Stop Scrubbing: There's A Smarter Way To Remove Dirt & Unclog Lawn Aerators

If you have thick, healthy backyard turf, you've probably been aerating it regularly to help water and nutrients reach the roots. And if you really know how to aerate your lawn effectively, chances are you're using a core aerator. Unlike spike aerators that simply poke thin holes in the ground (and further compresses the soil), core aerators remove plugs to truly loosen up compacted earth. The downside? Plugs that contain clay and rocks inevitably get stuck in the aerator spoons, slowing your progress as you stop to clear them. While you may have been scrubbing these clogs out with a hammer and chisel or screwdriver, a more efficient way is to use handy power tools, such as an air chisel (as suggested by YouTube user Tractor Tech) or a rotary hammer drill with a chisel attachment.

Although it's the more expensive option, you may prefer the air chisel if you have a compressor. It's a great tool to have on hand when you're finished aerating and you bring the aerator back to the shop for cleaning. However, you can also use a power drill out in the field to keep the spoons clean while you're working. Both tools are powerful enough to break up concrete, so they'll make short work of the dirt clogging the spoons, even if it's full of rocks. Besides being portable, a rotary hammer drill, like the Bauer Brushless Cordless Rotary Drill ($69.99 at Harbor Freight), is a more efficient tool for cleaning an aerator than an air chisel, because it can spin the chisel while it's hammering. That helps the chisel clear clay from the sides of the spoon. 

A power tool becomes a lot more useful if you have a large lawn and are using a motorized walk-behind or riding aerator with multiple spoons for your seasonal landscape maintenance. When you hit a rocky patch or one with highly compacted soil, and you notice that plugs aren't being ejected, the tool allows you to stop the machine and clear the spoons in a few minutes. Whenever you're done with the aerator and putting it back in storage, it's important to clean the spoons thoroughly to remove dirt and grime and prevent rust, and a power tool makes that job go quickly, too.

Use a cold chisel attachment on your rotary drill. They come in various widths, so choose one that's between ¼ and ½ inch wide. Put on safety glasses, insert the chisel, and operate the drill. In most cases, the dirt will crumble and fall out of the spoon easily, but you may encounter resistance if the chisel encounters a rock or dense clay. In case of clay, select the "rotation plus hammer" function on a rotary drill to spin the chisel and clear it out.

In lieu of a hammer drill, you can use a standard cordless drill and a large masonry bit to clear dirt from aerator spoons. It takes more effort to clear rocks and clay, because the tool isn't equipped to handle a chisel attachment and has no hammering action. You have to supply that yourself.