Commending dealers who do more

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Commending dealers who do more: Reesink Turfcare recognised its dealers at its annual Aftermarket Dealer Awards ceremony, which was held in February.

Recognising an overall Dealer of the Year for ‘Excellence in Customer Support’ alongside Outstanding Performance in Service, Skills and Parts, the awards acknowledge the top performers in customer service across Reesink’s UK dealer network and are a huge achievement.

Commending dealers who do more

Commending dealers who do more

The much-coveted Dealer of the Year Award for Excellence in Customer Support is awarded to Lloyd Ltd. While Cheshire Turf Machinery in Stockport was awarded for Outstanding Service, Lloyd Ltd for Outstanding Skills and Revill Mowers in Gloucestershire for Outstanding Parts.

David Jackman, Reesink’s operations manager, says: “As a distributor, we are focussed on the way we communicate with our customers and the way we deal with customer support. It’s why we work closely with our dealers and delight in awarding those who do more to offer the very best in customer service.”

Reflecting on the win, groundcare service manager Glen McVittie at Lloyd Ltd, says: “Winning these awards is a real reflection of our team and their hard work. At Lloyd Ltd, we are committed to both investing in our staff to realise their full potential and offering our customers the best possible service and results. We are thrilled to have had that recognised by Reesink and to have come away with the top prize for Dealer of the Year and the award for Skills.”

Runners up in the categories are The Mowershop in Northamptonshire for Service, Oliver Landpower in Hertfordshire for Skills, RedTech Machinery in Coventry for Parts and Cheshire Turf Machinery for Excellence in Customer Support.

Reesink awards those dealers achieving the best scores in keeping with its Service Level Agreement (SLA), which benchmarks great customer service. Rated on quarterly Key Performance Indicators (KPI), within each of the three sections, the Dealer of the Year Award combines the KPI scores from all three.

David explains more about the scheme: “Over the years, we have continued to invest in our customer service and especially so in our after sales offering. One of the ways we showcase to our customers the quality of Reesink’s service is through our Service Level Agreement, which is adopted by all our Authorised Service and Dealer Locations. With this, customers can be sure that our excellent dealer network reflects Reesink’s core customer service standards, goals and considerations, and these awards are further proof of that.”

Mark Woodward, service director at Cheshire Turf Machinery, says: “By committing to following Reesink UK’s service level agreement, our service department has been elevated to the next level. To see the result of that acknowledged by winning the award for Service and finishing as the runner up for Dealer of the Year is extremely pleasing and a strong testament to the hard work of our after sales team.”

As a leading UK distributor of top turfcare brands, delivering excellence on all fronts, and particularly when it comes to customer service, is paramount to Reesink – and doing so with all its business partners is vital, concludes David: “Over the years, we have continued to invest in our customer service and especially so in our after sales offering and to see that represented by the dealers so brilliantly means we are achieving in our goal to keep on improving the overall experience for all our customers.”

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Quadraplay solves worm cast issues

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Quadraplay solves worm cast issues: The removal of Carbendazim from the groundcare market meant that St Albans School needed an alternative solution to combating worm casts and they found exactly what they were looking for in the SISIS Quadraplay.

Ian Smith, turf consultant for St Albans School, Woollam Trust Playing Fields, has long been tending to the outstanding facilities which includes 23 winter pitches for rugby and football, an all-weather hockey pitch and 8 cricket squares. The Woollam Groundstaff team have established a glowing reputation for producing the quality playing surfaces that play host to the school’s exceptional sporting teams.

Quadraplay solves worm cast issues

Quadraplay solves worm cast issues

Ever the perfectionist, Ian was concerned when they were unable to continue spraying the field with Carbendazim – a fungicide which deters worms from entering treated soil.

“Worm casting was starting to become a problem again after the loss of Carbendazim, so I started asking various groundstaff in the area their thoughts on finding a solution,” he said.

“Mark Rolph, who is now part of our team at Woollam’s, informed me how effective the SISIS Quadraplay had been for him at his previous job and in addition to this, Keith Kent former Head Groundsman at Twickenham Stadium also recommended it.

“We thought we’d give it a try and it has been absolutely brilliant for us.”

The SISIS Quadraplay multiple-purpose, single-pass maintenance incorporates a mounted frame for up to four implements such as grooming rakes, spikers, slitters, rollers and brushes. The implements can be fitted to the mainframe in any order and can be independently adjusted to achieve the desired effect. Compact, robust, versatile and with the ability to carry out up to four operations simultaneously the Quadraplay makes life a lot easier for many groundsmen.

Regular use of the SISIS Quadraplay combined with a top layer of sand dressing has worked wonders according to Ian.

Quadraplay solves worm cast issues

Quadraplay solves worm cast issues

“We had been encouraged to keep sand dressing our pitches, so every year 60 tons per pitch is applied and we have been doing this for past 20 years. This on top of sand amelioration during construction has led to a root zone that is a 70/30 sand soil mix. If it was just clay then it would seal in wet weather and would become unplayable for long periods.

“The sand dressing has stopped the surface from capping off and means that the worm casts now contain a lot of sand. This means that they are broken up and spread evenly by the slitter, spring tines and brush when the Quadraplay is used.

“I have been surprised at just how effective the Quadraplay has been – the surface levels are better than I was expecting, and the presentation is good. Considering the amount of rain we have had this year the pitches are not laid with water either and this is probably down to the Quadraplay keeping the surface nice and open.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter and Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

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Aspen Fuel powers cleaner performance

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Aspen Fuel powers cleaner performance: Arboricultural companies, large and small, are discovering the benefits of switching their fuel over to Aspen Alkylate Petrol.

The UK’s largest tree contractors, Gristwood and Toms, together with Merseyside-based grounds and landscapers, Kingsman Gardens, have both reaped the rewards of using Aspen fuel – reducing harmful fumes and costly machinery servicing and repairs.

Aspen Fuel powers cleaner performance

Aspen Fuel powers cleaner performance

Gristwood and Toms started using Aspen 2 in their fleet of chainsaws 18 months ago. “With a team of 220 people and nearly 200 vehicles on our books, it’s important that we’re taking steps where we can, to improve our green credentials” explains Director Dave Gristwood. “Aspen came in to demonstrate the product and how, by removing all of the nasty chemicals, the fuel burns much cleaner than regular unleaded. Our chainsaws run well, now without the fumes which is much better health-wise for the guys using them.” He continues, “In our line of work, it’s also quite common for spillages to occur, and if this happens now with the Aspen product, it’s noticeable that it doesn’t cause damage to plants or the surrounding environment to the same degree as conventional fuel.”

For Kevin Prince, Owner of Kingsman Gardens, the difference he has noticed in the longevity of his machinery has been massive since he switched to Aspen 2 two years ago. “My team of five guys undertake a variety of domestic and commercial works from landscaping, garden clearances, tree cutting to pressure washing and cleaning. Because of the scope and variety of work we do, some items on our machinery fleet will sit around unused for a few months – sometimes even longer. Because the Aspen fuel doesn’t deteriorate like regular petrol would do, and keeps the inner workings so much cleaner, it means we’ve had machines that are unused for over a year that still start up first time.”

Kevin uses Aspen 2 in all of his 2-stroke equipment, including chainsaws, strimmers and hedgecutters together with a small amount of the Aspen 4 mix in some of his 4-stroke hover mowers. “Being ready prepared, we’ve all but eliminated issues with mixing which is much safer and reduces my maintenance costs when machines weren’t running as they should. Customers have also commented on the reduction in smell and smoke which is especially important when you’re working in small, confined areas.”

Being virtually free from sulphur, benzene and solvents, Aspen alkylate petrol burns cleaner than regular petrol making it safer for operators, machinery and the environment.

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STRI at the Saudi Cup

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STRI at the Saudi Cup: World-leading sports surface solution provider, STRI Group, recently completed one of the most ambitious projects in its 90-year history – a turf racetrack in the challenging terrain of Saudi Arabia.

STRI was chosen by his Excellency Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal (chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia) to support his vision of making Saudi Arabia a destination for world class horse racing on turf. Critical to achieving this was the delivery of an elite turf track in time for the inaugural running of the world’s richest horse racing event, the Saudi Cup.

STRI at the Saudi Cup

STRI at the Saudi Cup

As the Principal Contractors for engineering and construction of the new turf track at The King Abdulaziz Racecourse, STRI provided an end-to-end design, build and operate solution to Riyadh Equestrian Club. Here’s a sneak peek into how STRI delivered this mammoth project.

Making racing history Prince Bandar’s vision was to create the first ever elite turf racetrack in Saudi Arabia. The course had to perform to the highest possible standards and be constructed using the finest materials available. The entire design required the construction and establishment of the track to be undertaken in a record-breaking period of just six months, requiring a large-scale resource input to achieve such a fast turnaround.

Key challenges The major hurdles to overcome were timescales and climate. Following our engagement in July 2019, STRI’s teams of researchers and consultants quickly established the most effective way of producing a surface that would meet the needs of our client. Our on-theground mobilisation was immediate, to ensure we made the most of the time available to us to deliver the track and deal with the challenging and variable climate of Saudi Arabia.

Design and build Engineering a track of this standard is a highly complex process requiring input from our world-leading experts in drainage, irrigation, construction, materials analysis and biomechanics.

The primary constituents that make up the track are relatively few in number, but the type and amounts of those constituents are critical to making the track a success. First steps are to understand the baseline environment of the development site. Our team conducted a detailed study of the site including a comprehensive review of climatic conditions.

From there, an extensive materials selection regime was undertaken, taking a range of sands and gravels from around the Kingdom and testing them for their compatibility to create a firm surface ideal for racing. This rootzone, once mixed with stabilising fibres, provides the perfect medium within which to install the grass surface.

The construction process itself was rapid and extensive resources were drafted from across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to excavate the existing track material and install the new one. Timing was critical and the earth movement work had to be completed at breakneck speed as we needed to be ready to sow with the selected grass species as soon as temperatures reached the optimal level.

The turf track To meet the needs of a winter race in Saudi Arabia, the track was established with a “cool season” grass species – ie a species usually found in more temperate climates. This grass thrives in the winter climate of Saudi Arabia and, when combined with a special blend of stabilising fibres incorporated into the mix, it provides a surface which not only performs exceptionally well but also looks visually stunning.

Once sown, a daily bespoke maintenance regime was developed to ensure the correct levels of water and fertiliser were applied to maximise strong sward establishment. Deep rooting was critical to develop a grass surface that not only looked fantastic, but also held together under the stresses created by a galloping horse.

After several months of careful maintenance, we are delighted to have presented and demonstrated, a track that is befitting of this prestigious race event.

A note on sustainability and future-proof design Sustainability underpins STRI’s approach to all design projects. Our R&D teams are continually innovating technologies to make developments more sustainable, through the construction and operational phases of their lifecycles.

This not only relates to sustainability from a climate perspective, with the key pressures being water and resource use, but we also work with clients to design facilities which will fit their business model needs in the short, medium and long-term. For example, water use per capita in the Middle East is amongst the highest in the world. Current forecasts suggest that local aquifers will run dry in the next 20 years. STRI develops technologies and techniques to reduce the water requirement of natural turf.

Final thoughts HRH Prince Bandar’s project in Riyadh is a great example of our ability to problem solve. STRI has made its name developing elite sports surfaces across the world and our in-house R&D combined with global network means that we are able to adapt to even the most challenging of situations. However, it is exactly these kinds of projects that we relish the opportunity to get involved in.

The timescales, climate, resource availability and the need to have a surface of exceptional quality all made this project a challenge. Striving to achieve the wider National Vision 2030, we believe this facility will form part of a network of world leading venues in the region and create a global powerhouse of natural turf racing.

“I’m very happy, although I’m not surprised. We engaged some of the best people in the world to design and work on the track. They said they would deliver and they have, so I’m extremely happy. STRI has done an amazing job.” His Excellency Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal (chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia)

“What has been achieved in a short period of time is staggering. We know STRI are world class, world leaders in their field, I think what they’ve done is superb. The detail and the attention that they’ve gone to is phenomenal. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with them. This track is unbelievably consistent, I don’t think you’ll walk on a more consistent racing surface anywhere in the world. It’s level, beautiful cambered bends. It’s some achievement.”

Clerk of the course and Newmarket Head of Racing, Michael Prosser.

“I’m very happy with the ground on the turf track. After three months when you see what the team has done here, they’ve worked very hard and done a fantastic job. I have ridden here for a very, very long time and at the other track and I see the construction here and it’s very good.” Oliver Peslier, jockey, Call The Wind, 1st: Longines Turf Handicap

“What they’ve done in the space of two months (with this turf course) is remarkable.” Frankie Dettori after his win on Dark Power, 1st: The STC 1351 turf sprint

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