# Manual aerotor (Yard Butler) gets clogged with dirt...



## sheepfescue (Jul 29, 2019)

My manual "Yard Butler" aerator frequently gets clogged with dirt. Now, upon inspection of gas-powered aerators, it just looks like--ultimately--the device aerating the soil is the exact same as that on the Yard Butler. Of course, a gas-powered device is nice, but if dirt gets clogged in the manual version, what is to stop it from getting clogged in the gas-powered aerators?

(Correct me if I am wrong, but it does not look like any gas-powered aerator devices have a thing that goes in and unclogs the aerating shoots during use...???)

By the way, when I say clogged, I mean CLOGGED (I'm talking stuff as hard as concrete and as stubborn as dried super-glue, which barely comes out with a screwdriver and hammer).


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Yard Butler:








Ryan Powered Aerator Tine:









You don't see a difference? 

BTW, here's a fix:
https://yardbutler.com/products/lawn-coring-aerator


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

I believe that with the powered ones, that rotation of the head flings the dirt out of the aerator. With the manual ones, you just keep packing more and more dirt into the tine and unless it can pop out the top, it just packs it in there tighter and tighter.
I feel you pain. I tried the Corona manual core aerator earlier this spring and it did the same thing. I recently picked up a Craftsman spading fork and will it may not aerate as well as a core aerator does, it also wont plug up.
Ive seen a couple Youtube videos where people complained about their manual core aerators plugging up and needing to keep a screwdriver in their pocket to unclog it, so, you arent alone on that one.


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## johnklein25 (Apr 22, 2021)

Ditto - the yard butler is really hit and miss with my soil. I'm on the verge of getting rid of it. My lawn is < 2000 sq ft and getting a aerating machine in my backyard is not an option, so I think I'll be using my cordless drill and a long 1" auger bit this fall on my trouble spots. Maybe about 300 sq ft of trouble spots x 9 holes per sq ft = 2700 holes x 5 seconds per hole = about 3,75 hours of drilling time / 80% efficiency = 4.6 hours of drilling fun.

Using a drill instead of a plugger shouldn't leave the little plugs laying on top of the soil either. My soil is heavy clay so my plugs tend to turn really hard and become hydrophobic rather than breaking down and returning to the soil.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

> spading fork


There was a study done a number of years ago by the U of Georgia, I think.
They compared the results of different style of aerators and found that deep tine fracturing was the most effective at reducing compaction.
A spade fork can be used for deep tine fracturing. Drive the tines straight down. Pull back a bit. Pull it out. Move four inches and rinse and repeat.


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## LeeB (Jul 1, 2019)

Watering is really important for clay too, I usually wait until the day after it's rained an inch or more to aerate otherwise it's just like concrete and the tines will only ride on the surface.


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## neophyte (Sep 28, 2020)

I pre-apply WD40 inside prior to manual aerating with yard butler. That help me. Had to do it only once or twice for a section that was 500 sq ft and it wasn't clogged/stuck.


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## rbvar (May 28, 2020)

I wonder if there's any research on all the different forces involved that lead to these aerators getting jammed. One thing I found that helped (Hound Dog, not Yard Butler) was taking pliers and crimping in the narrow end a little more. I think maybe they were getting splayed out hitting buried rocks/construction debris. I figure with a narrower diameter, even if the plug expands inside the aerator once its free of the pressure of the surrounding soil, it's still narrow enough to eject more reliably. Not sure that would help with the Yard Butler if one of the problems is the weld intruding into the hollow tine--seems like the core would still catch on that and start jamming.


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