Professional Grade Slice Aerators for Fields & Estates

Aeration is one of the most essential strategies to cultivate resilient turf that looks truly professional. Puncturing the soil with an aerator introduces crucial oxygen into the ground, which promotes the long-term health of the grass. If you’re looking to invest in your first professional grade aerator, you have a choice to make between slice aerators and coring aerators. While both equipment styles are effective (and we build both), we recommend a slicing unit for the majority of customers.

At TurfTime, we’re a dedicated turf equipment maintenance company that designs and produces a wide range of machinery for athletic fields, golf courses, home estates, and more. Since we consider ourselves a knowledgeable lawn aerator brand, we’re comparing core and slice aerators to help you find the right one for you. Keep reading to see the key differences and the advantages of each aerator!

Why We Recommend Slicing Aerators

We want to begin our comparison by highlighting that coring and slicing aerators are equally effective at improving the health and look of your turf. Slice aerators work by cutting a series of very thin, yet deep holes into the ground to allow oxygen to penetrate. On the other hand, coring options pull thin cores of dirt from the ground, allowing the ground to breathe.

Good news: when you buy from TurfTime, both aerator types are built to be extremely durable and have models available at competitive price points. Here’s why slicing aerators are generally better options for most people:

No Cleanup is Required

After using a coring aerator, the ground will be covered with the dirt cores pulled from the ground. That means you’ll need to take time to clean them up or they will be there until they dissolve in the rain. This can be an issue for a field or golf course that is used every day, which means that you will need to spend time cleaning up the field before it can be used again.

Hard to Tell the Ground Was Aerated

Since a slicing aerator cuts very thin holes in the ground rather than removing anything, you don’t need to do anything to make your field ready for use. In fact, it’s very difficult to see that a slice aerator was used. You can aerate your field and have a game immediately — no one will be able to tell!

A Slicing Aerator is Faster

While both of these options are quick and extremely labor saving, slicing is faster than coring. This is just one more reason that this is our recommendation for busy professionals.

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The Unique Benefit of Coring Aerators

While we often recommend slicing options, coring aerators are still a strong choice that provide one unique benefit. Since this aeration style pulls out large cores and leaves wider holes in the soil, maintenance crews can use that to their advantage. If you top dress a field following coring aeration, you can fill the holes in with sand, which changes the composition of the soil. If the current soil profile isn’t where you want it, this is one of the most direct ways to change it. This tactic is sometimes done by grounds crews at large golf courses and football fields. This is the main reason why some very advanced crews will opt for a coring aerator as part of their sports field maintenance strategies.

We’ve mentioned cleaning up after coring throughout this comparison. One of the best ways to do this is simply to mow the field directly afterwards, which should effectively break up and disperse the loose cores.

Want to buy a professional grade coring aerator?

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Get Both: Slice Aerators with a Coring Attachment

Slice aerators are our recommendation for the vast majority of customers due to their convenience and time-saving advantages. However, the best option is not having to choose between the two styles at all. We sell aerators that come with an interchangeable rotor which gives you the ability to switch between coring and slicing.

If you’re ready to get started, our team is here to help. The first step is to reach out to our team to discuss your aeration needs, the equipment you have now, and your budget.