Customer Reviews for John Deere 48 in. Tow-Behind Plug Aerator

I ordered the John Deere 48"aerator for my 6-acre property to tow behind my S 180 garden tractor. It arrived in good condition, was simple to assemble, and appeared to be well designed, I was happy until I read on page 13 of the John Deere Operators Manual that the 48" aerator is only rated for the heavier 300 and 400 series tractors due to the size and weight of the unit, the 100 and 200 series should use the 40" according to Deere. It doesn't say that anywhere on the Home Depot webpage, in fact they have a photo showing an S 130 tractor pulling it. It will probably be fine, but Home Depot should have this info on the products the web page.

Bought this in fall of 2019, and have now used it through 3 full years in North Carolina. If the soil is dry, it will barely make a mark. However, if you wait until a day or two after rain, it pulls full size cores. It works well, but quality is lacking. I finished aerating last fall, and as I was driving it back for storage one of the wheels broke. I needed to move it a few weeks later, and that's when the other wheel failed in the same way. The bracket that holds the pin bends easily too.

Comes well packaged. Fairly easy to assemble. The raise/lower mechanism for the tines is well designed and easy to work. I assembled it in about 30 minutes, hooked it up to my Deere, placed 6 cinder blocks in it and my wife proceeded to quickly aerate the lawn. It follows well on the hitch, and does not require much additional driving skill either forward or backward. The tires and axles are clearly a cost savings design, but they are adequate for the job, even when fully loaded. This is standard John Deere-well made, functional, general solid....and overpriced. But if you go cheaper, you generally just get poorly made press metal garbage that is incomplete and requires 5 additional trips to the store to actually use.

Received this aerator yesterday. Had shipped to home. Box was tore in several places. Aerator was dinged and dented in a few spots from shipping apparently. A few bolts and nuts were missing. Went and bought some to replace. One wheel is a little crooked. The bracket may need to be bent back out some. I understand that it is a heavy product. But for what it costs you would think that they could ship it in a heavier box and more padding. The aerator works as it should. Pulled out 2-3" plugs. I used 4x8x16" solid concrete blocks, that added just under 200 lbs for extra weight. Pulled behind john deere z445 zero turn. Other than packaging i would reccomend this product. If you are on the fence on which aerator to buy. This is the heaviest that i have found. Didnt wanna buy a cheap one that probably wouldnt last. Hopefully this one lasts like it should.

Had her up and running in less than 40 mins. Deeply moist soil and six concrete blocks on the tray are a must for aerating success. Pretty strong build for the price. JD should have added 2-4 more tines per tine wheel for smoother aerating, but hardly a serious draw back. Making 2 perpendicular passes I pulled out 3-4" plugs on irrigated lawn. 27 hp exmark pulled it with ease. We will see how it holds up to 50 hrs of use per year.

It’s well built. Did the job very good. And it pulled nicely behind my Zero Turn.

I figured a John Deere branded aerator would have been quality, but the wheel assembly and lift lever bent after the first time being used. Buyer beware that this is not the typical quality you would expect from John Deere. The tiny wheels do not support the task of aerating a 1.7 acre property. Can no longer use, halfway through the job. Not easy to find parts either from my online searches.

Setup was not easy. I usually do not have issues with things like this but this one took a long time. The brackets holding the wheels were not done correctly so I had to make some modifications in order to get the wheels to line up. I tried it out shortly after putting it together and it just skipped over the ground instead of getting some deep plugs. I'm still debating whether or not I'm going to keep it.

Very well made and instructions for assembly were easy to follow.

Fast assembling works great knocked out the lawn in non time flat

Solidly built but expensive. The spoon tines were a little smaller than I expected. It needs close to maximum weight to get good penetration. Also the lift handle in the highest transport position was too close to the tractor wheels of my John Deere x739 AWS causing it disengage and the tines to drop during turns. I had to use the lower transport position too prevent the lift arm from hitting the tire. There was no issues during turns in the operating position. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the purchase.

Works verry well. Put 4 @ 5-7 gal water containers for weights

Hard to understand manual. Similar nut and bolt but not marked anything. I use my best guess. Some screw was missing. I call customer service. They are so helpful and very kind. send me missing part within 4 day.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

It’s fair. Despite adding the max additional weight the aeration plug tines only had about an inch of ground penetration

Nice aerator. Very heavy construction. With 5 full size blocks in the tray, adequate weight for Aeration. Box was sealed allowing all parts to be available for assembly. Very happy with Aerator.

Nice piece of equipment however parts were missing.

Assembly was easy.add plenty of weight, works great

Assembly was straight forward. Works well to aerate the yard, pulled behind zero turn mower, using 2 large cinder blocks with a blanket so they didn’t rattle. Works great!

Too many parts missing. Had to buy parts that should have been provided.

Easy to assemble. Built well and did a good job with no problems