Ditch Traditional Lawn Aerators: The Amazon Find Made For Compacted Soil

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Aeration is a critical lawn care task that can slow weed growth while increasing the health of your grass. Lawn aeration involves creating holes in the yard that loosen compacted soil and allow nutrients and water to sink down to the grass roots. You have a few different options for machines that will help you perform this task, but some of them can be expensive to buy, especially motorized aerators. Additionally, highly compacted soil may need extra passes to loosen up, which is why some people avoid DIY work and decide to hire a pro to do the job. However, those costs can add up, so if you have your heart set on reworking compacted soil yourself, Amazon has an effective walk-behind option. Featuring an adjustable weighted drum and blade-like spikes, it's called the Lawnira Heavy-Duty Push Lawn Aerator Roller.

This aerator is currently priced at $189.99. Hiring a professional for an average of $140 might be tempting, but after a couple of sessions using this Amazon machine, it practically pays for itself. Even compared to renting a machine, which averages about $80 to $120 per day, buying your own machine is cheaper in the long run if you intend to aerate annually. 93% of Amazon reviewers gave this product a 4- or 5-star rating, so you should receive long-lasting performance from the Lawnira Heavy-Duty Push Lawn Aerator Roller, too. "I don't usually give five-star reviews, but this product is built very well," one Amazon buyer said, "It does exactly what they say it will do."

One of the best features you receive with this heavy-duty roller is the ability to adjust its weight. The machine weighs 30 pounds on its own, but you can use the sand-filling tunnel to add another 30 pounds of material, such as sand, to the drum. The extra weight gives the aerator the force needed to penetrate compacted ground. "If you have hard, compacted soil and have been frustrated by aerators that seem to skate across the surface instead of doing their job, this is the one to get," one reviewer wrote on Amazon. The machine also includes heavy-duty wheels on either side of the drum to simplify moving the drum and making turns without having the spikes drag on the ground.

Of course, a heavy walk-behind aerator like this also needs to be comfortable to use. Reviewers seem to appreciate the extendable T-handle, which has a maximum length of 59 inches. Machines with shorter handles require stooping and bending, which can be awkward to do for long periods of time. Additionally, because you'll own the machine, you won't have to compete with others to obtain a rental once the time of the year to aerate your lawn arrives. You can just do the work when it's convenient for you. 

Because the Lawnira Heavy-Duty Push Lawn Aerator Roller uses sharp spikes to penetrate the ground, it doesn't pull away plugs of soil like some more complex machines. Plug aerators use hollow metal tines to penetrate the soil and grab cylindrical plugs, which they deposit on top of the lawn. Professionals sometimes recommend a plug aerator over using spikes because a spike pushes soil away as it pierces, which might actually make compacted soil worse in some cases. One Amazon reviewer wrote, "A hand-operated aerator like this has limits. First is the design of the spikes. It punches a very small slit and does not remove any soil like the commercial unit[s] do." Even so, using a spike aerator may be better than nothing, especially if you're tired of renting units or hiring professionals.

Although its weight can be ideal for working hard, compacted soil, Lawnira's aerator might also cause some physical strain, even when it's only partially filled with sand. Multiple passes could be necessary depending on how many holes you want to create, and pushing a 30- to 60-pound aerator is no small feat. For this reason, another Amazon reviewer would not recommend trying to use this machine on a large lot or across an area that has a numerous mounds and inclines. "If you have 1/4 acre, you will be questioning why [you] didn't just rent a commercial unit about halfway through," they wrote. If you can't justify this purchase, there are other ways to aerate your lawn without heavy equipment.