Ipswich GC Purchase Terra Rake

/in , , /by

Ipswich GC Purchase Terra Rake: Graham Brumpton, Course Manager at Ipswich Golf Club, has a sizeable list of duties earmarked for his new 2.3 m Wiedenmann Terra Rake.

“In all honesty we’ve wanted this machine since the day it was released. We purchased a rival machine literally weeks before the Terra Rake launch and had a severe case of machine envy ever since. Now we finally have one,” he said.

Ipswich GC Purchase Terra Rake

Graham Brumpton’s first trial of the machine was actually on the Suffolk  course’s Purdis Heath 18th fairway on the day it was delivered.

“I couldn’t believe its productivity and speed. My team were looking on impressed… the more momentum, the better the results.”

An immediate project for the Suffolk club, which comprises both an 18 hole and a 9 hole course, is thatch and moss removal.

“Off the back of the drought last summer – and bearing in mind we are a heathland course – we applied generous amounts of iron. Now we want to remove all organic matter that we can from the surfaces to open up the turf, letting moisture and light back in. We also drilled seed last year.  With such a dry autumn we didn’t get much of a take on germination. Then a very dry winter followed. I’m hoping despite everything, the seed bed is still in there.  The Terra Rake is exactly the kit to open it back up to return water and light.  There’s a still a hope to get germination from the seed.

“All fairways were terra-raked in March with a double pass.  It really rips into remove the organic matter but it also helps stand up the grass.  We’ve followed on behind with our blowers and collecting units and it’s made a real difference.  Like many greenkeepers in this part of the country we in the lap of the gods praying for significant rainfall to reap rewards of hard work done.”

Graham joined the club straight from school in 1990 and became course manager in 2012.  He now heads a team of eight.  Ipswich GC also purchased  a  Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD at the same time, the club’s third Terra Spike to speed up greens aeration and micro-tining.

Co-ordinating the delivery and set up of both machines was Eddie Jack, Field Sales Manager from dealers Ernest Doe & Sons at North Walsham.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

SIS Pitches’ Factory Investment

/in , /by

SIS Pitches’ Factory Investment: A leading UK-based pitch manufacturing company has invested £1.8 million in a new turf production facility, safeguarding more than 50 jobs, and creating an additional 15 positions by 2022.

Despite the uncertainty facing UK businesses through Brexit, SIS Pitches has re-affirmed its commitment to British manufacturing with this major investment.

SIS Pitches Make Factory Investment

The purchase of a new backing plant will allow SIS Pitches to extend its current site in Maryport, Cumbria, increase production volumes and grow its workforce.

It’s welcome news for Cumbria, where unemployment rose by 1.5% between October and December last year, as recorded by the Office for National Statistics.

SIS Pitches is a world-leading full-service provider in specialist sports pitches and landscaping grass. Last year, SIS Pitches designed, constructed and installed SISGrass hybrid pitches at six 2018 World Cup venues, including the Luzhniki Stadium pitch for the opening match and the Final.

The new factory, which covers an area of more than 2,100 square metres, is one of the most technologically-advanced production facilities in Europe. The company will use the new factory to deliver the highest quality, long-lasting synthetic surfaces.

George Mullan, SIS Pitches Owner and CEO, said: “This investment in new state-of-the-art facilities and technology will support our ambitious growth plans while also creating and safeguarding jobs in the local community.

“The Glasson Industrial Estate has been at the heart of manufacturing for more than 50 years and, despite business uncertainty in the face of Brexit, we are very proud to be able to continue that tradition through this significant investment. We are also grateful to Cumbria LEP for their investment in the project.

“Our new factory will ensure we continue to provide the highest quality products and increased output, maintaining our position as the market leader in the manufacturing of synthetic turf.”

The expansion plans at the Glasson Industrial Estate has benefited from a £274,000 Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership investment, which supports wide-ranging projects including transport, skills, business support, broadband, innovation and flood defences through its Local Growth Fund.

SIS Pitches Make Factory Investment

The site has been home to UK turf manufacturing since 1966, when Palmyra Ltd, the UK’s largest polypropylene artificial grass manufacturer, relocated to the north west of England as part of its expansion plans.

The new SIS Pitches facility utilises the latest technology in thermal insulation, LED lighting, laser-fire detection and advanced cladding systems, while the new backing plant will be the most advanced turf backing system in the UK.

The state-of-the-art coating line, the most advanced in Europe, provides SIS Pitches with the option to run either new standard latex coating or their new ‘SISBond’ Polyurethane technology, both of which are applied to the back of the synthetic turf during the manufacturing process to secure the artificial grass fibres to the backing cloth. The line also comprises new turf straighteners and guidance units to ensure products are fit for purpose, plus an advanced roll-up unit to eliminate creasing and enable turf to be rolled tighter than before.

SISBond Polyurethane has been specially engineered to provide a much stronger and durable backing than other systems. It is primarily used for elite performance, providing enhanced fibre retention and greater resistance to moisture.

In addition, SIS Pitches has also developed and launched a new UK-made premium yarn that is designed to maximise durability and fibre resilience, thus further enhancing their reputation as market-leaders in turf innovation and technology.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

MHM’s Leonie Wins Award

/in , , /by

MHM’s Leonie Wins Award: A talented young apprentice from Treherbert, in the Rhondda, South Wales has scooped a top prize in the 2019 Hire Awards of Excellence.

Leonie Morris, who works as an apprentice fitter for the equipment supplier firm MHM Plant Ltd, has been judged as ‘The Apprentice of the Year’ at a glittering ceremony held at the Grosvenor Hotel, London. Her prize was awarded to her by BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, Anton Du Beke.

MHM’s Leonie Wins Apprentice Award

Leonie (22) joined the company in August 2017. She extends her time repairing, maintaining and servicing a wide range of power generation and associated equipment, alongside her studies at Bridgend College.

The Hire Awards of Excellence celebrate the amazing achievements of hire and supply companies across the UK and Ireland’s plant, tool, equipment and event hire industry. Crucial recognition is also given to outstanding individuals who have consistently stood out from the crowd and achieved and set some of the highest standards in the industry. All the winners have been independently judged against stringent criteria, with the awards providing an excellent way of acknowledging and showcasing some of the very best practices that the hire industry can offer.

Commenting on winning this award, Leonie said, “I am honoured to have been given this award. It’s a great feeling to be formally recognised for doing a job I genuinely enjoy.  I am lucky enough to be surrounded by enthusiastic and talented people, who always have the time to help me progress. I hope that my success will encourage other young men and women to take up an apprenticeship in the UK hire industry, as it’s a great business to be in.”

Steven Jones, Workshop Manager, MHM Plant Ltd added, ““Talent isn’t a word I would use lightly, but in Leonie’s case, it applies. She is equally at home with petrol, diesel, mechanical and electrical equipment. I’ve worked with a few apprentices in my time, but none achieved, so early in their growth, the very high standards that Leonie sets out for herself.”

MHM Plant hires and sells a wide range of power, fuel storage, lighting, welding and associated equipment for the UK and Ireland rental markets. The company was incorporated in February 2010 and has their headquarters in Port Talbot, South Wales. They operate nationwide from two locations. MHM West is located in South Wales and MHM North in Coatbridge, Scotland. A London depot, MHM South, is currently under development.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Tractor Stolen From Football Club

/in , , /by

Tractor Stolen From Football Club: Staff at Eastleigh FC say they are “gutted” after a tractor worth £19,000 was stolen from their ground.

It happened at the Silverlake Stadium on Sunday night.

Tractor Stolen From Football Club

The Head Groundsman Dan Barnes arrived for match day preparations on Monday to discover the tractor had been stolen and the extent of the damage left behind.

Dan says there was “no remorse” by the people who stole it.

“It’s extremely upsetting. Not just for myself but for the football club as a whole. It’s a massive inconvenience financially and we now have to go through insurance claims. In terms of using the tractor itself, we’re now approaching renovation periods and that’s one of my main pieces of equipment that I’ll be needing to overseed and prepare the ground, so it’s a massive inconvenience.”

The tractor is used primarily at the end of a season, where it is used to overseed and prepare the ground for pre-season friendlies in July.

Hundreds of people on social media have been retweeting the picture of the tractor in the hope of helping the club to recover the vehicle.

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20

/in , , /by

Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20: The ECB expect plastic pitches to be used in domestic Twenty20 action this season when the heavy World Cup scheduling takes its toll on the squares of the country’s leading grounds.

Artificial surfaces are yet to be used for professional matches in the UK but the ECB’s cricket committee sanctioned reinforced grass pitches – woven with up to five per cent of a soft polyethylene yarn – for both the Royal London Cup and the Vitality Blast in 2019.

Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20

In order to use one of the new generation pitches, a club must notify both the ECB and their opposition of an intention to do so in reasonable time. With the midpoint of the 50-over competition’s group stage being reached this Friday, it is not anticipated such a request will be forthcoming.

However, with so much cricket being played across the country this summer due to the hosting of the World Cup, that is likely to change when the T20 competition begins in the second half of July.

Ten counties have had the hybrid strips installed at their headquarters, with the Kia Oval housing as many as six on their square. Although the majority are located on the edges, and used chiefly as practice nets, several are in positions that would allow for boundaries in excess of the minimum regulation lengths.

In July, the ECB will carry out tests using Hawkeye technology to assess how such surfaces react to genuinely fast bowling and how much the ball deviates off the seam.

Reports since the ECB invested £12,000 on the first one at Loughborough three years ago suggest they provide excellent pace and carry, making them ideal for bat-dominated, limited-overs games but they have not been ticked up for first-class cricket as they do not deteriorate over time – a process that encourages different skill sets at the end of a game to the start, such as spin bowling.

It is their durability, in fact, that has made them so popular around the country – manufacturers SIS Pitches say one of their fibre-injected pitches can be used up to five times longer than a regular grass equivalent.

Their successful introduction would place less strain on a groundsman’s primary pitches, and reduce the number of used surfaces being prepared at the end of the season. It has been mooted that they could feature in the new eight-team Hundred competition from 2020.

Chris Wood, the ECB’s pitch consultant, began the process of looking for quality carpet pitches in 2013 due to concerns about ‘wear-and-tear’ caused by an increasing volume of matches. He had already rejected a couple of ‘astroturf’ prototypes when he witnessed how the goalmouths at Tottenham’s former home of White Hart Lane were repaired.

In those areas, finer fibres were injected than in the rest of the pitch, sparking a belief that a similar process could be used across 22 yards for cricket.

Leicestershire and Somerset have both explored the idea of introducing artificial outfields over recent seasons, in a bid to hire out their grounds when dormant in winter, but concerns over restricting the roll of the ball and not having a thick enough pile to the grass covering to cushion the falls of diving fielders scuppered plans.

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.