Agri-Fab 48" Plug Aerator

After shopping around at the local big box retailers, I decided to check this out on Amazon. Honestly, I didnt see how Amazon would be able to offer this aerator at a competitive price considering its weight and shipping costs. Boy, was I wrong. Not only was the price less than the big box stores, but using Amazon Prime, this was delivered in 2 days! As to the aerator, I have no complaints. The assesmbly did take a good hour, but if you have the right tools, its easy. The aerator is of high quality and solid construction. I have aeratored 4 lots (each over 1/2 acres) and have been very pleased with the results as well as the durability of the unit. I have hit a few trees, backed into things, turned too sharp, etc....and have had no issues with the aerator, have not broken anything or bent anything so far. I am 6'1 and can reach the control arm on the aerator without getting off the tractor. I would imagine if you are shorter, or if the tractor you are using is larger, you may have to get off the tractor to raise and lower the aerator. Even if you would have to do this, I still don't see it as an issue or a reason to decrease a star from the rating. Pros: Heavy Duty - High Quality Sharp, Core Plug Aerator Heavy Duty Wheels Easy to Assemble (1 Hour with recommended tools) No more renting and hauling back and fourth Con: May have to dismount tractor to raise and lower aerator Takes ups a decent amount of space in garage :)

I was skeptical after reading reviews of missing parts and difficulty putting it together. My skepticism proved true. When I arrived home I found the box half opened with holes in the box. It was wrapped in packing tape but the box looked like it had been opened and returned. I decided to keep an open mind and not return it. Before assembling, I did a part count to make sure I had everything I needed. Like previous reviews, they didn't ship me all the parts. I was missing the main shaft and a bunch of spacers. (TIP: do the part inventory BEFORE ASSEMBLING). I called Agri-Fab and the lady was very helpful. She was actually annoyed when I told her about the packaging and missing parts. She acted like their products were usually shipped like this when purchased from Amazon. It took 2 business days to get the parts I was missing. From start to finish, it took me roughly 2 hours to put together. Before each step, its helpful if you lay out the hardware needed as the hardware is pretty much all mixed into one bag. I used an impact driver to put mine together and that seemed to save a lot of time. After the unit is put together, its very nice and works well. Its very heavy duty. Just getting to the point of use seems to be the difficult part. If you're looking for a good aerator this is your choice. If you're missing basic parts like washers, lock nuts, and bolts i'd just make a run to your local hardware store to save time. But parts specific to the aerator (IE.. what I was missing) will need to be ordered from Agri-fab. If you can find this model in a store and they'll do assembly for you, you're golden

I bought this tow behind plug aerator, so I could over seed my lawn, I put four cement blocks on it and towed it around the yard, it exceeded my expectations and I’m quite happy with the results, the kind of thing you ask yourself why didn’t I get one sooner, the unit appears to be very well made, I did change the front coupler, I have a three point hitch on my lawn tractor so I put a coupler for a regular trailer hitch, it works perfectly, and seems quite sturdy.

Works great, the instructions were sufficient but product hardware labeling could better. The probes are sharp, the product color is now orange and droplets of red. Not happy about the slices on the skin but happy the ground doesn't stand a chance. Suggest sand bags verse cement blocks for weights to limit wear

I’ve come to trust Agri-Fab products over the years, and this 48" plug aerator is no exception. I featured it on my YouTube channel @LawnandOrderTexasEdition, and it’s become a key tool in my Bermuda lawn care routine here in Texas. 🛠️ Assembly was very straightforward — clear instructions and no special tools needed. I even found a great way to overlap bungee cords to secure my cinder blocks for added weight. (Pro tip: only lower it when you're already on the grass to avoid scraping driveways or compacted soil.) 🔧 Replacement tines (or “knives”) are available here on Amazon, and should probably be swapped every couple of years — especially if you're hitting rocks or rough patches. 🌧️ Aerating your lawn once or twice a year makes a big difference. It allows rain to penetrate compacted soil, helps break up traffic wear (from walking or driving over grass), and promotes deeper root growth. ✅ What I Like: Effective Aeration: Pulls decent-sized plugs, even from my dense clay soil. Great spacing and depth. Durable Build: The frame is strong and handles towing well. No flimsy parts here. Universal Hitch: Hooks right up to my lawn tractor without issue. Good Value: You’d spend 3x more hiring a pro. This pays for itself quickly. Mine is priceless in my lawn toolkit. Smart Design Touches: Handle lowers easily, and the weight tray fits four cinderblocks without issue. ⚠️ Things to Know: Weight Tray Limitations: For hard-packed soil, you may need to get creative with weight. I use 4 cinderblocks, and that gives me enough depth. Tight Spaces Are Tricky: At 48” wide, it’s not ideal for small yards or areas with lots of curves. You’ll need to plan for wider turns (which also helps prevent turf damage). Check Your Tines: They’re solid, but like any aerator, they wear over time. Keep an eye on them. If you’re looking to boost lawn health without breaking the bank, this is a great tool for homeowners. It’s not commercial-grade, but for most average-sized lawns, it absolutely gets the job done. 🎥 You can see it in action on my channel @LawnandOrderTexasEdition, where I review and demo real lawn gear in real-world Texas conditions. Highly recommended. Great job, Agri-Fab. You built a winner.

The instructions were pretty straight forward and simple but there's a couple parts that are slightly odd and confusing, they make you second guess yourself, but if you trust your gut instincts you'll be fine. All of the metal pieces are stamped which always causes a sharp burr on at least one side. They obviously don't deburr ANY of the parts when they're made and that leads to cuts. As for how well it works, with no weight added to the top this thing is pretty much useless. I had to add four bags of tube sand to the top to get any penetration. It works decent. Is it worth the price or would I recommend it, hmmm, I'm still on the fence. I believe it says this in the instructions so I highly recommend everyone pay attention to this but, DO NOT, back up with this when the handle isn't locked in its little notch for the wheels down position. I forgot to put it in the wheels down position and backed up with it which promptly bent the tow bar/tongue. I can 100% guarantee ever pic that shows the tongue/tow bar bent is because the person backed up without putting the lever in that notch and DID NOT have the wheels down, they just tried to back up with the spikes down. To tongue is a little on the flimsy side but it's perfectly fine and stout enough as long as you, first, put the wheels down before you try and back up with this item. Don't lie and say you didn't do that because you know you did and don't blame or give bad review to the manufacture because you were to lazy or stupid to get off and pull the lever forward putting the wheels down before you tried to back up with it. It's easier enough to forget, I did, but that isn't the fault of the company that made it.

Haven't used it yet, but here's my thoughts about quality and assembly. Appears to be heavy duty steel used throughout. Some people complained the wheels are cheap, but I think they seem pretty nice and sturdy. Hopefully they hold up. Powder coat was chipped off in a few places, but I imagine this thing is going to take a beating outside doing what it was intended to do. I'll touch up the chips with some encapsulating paint. The directions are ok, not great. Confusing at times, but you'll probably figure it out. I had to drill out one of the wheel brackets because the hole in the axle was slightly off center and a bolt wouldn't go through. To check my theory I swapped it to the other end of the axle and it went in fine. No biggie, but I do expect better for the money. Missing hardware just like everybody else. Do yourself a favor and remove one of the washers on the wheel bolts. I see some people complaining wheels fell off and that's because the bolt barely reaches the end of the nylock. Get rid of the washer before the wheel and you'll be fine. Again, I expect better, but it is what is. On to the aerator knives. That's what instructions call them and they are. They're sharp as knives. During assembly this thing is a death trap. Keep small children and clumsy people far away from it. You can wear gloves and be smart or get cut repeatedly like a man and drip blood on the garage floor like the good Lord intended. Have some bandaids handy I guess. Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase, but I shouldn't be running to Lowe's to buy missing bolts and such.

UPDATED - SEE BELOW This looks like a decent unit. All the parts arrived in the box and while a little time consuming to assemble, nothing that was not expected. It is a machine with a lot of parts! It was tedious, but not hard. The instructions were not perfect, but were adequate. I used it on my 3 acres in the Fall of 2017. Several tines bent and had to be straightened. There seemed to be a lot of wear where the axles rode in the mounts. OK, it doesn't have bearings, but it looked excessive. Jump forward to the Fall of 2018. I started aerating the same 3 acres. By the time I was half done, parts were wearing out. By the time I finished, this thing was falling apart. The soil was damp, not soaked, but definitely not dry. The design is OK, it just needs to have some bearings where rotating parts are mounted to keep them from wearing out. One the "bushings" wear out, the tines start hitting the frame and it destroys itself. I only discovered it had a three year warranty when I came back this year to look for another unit. After last years's disaster, I took it to the dump! Now that I am aware of the warranty, I may give it another try and get a warranty replacement after each use… *********** 2023 UPDATE: I rented a commercial unit the last couple of years but decided to try DIY again. Because it is the best rated unit I could find, I re-bought this unit in October, 2023. Same assembly, same exact unit six years later. I stopped after about 30 minutes in to the first use, and discovered two of the spools were broken. Looking at the welds, they were totally inadequate. Where the spools attach to the shaft is a spot weld on either side. This needs to be a continuous weld 360° around the shaft. I called support. Support was GREAT! The guy I spoke with understood my issue and promptly sent out two new spools. During the discussion, I mentioned that I was a welder and these parts were inadequately welded. He recommended I augment the welds by finishing the job on the new parts, but the two that had not yet broken as well. Replacing the spools requires MAJOR disassembly alf the unit. While there are a few parts that can be left assembled (the wheel assemblies), essentially, you have to remove every nut and bolt and start over. I used. wire brush to remove the paint where the spools were assembled, fixed the welds on the old and new parts and re-painted them. After a couple of hours work, the unit is back together with reinforced welds on the spools. The new unit still uses plastic bushings on the axles that will not last. Due to the design, I cannot imagine these will last three years. Replacing those with bearings (and doing a better weld job) would fix the deficiencies of this unit. I would happily pay a little more to get audit that would last! The support guy I spoke with suggested lubricating the plastic bushings with a dry lube, but my fear is that the extremely dusty/ dirty environment an aerator lives in will negate any lubrication of an exposed plastic bushing. Overall, if you have a small yard with soil that looks like the dirt in Martha Stewart's garden, this unit is probably OK for you. If you have a bigger property and have "normal" soil, this unit will likely not last very long. *********** KUDOS to Agri-Fab support. Answered right away and were very helpful, but as good as their support is, I do not believe it makes up for the design and production issues with this model.

My husband recently purchased the Agri-Fab Aerator. He used it in early June 2023 to aerate a fairly new lawn that we initially seeded last autumn 2022. He is pleased with the way the aerator worked and thinks it did a good job aerating the lawn for over-seeding.

Very happy with this. Arrived in a couple of days, straight forward assembly took about an hour, works well and is easily handled by my old 12hp Toro even with twice the recommended weight on it. Impossible to reach the lifting handle from the tractor seat but a piece of rope solves that.

Wir haben das Gerät bestellt. Leider fehlte ein sehr wichtiges Teil, was wir auch erst bemerkten, als der Rasenlüfter fast fertig zusammengebaut war. Sofort haben wir reklamiert und bekamen die Antwort, dass das fehlende Teil nachgeliefert würde. Nach 3 Wochen haben wir aber immer noch nichts erhalten, weshalb wir nochmals geschrieben haben (der Rasenlüfter kann ohne dieses fehlende Teil nicht betrieben werden). Die Antwort war, dass das Teil in den USA bestellt werden müsste, weshalb eine Nachlieferung lange dauern kann. Für uns nicht verständlich: weshalb kann man nicht aus einem vorhandenen Bausatz das Teil nehmen und uns zustellen. Es kann doch nicht sein, dass wir das Gerät, welches bezahlt ist, nicht gebrauchen können, nur weil das fehlende Teil angeblich aus den USA bezogen werden muss.

evrythig satisfactory with 1st class service

Although there was a lengthy wait, I am thoroughly impressed by the function of this aerator.