Customer Reviews

Agri-Fab 40-Inch Plug Aerator 45-0298

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchase the Agri-fab 40 inch plug aerator from Amazon. It did require assembly. The instruction were not bad but it did take some time to put all of the plug spools together. Assembly around one and a half hours.
It is easy to use. The long handle that the Amazon review mentions is helpful but the handle still moves too far away when the points are down to easily reach it from the seat. I just put a rope on it to pull it back up and solved the problem. For my soil, it did require the maximum weight on the tray to drive the points into the ground. Also, I had to drive slowly to get the points well into the ground. So, if you have a very large area to aerate, I suggest that you get the largest aerator that you can. (I think they make a 48 in model also).
Overall I am happy. Only used it once but it seems sturdy. One star off for the handle issue and the slightly tedious assembly.

Overall I am pretty happy with the product.
It arrived in a beat up box, with lots of loose parts inside. Thankfully, nothing managed to fall out during shipping. The box is very heavy, and does not take well to the shipping abuse. Putting it together was a chore. I am handy with tools, but it took me over 2 hours to put it together, and few bloody knuckles. Never the less, it came together nicely. I got four 8 by 8 by 16 cement blocks for it. It hooks up to the tractor with a pin.
Last week I had a chance to do the plugging of my yard. I am very happy with the results. I have 1/2 acre lot and spent about 1.5 hours going around the yard. I experimented with tractor speed and decided that going fast is not good, you end up tearing up the ground more than plugging. Then I set tractor on cruise control and took it nice and slow.
Originally I was debating if I should go with 48" model, I am glad I did not. My yard has lots of obstacles, so 40" is a better choice. Its about as wide as my tractor. Going backwards is a pain, as well as engaging and disengaging the lever from a tractor seat. After using it for the first time, I inspected the machine, and everything looked good. Nothing bent or broke. There was one small stone stuck in one of the plug makers, so I had to knock it out with a hammer.

Thank God for good customer service at Agri-Fab because out of the box one of the bolts did not have thread. Agri-Fab customer service sent a new one next day (free of charge). During my second use the weld on one of the double spindles that hold the knives came loose but again customer service came through and sent a replacement (no questions asked). All in all things happen but good customer service goes a long way to keep a customer happy when stuff breaks.

Wheel weld sheared off after 4 hours of use. Middle plate that holds the axles sheared off after 5 hours of use. Machine was used behind JD garden tractor with "normal" usage and failed after 4-5 hours. Took it back and bought the JD for twice as much, but the construction is FAR superior.

Like several other reviewers, I too received an 83 lb box delivered on my front door step only to find after hauling the item inside the house that the large plastic bag containing numerous small parts needed for construction of the unit was not properly sealed. Patiently I searched through out the box containing heavy steel parts to find I was short parts needed for a complete assembly. I called the Agri-Fab company and spoke with Sarah who did a great job at helping me identify and replace (in only 2 days) my missing parts. Assembly is somewhat confusing even for a well seasoned veteran. Pictures help but only hours of time with trial and error eventaully produced a completed assembly. The good news - this is a great aerator for the money. Heavy contruction and good design of operaton made my first use a definite success easily equaling that of hiring a professional to come and do the job. Good tine penetration produced hundreds of soil plugs across the lawn. I am looking forward to using the arator twice yearly with similiar results. Works great - will last for years - just be patient with the shortcomings of getting the unit assembled.

The product was shipped and delivered in a timely manner. A couple of small fasteners were missing from the package. However a call to the manufacturers customer service representative resulted in a quick shipment of the missing hardware. (Shortages of hardware shouldn't happen but if and when it does it sure is nice to have the supplier take care of it in a friendly and expeditious manner)

Overall the product works as described. Raising and lowering the aerator from working position to towing position could be a little easier. Adding weight to allow deeper penetration of the ground takes more effort to raise and lower the machine.

Making a change to "fix" the raising and lowering of the machine, could in this reviewers opinion make this possibly a 5 star rating.

Regards.
Dan

I run a lawn maintence company in western NY and this pull type aerator performed wonderfully. It was well built, left great plugs and made aerorating those larger size lawns alot eaiser and faster. was not dificult to put together either very easy. Two 50 pound solid cement blocks was all that was needed.

The aerator works fine, I made several overlapping passes to get certain areas properly aerated. With the added weights, it requires a powerful tractor (especially on slopes), I used a 22hp.

Unfortunately assembly is very complex, and required about 4 hours. I think Agri-Fab should deliver certain parts pre-assempled.

Very satisfied, yes lots of parts to put together, but everything was there and fit well. make sure ground is soft (after a light rain) and use cement blocks as added weight. We have clay soil and it made a 2-1/2 to 3" plug as well as the professional service we had used. So I like it!

I've only had opportunity to use it one and with a riding mower/small tractor it works well but needs maximum weight on it for adequate penetration. The assembly of the aerator took about two hours and went smoothly, but I forgot to tighten the bolt and screws holding the wheels (assembled loosely in one step and tightened in a later step), so one wheel fell off as I was using it. More uses of it will see if it rejuvenates my compacted sod sufficiently.