Step 'N Tilt Core Lawn Aerator Version 4 Kit (3.4 Inch Standard Length Coring Tines with Soil Core Container)

This aerator is excellent! It really works. Assembly is easy. I've tried other manual aerators and they caused a lot of back pain, took too long and were awkward to use. The wheels make all the different as well as the handle. I used my with the bucket attached and that also made it much easier to use because it helps with the stepping and pressing motion. I did my entire front yard and it didn't clog once. No pain the next day. Advice - walk backwards and step instead of pushing forward. Makes it much easier and faster. I look forward to doing my backyard.

Best manual aerator, hands down.Packaged very VERY well. Thick plastic on every component within the inner box. Also has an outer box.Good assembly instructionsGreat quality and thought put into this productWorks very well, with low fatigueWould buy againCores are alittle small, but I guess that has to be the case since it's using your body weight.Tines are welded to tine plate, not removable or interchangeable. Have to buy new plate. 2 tines on each plate

This is a good product for small to medium jobs. Aerating manually is a lot of work, but this is a well built option if you are going to do it. The build quality earned it an extra star. I used it for aerating the many spots in my patchy yard before seeding. It did a good job and the lawn really improved.

Somehow the assembly info didn't end up in the box. So the tube protection sleeves (gotta remove those and toss) confused me because they look like cheap springs. That aside it wasn't complicated to construct. Its operation is fantastic and easy. My soil is somewhat clayish and was pretty damp from rain situation so the core tubes got jammed frequently. The supplied tool for clearing the tubes worked perfectly.Easy to assemble, Easy to use. Does what its designed for. Very useful tool. Furnished my front yard within an hour.

Product is built sturdy and solid. Instructions for assembly and use technique are very detailed. If you follow the instruction to aerate after a heavy rain it works quite well. I had a bit of an issue with soil clogging in one of the four tines but that was alleviated with an application of WD 40 during use. As you would expect, it does take some dedicated time and effort to do larger areas with a manual device, but as I said, it works. I did encounter a problem on my second day of use where one of the tines actually broke off at the weld point. I contacted the company on their website and they responded within a few hours and sent the replacement part (plus an extra!) within a few days.....can't ask for better support.

Out of the box, the unit was easy to assemble (basic nut-and-bolt construction, 20 minutes with a socket set). Feels very sturdy with all steel parts. After a rain the night before to ensure the soil was adequately loose for aeration, I tested the aerator in a corner area of the backyard. The tines pierced through soil easily and the curvature of the handle and rocking motion pulled out 4 perfect plugs.I quickly did a 50 sq. ft. area to continue the trial run and it only took a minute, doing the suggested spacing of 2-6 inches apart. The curved design quickly allows you to pull up the tines and get into a rhythm while being easy on your body with almost no effort honestly. Front and back lawns are 2,500 sq. ft. combined and when I go back for the full job, I believe I can do it in 2 hours no problem at all. After the trial run, I rinsed off the tines, let dry in the sun and coated with gun oil before storing to prevent rust or corrosion (didn't have WD-40 on hand but it's the same thing). I will be keeping the unit.So glad I don't have to haul those expensive massive machines from Home Depot , or shell out several hundred dollars to landscape contractors anymore, because finally there is an efficient manual machine that makes it worth the time. As is repeated in the instructions many times, the soil conditions are key to proper aeration.

I got this to help the bald spots in my yard as well as help the height next to the curb.The actual operation of it works well but I think in order to to change the yard height, I'd have to do a LOT of of aeration to make any height difference, even over a year.This is really built well and works as designed but I likely wouldn't buy it again.Edit to review: This has held up well over the summer, very sturdy and well built, however it just doesn't remove enough at a time for my use case. Also, if one of the prongs gets a little dirty on the inside, it keeps getting clogged and it needs to be washed out before you can really use it again.

This thing works as advertised. In my experience, the most important part of using this device is getting your lawn to the correct saturation. You don't want it too soggy, and soil that's too dry won't allow the corers to go into the soil at all. It takes a little experimentation to get the lawn to the goldilocks wetness. You also have to work hard actually punching this into the ground. Once you figure it out it's easier but still a lot of work to do a large section of grass. I do about 200sf in a day before I've had enough. But it does the job when the ground is prepped properly, and the core collector is a must. Otherwise you stomp on the cores, which then end up as mud clumps all over. The assembly instructions were not great. The aerator is fairly well built. I would advise actually following the recommendation in the instructions and use it with two corers first so you can get used to how it functions and then add the other two. Using it with four aerators is definitely harder than with two, but it goes faster. Lastly, be prepared to have to clear jams from the plugged up aerators once in a while. They provided a tool that works pretty well, but I use it with a rubber mallet too. All in all, I'd buy it again if I had to. It only got 4 stars because it will rust if not cleaned and dried properly. That seems ridiculous to me. Also, as mentioned, the instructions could have been much more clearly written.