Wear heavy, long pants and a heavy, long shirt. Eye protection is a good idea, too. Never walk away from the machine while it's running. Wear gloves. Keep hands clear. Warning, this medication may cause drowsiness. Do not operate machinery or drive until you know how this medication will affect you.

The basic protective stuff, you know. You can look up the full recommendations for running any machine online.

They're not that bad. Should just bounce over a root or rock, no big deal. You will want to water the day before if your yard is dry. You don't want it too wet, just damp enough that you can pull good 3" plugs. Make as many passes as you can. Mark any sprinkler heads to avoid hitting them. Hang on and have fun!

If you have much yard to do, go ahead and take some pain killers (Advil, Tylonol, Aleve, etc.) as soon as you are done, or first thing the next morning...you will feel it the next day.

If you have much lawn, its a pretty good job physically. Not horrendous, but some work.

Like with anything new, take it slow until you are sure you have it figured out.

Several passes from different angles/directions are usually best. Especially if you are overseeding, your yard should really look torn up.

Hang on.

Shredding the parts of your lawn that everybody can see won't be the problem as that's what an aerator will do. Your neighbors laughing at you as this machine yanks you helplessly the first time that you pull the lever is what you really need to be worried about.

Did I mention - hang on.

If I remember this machine correctly from last fall when I used it, it has a weight on either side that you can slide out...removing them makes it a little easier to hump it in and out of your vehicle.

Agree with all of the above, especially the idea of watering the lawn in advance.

Gloves, eye protection, painkillers, hang on....

Sounds like my first marriage.

How much water should I put down? I'm planning on picking up the machine Thursday AM and we're going to have about .75" to 1" of rain Tue/Wed.

Sounds like my first marriage.

Add some Prozac and it sounds like my first marriage as well...

You shouldn't need to water additionally if you got rain Wednesday. Thursday morning use a screwdriver, drive it into the soil, and see how far you get. If you can penetrate four inches you'll be just fine.

"Sounds like my first marriage."

Hahahahahaha! Thank you for that!

I'm with mrl05. The very first time I used an aerator for my project, I wasn't expecting the hard pull the first time I pulled back to propell the unit. Be prepared for it, it will be a surprise. It actually pulled a muscle in my back and I was beat after aerating my lawn. I have about 6,000 square feet, so I don't have that much to do. I did the aeration, seeding, fertilization and rolled on the same day. I slept very good that evening. If I had not pulled that muscle, life would've been not nearly so bad, so just be careful.

each fall we get 5-6 neighbors together and rent an aerator for the day and each person does their own yard. It is a chore, best advise is DO NOT fight the aerator, let it do the work you just kind of hold on and steer it as best you can. You'll get the hang of it after a few passes. As we watch the rookies do it each year we laugh as they fight and push and pull and try to man handle the aerator. can't be done (unless your NFL stock).

I guess I'm lucky for once to be in an area with such heavy clay. so many people aerate often enough that it is less expensive to hire it done than to rent and do it myself. And if I mark the sprinkler heads, they're responsible for damage. I'm sure I'd lose control and damage at least a couple of heads if I tried to do it myself.

bpgreen, I think it's that way in most places...usually as cheap or cheaper to hire someone to do it. Unless you go in with the neighbors, as oppalm said. I used to rent one and do it myself anyway, because I like to put a lot of holes in there and I was not sure a lawn company would make as many passes. Now I have a 23K sq ft lawn and use a pull-behind aerator...not quite as good, but MUCH easier!

The hard part is tight turns. If you can let it just pull itself around, without fighting as suggested above, its not too bad. But, sometimes the layout of the yard requires some sharp turns, and I've never found any way to do that but "heave". Many of those get tiring.