Quadraplay Praised At Dudley Kingswinsford RFC

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Quadraplay Praised At Dudley Kingswinsford RFC: After recommendation from Keith Kent, head groundsman for the RFU, a volunteer groundsman at Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club in the West Midlands purchased a SISIS Quadraplay, and was full of praise for the single pass maintenance system.

Founded in 1922, Dudley Kingswinford is an English rugby union football club which was originally known as the Bean Football Club. The name Dudley Kingswinford was adopted in 1927 and after playing at several grounds the club moved to its current premises in 1962. The club runs seven senior sides, a ladies team and a full range of junior sides.

Quadraplay Praised At Dudley Kingswinsford RFC

The teams play their games across four full size pitches and four junior sized pitches which are maintained throughout the year by a group of volunteers. Grounds chairman John Griffiths oversees the team of volunteers and explained how the club came to purchase the SISIS Quadraplay.

“We had a visit from Keith Kent through the RFU Groundsmen Connected scheme. He looked round to see what equipment we had and then he identified what he thought we needed. I already had my eye on the Quadraplay, so when Keith also recommended it, along with a grant which also assisted our purchase, it was a win-win.”

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.

At Dudley Kingswinford, John uses the spiker slitter, the straight brush, the spring tine grooming rake and the roller, and believes that each plays a major role in his maintenance procedures.

Quadraplay Praised At Dudley Kingswinsford RFC

“We use it from October until March quite regularly on all of the pitches and at all times we have the four implements attached. I really like the spring tine rake which is great for standing grasses up to improve presentation and remove thatch; the slitter is a big help in relieving compaction which in turn helps absorb water, air and nutrients into the root zone; we use the straight brush to remove excess dew and then the roller is just what we want to level the bumps out and press the divots back into place. From a presentation point of view, it also give us that all important stripe.

“It even helped us when it snowed last year because we used the Quadraplay to clear the ice off the lines. We simply ran over the ice with the slitter to break it all up and then used the brush to move it off.”

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

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Terrain Gets To The Core

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Terrain Gets To The Core: A frequent problem facing building companies, contractors and landscapers on completion of a development is compaction. The movement of traffic and materials across the ground to buildings under construction leaves areas prone to waterlogging. Newly laid gardens, grassed and play areas in particular become susceptible, with compaction occurring far deeper than normal aerating will alleviate. Deep penetration aeration is the solution but how do you know what lies beneath the grass and to what depth the aeration is needed? Terrain Aeration have been treating such problems for over twenty-five years and work regularly with construction companies such as Taylor Wimpey, Barrett Homes, Laings and smaller developers to provide a long-term solution.

The Terrain Aeration Terralift machines penetrate the ground to a depth of one metre, releasing a blast of compressed air which fractures and relieves the compacted soil, creating permanent aeration and drainage. However, before carrying out the aeration it is often necessary on old site layouts to determine what lies beneath and Terrain Aeration take a core sample using their specialist machinery. The plastic sleeve which slides out of the metal casing reveals what the soil is like, from the top soil down (in this example) to the clay structure beneath. The soil cores are taken to one metre depth and are also very good indicator to show where oil and diesel spillages have penetrated and how deep. The Terralift can then deal with the oil-bioremediation using specialist products in the area down to one metre depth.

Terrain Gets To The Core

Further down, flint is encountered and the Terralift probe is designed to break through the solid layers, employing a JCB hammer incorporated as part of the machine. Once the hard materials have been penetrated, the compressed air blast released creates fractures and fissures. These are injected with dried seaweed as part of the process, keeping, in this case, the clay seen in the core sample open and allowing surface water to quickly drain down one metre, before naturally percolating away into the flint area.

What is an ex-car park area has been transformed into a healthy soil structure with good root zone and ready for children to play on. Of course, not all compacted ground will have the same strata but the Terrain Aeration process is used to treat all types of waterlogging, from small gardens to parks, public spaces and sports pitches to bowling greens.

For more information, visit: www.terrainaeration.co.uk

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Dennis Razor Improves Greens At Mapperley

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Dennis Razor Improves Greens At Mapperley: Michael Dickson, deputy head greenkeeper and mechanic at Mapperley Golf Club, has reported a notable improvement in the quality of the greens at the Nottingham-based club since purchasing two Dennis Razor mowers.

Mapperley is a beautiful parkland course with rolling fairways which have, for more than a century, presented golfers with an interesting challenge from the tee. The 600 plus members also find the tight greens testing while they soak up the stunning views of the nearby Gedling Country Park.

Dennis Razor Improves Greens At Mapperley

Michael is part of a four-man greenkeeping team that works tirelessly to keep the course in immaculate condition all year round. He admits that it can, at times, be a challenge with just four in the team and that it is therefore imperative they have the correct maintenance equipment in place.

In particular, cutting by hand in summer at Mapperley is just too tall a task for the four-man team but in winter there is no other option.

“You don’t get much hillier than Mapperley, says Michael. “It can get incredibly wet in winter and no vehicle can get to some of our greens without either marking the ground or sliding all over the place – and that can be very dangerous.

“Our previous greens mowers were getting old, they were always breaking down and the quality of cut was never brilliant so we knew that we wanted to upgrade. Ultimately, what we wanted was a good quality mower to cut the greens in winter.”

Michael visited BIGGA’s BTME exhibition to see what was on the market and after visiting a number of stands he drew up a shortlist of potential greens mowers – one of which was the Dennis Razor fine turf mower. Upon returning to Mapperley, various mowers were demonstrated but for Michael and the team there was one which particularly stood out.

“We had the Razor on demo and were instantly impressed. The members loved it and they could instantly tell which green it had been demonstrated on. Even when the treasurer came out, he saw the quality of cut and said ‘”right, we’re having them now.”’

Dennis Razor Improves Greens At Mapperley

“The other mowers we tried just felt very heavy and more difficult to manoeuvre in comparison to the Razor. It was the best option by far.”

Superbly balanced and ideal for golf greens and other fine turf surfaces, the Razor features a 560mm (22in), 11 blade cutting cylinder for a perfect finish. An ultra-short wheelbase ensures easy manoeuvrability and excellent performance, even on undulating surfaces. The Dennis Razor encompasses the simple ‘no tools required’ click height adjusters for quick and easy operation, a feature which particularly struck a chord with Michael and his team.

“I don’t like machines with too many gizmos – I like one that is simple, straight forward to use and does the job which it is supposed to do. We’ve been using the Razors for a year now and they have been fantastic.

“In my opinion the best features on the Razor are that they are reliable, incredibly well built and easy to use. They keep the weight off the greens in winter and the cut that it offers in terms of presentation is fantastic. Since we’ve been using the Razor the greens have been a different quality.

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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ECHO’s New 58V Range

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ECHO’s New 58V Range: Battery power for garden and groundcare tools has now been around for some time. However, it’s only since the advent of powerful lithium-ion batteries that electric power could really compete against petrol two-stroke. Now, a new generation of lithium-ion products has arrived and ECHO outdoor power tools are at the forefront with their new range of 58 Volt battery products. This product range includes a battery hedgetrimmer, trimmer, lawn mower, power blower and chainsaw for semi-professional and domestic use.

When you consider the benefits of electric power, it’s easy to see why it has grown so quickly since lithium-ion batteries became commercial. The obvious features are batteries that produce the same power as petrol engined tools, with no exhaust emissions and without the need to store petrol and mix two-stroke. No effort is required to get started. You just charge and go, cutting, trimming, blowing leaves and mowing with virtually no noise or vibration.

ECHO's New 58V Range

Today’s 58V batteries are designed to give you more than enough power in constant use to carry out most tasks. The ECHO interchangeable battery system is available with two options, 2Ah and 4Ah. The hedgetrimmer, trimmer and power blower come with a standard 2Ah battery but if you’re looking for a longer run time you have the option of a 4Ah battery, and remember, you only need the one. Recharging is fast with the Quick Charger, ensuring 30 minutes charging time for the 2Ah and 60 minutes for the 4Ah, and you can always buy a spare battery as a back-up if required. Buy the chainsaw or mower and they come with a 4Ah battery as standard, so you would have the benefit of the extra run time for other products you might need.

ECHO battery products are built to the same professional standards as all their products, so they are solid, durable and ergonomic. As there are no moving parts no engine servicing is required, which means there is another cost saving in addition to no longer needing to buy petrol. ECHO 58V lithium-ion battery products come with a two-year domestic or one-year professional warranty and there is a two-year warranty on the batteries.

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Toro ProCore 648 Headlines Stand At Jersey Skills Show

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Toro ProCore 648 Headlines Stand At Jersey Skills Show: The Playing Field Maintenance Sports division of States of Jersey has been so impressed with its new Toro ProCore 648 aerator that it made the machine the star of its stand at the Jersey Skills Show at Fort Regent in October.

The division was attending the show to encourage a career in sports turf maintenance, says Steve Landick, playing fields manager of the division for States of Jersey. And what better way to visually represent the work the division does at the show than the ProCore!

Toro ProCore 648 Headlines Stand At Jersey Skills Show

“We work closely with sports organisations, clubs and schools to grow sport in Jersey and we’re working on developing an integrated system that supports grassroots sports and its development to provide a pathway for performance athletes to go on and represent us in events such as the Island Games and the Commonwealth Games. Having a talented sports turf maintenance team is essential in achieving that.”

The ProCore 648 is widely considered to be one of the most important tools there is when it comes to aeration, with many Premiership football clubs happy to use the machine just ahead of a game, the finish is so good. There’s little heave, and it can be depended upon to deliver all year-round aeration.

Steve, who attended the show with the division’s current apprentice Peter Ahier, says: “The ProCore is a new addition to our fleet of machines and has debuted on the Island’s cricket squares and bowling greens. The whole division has been very pleased with the way it has performed, it’s a great purchase.”

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and seeing is believing so to have the ProCore on stand will have helped bring to life Steve and Peter’s chat about what a career as a groundsman is like, showing those visiting the show the type of quality machinery they’ll be in charge of as they potentially strive to keep the island’s sporting surfaces in the best possible condition.

“There’s a fantastic opportunity in sports turf maintenance for school leavers, people wishing to change career or re-entering the workplace,” concludes Steve. “To have the opportunity to reach these people and explain that at the Jersey Skills Show has been fantastic and the ProCore did as good a job for us there as it has been doing out in the field!”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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