Engineered to protect the lawn

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Engineered to protect the lawn: STIGA’s new robotic lawnmower, designed and manufactured in Italy, helps produce a healthy lawn whilst allowing time for owners to enjoy their outdoor space in peace and quiet.

Stig is the first robot that can properly care for a lawn in just two mowing sessions a day, with an 80-minute charge and five hours between cuts. It allows the grass to recover and stay healthy, and leaves plenty of time for users to enjoy their outdoor space in peace and quiet.

Engineered to protect the lawn

Engineered to protect the lawn

It is the first of a new breed of robot lawnmowers and combines 90 years of STIGA’s engineering innovation and expertise with a deep understanding of the science of grass. Stig has been designed and developed in Italy, at the STIGA Group headquarters and production facility in Castelfranco (TV). This high-tech hub of innovation is home to a talented multicultural R&D department with a range of backgrounds and skills – mechanical and electronic engineers, technicians, software experts, prototype and test engineers and an agronomist.

Maximum lawn health and more time to enjoy the garden

A healthy lawn requires a robot mower to work with fewer cutting phases, and more time between cuts. Stig covers a maximum working area of 1200sqm, is suitable for all lawn terrain – even slopes up to 45% (24°) – and with twice the run time of any other robot mower. Because Stig completes mowing in daylight hours there is no night mowing to disturb nocturnal wildlife or neighbours and this also allows the lawn to fully recover.

Long-lasting clean energy and high-performance cutting

Stig runs on STIGA-owned E-Power lithium-ion batteries. These ensure reliable, long-lasting performance from a clean energy-saving power source with no emissions. E-Power batteries are designed for long-life: even after 1500 charging cycles they continue to operate at over 80% capacity.

Customers have the option to select two different sized batteries at purchase, to suit the size of the lawn they need to cut. Compact and lightweight (less than 8kg), Stig intelligently navigates gardens of all shapes and sizes, tackling narrow spaces and manoeuvring around trees and bushes.

It’s exceptional cutting performance is delivered via four pivoting carbon steel blades, spinning at up to 2850rpm. An easily adjustable height of cut ensures a precise grass length from 20 to 60mm. The cutting performance is matched by built-in safety features, pivoting retractable blades, two stabilising front wheels and multiple obstacle detection. If Stig is lifted or tips over the blades automatically switch off in under 2 seconds. It is also very quiet thanks to a bottom cover constructed from noise-insulating materials.

Intelligent navigation, user-friendly connectivity

With just five buttons for selecting primary functions, Stig’s on-board control panel allows users to get started quickly and easily. An intuitive interface and Bluetooth connection allows control directly from a smartphone, using very simple functions. A battery light indicates charge level, and a warning light signals the presence of hazards. Stig is supplied with the dedicated STIGA.GO App, available for iOS and Android. This provides advanced control including a full scheduling function allowing users to plan cutting sessions to suit their needs, the weather forecast and seasonal changes. Complete coverage of the lawns is guaranteed with two front coil sensors and a static algorithm. Using “Go-To-Cut” via the App, the user can instruct Stig where to begin mowing. Bump sensors detect objects, and the soft-shell body absorbs any impacts without damaging the mower. A rain sensor automatically sends Stig back to its charging dock.

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STIHL enhances tool management solution

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STIHL enhances tool management solution: STIHL has enhanced its digital fleet management solution, STIHL Connected, with the introduction of the new Smart Connector 2 A, enabling professional users to obtain new levels of machinery performance data to improve maintenance programmes and fleet management efficiencies. 

Specifically designed for a growing range of professional STIHL cordless machines, the Smart Connector 2 A is able to transmit increased levels of useful machine data to a user’s smartphone via Bluetooth. The information relayed includes operating time, working speeds, the status on individual electronic components, ambient temperature and also messages about the status of the machine to name but a few, giving users universal transparency of the machine and its performance.

STIHL enhances tool management solution

STIHL enhances tool management solution

The Smart Connector 2 A also features a real time clock, meaning the data is collected accurately regardless of how often the connector syncs with a smartphone, so operators can see when and for how long a machine was used. In addition, pressing the button on the Smart Connector 2 A gives a quick indication of the status of the machine via an LED light, and will display green if the machine’s maintenance is up-to-date, yellow if there’s an outstanding job, or red if a machine fault has been detected.

The new Smart Connector 2 A sits flush against the machine housing and connects directly into the control unit of selected AP System battery machines, without the need for drilling or sticking. In addition, the pairing process is kept quick and simple, and can all be easily done from the STIHL Connected app.

All of the machinery performance data is available to view either on the STIHL Connected app or on the desktop STIHL Connected Portal, a one-stop shop for accessing all the maintenance information and upcoming tasks for an unlimited number of machines in the fleet.

Compatible STIHL machines for the Smart Connector 2 A include all 135 models (HLA, FSA, KMA, HTA), RGA 140, the latest HSA 94 R, HSA 94 T versions, with more professional machines coming in 2022.

For more information on STIHL’s digital fleet management solutions, please visit www.stihl.co.uk.

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Waterhouses benefit from FA partnership

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Waterhouses benefit from FA partnership: Waterhouses Parish Council has become the latest organisation to benefit from the partnership between Staffordshire FA and Campey Turf Care Systems with funding providing a SISIS Quadraplay, New Holland tractor and Trimax Striker.

The Staffordshire based parish council has taken advantage of funding from the Football Foundation as part of the Pitch Improvement Programme and was awarded the remaining 25% of money as a grant from Staffordshire Moorland District Council as part of its Sports Village Programme.

Waterhouses benefit from FA partnership

Waterhouses benefit from FA partnership

Waterhouses Sports field is equivalent to three full-sized football pitches, and hosts Waterhouses FC amongst other senior and junior teams, and provides a grass area for other parish activities.

According to Waterhouses Parish Council Clerk Chris Hinton, the benefits will be two-fold with the trio of machines in place. First, he believes regular specified maintenance will increase the quality of the pitches, whilst doing the work themselves will save money on contracting costs.

“We are very genuine in our gratitude to the funders and to the Staffordshire FA who glued everything together. We are very keen to use the advice of John Campey at Campey Ltd and Andy Jackson from Stoke City,” Chris begins. “I think we’ve received great advice which we’ve followed and I’m really pleased for everybody that they are going to have much better facilities.

“In years gone by, the senior pitch was one of the best in the area. When it was first installed, it was funded by the local quarry, and they put in very good drainage, which made a massive difference. Over the years since then, the pitches haven’t received any real treatment, apart from basic mowing and rolling and a little annual dressing and seeding etc.

“The programme we have in place now started in the summer of 2019, when I became aware of the pitch improvement scheme and capital grants to help buy the equipment you need to tie it all together.

“When the grant became a reality, we were required to get quotations, and Campey were one of the first people we turned to because we were advised that they are experts in the field. After going through the process, we definitely wanted to make sure the equipment we got was fit for purpose, and with their advice, we fulfilled that brief.

“Before, the maintenance was on a contract with a local sub-contractor who did a good job, but it would be done at times when weather permitted and not necessarily when we asked for it or be exactly what we needed.

“Now we can mow the pitch more frequently, to a more specific level depending on the weather and the needs, and if we want to, we can put the Quadraplay on and slit, scarify or brush. It’s going to make a massive difference to the surfaces, and we’ll save money because we’ll either use our local Lengthsman or volunteers.”

Staffordshire FA Partnerships and Communications Officer Gareth Thomas added: “We’re delighted that Waterhouses Parish Council has embraced the support available to them. Campey’s ongoing support for our programme is ensuring that we can meet our objectives of improving as many natural turf pitches as possible across Staffordshire, and we look forward to supporting more grassroots clubs and organisations going forward.”

With maintenance under the parish’s control, the target is now to restore the ground’s reputation, which used to be renowned for its quality. Improvement works commenced in the 2021/22 preseason with ShockWaving to relieve compaction and a series of recommendations via the Pitch Improvement Programme, which should see a further improvement in quality from the start of next season and beyond.

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Getting stronger over time

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Getting stronger over time: For almost any product, there is an environment that provides its toughest test. If you’re making extreme winter clothing, and you get asked to supply your gear to McMurdo Station, the largest settlement in Antarctica, you’ll know it is going to get the best possible test.

Similarly if you sell bunker liners and you get asked to supply The Preserve GC, in Vancleave in southern Missssippi.

Getting stronger over time

Getting stronger over time

Designed by Jerry Pate and opened in 2005, The Preserve is attached to the Palace Casino Resort in nearby Biloxi. According to director of operations Stephen Miles, the course does 13,000 rounds in an average year, though the post-Covid golf boom means 2021 has been significantly busier. And, let us not beat about the bush: this part of the Gulf coast is the wettest location in the whole of the continental United States, averaging almost 70 inches (1780mm) of rain a year. And 2021 has been wetter still than that: club meteorlogist Jeremy Steven reports that the figure for this year is very close to 100 inches (2,540mm).

Fortunately for Miles and his team, back in 2014, The Preserve chose to rebuild its bunkers and line them with Capillary Bunkers technology. “Nine years after opening is not a long time to have to renovate, but the infrastructure in the original build of the course was simply not up to coping with our weather,” he says. “The bunkers were originally lined with fabric, but it was wearing out, and we needed a more resilient solution. I knew that concrete had the tendency to get stronger over time, and Capillary Bunkers was less restrictive in the conditions needed for installation than its closest rival. I was confident at the time that we had made the right choice and installed a product that would stand the test of time. And time has proved we made the right choice!”

“We have not had to repair our bunkers at all, and, incredibly, the original sand is still in them,” Miles says. “Since 2014, I have bought one truckload of sand, and that was for the bunker in our chipping green – which gets blasted out by players. Our bunkers have flashed sand faces, but our minimal washout issues only occur where water actually flows into the bunkers. When we get a big rain – and eight to ten inches of rain is not uncommon – we have to wait for the drainage infrastructure underneath the bunkers to catch up with the bunkers’ ability to move water. But it always does, and then the crew can prepare the bunkers for play again.”

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Change, change and more change

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Change, change and more change: For virtually all businesses this is a time of major change and challenge and not least in the world of amenity management. Steeply rising input prices, continual change to the restrictions imposed because of COVID, major economic pressure on both users and providers – the list goes on. Yet despite this, the need to keep our amenity and sports surfaces fit for purpose, healthy and sustainable as never been more important.

In terms of weed, pest and disease management, significant policy change is afoot. With our withdrawal from the EU, new regulations are emerging regarding the approval and use of plant protection products. In addition a new UK National Action Plan is to be issued setting out the requirements going forward. We already know that this will have a major focus on integrated management approaches and greater enforcement and standards. Then there has been the implementation of the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020 (OCR). This has already legally required all suppliers of plant protection products (PPPs) to register their locations and stock carried. From June 2022, such a legal responsibility will also apply to all users of PPPs backed up by increased inspection and enforcement.

Change, change and more change

Change, change and more change

Early in 2022, the Amenity Forum is holding a series of Updating Events across the UK to address such policy issues and their implications along with presentations on all other topical matters and issues impacting upon amenity management. It is vital that all involved in such activity keep fully updated and these events provide an excellent way of doing so. The programmes will also include presentations and demonstrations from host organisations as well as chance to network with fellow professionals.

Professor John Moverley, Chairman of the Amenity Forum, said ‘’Our free Updating Events are always popular but in 2022 take on even greater significance with all the changes impacting upon the sector’’

Whilst free events, pre-registration is needed by contacting Kate at admin@amenityforum.net . As some locations have restricted places, early registration is recommended. Full programme information is available from Kate at the same email. The locations and dates are as follows:

ENGLAND

Knaresborough, Yorkshire                           9th February
Manchester City FC                                         24th February
Leicester City FC                                               25th February
London                                                                 9th March
Throws Farm, Essex                                        17th March         

NORTHERN IRELAND

Belfast                                                                  23rd March                                         

SCOTLAND

Edinburgh                                                           4th March                                            

WALES

Cardiff                                                                  16th February

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