Nine reasons why choosing the right tine is so important

Of all the management practices used to maintain healthy turf, it can be strongly argued that professional aeration has become the most valuable. Here Reesink Turfcare, exclusive UK distributor of Toro Parts, lists the top nine reasons reasons why choosing the right tine is so important for effective aeration.

Relieving surface or deep compaction, improving drainage, controlling thatch, and managing high temperature stress by increasing gas exchange, all require different skilled approaches or methods of aeration.

From coring, using hollow tines, solid tine aeration, slicing or spiking, water injection cultivation, deep tine aeration, and ‘linear’ aeration, there are certain considerations that can make the process easier and more efficient. Here we list the top nine we think will save you time and money and it all comes down to the parts you choose:

1. Tine quality
It’s now a lot more than just forking holes into the ground. Successful aeration is as much down to the quality and condition of the tines as it is the machine. In order to maintain the turf’s good health, it’s vital to ensure the very best equipment and parts are to hand. Toro tines are made through combining a strong alloy with a unique heat treatment process and a long-lasting tungsten carbide blend tip, resulting in a finished product that provides maximum strength and resistance to wear.

2. Hole quality
Clean-cut holes are important for a speedy recovery and the best way to ensure the speediest of recoveries is with tines that boast sharp edges and smooth sides. Michael Hampton, turfcare parts manager at Reesink Turfcare, says: “Toro tines are designed to produce precise consistent holes for fast turf recovery, a smooth finish and quick return to play.”

3. Inferior or spurious tines
Using inferior or spurious tines in a bid to cut costs can, in fact, cause operators to waste both time and money in the long run. Replacing broken or bent tines frequently, unclogging cores while on the job and collecting awkward core debris are all common side effects of will-fit parts and having to repair damage post-aeration is not only time consuming but leads to slower recovery and return to play. Put simply, “More man-hours and money are wasted cleaning up after inferior tines and buying and applying replacements, it’s just not worth it!” says Michael.

4. A perfect fit
Engineered and designed to fit the entire Toro ProCore range and get the best results from an aeration programme, choosing Toro tines ensures the perfect fit. Easily snapping into place or bolting on, when using Toro tines everything is aligned perfectly so nothing operational suffers when in use. Choosing will-fit tines can lead to poorer quality holes or wear to the machinery that is avoidable. As we know, fiddly ill-fitting parts waste time and effort, too.

5. Choice
Toro has a tine to suit every application. In fact there are over 150 tines to choose from meaning that no matter the turf application, soil situation or season, there’s something for everyone, guaranteed. Understanding the different tine options is important, you may be missing a trick to further improve the health of your turf if you’re just using, say, standard solid tines. Ask your Toro dealer or service centre about tines and what choices might be better suited to your specific applications.

6. Increased productivity
Regular aeration helps to keep the grass healthy, recovering from root compaction issues quicker, and with genuine Toro tines you can be assured of a tine that is designed to last three to four times longer than standard tines. This increase in longevity, not only means long-term dependable aeration with better soil, drainage and nutrient performance, says Michael, but “makes better use of your machinery maintenance budget too.”

7. Improved performance
Timing is vital when it comes to aeration – you’ll likely know when that is for your surfaces – and it is important not to be let down in the middle of the aeration programme. The tough design of Toro tines, including durable brazed tip joints that ensure a strong bond with in-built resistance to separation and breakage, importantly help maintain consistent aeration depths and reduces costly change-out and associated downtime.

8. Planning
Aeration schedules vary depending on soil type, budgets, resource, climate and usage and can be a balancing act for greenkeepers and groundsmen to ensure the health of the soil without disrupting play. Rest assured though, even if not stocking up, buying urgently required genuine Toro tines guarantees your timings and schedules need not be disturbed should there be a sudden need to make a replacement…

9. Service
When you need new tines, you get second-to-none parts back up with Reesink Turfcare. Reesink currently holds 15,000 Toro items available for delivery at 24 hours’ notice pretty much anywhere in the UK and 12,000 fast-moving lines are housed at the European distribution centre in Belgium with 48-hour availability. If all else fails, a 72-hour trans-Atlantic airfreight service comes into action calling on parts held at Toro’s Minneapolis manufacturing base. This is all at no extra cost to the customer and ensures downtime is kept to a minimum.

To stock up on tines or for more aeration advice, customers can get in touch with their local genuine Toro parts dealer or service centre.
Learn more about the products included in this story by visiting http://www.reesinkturfcare.co.uk

The coverage of non-league football was incredible last weekend.

Sutton United and Lincoln City were virtually wall-to-wall on any media outlet covering football. When Lincoln beat Burnley, away from home, it was quite simply sensational. I am full of admiration and respect for what they have achieved. The supporters will be in seventh heaven for a few days or even weeks and the clubs’ coffers will be awash with gold.

For Lincoln the adventure continues and who can say, now, when it might stop? For other National League clubs these stellar performances are an incentive to work even harder to achieve similar results next season, now that these two clubs have shown it can be done.

We have a particular connection with Sutton because of our 3G pitches. Our positive experience with 3G since 2012 encouraged Sutton to install theirs in 2015 and we had many constructive contacts along the way.

This is the reason I was particularly delighted with their FA Cup progress, as it showcased this fantastic pitch. In three rounds of the FA Cup, three 3G records were broken. The first time a League One, a Championship and finally a Premier League club had played a senior competitive match on 3G.

Each time the pitch played beautifully and there were no problems of any significance. Each match was marked by attractive, passing football along with robust, sliding challenges on occasions. Watching on TV it would have been easy to imagine the teams were playing on a Premier League quality natural mud and grass pitch.

Except that sadly we couldn’t. The media coverage of 3G had about as much basis in fact as a Donald Trump press statement.

Instead of pushing the achievements of a non-league club like Sutton in an unpatronising, analytical way by explaining in detail how the 3G business model has been the saving of their club like it has been of ours, the commentators and pundits jumped on every chance to criticise the pitch.

We were treated to comments about how Danny Wellbeck could not be risked on the pitch with a slightly injured ankle, how the pitch was very different and difficult (Arsène Wenger); how the pitch would be watered and would behave very differently to a dry one (Arsène Wenger again, who seems not to have noticed that it rains in England occasionally and that even mud-grass pitches are sometimes wet, sometimes dry); how Arsenal would have to beware “the ball suddenly deviating or stopping dead” (Martin Keown, for goodness sake ); that it was a good question (rather than a no-brainer) as to whether playing on 3G was better than playing on a traditional non-league bog (Graeme Le Saux).

Mr Le Saux is by the way an ‘Ambassador’ for the Football Foundation, who have been busy installing 3G pitches all over the country in recent years. Please Graeme, hurry up and tell The Football Foundation just how bad 3G pitches are, because it would appear they don’t know yet.

The worst part of hearing all this nonsense spouted by so-called experts, who really should know better, is the disrespect to non-league clubs. Here was one shining example of a non-league club, Sutton, using a top quality artificial pitch to improve the football they play on it, as evidenced by an astonishing FA Cup run.

But no, the media ignored the positives for the non-league club and concentrated on all the supposed negatives for the Premier League club. There were no plaudits for 3G pitches enabling the community to become fully involved in their non-league club by having football played on them virtually non-stop.

There was no mention of 3G clubs’ football academies bringing out the best of our youngsters around the country. No analysis of how 3G can make postponements a thing of the past and make a club financially sustainable. It was awful, patronising, embarrassing.

But I suppose it could have been worse…the pundits and commentators could have expressed astonished disapproval about other European countries, some of whom seem to have recently won World Cups, who foolishly allow and encourage these difficult 3G pitches in their top professional Leagues; they could have attacked the irresponsible FIFA people, who allow 3G in the Champions League and World Cup qualifiers and in the Womens’ World Cup finals; or even criticised professional rugby for allowing 3G to be used in senior club level and full internationals, when it’s clearly bad for your joints – I mean what do rugby people know anyway?

To read the original blog, click here