Top Dresser In The North East

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Top Dresser In The North East: Beaumont Grounds Maintenance took delivery of a GKB top dresser at the start of the season to help fulfil the needs of their many contracted sites.  Covering an area across the North East, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Humber, the family-run commercial and sports grounds maintenance business looks after a diversity of clients from schools, academies, sports clubs, councils and factories through to hotels and property management companies. In recent years the company has pushed the boundaries with expansion in the sports turf market, contracting directly for sports clubs and golf courses, providing specialist services and working with the clients’ own teams. One such venue is Gateshead International Stadium and it was to there the GKB SP230 Sandspreader was delivered.

“The GKB machine was recommended by our local dealers, Lloyd Ltd of Bishop Auckland, and we were very impressed with the service,” says Beaumont’s Managing Director, Alex Lineton, “it took less than a week from order to delivery and Tom Shinkins, GKB’s own Operations Manager, brought the top dresser to us and set it up at the stadium.” The Sandspreader can be used to distribute a variety of materials and the version ordered, the SP230 with a bunker capacity 2.3 m³ / 81 ft³ flat filled, is one of four different designs ranging from 1 m3 to 4 m3. There are several options.

Top Dresser In The North East

With the standard design, you can set the speed of the conveyer belt and the disc spreaders by means of a control unit attached to the Sandspreader. The shape and design of the sand bunker ensures an efficient operation and ensures a clear view along the machine. The sand is transported by means of a conveyer belt to a metering valve, which, optionally, is also available in a hydraulically adjustable version. The double, hydraulically powered, spreading discs are adjustable on multiple points and in this way the Sandspreader enables you to create perfect sand distribution. A touchscreen operated from the tractor cab gives complete control.  The towed version can be delivered with four pivoting balloon tyres and there is a model suitable for assembling on a turf truck.

The Beaumont machine has been fully employed throughout the season across a large number of sports venues including Northumberland University, the renowned sports university with its two sites and several pitches. “We’re very pleased with the results,” says Alex, “the GKB machine is simplicity itself, well built, easy to maintain and it does a good job. I highly recommend it.”

For more details on GKB machines visit www.gkbmachines.com  or call Tom Shinkins on 07495 883617.

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Celebrating 20 Years Of The Polaris RANGER

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Celebrating 20 Years Of The Polaris RANGER: As the curtain closes on the Polaris RANGER 20th birthday celebrations in 2018, two lucky winners celebrated the milestone in true style after winning the ‘Ultimate Ranger Experience’ competition, going on an unforgettable trip to Naxos in Greece, courtesy of Polaris.

Crowned winners of the competition that celebrated a double decade of the iconic side-by-side utility machine, UK-based Peter Goble and Elizabeth Toft, won the trip of a lifetime after submitting images showing how they use a Polaris Ranger as part of their work for the NHS North West Ambulance Service.

Celebrating 20 Years Of The Polaris RANGER

Hosted by Auto Moto Falcon, a rental company utilising Polaris machines in Naxos, the winners spent two days exploring off-road routes in a RANGER® XP 900 EPS, experiencing famous tourist spots, beautiful scenery and some of the island’s hidden treasures.

The competition asked owners across the world to send in a photo of their own personal RANGER® experience. Peter and Elizabeth won one of the EMEA experiences up for grabs with their photo submission of a RANGER® being used for emergency transport services. They both work for the NHS North West Ambulance Service and use the specially-modified RANGER® to access difficult terrains, such as moorland, where a standard ambulance wouldn’t be able to go.

Elizabeth said: “We were both really shocked when we heard that we had won the ‘Ultimate RANGER Experience’ competition, but equally delighted. We already thought the RANGER was a very capable and hardworking vehicle but experiencing this on the off-road trails in Naxos was completely different than what we’re used to!”

The pair flew out to Athens on 28th September, followed by a ferry transporting them to the island of Naxos. For the duration of their trip, Peter and Elizabeth stayed in the luxury modern Galaxy Hotel; a typically Greek hotel just a few steps away from Saint George beach. After some initial downtime in the hotel, Polaris arranged two sightseeing-packed days for the winners to enjoy their time in Naxos alongside the RANGER®.

On Saturday 29th September, the group departed for an off-road guided tour to the north of the island following a morning briefing with the RANGER®. They first travelled to the fishermen village of Apollonas for lunch, stopping on the way at the cliffs for a panoramic view of the island. The group then took dirt tracks across the island, passing famous local marble quarries, and finally reached Naxos town where they had time to shop, eat and see the local landmarks.

On Sunday 30th September, the group travelled to the southwest coast for the best beaches of the island, stopping at Agia Anna, a sandy beach with clear blue waters, and ending in Alyko to see the well-known Wild Drawings art on an abandoned hotel. The group then continued to reach the highest peak in the Cyclades at the top of Zeus mountain, to visit Naxos’ oldest monastery, Photodotis. They then went to Apiranthos Village to have lunch at the world-famous Rotonda Restaurant, surrounded by some of the most impressive views of Naxos.

“We were shown parts of the island that we wouldn’t have known existed, and the places we travelled to in the RANGER were beautiful. The tours of the island were truly unforgettable, and our guide was extremely accommodating and very knowledgeable about the RANGER. We didn’t quite appreciate just how popular the RANGER is abroad, so the experience has really opened our eyes to how versatile the Polaris vehicles are in a different environment. A massive thank you to Polaris for the opportunity, we will definitely be going back to visit the island again soon!”

Forming a key part of the Polaris product line as their best-selling utility vehicle, the RANGER® is used globally for a variety of tasks. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the iconic model, just a few months after the brand celebrated the one millionth RANGER® unit rolling off the production line.

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GreenFields Pitch Scoops Award

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GreenFields Pitch Scoops Award: The GreenFields pitch at Scotstoun Stadium, home to top rugby union side, Glasgow Warriors has been crowned ‘Best Managed Artificial Surface’ at this year’s prestigious Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Awards.

Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the industry awards recognise the expertise, dedication, passion and innovation of the grounds profession and surface standards. Glasgow Warriors’ Senior Groundsman, Patrick Ferrie was presented with the accolade at last month’s awards ceremony for his expert maintenance of the woven GreenFields surface at Scotstoun.

GreenFields Pitch Scoops Award

Colin Young, Director of R & D at the TenCate Grass Group commented on the maintenance benefits of a woven artificial system: “Due to the unique woven technology and matrix yarn composition of GreenFields MX, the yarn fibres remain upright and the infill stays mobile making maintenance quicker and easier than with traditional tufted systems.”

The high-tech product, GreenFields MX, is manufactured using patented woven technology resulting in an extremely high tuft bind. This allows the fibres to retain their vertical memory providing a more natural playing experience and aesthetic appearance. The elite woven surface is also in situ at a number of other professional Scottish clubs including Hamilton Academical FC, Falkirk FC, Celtic FC Academy and the National Performance Centre for Sport and excelled recently in an independent survey on pitches, PitchRater, commissioned by the Scottish FA and the Professional Footballer’s Association (PFA). The R & D department at Sports Labs led the project to acquire player feedback on 42 grounds in Scotland. With 3,593 responses, the only artificial surface ranked in the top ten was GreenFields MX which was also placed in three out of the top four positions in the artificial pitch specific rankings.

During the 2015/16 rugby season Glasgow Warriors were unable to play three matches at Scotstoun and a fourth game was postponed which brought on the need for a high-spec artificial surface. Following the installation of the woven 3G pitch with World Rugby professional certification, Jonathan Humphreys, Forwards Coach at Glasgow Warriors spoke recently to Scottish Rugby: “Without a quick, firm surface we would not have been able to play the brand of rugby we wanted to last term which ultimately led us to the semi-finals of the Guinness PRO14.” Beaversbrook Sports Facility, Swindon was named as runner up of the award at this year’s sell-out event attended by more than 650 of the UK’s and Europe’s leading groundscare experts along with dignitaries from the governing bodies of sport.

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Reesink Grow Training Programme

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Reesink Grow Training Programme: Two new hands-on machinery mechanics courses have been added to Reesink Turfcare’s industry-leading training offering for 2019.

The two new courses, Air-cooled Engines and Basic Electrics and Hydraulics, have, says head of turfcare training at Reesink Neil Adams, been added according to demand: “With these two courses we’re going back to basics. There’s so much technology used in machinery maintenance now with diagnostics tools and the like and while that is incredibly helpful, our customers are telling us they want to learn the foundation of these subjects such as how to do a complete engine strip down. Both courses offer a solid start for those new to the industry and a fantastic refresher course for those with a few more years under their belt.”

Reesink Grow Training Programme

The one-day Air-cooled Engines course covers understanding the operation and function of a four-stroke engine, learning how to identify components and operate in-line diesel injection and petrol fuel systems, and diagnosing and repairing common faults associated with modern engines.

The two-day Basic Electrics and Hydraulics course includes understanding and reading electric and hydraulic symbols and schematics, how to use and demonstrate safe practices with electrical instruments and test equipment and how to diagnose and repair electric and hydraulic systems failures effectively. In addition, battery operation and construction, basic electric theory including Ohm’s Law, electrics and hydraulics safety and hydraulic oils and contamination procedures will also be covered.

Further information such as dates, which start in February for Air-cooled Engines and April for Basic Electrics and Hydraulics, can be found at www.reesinkturfcare.co.uk. There, turfcare professionals and employers keen to offer staff the opportunity to learn and expand their areas of interest and need, will also find all the details on Reesink’s biggest range of vocational training for land-based disciplines delivered with Lantra, the national awarding organisation. Alongside that is City & Guilds training and Toro and TYM manufacturer-backed turfcare machinery training.

Neil concludes: “These two new courses bring the total number of courses offered by Reesink to eleven, that’s one of the biggest selections from a distributor and is something we’re incredibly proud of. There’s something to suit everybody, at every level, whether you work in the golf and fine turf sector, sports or grounds sectors.

“Our range of training courses demonstrates our belief in continuously improving standards in the industry. We aim to make training convenient with some courses delivered at the trainees’ working premises, too, using familiar equipment in a familiar environment. This set-up means it could not be easier for customers to develop and invest in their employees.”

Visit www.reesinkturfcare.co.uk and select the Training tab to view this year’s training courses in full, plus find details such as dates and how to book.

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