Integrated Vegetation Management Showcased At SALTEX

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Integrated vegetation management showcased at SALTEX: As the final herbicide treatments of the 2017 season are applied, it is time to start considering next year’s integrated vegetation management programmes, and SALTEX is an excellent opportunity to speak to the experts at Bayer for advice and guidance on this.

Integrated Vegetation Management Showcased At SALTEX

 

The BASIS-qualified Bayer Turf and Amenity Solutions Team will be available on stand D037 at the event on 1 and 2 November, to give an insight into the future of plant protection products and show how Bayer products fit into programmes that consider weed control in a wider sense than just chemical intervention.

Lewis Blois, Bayer national account manager explains that he will discuss how using an integrated approach to vegetation management is essential to securing the future of plant protection products, and how the industry is shifting to favour this management method.

“More and more companies and authorities are asking contractors to consider using alternative methods of control in conjunction with herbicide applications. So, visiting the Bayer stand will give individuals the chance to ask questions about these, as well as find out how chemical controls, such as leading herbicides – Finale® 150 and Pistol®, can fit into any integrated management programme.

Disease control

“This year will also mark the first appearance of our latest turf fungicide, Exteris® Stressgard, at SALTEX. It’s received great feedback from the greenkeeping market, and the event will be an excellent opportunity for those involved in professional sports turf management to find out about the innovative new product, and how it can fit into their disease management strategies,” says Lewis.

In addition to this, Dr Colin Mumford, Bayer technical manager, will present a session at the event on 1 November at 1:20pm, on the topic of integrated disease management, including product development, application, waste management and stewardship.

Also on the stand, will be information on the easyFlow – the first contamination-avoiding, self-cleaning transfer system for liquid plant protection products.

“The easyFlow can be secured onto a product bottle to assist with tank mixing and filling, and is proven to improve operator safety by 96%, as well as being an important tool for environmental stewardship,” says Lewis.

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Duralock Launches Half Mesh

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Duralock Launches Half Mesh: Duralock is the market leading manufacturer of PVC-u sports and equestrian fencing systems; including post and rail, movable barriers, gates and crowd barriers.

Duralock Launches Half Mesh

The company has recently launched an exciting new product under their Duralock Sports Performance Fencing label; Half-Mesh ‘Multi-purpose’ Pitch Fencing.

It has been developed specifically with sports clubs in mind and is designed to flex under impact, reducing the risk of injury. With concealed fixings and smooth rounded surfaces the whole system is exceptionally safe and the half-mesh design prevents the ball from leaving the field of play. The design also lends itself easily to advertising, allowing clubs to benefit from an additional revenue stream.

All Duralock fencing systems are suitable for use on all surfaces, from natural turf to AGP and 3G and are available as permanent or removable fixtures making them ideal for multi-use sports facilities.

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EGO Goes Pro At SALTEX

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EGO Goes Pro At SALTEX: After just three years, during which time it has helped pioneer the battery revolution in garden equipment, EGO Power+ is taking its industry leading 56volt cordless system, designed like no other, further in to the professional market with its new x-series range.

EGO Goes Pro At SALTEX

EGO Power+, has securely established itself as the leader in battery technology and will unveil the new x-series at SALTEX 2017 which features a hedge trimmer, line trimmer and blower as well as a new high capacity backpack battery. The new products have been specifically designed to meet the robust and hard-wearing demands of the professional sector, and can easily match the performance, output and run time required by professional users on a long-term basis. The company’s full range of battery powered garden equipment will also be on display at the show.

Steve Roskell, EGO’s European marketing director, commented: “SALTEX is the perfect venue for the launch of our x-series and gives us the opportunity to demonstrate why our products are so much more advanced than alternatives. The professional market is perfect for our battery technology and was born out at recent trials with a local authority in the East Midlands where the petrol matching performance and incredibly low “in-use” vibration across the entire EGO range gave us a major competitive advantage.”

EGO’s success is largely attributed to the brand’s innovative and ground-breaking battery technology, as well as stylish and striking product design, and unrivalled performance that has all the power of petrol. Whilst many other brands have introduced battery options to their line ups, EGO Power+ remains one of the few brands to consist solely of battery products.

The EGO Power+ range is available through Henton & Chattell’s nationwide dealer network.

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Line Marking Actuator Arm Patent Granted

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Line Marking Actuator Arm Patent Granted: The line marking industry has evolved dramatically over the last 20 years. Advancements in technology have revolutionised the way lines are marked on sports pitches.

Line Marking Actuator Arm Patent Granted

Moving from simple wheel-wheel to machines to ride on markers, spray machines, laser guided systems and now GNSS marking. Fleet (Line Markers) Ltd are proud to be industry leaders at the forefront of innovation and development.

A new age dawned when the BeamRider was released to the market. Laser guided marking with an arm design that creates laser straight lines every time. From the BeamRider mechanics the MAQA line marking machine was born which combines GNSS technology to reduce initial marking time by 75%

Fleet are proud to announce that a patent for using the actuator arm has been granted, MD Iain McGuffie had these words.

“Some things are worth waiting for. Our patent no. EP3045998, which protects the actuator arm concept used in the BeamRider and the MAQA line marking systems, has finally been granted. The original patent was applied for in 2006 and has now been granted by the European Patent Office, and it is now active”

The MAQA Marker is already successfully in use across the UK. These users are now benefiting from the speed and saving of a GNSS system.  Another exciting feature is the management system; this allows the customer to see their usage of the MAQA Marker. Simply logging on to the system provides the user with data on the number of fields marked, their location, speed of walking, time taken to mark the fields.

The combination of Fleet machines is where things can get really exciting! An e-ROK and a MAQA Marker will mark faster than an autonomous vehicle. MAQA Marker on an e-ROK is the ultimate productivity tool, cutting marking time by almost 90%. The e-ROK can also accommodate the Kombi, Kombi Orange , Kombi refurb’ and the BeamRider systems.

Mike Lewis of Highground Maintenance explains how the machine is saving time, money and resources.

“I can initial mark a full sized football pitch in 20 minutes, on my own! Last week I initial marked over 25miles of lines, the previous year that took two men four weeks. The results have left us speechless”

Fleet are the only British company that manufacture Satellite Guided Line Marking Machines, writes the software as well as make the paints.

To find out more, visit: www.flmuk.com

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Bristol and Clifton GC Awarded After Drainage Investment

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Bristol and Clifton Golf Club awarded ‘England Golf  Championship Venue’ status after Greens Drainage Investment.

The historic Bristol and Clifton Golf Club turned to specialist drainage firm Shelton Sportsturf Drainage to solve the problem of waterlogged greens ahead of their 125th anniversary year in 2016. The club’s Greens Chairman Carey Ashworth said: “Prior to 2015 we played on temporary greens every winter as, unlike our fairways which are built on naturally draining stone, our greens were built on clay and were simply far too wet to allow play in the wetter months. We had two very important events for the club in the summer of 2016 – our 125th anniversary which was to be celebrated with a summer festival and also the English Ladies Amateur Open Strokeplay Championship, so we were under pressure to ensure that the course was in perfect condition. We considered complete reconstruction of the greens, but with cost and recovery time being a limiting factor we decided against it. On the advice of our agronomist David Stansfield we researched specialist drainage. Our Head Greenkeeper Matt Hawker met Mick Claxton from Shelton Sportsturf Drainage at the BTME in 2015 and was impressed with the results they had achieved with their machinery in a short period of time and with little disruption. So, we made the decision to implement a drainage program on 9 of our wettest greens in the Autumn of that year.  Mick recommended that we use their Lightning Drain System and backfill the trenches with Sportag which has a hydraulic conductivity 10 times that of gravel, this would enable a faster flow of water away from the surface for optimum results. Shelton supplied the machinery in the form of a tractor, System 25 Trencher and an operator. We started work in the Autumn of 2015, installing 25mm perforated land drainage pipes in 35mm wide trenches backfilled with Sportag in a one pass operation. The pipes were installed at 500mm centres to give us a really efficient drainage system.

The greens recovered very well, they remained playable throughout the winter recovery period and the drainage worked brilliantly. In fact, the greens which had been Lightning Drained, which had previously been the worst on the course, remained open all winter when all the other  greens were on temporaries. By the time we welcomed the English Ladies for the Strokeplay championship the greens were in top condition, rolling and playing very well. We were extremely happy to hear the players tell us how impressed they were with the greens and also to be awarded ‘Championship Venue’ status by English Golf.

In June 2017, we commissioned an independent report from David Stansfield who reported that in the last 6 months thatch levels on the drained greens had reduced by 20% without any mechanical intervention, scarifying or hollow coring, whereas thatch levels on the undrained greens had increased by 10%. The maintenance has been no different, we haven’t had to implement any special treatment or change our routines, yet the greens now drain well and are healthier and less prone to disease. Our members have noticed the difference in play, the improvement in firmness, dryness and true roll and one of our neighbouring clubs has also planned in a scheme of drainage works after seeing the results of ours. We have plans to drain a further 5 greens next year and the remaining 5 at some point after that. I would certainly encourage anyone who may be considering reconstruction to improve their greens drainage to look at the Shelton system first. You may be able to save yourself a lot of time and money”.

To find more about how your sportsturf can benefit from a good drainage system, visit sheltonsdrainage.com or call 01507 578288.

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