Best Pull Behind Aerators for Your Lawn | Reviews & Guide of 2024

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We take care of all the things in our house, and we give in our full efforts to make sure that the lawn that covers the area around your house is better and greener.

If you are mowing the lawn and putting the seeds in your garden soil but still seeing certain dead patches on the soil and the grass does not seem to have good growth, there are chances that the soil might need to be refreshed a bit and what other way to do it other than getting a perfect aerator.

We have prepared the list of all the best pull-behind aerators that you can in the market currently. You just have to make sure that you have an idea about what kind of aerating that the soil needs if it needs extensive aeration or just a little handheld aerator,

Here are some of the best pull-behind aerators that you can get.

Best Pull Behind Aerator
Agri-Fab 45-0299 (Best Overall)
  • Aerator Width: 48-inch
  • Hitch: Universal
  • Weight: 92 Pound
  • Warranty: 3 Years
Agri-Fab 45-0518
  • Aerator Width: 40-inch
  • Hitch: Universal
  • Weight: 79 Pound
  • Warranty: 3 Years
Brinly PA-40BH
  • Aerator Width: 40-inch
  • Hitch: Universal
  • Weight: 64 Pound
  • Warranty: 2 Years
Strongway AE-48TSW
  • Aerator Width: 48-inch
  • Hitch: Pin-style
  • Weight: 110 Pound
  • Warranty: 1 Year
Agri-Fab 45-0544
  • Aerator Width: 40-inch
  • Hitch: Universal
  • Weight: 40 Pound
  • Warranty: 3 Years

Best Pull Behind Aerator Reviews

1. Agri-Fab 45-0299 48-Inch Tow-Behind Plug Aerator

Agri-Fab 48-Inch Tow Lawn Aerator

We all know that the better lawn makes the whole house look fantastic when the house with the uneven and dead lawn surely looks as if it hasn’t been cleaned for years.

To make sure that the lawn in your yard looks as beautiful as your home, you have to manage the lawn and ensure that you are aerating it at intervals. One of the very best pull-behind aerators that we have on our list is a 48-Inch aerator by Agri-Fab.

Agri-Fab has been very well known to provide the most cost-effective gardening tools, and this aerator is one of the best pieces of equipment that they are providing.

The aerator has 32 galvanized knives that make it easy and hassle-free to penetrate the soil without much effort. You can easily connect this aerator with your tractor and put weight on it up to 175 lbs for even better pressure to penetrate the soil deep to about 3 inches.

The hitch that lets you connect the aerator to your tractor is universal, and you can do it easily by yourself without requiring any heavy-duty tools. What we like the best about this aerator is that its flat wheels save you any problems about getting them fixed in case of puncture.

It’s even easy to manage, and one of the top reasons the aerator made its way onto our list is it’s wholly made in the USA and comes with a 3-year warranty. So now, whatever money you are spending on the aerator, your money is secured against the purchase.

Pros

  • Made from stainless steel, hence it will last you for a long time
  • Easy to assemble
  • Easy to use
  • Universal hitch
  • 3-year warranty from the manufacturer

Cons

  • If not maintained properly, the height of the tines cannot be adjusted easily

2. Agri-Fab 45-0544 40-Inch Tow Behind Spike Aerator

Agri-Fab 45-0544 Tow Behind Spike Aerator

Agri-Fab is known to provide different kinds of and numerous choices of gardening or lawn equipment. This particular 40-inch spike aerator has 10 galvanized steel spikes that will do the actual job of aerating your soil.

The spikes of the aerator are made of steel that will last you for a lifetime. Agri-Fab has gained its name by providing long-lasting gardening tools which are highly cost-efficient.

The hitch of the aerator is universal, and it can be easily connected to your tractor. If you are wondering about the weight of this 40-inch spike aerator, it weighs low, but it holds up to 100 lbs weight, so it can go dig deeper into the soil for a better aeration process.

What the aeration does to your soil is that it makes sure there is no dead soil or uneven soil when it comes to the lawn; when you are mowing the grass, gradually, you will learn that the grass at certain parts of the lawn dies down.

With this kind of aerator, you can do it very easily as they are towed behind type. When you receive the aerator, you will notice that the spikes will come assembled, so you will not have to do much of the hard work to set up the aerator with your tractor.

Two 7-inch flat tires of the aerator easily slide on the rough patches of the soil and give you even better performance in doing the aerating of the soil. Moreover, this 40-inch aerator from Agri-Fab is pocket-friendly, and it comes with a 3-year warranty.

No matter the size of the garden, this aerator towing behind your tractor will do its perfect job and gradually make your lawn look greener and better.

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • 40-inch of timing width
  • Heavy-duty aerator
  • 3-year warranty by the manufacturer
  • Most suitable for sandy and uneven soils

Cons

  • Weights that you will need to put are not included
  • Requires large storage space

3. Brinly PA-40BH 40-inch Pull Behind Plug Aerator

Brinly PA-40BH Tow Behind Plug Aerator

Brinly is yet another name that you will hear a lot when it comes to purchasing the best gardening equipment. This PA-40BH tow-behind aerator from them will not fail to get you the performance you need.

The 3-inch steel plugging spoon of the aerator is heat-treated and made sure to last you for a long time. There are a total of 16-gauge plugs in this aerator that will help you make your lawn even and grow on the part where you might see uneven and almost dry soil.

What the aerator will do is it will penetrate 3-inches deep and cut off the weeds and dead roots or the difference between the newly added fertile soil in some cases.

There is a tray on the aerator that helps the tool put pressure for better aerating performance, and for deeper access to the aerating, it is capable of handling about 150 pounds of weight.

The pressure from this weight will help the aerator dig deeper into the soil. The 10-inch rubber tires might not be as efficient as you expect them to be, but they are known to work better with a certain weight over the tray of the aerator.

This is one of the easiest-to-store and the safest to use tow-behind aerator. It slides easily on rocky or sandy surfaces. If you have been seeing rough and dried patches over your lawns lately, we highly suggest that you should aerate your lawn at different intervals to make sure that your lawn is even and green from all sides.

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Heavy-duty aerator
  • Can be easily attached and detached with your tractor
  • Heavy-duty design
  • Safe to use and easy to store

Cons

  • The drivers of the tines are made of plastic

4. Strongway AE-48TSW Tow-behind Plug Aerator

Strongway AE-48TSW Tow-behind Plug Aerator

Strongway has focused on delivering you one of the most high-end and safe-to-use aerators. You mow the lawn, and you give your 100% effort in making sure that your lawn always looks better. The lawn is basically a foyer to the house.

If it looks greener and healthier, it will make your house look better in your whole neighborhood. This Strongway tow behind plug aerator can cover the 48 inches wide soil space in one go. There are 32 corning plugs that do the work to aerate your soil very easily.

You can attach the aerator easily to ATVs or tractors, and you have to make sure that you have put a certain weight over the aerator drive tray to make sure that you can get the aerating deep into the soil. With the maximum weight support of 140 lbs, the aerator can dig deep into 2.1 and 1/2 inches deep.

The tires of the aerator are 10-inches, and it can easily be driven on the rockiest soil with the perfect aerating. The durable powder coat of the tines will last you for a lifetime.

Moreover, this aerator by Strongway is highly pocket-friendly and the only aerator you will need for great performance to make your lawn as perfect as it can be.

The aerator can be easily used and stored without much fuss, so all you have to do is take care of your lawn and make the soil perfectly aerated for the growth of your lawn.

Pros

  • Highly durable construction
  • Extremely easy to use
  • 10-inch tires for easy use
  • Adjustable handle
  • Can work better with the weight of 140 lbs

Cons

  • No straps for handling extra weight

5. Agri-Fab 45-0518 40-inch Tow Plug Aerator

Agri-Fab 45-0518 Tow Plug Aerator

It was a very difficult task to come up with 5 topmost aerators, and clearly, some of the Agri-Fab’s best aerators made their way onto our list. This particular aerator from the Agri-Fab is one of the heavy-duty aerators you might need to make your lawn look perfect from every inch.

It will let you cover the 40-inch wide soil area in one go, so if you have a large lawn area, you do not have to worry about that either. With this kind of aerator, you can easily be done with your work quickly.

There are a total of 24 galvanized coring knives, or you can say tines in the aerator, which rotates when they are towed behind the ATV. One thing that you have to make sure of is that you will have to put a weight on the tray of the aerator, the capacity of which is about 140 pounds.

If you want your aerator to dig deep into the soil, you can use the maximum capacity of the weight, which will aerate the soil by 2 to 3 inches. If you want to aerate the soil from the surface layer, you can put less weight over the weight tray.

Now, keeping in mind that there are certain dead patches in your lawn, you will have to aerate the soil in your yard at regular intervals depending upon the condition of your soil.

What better way to do it than using the aerator that comes with a 3-year warranty by the manufacturer, which will last you for a lifetime. Even setting up the aerator and using the aerator is one of the easiest tasks if you are using one of the above-mentioned aerators.

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Long-lasting
  • 24-galvanized tines
  • Comes with a 3-year warranty
  • The weight tray can carry 140 lbs of weight for maximum performance

Cons

  • The assembling of the aerator might consume your time

Buying Guide for Best Pull Behind Aerators

Taking care of your lawn is one of the most important parts of taking care of your house. If you have a lawn in your yard, you must know how easily your house can look the best on the block if you have a better lawn.

Now, even if you are putting in all the hard work that you can to make your lawn look better, there are always some dead patches here and there. It must frustrate you, right?

What if we told you that aerating the soil would help you make your lawn better? Yes. Let us tell you what aerating the lawn actually does to the soil.

Buying Guide for Best Pull Behind Aerators

What is a pull behind the aerator? How does it work?

Pull behind aerators are a piece of tools that makes the soil of your garden or lawn better. Now, what exactly is lawn aerating? When you have been growing lawns, flowers, etc., on the soil, after a certain period of time, some weed grows at the roots, and let’s not forget the fertilizers you might use to make the growth even better.

What happens after a certain period of time is that the fertilizers, the weeds, and the patchy soil makes it difficult for anything to grow better. Sometimes you can even see the dead layer of soil above where there are blank patches, and no grass is growing there. In another instance, you might have added some extra fertilized soil to make it better, but you miss out on mixing it evenly with your current soil.

What the aerator does is, after you pull it behind with your ATV, it is dragged through the soil mixing and dragging off the upper dead layer of the soil or sometimes even get the weeds out of the roots, eventually leading to fertilized soil.

It is necessary that you aerate the soil of your garden or yard at regular intervals to make sure that you have the best soil that you need there to be for better growth of your lawns, flowers, mini trees that you might be planting. This summer, if you are using the aerator, we are sure that you will have the best green lawn glistening in your front yard that is the best in your whole neighborhood,

What is a pull behind the aerator How does it work

Types of soil aerators

Before we head further into this buying guide, it is necessary that you figure out what kind of aerator you need so later on, you can figure out what are the main specifications that you need in your aerator.

Types of soil aerators

Hand aerator

Hand aerators are the most basic soil aerators that you might need to work on your soil. It is highly suitable for users who want to use the aerator for small spaces. As its name suggests, they are operated manually.

What they do is, aerate the first layer of the soil without much fuss and can make your soil ready for watering. However, if you know that your soil has many patches, it is advised not to use this kind of aerator as it will not help you as much. But there are still certain varieties available in this kind of aerator that you can get for aerating your soil with a deeper layer.

Tow behind or pull-behind aerators

Tow behind aerators or pull-behind aerators are somewhat professional-grade aerators. You can attach this kind of aerator behind your ATV or even a tractor, put some weight over the weight tray, and you will be able to dig deep and aerate your soil for even 3 inches deep.

Anyone who has a small to the largest lawn area or gardening area can use this kind of aerator to make your work easy and quick when it comes to aerating your soil. Although, it is necessary to understand that this kind of aerator might cost you a little more than manual or small aerators.

Spike aerators

Spike aerators are the most handheld and easy-to-use aerators. They are one of those low-grade aerators that are affordable for everyone. It is basically a handheld tool with certain spikes at the end of it, which you can drag on your soil to do the work. It requires a certain amount of hard work, and that is why it is very less preferable by the users who have a large area of soil to cover.

It requires a lot of manual labor, even if this aerator is a good enough tool to aerate the soil, but if you have a large area to cover, you might need any other aerator that can make the work easy for you.

Plug aerators

Plug aerators can be highly useful if the soil in your garden or yard is dead through a few inches down. What the plug aerator does is that it plugs into the soil and, depending on the size of the plug, gets the soil to come off.

Although it does take more time than any other aerator, it is the perfect aerator for you if you want to mix new soil or have dead soil with even deeper levels. The plug will go deep and aerate the soil and bring it above and mix it up with the fertile soil making sure that it is now ready for planting lawn or any other seeds. It is also used by some professional gardeners to make sure that their soil is always ready for plantation.

What do I look for in a pull-behind soil aerator?

Pull behind soil aerators are used for different reasons. Depending upon the quality of your soil, you can decide what kind of pull-behind soil aerator you need to make sure that you can grow whatever you want to grow in that soil. Here, we have mentioned a few things you can check and set priorities for before you purchase the soil aerator that can meet your needs accurately.

What do I look for in a pull-behind soil aerator

Tines/spikes

Tines or spikes of the aerator are a crucial part of the tool to make sure that the aerator is doing its job perfectly. Most standard aerators have about 16 spikes, and if you are opting for a professional-level aerator, they might have somewhat about 36 spikes or tines.

When you are towing the aerator behind your ATV, these spikes are being rotated in the soil so that it mixes up with the healthy layer of the soil. You can also check for the quality of the tines and the material they are made of. You would want to go for an aerator that has washed or stainless steel spikes so that it can last you for a longer period of time.

If you have large ground that you want to cover, you can choose an aerator that has more tines, and if you have small to medium-sized ground, you can use the aerator with 12 to 16 tines or spikes.

Weight tray

When you are using a pull-behind aerator, you have to put some weight on the weight tray of the equipment. Each aerator has a different capacity for weight, and based on the weight; it will be able to dig deep in inches.

For example, some aerators have a maximum capacity of 140 lbs, and if you put on that number of weight, they can aerate the soil into 3-inches deeply. You have to check whether this weight tray is durable or not. It is quite important to understand that no matter which aerator you will get, you will not receive the items to put on the weight tray, which you have to look for on your own.

Compatibility with vehicles

When it comes to studying the compatibility of the aerator, it is quite easy to figure out that you can attach most of the aerators to your ATVs or farming tractors. Most pull-behind aerators are very easy to use and can be easily attached to ATVs.

If you do not have an ATV or tractor, you can easily get the aerator that is operated manually and does not require any vehicle to be attached to them. However, before you choose which aerator is suitable for the soil in your garden, you can check whether the particular aerator is compatible with the vehicle that you have.

Price

This factor of choosing and purchasing the aerator may differ from person to person. Most of the aerators are budget-friendly. If you have a decided budget for the pull-behind aerator, you can definitely find one that matches your decided budget from the above-mentioned aerators.

And if you do not have any set criteria for budget, you can still opt to choose a pocket-friendly aerator that will last for years and will also not fail in providing you the best performance that you need it to perform on your soil.

Ease of use

Most of the aerators are extremely easy to use, and all of them also come with certain manual instructions. Upon receiving your aerator, you can do the assembly and connect the aerator to your ATV with the universal hitch of the tool.

After that, you will have to put some weight on the weight tray of the tool to make sure that enough pressure is being given to the spikes at the end that goes into the soil. Without the weight, it becomes impossible to aerate the soil effectively. Depending on how easily and what kind of wheels are there in the aerator, you can easily decide whether the aerator that you chose is easy to use or not.

Durability

An aerator is something that you do not purchase very often, even if they do not cost as much as most of the other gardening tools, it’s one of the purchases that you do not have to make very often.

If you are purchasing a durable aerator, it will give you good performance with good durability. The durability of the aerator will depend on the kind of material the aerator is made out of.

Warranty

Although the warranty in the aerator does not matter as much, if you are purchasing some tool for the first time. The warranty makes sure that your money is guaranteed against the purchase that you make. You will get a 3-year warranty on the most standard aerators that you get.

Benefits of using the aerators

There are several benefits that you get from using the aerator over your soil, let us learn a little about them,

  • When the soil is aerated, what happens is that the water, seeds, fertilizer, etc., whatever you put in your soil, will be able to penetrate through the earth.
  • It can even make certain changes in your dead soil by getting the inner layer of soil mixed for better and fertilized for soil.
  • Aerating the soil will remove any weeds that might have grown below the upper layer of the soil. So if you are noticing that your plants are not growing as properly or healthy as they should, the soil aeration will help you get rid of those extra weeds or any roots.
  • It will help you grow your lawn thicker, greener and even better than before.
  • The aeration will make sure that there are no puddles or uneven soil. It will make the soil even, and if by any chance you have put fertilizer, aeration will help you mix it properly.

Maintenance of the Pull Behind Aerator

Maintaining the aerator is not rocket science; all you have to do is make sure that you clean the aerator after each use. It is also advised that you are using the aerator with a vehicle that is compatible with the pull behind the aerator that you have purchased.

You can blow the leaves off from the surface before you start using the aerator over it to ensure that you are not mixing it with any junk or dried leaves with the soil.

If you watered the soil that you want to aerate for an hour or two, it would make your job even easier for you. If you keep taking care of these few things, we are pretty sure that you will be able to maintain your aerator perfectly and in addition to it will help you make your aerator last longer.

Conclusion

If you are willing to get a good lawn in your garden, you know that there are some things that you have to take care of. One of them includes aerating the soil to ensure that there are no dead soil layers or weed roots.

Before you choose the aerator that works well with the type of soil that you have and how you want to improve it for a better lawn. To figure out what you need to look out for before purchasing a pull-behind aerator, you can refer to the buying guide mentioned above. We hope it helps you land with the one aerator that eventually leads you to better soil for your grass.

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