EGO partners with Lantra

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EGO partners with Lantra: EGO has partnered with training provider Lantra to deliver professional courses for battery-powered outdoor power equipment.

Lantra is one of the UK and Ireland’s leading awarding bodies for land-based industries, developing training courses and nationally recognised qualifications that are delivered through a network of 384 Training Provider Partners.

EGO partners with Lantra

EGO partners with Lantra

With the industry seeing unprecedented demand for alternatives to petrol powered equipment, Lantra has launched the course which teaches students how to productively use battery-powered equipment. The course will also cover the safe maintenance and use of hand-held battery-powered equipment such as mowers, chainsaws, pole saws, hedge trimmers, brush cutters, line trimmers and leaf blowers.

As part of the partnership, EGO is providing Lantra’s training partners with a range of battery-powered equipment including lawnmowers, leaf blowers and chainsaws. These tools will be used as part of the course to teach users about safe operation and maintenance of battery equipment and satisfy the hands-on nature of Lantra’s courses.

David Fisher, Head of Industry Partnerships at Lantra: “Battery-powered equipment is undoubtedly growing in its usage and appeal. This is why we felt it important to deliver a course that ensures users feel confident in using and maintaining these tools efficiently and safely. We’re delighted to partner with EGO and the equipment that has been provided will be of great use to our training partners when delivering these courses.

Peter Melrose, Managing Director EMEA at EGO, said: “With the industry’s attitudes to petrol changing rapidly, we are proud to announce this partnership with Lantra as they aim to increase education on battery-powered equipment. The switch to battery-powered equipment naturally comes with a level of anxiety for many users, particularly those who have used petrol long term. This course enables both industry newcomers and seasoned industry professionals to gain a better understanding of the next generation of products.”

Find out more at egopowerplus.co.uk

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Donate Your PPE

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Donate Your PPE: We talk about how the worst situations bring out the best in people – how a problem is just something awaiting a solution.

The current immense strain on the Health and Social care services has seen front line workers going into work without sufficient or approved kit, and while we can all shout about how wrong it is few us do more than just that – shout.

Donate Your PPE

Donate Your PPE

Some, however, look for those solutions. Michael Buick, for example. Michael, a furniture maker with a partner on the front line working as an intensive care nurse, set up Donate your PPE in an effort to ensure no spare stocks of equipment were left sitting in cupboards in work places that were no longer at work. Brilliant!

Peter Craig, Grounds and Gardens Manager at The Lensbury Teddington, was also thinking about what his industry could do.

“We all have a lot of PPE in our facilities and many of us are not working to full capacity at the moment. My thought was that this resource could be put to immediate use to help the greater cause. I felt that we could look to see how much of it we could donate to people in need of it now,” explained Peter.

“I’m thinking mainly of face masks and the plastic gloves that we use when applying chemicals but some of us may have other PPE which would be appropriate in certain situations.”

Peter is well aware that “it is not ours to give away” and that approval must be sought from line managers before making a donation.

“We see on television and read in the press  that many social carers are having to make home visits without suitable PPE and perhaps some of what we have in our store rooms could be of real help,” said Peter.

You must also ensure that when we are back, once again, operating at full capacity you are not having to wait until new supplies of PPE are delivered to be able to carry out certain tasks.

So let’s show our industry in a positive light in these less than positive times and check to see what can be donated to the cause.

www.donateyourppe.uk

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82V Cramer cordless commercial range

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82V Cramer cordless commercial range: 2020 sees the official launch of the Cramer 82V Commercial range of machinery, with over 30 commercial garden products designed specifically for the professional user and one of the most comprehensive and competitive ranges in today’s market.

The new range offers market leading performance, with innovative features such as Magnesium components, Fleet connectivity, and ultra-high torque motors to offer true petrol rivalling performance for a fraction of the running costs and with no emissions.

82V Cramer cordless commercial range

82V Cramer cordless commercial range

 

‘Cramer has built a strong reputation in Europe for producing high quality commercial horticultural products. Following the development of the 82V range we can now offer

a complete solution for commercial users in the U.K. that are looking for a cordless range, where emissions, performance, affordability and choice are important.’ said Alan Wilson, Handy Distributions Cramer Specialist, UK distributor for Cramer.

The range includes both on-board and backpack battery solutions, and a comprehensive range of handheld equipment including chainsaws, blowers, hedge trimmers, grass trimmers, brush cutters, multi-tools, and hand pruners. Walk behind products include sweepers, utility carts, and lawnmowers up to 61cm (twin blade).

For more information on the range or to find your nearest stockist, call us now on 01793 333220 or visit www.cramertools.com

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Groundsman’s sense of normality

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Groundsman’s sense of normality: Amid all the uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, it is reassuring to know that some routines have hardly changed.

“The grass doesn’t stop for coronavirus,” Scott Humphries, groundsman at Oxford United’s training ground says.

Groundsman's sense of normality

Groundsman’s sense of normality

This is the start of the third week without players working on the pitches at the club’s headquarters near Horspath.

But while the squad are cooped up, Humphries cannot work from home.

Instead, he is isolated in his tractor, trundling up and down the vast expanse of green, keeping it in shape for when the season can restart.

He said: “It’s just about giving the pitches some tender loving care.

“Grass is like a human, it requires food, drink and oxygen.

“People don’t see it like that, but to me it’s my second baby.”

Other than not marking out the pitches, his job has barely changed in the last fortnight.

The lack of wear and tear, coupled with the sudden burst of sunshine, has helped restore the pitches to pristine condition.

But there is a snag to this unscheduled break, which is centred around just how long life will be on hold.

Groundstaff count on the long summer break to give them enough time to undertake essential major pitch renovation works.

But with the current campaign set to be extended, it is likely the gap between seasons will be shorter.

Humphries said: “We all need a holiday now and again because otherwise we burn out – and pitches are no different.

“You would normally rip the surface off and then it’s about six weeks to grow.

“The training pitch is vital, especially with the way our boys want to play.

“The community use the facilities as well and you want them to have a good surface when they’re allowed to come out.

“It’s so frustrating because we can’t plan anything – and it needs to be ready for Championship players next season.”

A lifelong United fan, Humphries has lived the dream since arriving in August 2017.

And although he is working separately to the rest of the club at the moment, the connection is still there.

“Derek Fazackerley (first team coach) rang me up the other night, just to see how things were,” he said.

“That’s brilliant and it just makes you feel part of it.

“Faz is a football legend and he’s taken ten minutes out to give me a ring.

“It’s the club I love and you are always going to go the extra mile in that situation.

“It’s brilliant to see it on the Saturday. At 5pm you can say ‘I’ve played a little part in that’.”

In that context, the current situation – surrounded by pitches, but without any football – is torture.

“I can’t wait for football to be back,” he said.

“I just keep thinking about that first game and how much we’ll all be looking forward to it.

“We took a Tuesday night in Rochdale for granted, but everyone will be buzzing to go now.”

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JCB joins national call to action

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JCB joins national call to action: JCB is poised to re-start production at a factory closed as a result of the Coronavirus crisis in order to join the national effort to manufacture ventilators, the company announced today.

JCB received a direct appeal from Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month to help plug the national ventilator shortage and to help save lives of Coronavirus patients. Following the approach, JCB Chairman Lord Bamford promised to help in any way the company could and immediately mobilised a research and engineering team to examine potential ways to assist.

JCB joins national call to action

JCB joins national call to action

Now JCB is ready to restart production at a factory which has been closed for nearly two weeks as a result of the Coronavirus crisis. But instead of making cabs for JCB diggers, the plant is being mobilised to make special steel housings for a brand new design of ventilator from Dyson. A minimum of 10,000 of the JCB housings are earmarked for manufacture once Dyson receives regulatory approval for its design.

The first prototypes of the housings have been delivered to Dyson after rolling off the production line at JCB’s £50 million Cab Systems factory in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, which Boris Johnson visited during the election campaign. The factory fell silent on March 18th along with eight other JCB UK manufacturing plants after a fall in demand caused by the Coronavirus crisis. Mass production of the housings could start in a matter of days.

Today JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “When we were approached by the Prime Minister we were determined, as a British company, to help in any way we could. This project has gone from design to production in just a matter of days and I am delighted that we have been able to deploy the skills of our talented engineering, design and fabrication teams so quickly at a time of national crisis. This is also a global crisis, of course, and we will naturally help with the production of more housings if these ventilators are eventually required by other countries.”

JCB’s response to the national call to action would see the return to work for around 50 employees affected by an extended company shutdown announced last week. JCB suspended production at its nine UK production plants until at least the end of April as a result of the Coronavirus crisis and furloughed the vast majority of its 6,500 workforce. The company is paying them 80% of their basic pay for the next month, regardless of what they earn.

Employees returning to work to help manufacture the ventilator housings will be paid 100% of their normal pay.

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Great products for the great outdoors

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Great products for the great outdoors: Leading manufacturer of outdoor equipment and power tools, Makita UK has expanded its line of cordless power equipment with an impressive range of new garden machinery tools, specifically aimed at the outdoor sector.  

Building upon its vast experience in cordless technology, Makita has added to its line up with a wide range of equipment that now offers professionals over 70 cordless outdoor power equipment (OPE) tools within its innovative LXT battery platform. The platform is designed with professionals in mind, to provide beneficial solutions against petrol products to offer lower noise and vibration levels, reduced maintenance and zero emissions, whilst providing the levels of power and torque professionals need to tackle the many outdoor tasks and applications they face on a day to day basis.  

Great products for the great outdoors

Great products for the great outdoors

By adding to the existing range, these higher specification, new products ensure there is a tool for any job, that matches the daily demands of working outdoors, including: 

Brushless Lawn Mowers 

The lawn mower range includes one new aluminium deck (DLM533) and three new steel deck models (DLM462, DLM530, DLM532). Powered by two 18V Li-ion batteries in series to supply energy to the powerful 36V DC motor drive system, these machines can be fitted with four batteries to give contractors extended cutting time. With a manual battery selection, simply flick the switch to change over to the second pair of batteries when the initial set has discharged. 

All Twin 18V, the new models include an electric brake and a large grass box with a useful level indicator, as well as a built-in mulching option and weather–proof cover. By adding to the existing three models in the range, professionals can choose the model to suit the scale of their lawn groundwork, from smaller domestic lawns right up to areas of 2,300m2. 

Brushless Hedge Trimmers 

Ideal for tackling mature growth, thick branches and hedges, two new single sided hedge trimmers offer improved and safer handling, thanks to the single blade, lightweight design and two-handed start up. The 18V DUH604S and DUH754S both feature three speed settings, a reverse switch to clear the blades if branches get jammed and automatic shut off if the machine is not operated for 60 seconds after being turned on. The blade profile has been designed for smother cutting, whilst low vibration and high power allows operators to work efficiently, even on large hedges, with less fatigue.  

Brushless Linetrimmers and Brush Cutters 

Providing access to varied shrubland and undergrowth, the new Twin 18V Linetrimmer (DUR369L) and Brush Cutter (DUR369A) models provide an excellent alternative to manoeuvring heavy and cumbersome machinery. Both operate using a 1kW motor – equivalent to a 33cc 2-stroke engine machine and include automatic torque drive technology (ADT), which adjusts the RPM according to the density of the weeds, plus active feedback sensing technology (AFT) which shuts down the tool to protect the user if the rotation speed suddenly slows down. Alternatively, the new UR101CZ and UR201CZ models are equivalent to the DUR369 products, however these are designed for use with Makita’s backpack battery rather than connecting individual batteries to the machines, making these models better suited for contractors who require longer run-times for larger areas.      

Portable Battery Pack 

The PDC01 battery backpack provides ‘portable fuel’ enabling operators to continue to work and reducing the frequency required to replace batteries. The backpack neatly holds four 18V LXT batteries for use with the 18V adaptor or twin 18V adaptors that attach to the tools, in order to create a portable power supply – which is ideal for use with high-drain products. Unlike other backpack battery systems where the entire unit needs to be recharged, the Makita system uses interchangeable 18V batteries, enabling operators to double or quadruple the run time of their work depending on the tool being used. Simply replace the batteries when the first sets are empty and then carry on working whilst recharging your initial battery sets! 

Commenting on the new releases, Mark Earles, Business Development Manager for garden machinery at Makita said: “We are delighted to offer outdoor professionals even more choice with this exciting new line-up. All the new releases are powered by Makita’s Lithium-ion LXT battery technology, the biggest battery platform in the world. With over 200 products within this system, operators can seamlessly interchange between projects and equipment, so whatever challenge the great outdoors presents, professionals can be confident that using Makita will get the job done.” 

All products are available to order.

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Replay Maintenance announcement

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Replay Maintenance announcement: Following the announcement last night regarding Covid-19, the Replay Board of Directors have made the difficult decision to suspend all works until further notice to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of our Staff and Customers.

Due to the nature of our work with Operatives moving from facility to facility we felt it was our ultimate duty of care to fully abide by the Government’s policy on tightening the social distancing measures. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but hope that normal service can resume over the next few weeks.

Replay Maintenance announcement

Replay Maintenance announcement

We have enabled home-working for office-based Staff over the last 2 weeks and will continue to have Staff presence over this next period who will be available to respond and answer any new or existing enquiries or general queries.

These are unprecedented and challenging times, from all of the Staff at Replay we wish you well and hope you stay safe and healthy during the coming days and weeks.

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NZ courses braced for no upkeep

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NZ courses braced for no upkeep: Normally at the weekend, stadiums around New Zealand are full of kiwis watching rugby and cricket or for the thousands of weekend hackers, it’s time for a round of golf with their mates.

But with the country in lockdown, those stadiums and golf courses aren’t just bare of people they’re without care and maintenance, and the cost economically and socially hurts.

NZ courses braced for no upkeep

NZ courses braced for no upkeep

Hundreds of clubs around the country were forced to close with upkeep not permitted.

“Greens are our babies,” New Zealand Greenkeepers president Steve Hodson told Newshub.

“If we lose our greens, we lose our golf course and we’ve lost our revenue, then we’ve lost jobs.”

He is among thousands of volunteers and is devastated.

“[It’s] a massive social cost as well, as financial cost to the clubs,” he told Newshub.

NZ golf has been lobbying to get a dispensation to allow a skeletal staff to cut the greens, until a decision is made.

“The grass keeps on growing,” Hodson added.

But while the lockdown effects may be permanently crippling for many small golf courses, the grounds in our big stadiums are in better shape

Turf manager Karl Johnson says FMG Waikato Stadium has sprayed a product to slow growth.

“Hopefully it will hold on for 4 weeks,” Johnson told Newshub.

“Our irrigation systems are managed by mobile devices so we are able to irrigate from home”

Instead, Johnson will spend the month preening his own lawn and is hopeful the grass will be greener for all when this finally ends.

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COVID-19 advice for course maintenance

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COVID-19 advice for course maintenance: What is classed as ‘essential maintenance’ during the Covid-19 outbreak? The R&A and BIGGA have had their say.

How much maintenance does a golf course really need during the coronavirus pandemic?

COVID-19 advice for course maintenance

COVID-19 advice for course maintenance

After the Government put new curbs on personal movement as the outbreak intensified, greenkeeping teams were advised by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport they could still attend work for “security and essential maintenance purposes”.

That led the body that represents greenkeepers, the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association, to urgently seek clarification on what ‘essential’ actually meant. Now the R&A, in conjunction with BIGGA, have given their view. Here is the statement in full…

Essential Maintenance Statement for Golf Courses during COVID-19 Outbreak

The following industry statement sets out a reduced, essential maintenance regime for greenkeeping that protects workers, jobs and secures golfing facilities for the physical and mental wellbeing of millions of golfers who will resume play when social distancing rules are ended. The UK’s £2bn GVA golf industry is only sustainable if greenkeepers continue to work, safely and securely.

Our industry statement outlines those treatments considered essential for the safe maintenance a golf course during the current government restrictions. It is accepted that golf courses exist in many different forms, on many different soil types and in differing landscapes and that this guidance may require adaptation.

Working practices

The primary consideration must be the health and wellbeing of greenkeeping staff. All golf facilities should implement stringent measures to ensure staff members are not at risk. The amount of time that greenkeeping staff are at work should be kept to a minimum and be tailored to fit with the agreed essential maintenance programme.

Measures should include but are not limited to:

  • Focus on hygiene and social distancing
  • Ensure staff members work separately
  • Allocate individual machinery to one worker only
  • If multiple staff on site, then stagger working hours and break times
  • Limit or prohibit use of communal areas
  • Regularly disinfect any surface that is contacted e.g. door handles, fuel pumps, communal machinery
  • Ensure there is a robust lone working policy

Mowing

Greens should be mown according to the rate of growth to a maximum of three times per week. Dew removal should be considered on non-mowing days as required to prevent disease spread.

Tees and green surrounds should be mown according to the rate of growth to a maximum of once per week.

Fairways should be mown according to the rate of growth to a maximum of once per week.

Managed roughs and grass paths should be mown according to need to a maximum of once every two weeks (fortnightly). Only roughs considered to be in direct play should be mown allowing for naturalisation to areas largely out of play.

The height of cut adopted for all these areas is site specific but the elevation of the cutting height on fine turf areas is advised to minimise unnecessary stress on the turf. The aim of the above operations is to maintain uniformity, density, texture and health to allow surfaces to be quickly brought back to an appropriate playing standard once play resumes.

Irrigation and Nutrition

Irrigation and nutrition should be carried out as necessary but with the objectives of keeping the turf alive, maintaining a full sward and preventing turf thinning. Avoid excesses of either input which will only serve to promote unnecessary growth and necessitate more maintenance.

Machinery and Equipment Maintenance

This should be carried out as required to ensure that essential equipment is kept safe and operational.

Operations such as maintaining bunkers, penalty areas, wider practice facilities (other than greens and tees), aeration, top dressing and spraying are not considered essential at this time. However, it is conceivable that occasional spraying to control an acute pest, weed or disease problem may be considered essential at times and in some circumstances.

Updates

Given the fluidity of the current situation there may be a requirement to update and re-issue this guidance in respect of future government advice.

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ECB say groundsmen’s work is essential

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ECB say groundsmen’s work is essential: The England and Wales Cricket Board and Yorkshire Cricket Board have deemed the work of groundsmen and women essential.

While virtually all other cricket activities have been stopped, Rod Heyhoe, secretary of the Yorkshire branch of the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG), has been reading through a five-page document from the ECB.

ECB say groundsmen's work is essential

ECB say groundsmen’s work is essential

“It is pretty self explanatory,” said the 74-year-old Lightcliffe Cricket Club legend.

“Originally we were just working (and still are) to government guidelines in terms of being six feet apart if you were working with someone else, but now our work has been considered essential in terms of doing things like cutting the grass, fertilising and watering.

“We don’t know when, or even if, there will be cricket in 2020 but as groundsmen, we need to be ready if and when we do get the go-ahead.”

The ECB’s advice to groundsmen is to get into the habit of cleaning their machines thoroughly immediately after use.

They advise that kennel disinfectants are a cheap and effective way of doing this, before wiping the equipment down with blue roll.

Mowing should take place regularly, with the turf ideally being maintained at no more than 25mm or one inch.

Growth regulators can be used to reduce the speed of grass growth and hence reduce the frequency of cutting, but that this should only be done by a qualified person.

Watering should also ideally continue to prevent wilting or surface cracking, while fertilisation is necessary to maintain the grass.

However, the ECB advise that nitrogen input should be reduced by something like a third to half of normal rates in order to control excess top growth and limit the likelihood of disease.

Meanwhile, verticutting of the squares and aeration of the outfields is considered important but only if government guidelines can be kept to.

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