Toro Procore 648 Review in the latest edition of TurfCareBlog’s Groundsman Review series, we take you through the much sought after Toro Procore 648. We’ll look at a whole range of pros and cons as well as taking you through the value, reliability and functionality to grounds people at all levels of Turf care maintenance.
Overview
The Toro Procore 648 has been widely desired amongst grounds personnel and Greenskeepers across multiple sports for many years. First released in 2011/12 in the UK market and where available in the USA from the start of 2011. Designed to work at depths of between 25mm-75mm with the flexibility of being able to use it for almost 12 months of the year, Toro designed a machine that quickly became a part of many professional sports pitch maintenance armoury.
Steadily, the Procore’s did manage to start to filter through the second hand market, but as is still the case today, these are lesser seen and they still hold a high asking price in and around £15k+ if you’re lucky to find one.
Ideal for use over many variations of sports turf including Tees, Greens and approaches for Golf, Cricket squares and run ups (at end of season), Bowling greens, football pitches, rugby pitches, grass tennis courts and much more. The Toro Procore 648 has a plethora of tine sizes and widths, including hollow corers.
Specifications
Weight- 744.7kg.
Width/Working width- 127.3cm.
Operating speed- Transport speed Forward 0-4.5mph / Reverse 0-2mph, Aerating speed 0-2.5mph / Reverse 0-2mph.
Number of tines heads- 6 with 4 tines per head on old models and up to 6 tines per head on new models.
Aeration type- Shallow to Moderate
Engine- Kohler 2-Cylinder, air cooled. 23HP
Fuel Capacity- Up to 28.4L
Length of machine- Handle down: 293.1cm / Handle up: 231.3cm
Pros
It’s pretty easy to assess that the biggest plus point to a Toro Procore 648 is its flexibility to many different sports pitch surfaces. I have personal experience with use of these machines over entire football and rugby pitches, on cricket squares and have seen them in operation in golf. It lends itself to most seasons of the year due to its lesser weight than a tractor mounted and allows a real good variation of tines, allowing you to complete various forms of aeration dependent on what and when you’re doing it.
The simplicity of the machine in operation makes it a really easy piece of machinery to operate. It drives on a simple handle system, which like many other pieces of machinery, allows the operator to squeeze the drive handle bar into the metal arm that the operator then holds in place whilst walking with it. To engage the tine arms, it’s a simple flick of the engage switch, usually only flicked whilst there’s motion in the machine to allow for a clean start without plucking. There really isn’t much else to worry about during operation.
A lot of people like to walk forward with the Procore 648 behind them, but I have seen grounds personnel use it with the machine out in front of them too, particularly on golf greens. So, this seems to be a personal choice depending on how far you need to travel whilst operating the tines. For straighter lines, over longer runs I would definitely recommend having the machine behind you and walking forward.
Prior to operation there are a few more things to consider. However, Toro has really simplified the setting up of the Procore 648, especially when it comes to the depth settings. On the first generation Procore’s it was a case of lining a tine that you will be using up with the chart on the machine. Working out what the machine is set to from that and adjusting it to your desired depth on the tines. The adjusting for this is fairly straightforward but does require a little bit of accuracy when measuring your tine to the chart.
The next best “Pro” for the Toro Procore 648 is the results it provides. Accuracy, perfect spacings, clean insertion and removal of the tines every single time and a real flexibility with which tines to use for each area the machine is used upon, leading to the ultimate clean aeration job. The results are also largely reliant on the lightweight design of the Procore when it comes to forms of aeration. The machine allows an operator to cover over 2/3 of a football pitch on one full tank of petrol, giving even few things to worry about whilst at work with the Procore.
Personally, I have seen the Procore help break up large amounts of Black layer, create drainage channels through the surface of football pitches to prevent games being called off, I’ve seen it used to hollow core golf greens which are then back filled with sand for ultimate fine turf aeration and across bowling greens and cricket squares to break up compaction. It’s entirely versatile and really sets itself apart from the rest on this basis. The Procore comes fitted with “Greens Tyres” meaning there’s no tread to leave any unsightly tyre marks during operation. The tyres also create an even distribution of weight which allows the machine to glide across a surface.
Cons
As previously mentioned in this article, there is a highly competitive second hand market for these machines, which in turn keeps its second hand value at a premium. This does tend to cut amateur or semi professional clubs out of the market for buying a Toro Procore 648, with most being snapped up within days of being listed for sale.
The “new” market isn’t any cheaper with a Toro Procore 648 coming in at a cost of anywhere upwards of £30,000. This price range can be expected from one of the best in the game in Toro and you certainly pay for more than the brand logo. But, it begs the question if the demand is there why couldn’t a company like Toro produce these machines at a slight reduction in cost thus attracting thousands more potential customers in doing so. It seems like they’ve priced almost everyone out of the market for buying one from new and due to the limited stock of new 648’s that make it into the UK, the second hand market suffers the same fate.
That brings us nicely to our next “con”. The availability of stock. From experience, Toro have had numerous manufacturing and shipping issues with almost all of their stock of new bigger machinery coming into the UK. The problems have been created by a range of things including Covid, The Suez ship canal blockage, UK leaving the EU, Trump’s tariffs and the cost of manufacturing parts in Asia increasing to name but a few. All of these problems have had Toro in a little bit of a grip hold in terms of shipping fine turf machinery to the UK for the last few years. This has also helped maintain the high value of second hand machinery of theirs too.
If you wanted to purchase a new Toro ride-on mower or Procore 648 for example and it wasn’t in stock at your dealer, you could expect to wait up to 18 months in some bad cases reported previously. Although, we understand that has steadily improved over the last couple of years and the wait time now comes down to single figure months. It still isn’t something you’d necessarily expect for the money you would be expected to pay for a new Toro machine and hopefully that wait time and availability of larger new machinery will continue to improve going forward.
Finally, it would be worth highlighting that the Procore 648 is anything but fast over a large pitch such as a football or rugby surface. The process can take upto 6 hours over that kind of distance, meaning that as much time should be allowed as this isn’t a process you can rush. This isn’t so much as a con more of warning to some who maybe looking for something quicker over bigger playing surfaces.
Speed, however, is absolutely no issue over smaller pitches like cricket squares, tennis courts or bowling greens.
When to use a Toro Procore 648
A question I’ve been asked a few times when recommending a Toro Procore 648 is “When would be best to use it”, and so I thought a list here of which sports pitches it is recommended to use the Procore on and at what time of year you would be most likely to see the best results from its use:
Football – All Levels – Recommended throughout 10 months of the year with clear benefits at most stages during a football season. If your pitch is at a lower level club and it is already too wet or muddy, the Procore is out of its depth at this stage. I would personally recommend using the procore at amateur level from the end of August through till as long as under foot conditions will allow. For professional football, the guys at the top will use the Procore throughout a year for differing reasons looking for differing results, depending on the time of year.
Cricket – All Levels – End of season only. Occasionally, you may see forms of Aeration taking place on cricket squares in the early part of a new year prior to pre-season rolling. Although for some the new year might be too late, a Procore 648 really comes into its own during the months that remain of the year a season ends. Hollow tining can also be done with great effect which is often done during end of season renovation works. The choice of tine is important for cricket squares, although at the end of season, most forms of solid tine aeration will be of benefit.
Bowling – All Levels – The use of a Procore can be beneficial throughout a calendar year with bowling greens. However, the use of only the pencil tines fitted to the 648 will allow play to continue on the green immediately after use. Due to the very clean penetration of the pencil tines into the profile and out again, it leaves the green in an aerated condition but still flat and true ready to be bowled upon. Again, like cricket squares, the Procore is also beneficial during end of season renovations.
Rugby – All Levels – Like football, Rugby pitches will benefit from a Toro Procore providing the under foot conditions aren’t already too wet. Similar timing to football with use of the 648 at amateur level would be something I’d advise. The procore is seen as a preventive action and not a complete fix when too wet.
Ratings
Results and Presentation quality- 10/10 – Ultimately, if used at the right time in good, conforming conditions I genuinely don’t believe there’s a more appropriate machine for shallow to moderate aeration on the market. The presentation results it leaves are clean, tidy and often leave the surface smooth at all times.
Size – 8/10 – This subject is maybe a small issue for amateur clubs amongst use or clubs who have a small machinery shed. The Procore comes in at nearly 3 meters long (293.1cm) meaning only the longer storage units can fit the procore in with their other machines. In terms of use on turf, it’s almost the perfect size.
Mobility – 9/10 Not much to say here, the machine moves fantastically well in both transport and operation modes.
Reliability – 9/10 This would get a 10/10 here but I feel the speed at which the tines wear down on a Toro Procore could do with being a little slower than it does at the moment. 1 new set of tines would be worn enough to adjust depth setting by half way through a football or rugby pitch, especially if the pitch is a sand construct. The Procore itself is hardy and has proven to go many years without issues from new.
User friendly – 10/10 It’s a very simple piece of equipment to use once you’ve had a couple of jobs done with it. There are no levers to pull or things to press other than a single tine head engage switch when you are ready for each run. The rest is just a drive handle bar to move forwards and backwards whilst the operator steers.
Price – 6/10 It’s just not marketed at a realistic price to 80% in the market for aeration machinery. The more wealthier professional clubs and some golf courses, sure, they can afford 5. But, for anyone below that a £30,000+ bill is unachievable for this kind of niche machinery. As mentioned the second hand market is no better due to Toro’s production of the machine.
Overall rating: 8.6/10
Want to read our Guide on The Aeration of Sports Pitches- Here
Summary
The cost of this fantastic piece of machinery is really all that lets it down. The reliability of the Procore 648 is second to none and most that purchase from new will retain the machine for upto to a decade or more, which is point and evidence in motion.
The positive thing for clubs who can’t afford the cost is that these machines are now widely available on the rental market and can be sought for between £250-£500 per day usage. In a day’s use, you could expect to have a full 11 aside football/rugby pitch done or multiple cricket squares or bowling greens completed.
When you factor together the operating weight of the 648 being less than that of a tractor with mounted aeration but still has the correct weight to drive tines to 75mm depth, you factor in the cleanness and presentation it leaves your playing surface in after use and the multiple variations of tines that can be used, the Toro Procore 648 is extremely hard to beat.
Its cost might set it apart, but so does the quality of this machines work and with the release of a new generation of Procore’s in 2024, the pedestrian aeration game feels as though it belongs to Toro and its Procore 648.
Alex on behalf of the TurfCareBlog community
2 comments
Used a Procore 648 for the last 8 years on football,rugby,cricket squares bowling greens and golf courses and it is the best pedestrian aerator on the market.
Yes great machine for shallow to Moderate depths and accuracy of hole spacing etc. thanks for the comment .