures the next time I go to the farm

that price on the one you showed no way, looks like it has potential but the price

BTW that looks like an aerway they may bring that much I couldn't pay that though

beex · Oct 31, 2019

chimpywrench said:
I watch my local craigslist pretty closely. I think I could be waiting a very long time before I saw a 3 point aerator.
Seems like the anytime I'm pining over the price of a new item, and I think I'm going to score something used, I just end up torturing myself for months or years and rarely end up finding the thing.

Here's what we've got from the past 45 days, only $3500 and a 4 hour round trip drive:

She's got character though.

This is not a core aerator, it’s a pin aerator. Not worth the time messing with it, pin aerators don’t work. I do have a 3pt Land Pride, works great, to me worth the $. Use it twice per year or more if i do neighbors. Walk behind units are a no go, pull behinds are not much fun either if you need weight and need to lift up and down manually a lot.

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Tractor_Chunks · Nov 1, 2019

beex said:
This is not a core aerator, it***8217;s a pin aerator. Not worth the time messing with it, pin aerators don***8217;t work. I do have a 3pt Land Pride, works great, to me worth the $. Use it twice per year or more if i do neighbors. Walk behind units are a no go, pull behinds are not much fun either if you need weight and need to lift up and down manually a lot.

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I hope it was clear that I was posting that craiglist listing as a joke to show how crappy the availability of used aerators is around me.

What size LP aerator do you have and how much did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking?

D2Cat · Nov 1, 2019

Chimpywrench, that's a fine looking areator, set up nicely and will look good behind your new BX. Wrong color, but set up nicely and well taken care of. The $3500 spent will allow you to renew your yard for several years. A four hour drive would be well worth it!

beex · Nov 1, 2019

chimpywrench said:
I hope it was clear that I was posting that craiglist listing as a joke to show how crappy the availability of used aerators is around me.

What size LP aerator do you have and how much did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking?

Yes it was. But it was a good opportunity to point out the difference because it’s a good pic of a pin unit, lots of peeps in my area don’t difference.

I have the CA1548, 48” on a BX. I bought it 8 years ago, so don’t remember the exact price, but $1400 as quoted above seems about right.

There was another thread recently here on core aerators where a guy was asking if a BX can pull a 60”. He has a BX and a bigger machine and wanted to use it on both. I commented there too. The BX would have no trouble with a 60”, Landpride told me that too, but I stuck with 48 to make it easier to get into tight places. I’m really liking mine, I have clay that you can make bricks of, so absolutely required to aerate. A 3pt unit is the best way to go.

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beex · Nov 1, 2019

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Tractor_Chunks · Nov 1, 2019

beex said:
Yes it was. But it was a good opportunity to point out the difference because it’s a good pic of a pin unit, lots of peeps in my area don’t difference.

I have the CA1548, 48” on a BX. I bought it 8 years ago, so don’t remember the exact price, but $1400 as quoted above seems about right.

There was another thread recently here on core aerators where a guy was asking if a BX can pull a 60”. He has a BX and a bigger machine and wanted to use it on both. I commented there too. The BX would have no trouble with a 60”, Landpride told me that too, but I stuck with 48 to make it easier to get into tight places. I’m really liking mine, I have clay that you can make bricks of, so absolutely required to aerate. A 3pt unit is the best way to go.

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I'd have thought a 60" unit would need to be so heavy that it might be a problem for the 3ph on a sub-compact. I guess I don't have a lot of faith in aerators - so many times renting the gas-powered rotating ones that you chase around the yard, and don't work very well unless you have just the right moisture content in the soil. Even under good conditions, I was never impressed with the length of the plugs they pull.

Land Pride is claiming 3-4.5" plugs. Is that what you're getting?

beex · Nov 1, 2019

yes I am getting good plugs, I put enough weight on the bury the thing to the axel, depending on the soil water content, that’s 200-300lbs, plus the unit probably weighs 100lbs.

The BX has no problem pulling on steep hills. What’s also not intuitive is pulling up steep hills, there is no tendency for the. fronts to lift off. The 3pt lower arm angle when down is below the rear axel center line, so while pulling it’s actually putting weight down on the fronts too, so in 4wd it really pulls, and I’m using turfs. My neighbor has a really steep part I do. I wouldn’t drive up with just the empty tractor, but with aerator in the ground, it’s really stable.

A 60” no problem, put 350-400 lbs on it.

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Birdadly · Nov 1, 2019

I’m not a Mr FixIt, but I like the idea of a 3pt aerator since i used a pull behind and next summer will be my first year with a BX. Any thoughts to convert a pull behind into a 3pt version or is that somewhat impossible? Again I have zero idea if this is possible. I don’t weld or anything like that, just chiming in. I know pull behinds are cheap and pop up on Craigslist very often around here.

Just a thought, hopefully not an ignorant one! -Brad

beex · Nov 1, 2019

Birdadly said:
I’m not a Mr FixIt, but I like the idea of a 3pt aerator since i used a pull behind and next summer will be my first year with a BX. Any thoughts to convert a pull behind into a 3pt version or is that somewhat impossible? Again I have zero idea if this is possible. I don’t weld or anything like that, just chiming in. I know pull behinds are cheap and pop up on Craigslist very often around here.

Just a thought, hopefully not an ignorant one! -Brad

you would need to weld up a 3pt hook up onto the pull behind. But it’s unlikely a pull behind would have a strong enough frame.

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dcgld · Nov 1, 2019

Birdadly said:
I’m not a Mr FixIt, but I like the idea of a 3pt aerator since i used a pull behind and next summer will be my first year with a BX. Any thoughts to convert a pull behind into a 3pt version or is that somewhat impossible? Again I have zero idea if this is possible. I don’t weld or anything like that, just chiming in. I know pull behinds are cheap and pop up on Craigslist very often around here.

Just a thought, hopefully not an ignorant one! -Brad

I’m looking to do the same thing. I have a decent tow behind core aerator and it seems like it should be easy enough to bolt on some arms to turn it into a 3 pt attachment, but I haven’t found any examples yet.

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