July 19, 2022 - Turf Matters

Trencher Hire’s Mr Fixit: Meet Steve Kingdom who is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of Trencher Hire on a day-to-day basis.

As Operations Manager his role can be demanding, but he loves the interaction with customers and helping them through the process of selecting the right trencher for a particular application. He comments: “For many people hiring a trencher is a ‘one-off’ purchase and therefore it can be a little daunting, particularly if they are not used to operating such machinery.

Trencher Hire’s Mr Fixit

“It is my job to take the initial phone inquiry and ensure that the machine is delivered on the due date and take care of every detail in-between, including advising them on what the machines can do and how to operate them. It’s important to me that we not only meet a customer’s expectation but go beyond it.

Steve is a qualified car mechanic who worked for 12 years in that environment and so servicing the trenchers – another part of his job – is something he is well suited to, even though the machines are somewhat different!

Twenty months ago, Steve and his wife Amanda took the decision to move out of the hurly-burly of London and opt for a slower pace of life here in Shropshire. “We have settled happily into country life and feel our well-being is in a better place. However, we do enjoy going back to London now and again……but we really notice how busy it is in comparison to here.

“I was born in East London and spent over 40 years of my life in North London. My career has been varied and includes undertaking domestic appliance repairs, as well as 12 years as an Area and Regional Manager for Miele. However, having worked for a number of global organisations, I wanted to find a role with a small, local, family business and when I saw the vacancy at Trencher Hire, I was immediately drawn to it and haven’t looked back since.

“Prior to this, I took a year out to set up a mobile bar business called “Tipple On Tap,” which my wife continues to run and is hired out for such events as weddings and festivals. On board are a selection of drinks ‘on-tap’ including draft beers, wines, cocktails and prosecco.

“My time at Trencher Hire has been really enjoyable, but challenging at times – but that’s the way I like it.”

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Martin Lishman collaborates with Manterra: In a world of self-driving tractors, cars and even lawnmowers, the call for the precision and reliability of GPS controlled vehicles is sweeping across all industries.

For compact sprayer manufacturers Martin Lishman Ltd, their venture into the world of autonomous spraying became a reality when they were approached by UK based precision equipment specialist, Manterra Ltd. The plan was to mount a Martin Lishman Mini-Spray 125 litre demount sprayer with 3.5m boom on their XAG R150 fully autonomous utility vehicle and create a go-anywhere unmanned GPS controlled spraying system.

Martin Lishman collaborates with Manterra

With both Martin Lishman and Manterra having roots in the Agricultural industry, their shared ethos of understanding customer requirements to provide solutions which were not always readily available was a perfect match for this project.

With Martin Lishman’s long history of designing and manufacturing compact sprayers, the choice was clear when it came to choosing a sprayer for the project. “We were struggling to find a UK based manufacturer who could fill all our requirements for lead time, quality, specification and value”, explains Andrew Manfield, Managing Director of Manterra Ltd. “Martin Lishman were able to fulfil all our requirements regarding these critical aspects, worked closely with us to meet our needs and were always responsive to our requests.”

The XAG and Mini-Spray combo provides a robust and versatile ground-based platform, which offers a whole plethora of spraying capabilities at an affordable level. It utilises the Trimble control system to deliver a full suite of variable rate application and targeted application solutions using Trimble Weedseeker sensors.

The use of the unmanned sprayer vehicle brings with it many benefits; the precision aspect means incredibly accurate spraying application and minimising the overuse of chemicals, from a safety perspective operators have greater separation from chemicals when the sprayer is in use and from an environmental point of view, the battery vehicle is quieter and lighter than typical UTV’s or tractors, minimising disturbance, and ground pressure.

“One simple but very effective application is using the XAG ‘follow me’ mode to do spot spraying using the lance attached to the Lishman sprayer”, adds Andrew. “As the R150 will follow the operator, stopping and starting automatically at approximately 2 metres away, it is infinitely better than using either a knapsack sprayer or a machine which must constantly be driven forward. Ultimately the applications for the sprayer and XAG platform are only limited by the ingenuity of the operator.”

“We jumped at the opportunity to get involved when Manterra approached us”, explains Gavin Lishman, Managing Director of Martin Lishman Ltd. “Our sprayers are going from strength to strength each year and we can firmly say that they have taken a strong hold in both the agricultural and amenity industries. Exploring new ideas and driving our product development is one of the reasons we got to where we are, so to be a part of this project was a good fit for us. We’ve seen GPS driven sprayers before, but never a fully autonomous unmanned sprayer – this could be a world first!”

“Field tests have been run successfully and we have machines in the process of installation with customers. Some of these are educational establishments so it will be interesting to get feedback from the next generation of operators”, Andrew Manfield concludes.