Abstract: A turf aerator (11) provided with a reciprocating drive mechanism (33, 37) to repeatedly drive a leg (35) carrying a tine (31) vertically into the ground (52) and retract it again at regularly spaced intervals, the tine leg (35) being substantially rigid and pivotally mounted at its upper end (36) to a drive assembly (33). The tine leg (35) is provided with a cam surface (160) in the forward direction and a forward guide arrangement (141) including a forward travel limiting stop, acting on the cam (160), to limit forward travel of the tine leg (35) and thereby maintain a substantially vertical travel path for the leg (35).

Abstract: A turf aerator with a reciprocating drive mechanism comprising a substantially rigid tine leg pivotally mounted at an upper end to a drive assembly arranged to reciprocate the tine leg along its longitudinal axis, the drive assembly comprising a reciprocating drive member to which the tine leg is pivotally attached at a first point along the drive member, the drive member being pivotally connected at a second point to a first eccentric and at a third point to a second eccentric, the third point being located intermediate the first and second points and the first and second eccentrics being rotated in synchronism, to reciprocate the first point on the drive member both vertically and while reducing the extent of horizontal reciprocation of the first point on the drive member.