Greentech Goes For GKB

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Greentech Goes For GKB: Greentech Sportsturf is one of Scotland’s leading sports turf contractors and specialists in design, construction , renovation and maintenance of sports surfaces. There’s an impressive list of fields of play the company has worked on, including Gleneagles, Hampden Park and Oriam sports performance centre. It follows then there is a need for quality equipment which is right for the job when you’re maintaining sports turf, both natural and synthetic, across Scotland and handling projects throughout the UK and Ireland. Greentech invested in two GKB machines, the Quick Clean and Rotobrush after seeing them at the Saltex exhibition and following demonstrations set up by Tom Shinkins, Operations Manager at GKB.

“We looked at the whole market in synthetic turf cleaners and renovators but in the end it wasn’t hard to choose. The GKB machines are far and away a quality build and do the job they’re designed to do better than the others we tested.” Says Greentech’s Synthetic Turf Manager, Ewan Peddie. Due to the weather conditions Greentech had to wait until early May before being able to start treating synthetic surfaces and the machines have endured a punishing schedule in the catch-up.

Greentech Goes For GKB

The GKB Quick Clean has been noted for its powerful in-depth cleaning of all types of synthetic turf pitches Greentech have been working on. It’s easily hitched and the synthetic turf brush casts infill material and contamination onto a vibrating screen. Coarse dirt is removed to a collection container while dust and other lightweight dirt is absorbed by a suction unit with a dust bag. The result is a quality finish after cleaning at high speed with a reliable machine that is fully height adjustable.

Brushing the edges of synthetic turf pitches is important and generally it’s where the most persistant contamination will be found in the form of moss and algae settlement. Greentech put their GKB Rotobrush to work with good effect from the extra rigid bristles and report a deeper, more effective brush in areas where normal brushing and cleaning are not sufficient. They found the Rotobrush ideal for working with and restoring the technical characteristics of the synthetic surfaces they were cleaning, while removing the contamination.

“We’re constantly moving around covering maintenance on synthetic sports surfaces of a wide variety, from Local Authorities, to schools and main sports venues,” says Ewan, “and the GKB machines are ideal, especially for the speed at which we need to work.”

For more information, visit: www.gkbmachines.com

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Hortech – championing the SCAG SWZ

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Hortech – championing the SCAG SWZ: The SWZ is the model name for the SCAG pedestrian mower, which is supplied in the UK and parts of Europe by STM Co Ltd – and few people know these machines better than the grounds maintenance company Hortech Ltd. They’ve used SCAGs for 25 years; these are machines that work hard for their living, and this has led Hortech to select SCAG as the machine of choice for their work.

We spoke to their Commercial Director Duncan Jones, who has just taken delivery of four SCAG SWZs and he explained about several aspects of the range that keep SCAG so high on their specification list for their work for sites such as industrial, gas and water utility sites.

Hortech – championing the SCAG SWZ

Water utility sites are a good example of SWZs being ideal – the steeply angled sides on domestic reservoirs always present a challenge, and the SWZ with the twin-wheel option is a very well established and respected solution. This option effectively lowers the centre of gravity of the machine to keep it well placed on angles.

Duncan explained also about a brand-new contract they have recently been awarded that involves a very large number of sites – and to help with this work the new machines have been supplied with spark limiters because of the working environment involved.

Their whole fleet amounts to over forty SCAGs, and another example of keeping these useful machines in operation over the whole year is winter use of their use of their machines fitted with the STM snow blades.

Quotes from a large water utilities customer featuring reservoir work come from the operators themselves, “Happy to use the machines all day long”, and “We like SCAG best”.

STM are very proud to have someone say that of their products – and proud to have Hortech Ltd as a customer.

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John Deere At PGA Catalunya

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John Deere At PGA Catalunya: PGA Catalunya Resort, located near Girona in Spain, has signed its first ever five-year preferred equipment supplier agreement with John Deere to provide a fleet of 10 new Gator utility vehicles, as part of its three-year investment plan.

The European Tour Destination, renowned for its commitment to first-class course maintenance, has already been using John Deere 2500E hybrid electric triplex greens mowers, 9009A TerrainCut rotary rough mowers, 2030A ProGator utility vehicles equipped with HD200 low-profile amenity turf sprayers and TX Turf Gators. The new five-year deal, supported by John Deere Financial and including PowerGard maintenance cover, sees the addition of two more ProGator vehicles and three rough mowers to the fleet, as well as two compact tractors, supplied by local dealer Ramon Font of Vernis & Taberner Equips, SL.

John Deere At PGA Catalunya

“Being home to Spain’s No. 1 course since 2011, expectations on how our courses play, look and feel are high, so the machinery we need must produce a consistent, first-class finish – and in John Deere’s equipment we have well-engineered and reliable machinery, which our mechanics appreciate,” says Alfredo Alvarez, Stadium Course Manager at PGA Catalunya Resort. “The greens staff really like the mowers’ quality of cut and the precision that can be achieved using the programmable TechControl display.”

Alvarez works alongside Tour Course Manager Roger Casadevall and Head Greenkeeper Aleix Masferrer, heading up a team of 21 greenkeepers and two mechanics who dutifully maintain the two championship courses to the highest standard.

“Following the recent Continental European course listing by www.top100golfcourses.com, we discovered the judging panel had specifically commented on the ‘immaculate conditioning’ of the Stadium Course – and thanks to John Deere’s superior turfcare machinery, we will uphold our course conditioning standards to the highest level,” says David Bataller, PGA Catalunya Resort’s Director of Golf Operations.

This investment in the future of PGA Catalunya Resort’s two championship courses is part of a €53 million redevelopment programme that has seen the opening of two new hotels, the addition of a new vineyard, sports and leisure facilities, and a wide range of services and activities since its conceptualisation in 2016. The addition of an equestrian centre and a man-made recreational lake will complete the estate’s transformation into one of Europe’s most desirable luxury lifestyle destinations at less than an hour from Barcelona and 15 minutes from the historic town of Girona, in north-eastern Spain.

For more information, visit: www.JohnDeere.com

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Etesia Announce Special Offers

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Etesia Announce Special Offers: Etesia UK has announced huge savings on selected models in its Duocut range of green technology battery-powered pedestrian mowers.

The revolution in battery powered equipment continues to sweep through the groundscare industry and it is easy to see why – no emissions, low noise, low vibration, easy operation, reduced risk of fuel spills and fires, and much, much lower maintenance requirements.

Etesia Announce Special Offers

Etesia UK was one of the first manufacturers to bring battery powered equipment to the marketplace, which enabled professional users to work for a full day on a single charge. As it stands, the company invests more money in green technology research than it does in any other department and this, in turn, enables Etesia to continue to offer ever improving grass cutting machines.

The Duocut range of green technology pedestrian mowers give professional users a means for efficient, environmentally friendly and profitable mowing. With immediate effect, four of the Duocut models can be now picked up at a discounted rate.

The Etesia Duocut 41 NACS battery-powered pedestrian mower is a self-propelled three-in-one mower with a 41cm cutting width. This versatile machine is capable of mowing with or without collection in all conditions, or high-quality mulching which is thanks to the perfect combination of 100 % collection and 100 % mulching decks.

The Duocut 41 NACTS boasts the same great features as the NACS and is a push mower; providing the operator with the choice according to their preference.

For those looking for a wider cutting width, then both the Duocut 46 PACS and PACTS will offer a solution through their 46cm cutting widths. Again, both models excel in mowing, mulching and collection and provide self-propelled or push options depending on preference.

The spring and summer special offers also includes a discounted additional battery unit which is compatible with all four of the Duocut battery-powered models.

Summer and spring special offers:

Duocut 41 NACTS. Was £1,901.00. Now £1,615.00.

Duocut 41 NACS. Was £1,801.00. Now £1,533.00.

Duocut 46 PACTS. Was £2,001.00. Now £1,700.00.

Duocut 46 PACS. Was £1,901.00. Now £1,615.00.

Additional Battery Unit. Was £895.00. Now £445.00

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk. You can also follow Etesia on Twitter @EtesiaUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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Trilo Eradicates Leaf Problem

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Trilo Eradicates Leaf Problem: Norwich based Eaton Golf Club describes itself as ‘owned and run by the members, for the members’ – a motto also supported by Course Manager Rob Ransome. Despite being there for less than a year, he recognises that the club’s “fantastic membership gives the club a thriving, upbeat feeling”. However, what didn’t leave such a positive feeling in previous years was the leaf-fall from the courses’ extensive tree population! Before he even began his position at Eaton, Rob purchased an S3 from Trilo, which has transformed the task of leaf collection at the club.

“I started at Eaton in September 2017 and it was evident right from my interview that the club had a big problem with leaves. The team were getting a lot of negative feedback on the conditions and players were frustrated with losing their golf balls! It was something I was keen to tackle straight away” explains Rob.

Trilo Eradicates Leaf Problem

Recognising Trilo offered good quality equipment he arranged for a demo of an S3 collector with local dealer Ernest Doe. “We were instantly impressed and you could see how it was going to transform the task for us so I placed the order so that it arrived in time for my arrival at the club. We found that we could run the unit with the brush attachment just above the height of the grass to collect the leaves into a high capacity hopper, without having a detrimental effect on the grass. The overall weight and compression tyres also help, leaving a minimal footprint on the ground, meaning we could get out everyday without the risk of causing any problems.”

The S3 was in action as soon as the leaves started to fall in October, for anywhere between 3 and 7 hours a day, until the end of the fall. “I delivered a presentation to the members in December and was apprehensive when I got to the topic of leaves, but people were so complimentary of what we’d achieved. It has transformed the winter presentation of the course so much that members are now going out on the course looking for leaves – and can’t find any! We can’t ask for better than that.”

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