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Aerator for your baseball field
Using
an aerator on your Baseball Field |
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The
single best thing you can do for your turf |
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Choices
and Decisions There
are several kinds of aeration methods. The two most common are solid tine
and hollow tine.
- I prefer
the walk-behind machines that mechanically drive the tines into the
ground. This approach provides a more even distribution of
aeration and allows the depth of the tines to remain constant.
- Other methods include
solid tine or very narrow core tines on a unit pulled behind a tractor
or riding mower. Usually a couple big cinder blocks are stacked on the
aerating attachment to give it weight to dig down. My experience is
that this does not work nearly as well as the walk-behind machines.
Sources
and Suppliers Suppliers
I've used and am satisfied with: Home Depot Rentals, United Rentals, A
Tool Shed, NationsRent, Hertz Equipment Rentals.
Tips & Hints
- Mark your sprinklers
before you aerate so you don't damage them.
- You can also core
aerate your infield dirt to loosen it up. Soak with water first so it
is not hard as a rock.
- Aerate high spots
on your infield and rake cores away. The high spots will sink down.
Do this again in two weeks. Rake cores away and the high spots may be
level with the rest of the turf.
- High school, college,
or professional infields take 30 minutes to aerate when running the
aerator on full throttle. So, get two and do the criss cross in 30 minutes
rather than 1 hour.
- Little league size
infield can be done in less than 15 minutes.
- Avoid the machines
that have heavy signs of rust on the mechanical parts. They could get
stuck and then you don't complete your job.
Mistakes to avoid
These machines are
heavy. You shouldn't try to lift these in and out of truck by yourself.
Get a helper... or use a trailer with a ramp.
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walk-behind
core
aerator
hollow
tubes produce
aerated cores

a walk-behind aerator
in action
cores left
behind
damaged
sprinkler:
it didn't get flagged so
it got hit by the aerator |
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