Plug Aerator Tine Repair

[migraineman]

Many moons ago, before I knew any better, I purchased a plug aerator as part of a package deal. Turns out the previous owner had seriously abused the aerator, bending most of the spoons 90-degrees. His yard must have had multiple buried concrete clothesline anchors ...



I finally got around to doing something about this mess. I figured that if I couldn't fix the tines, certainly there would be replacement parts available. Right? Uhm, no. I can buy the larger 3/4" plugger tines for the Bluebird commercial aerators, but the smaller 1/2" tubular types appear to be made of pure hensteethium. Precision and Agri-Fab have long since moved to a flat plugger tine that is incompatible with this model.

So I took the thing apart, and set to straightening the bent tines. A simple piece of steel tube made quick work of the slightly-bent spoons, but the 90-degree victims needed more care lest they tear in half. I found that squeezing the bend in my big bench vise would open the tine without tearing the metal (too much,) then I could roll the piece on my steel tube/mandrel while expressing my displeasure with the ball pein hammer. In all but three cases, I was able to straighten the spoons without catastrophic separation.







I spent about two hours welding the tears closed, and running a bead over the tang the manufacturer used for the initial bending operation. The tang hole creates a fundamental weakness in the spoon, and all were bent at this location. The three separated tines were seamed back together. Two remaining tines were sans-spoon. I fabbed replacement ends from some tube stock on hand - yes, it is EMT, which ain't the best choice for this. Each spoon received a weld up each side to prevent re-bending, along with whatever welding was necessary to close-up the metal.

Everything went back together, and I took it for a spin around the new garden. There are large clumps of soil and turf still floating about, and the aerator did a decent job of breaking up the lumpy bits. I bashed about the garden for a half-hour, and none of the spoons failed. I may have to keep this appliance in it's current form. It certainly has a more menacing look with all the spoons straightened out.

[slkpk]

Nice work. slkpk

[ggsteve]

Wow, I would have bet all the money in my wallet that just unbending those tines would have caused enough metal fatigue to cause them to bend back when used. Nice job!

[scrat2]

Nice rebuild. Is that a Swisher brand aerator?

[Jere39]

Good luck, it almost looks like the PO pulled it across a driveway or sidewalk with the wheels up. Looks like you've got it ready for action again.

[migraineman]

There are no stickers or tags on the thing. It bears a strong resemblance to the Precision PA42GY aerator, below. The Agri-Fab lift linkage is substantially different from what I have.

Honestly, I gave it a 50/50 chance of re-bending the spoons. I did try to reinforce the wrinkled areas, but every one of the spoons was damaged to some extent. If it lasts, great. If not, I'll tear it apart and re-task the usable pieces (maybe convert it to a disc harrow.)

My wife it semi-pleased with the repair. It's no longer just an eyesore taking up space in the back yard. Now it's a functional eyesore, which makes it easier to justify keeping. I think she was hoping it would just go away.

[mikeinri]

Wow, that was an impressive amount of abuse.

Great job resurrecting that mess!

Mike

[migraineman]

One of my co-workers accused me of telling a tall tale. Apparently it's un-possible to use EMT in this application and have it not bend. I'll shove the following photos under his nose tomorrow.







Here's a close up of one of the EMT tines, then a photo of the underside of one of many boogery welds. You can still see the fracture from the bottom. I bent the fabrication tangs over with a punch, then welded the hole closed from the outside. I didn't attempt welding from the inside because I couldn't get all the paint and rust cleared. I thought about soaking them in solvent, but I was trying to get this task completed under time constraints.

[ggsteve]

Originally Posted by migraineman

There are no stickers or tags on the thing. It bears a strong resemblance to the Precision PA42GY aerator, below. The Agri-Fab lift linkage is substantially different from what I have.

Honestly, I gave it a 50/50 chance of re-bending the spoons. I did try to reinforce the wrinkled areas, but every one of the spoons was damaged to some extent. If it lasts, great. If not, I'll tear it apart and re-task the usable pieces (maybe convert it to a disc harrow.)

My wife it semi-pleased with the repair. It's no longer just an eyesore taking up space in the back yard. Now it's a functional eyesore, which makes it easier to justify keeping. I think she was hoping it would just go away.

That's the one I have, although I think mine came a box branded "Red Devil" or something like that: