Remember that comments against aerator shoes are generally made by (a) lazy people with plenty of money, (b) professional gardens who provide this service for pay, (c) and people who sell or rent aerator machines for pay, or (d) desk types who never did any garden work in their lives. Now, on to point #2.... Find any 14 year old kid and ask them to do the math.... If Mr. Jones drives an 1/8-inch diameter spike into the ground every 1.5 inches, how much will the soil be compacted? Answer: 0.5% assuming that the next nearest hole is 1.5 inches away. However, this is only if old man Jones walks toe-to-toe, side to side which would piss Mrs. Jones off because he is spending the whole day stomping in the yard. Mrs Jones says "Why don't you just walk the yard. You really looking like a dumbass. And the neighbors think you're a dope.." I don't see any postings from anyone who says they tried them and they didn't work. Don't you hate when some clown says something doesn't work even though he/she/LGBTQ has not been outside in 15 years. I agree with these folks who obviously have tried them... brendi: I use aerating shoes and they do work in my opinion. gemanadams_aol_com YES, they really work. dtwnwa The concept with the shoes is the holes they create allows the lawn to absorb fertilizer and it tightens the lawn. worked for my lawn

wish I hope and prayed to have something I could hear that may help save my back. The only thing that has helped is organic matter tilling it in and adding the soil living organisms. I live in the NE and have a mix of clays. There is the creamy yellow that is on top of BIG ROCK DEPOSITS (size of a small car) with some cracks between chunks. Everything too close to the clay dies until larger chunks of rocks are removed with some clay and water drains. THEN the tilling, organic matter and amendments work. I think the charcoal and neutralizers work their magic and help. At 2018, I have a 1/2 steel pipe cut to a point to do the aeration deeply poking at least a foot down and I do add all the good stuff I can get down and add the gypsum to help keep it down. I does help break the clay into smaller bites with compost I buy by the 10 wheel truck load. I have beautiful soil in my garden and flower beds. I did wish science had made some progress since your notes started 11 years ago. If anyone wants to have a trial with their product on my lawn I will be glad to offer my free space. Sorry I haven't found a magic bullet but I do use Ivory and sudsy ammonia to fertilize and kill the bugs. Love to all the young who are ready to take on the challenge and God bless the soil scientists who are still trying to solve it. My 50+ acres are available and with a little love we can grow a 10 foot beautiful corn stalk or 4'+ hay field. Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Get the pull behind, and look into a small push aerator. They're like 20 bucks, and do pretty well at getting into small spaces.

Deerslayer, Actually you can pull plugs in sandy soil. It just has to be a little wet, like a day or two (at most) after a heavy rain. I started out with the Argi-fab spike aerator/spreader and hated it. It wasn't heavy enough to dig in and really aerate the soil (even in sand). The only thing I could see it being useful for is seeding tilled soil. I took it back after one use and bought a Brinly plug aerator, which I weigh down with two cinder blocks, filled with concrete and rebar handles. That probably puts about 140lbs on it, which allow it to pull up 1.5-2" plugs. If I were overseeding, I'd aerate first, then go over it with my broadcast spreader. That's what I do when I put down 700-1000lbs of lime (depending on the ph tests) each spring. I don't really see the point in having one implement which does two jobs poorly (unless you're really strapped for storage space), instead of two pieces that each do their own job very well. A spike aerator alone would probably work fine with a weight shelf, but the combination hopper/aerator doesn't allow you to weigh it down. An aerator is an incredibly good purchase for a lawn tractor. When you consider renting a professional walk-behind plug aerator is around $100, it pretty much pays for itself after two uses. Also, a good plug aerator with a lot of weight on it can really tear things up (if you want it to). Before I had my tiller, I had to regrade a small portion of my front lawn before reseeding it. After a dozen or so passes with the aerator, it looked like I'd tilled it.