New Jacobsen Aerators

New Jacobsen Aerators: Jacobsen, a Textron Specialized Vehicles brand, is releasing new models of its GA Aerator Series. The GA450 and GA580 aerators will sit alongside the GA600 to create an extensive line of tractor mounted aerators, with each model having a specific width and working depth that can be used in a multitude of applications for the course.

Each model features Jacobsen’s PerfectStrikeTM technology, which delivers unrivaled hole quality and increased productivity when equipped with the optional AerStrikeTM tine attachment system.

New Jacobsen Aerators

The PerfectStrike patented design ensures tines enter and exit the turf vertically and from an optimal height. Its precise movement creates a truly straight and more perfectly round hole, providing uniform aeration with minimal damage to the root zone to allow turf to recover quickly.

“With the addition of the GA450 and GA580, we provide the industry’s most comprehensive line of aerators, all featuring PerfectStrike technology which delivers superior hole quality while maintaining turf quality,” said Michael Parkhurst, Vice President, Golf for Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., which designs and manufactures Jacobsen turf-care equipment. The company also manufactures E-Z-GO® golf cars and Cushman® utility vehicles under its Textron Golf brand.

Each GA series aerator can be equipped with an AerStrike attachment system that delivers up to 70 percent heightened productivity. Created for optimal spacing with a diamond pattern, the system enables single-pass aeration, reducing operation time and elevating turf conditions.

Additionally, the GA series features a rear-mount roller location, with superior ground-following capability and a design that allows for quick, simple adjustment of aeration and easier maintenance.

GA450

  • Ideal for greens and manicured green spaces
  • Spring dampening tine arm motion delivers superior quality
  • Lightweight design allows quick and efficient aeration

GA580

  • Aerate fairways up to 8” deep at industry-leading speeds
  • Capable of intermediate depth aeration on fairways
  • Designed for ease of operation and maintenance
  • Single-tool depth adjustments to achieve perfect aeration depth

The new GA models will join the GA600 in Jacobsen’s line of GA Series Aerators. The GA600, when equipped with the AerStrike 4-tine attachment system, operates as the industry’s only aerator that performs deep aeration in a single pass.

For more information, visit: www.jacobsen.com

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Allett At The Mower Shop

Allett At The Mower Shop: It’s been almost thirty years since Steve Bartle set up The Mower Shop and over twenty years of which the company has been an Allett Mower dealer.

The dealership based in Northamptonshire is the largest of its kind in the Midlands and is just a hop off the M1 Motorway at Watford Gap.  Catering for both the domestic and professional turfcare markets, The Mower Shop has seen the natural progression from selling the old Bosch Suffolk Punch to the superior Allett version for today’s consumer. The bigger Allett machines are sold to customers with large houses and gardens, and private estates. The business has grown vastly over the years, now with ten staff, but prides itself on still providing a personal service.

On the sports side, sales of Allett machines are made for use on bowling greens, cricket and football pitches, complementing the professional services The Mower Shop offers for larger mowers.

Allett At The Mower Shop

“We have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Allett,” says Steve, “they are nice people to deal with and their interest doesn’t stop with us. They are keen to know where a mower is going, who the customer is and how they can help ensure the customer experience with their mowers is the best. We’re also keen on the development of battery power and at the moment Allett are the only ones producing cylinder mowers that are battery powered, with their Liberty range.”

Powered by Lithium Ion batteries the Allett Liberty mowers offer the convenience of cordless mowing, low noise and a greener alternative for mowing the lawn. There are currently three Allett battery mowers, two of which are self-propelled, with cutting widths of 12”, 14”, and 17”. The Liberty 43 takes ALL the cartridges in the Allett range for additional lawncare tasks, making it the most popular in the battery powered range. A fully charged battery allows for up to 600m2 of lawn to be mowed or up to 40 minutes mowing for just a few pennies per charge.

Allett Mowers 01889 271503

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

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Thanet Council Invest In Electric

Thanet Council Invest In Electric: In a first for local authorities, Thanet District Council is introducing new electric lawn-mowers to its open spaces fleet. Run on lithium-ion batteries as opposed to diesel, these modern mowers are greener, quieter and also cheaper to run. They will be used at Ramsgate Cemetery and Margate Crematorium and are all part of the council’s commitment to creating a clean and welcoming environment in Thanet.

The council has purchased six new mowers – 2 commercial ride-on mowers,  2 walk behind mowers and two commercial stand-on mowers to be used equally across the two sites.

Thanet Council Invest In Electric

Cllr Fairbrass, Deputy Leader of Thanet District Council said:

“Electric mowers, which last for 7 hours of constant work, are vastly preferable to diesel models because they generate no carbon monoxide emissions and are low noise. The mowers don’t just offer public health and environmental benefits, they also reduce risk to our staff. What’s more, they enjoy low running and maintenance costs which is part of the council’s ongoing efficiency drive.”

The key benefits include:

  • Improved health and safety for staff:
  • Significantly lower hand arm and whole body vibration levels than traditional diesel mowers
  • Significantly lower noise (far below the safe recommended DB rating for exposure to noise) which means no need for ear defenders
  • All day mowing with horsepower exceeding most commercial diesel mowers
  • Carbon neutral as zero emissions and exhaust fumes which emit carcinogenic fumes
  • Lower operating costs -costing only 6p an hour to charge up overnight
  • Low maintenance costs as no belts, filters, hydraulics, cables or engine
  • Minimal background disruption for nearby homes, businesses and schools
  • Quiet enough for use at crematoriums and cemeteries

For more information, please contact Press.Office@thanet.gov.uk or 01843 577034

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Firm Fast Greens At Knole Park

Toro Delivers Firm Fast Greens At Knole Park GC: Located within the boundaries of Knole Estates in 1000 acres of outstanding Kent parkland and with 600 deer roaming freely around the estate is a club like no other.

Knole Park is one of the most unique courses in the country; not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also for the fact that this one course plays home to two clubs.

Course manager at the club, which is home to Knole Park Golf Club and Sevenoaks Town Golf Club, is Gavin Kyle who has been at the club for 15 years. Gavin keeps a regular annual machinery replacement programme and this year he had a focus on choosing the right machines to create firm, true, fast surfaces, which is where Toro joins the story.

Firm Fast Greens At Knole Park

“It is important to consistently maintain a challenge for players,” says Gavin. “It’s for this reason that recent years have seen us extend the course by 200 yards, with further extension planned in the next year. There is a fine balance between offering a good game to all golfers, including those with a five handicap and below. We have players of all abilities across our two-club membership including a lot of scratch players and our greens needed an update this year to offer a consistent challenge to all.

“When choosing our next greens machines we checked out the market, going through rounds of demos from distributors. If I’m honest I haven’t bought Toro since I’ve been at Knole Park, so for 15 years! But Toro is renowned for its greens machines in particular so were naturally included on the demo list. What appealed with the Greensmaster TriFlex 3420-H machines, which we went for, was that they’re hybrids. I sought to reduce the risk of hydraulic leaks on the greens and I wanted the advanced control these machines can offer.”

The TriFlex Hybrid’s electric cylinder circuit is designed to eliminate up to 90 percent of hydraulic leaks, and the Turf Guardian leak detection system provides immediate audio and visual indication of possible leaks. Plus, the electric cylinders have less drag and spin more freely than hydraulic motors providing a sharp cut which leads to firmer and faster greens, exactly what Gavin is after. “Firm, true and fast greens is what we’re all after and the Toro TriFlex is helping us achieve this at Knole Park,” he confirms.

Providing the advanced control Gavin mentioned is the machines’ Info Centre, which has an easily customised clip for different heights of cut as well as other operational settings to give complete machine control on cylinder speed, hours of function, system voltage for cylinders and diagnostic descriptions. It’s this that provides the advanced control that appealed to Gavin in the TriFlexes.

But as Gavin goes on to say, it’s never just as simple as the machines: “A machine is often only as good as the backup that comes with it. We’re dealing direct with Reesink Turfcare for the first time and we’ve found that to be a great experience so far.”

It seems opportune that Toro arrives back at Knole Park for the first time since the 1970s in the year that it hosted the Tillman Trophy, the tournament widely attributed to changing the face of amateur golf. We’re sure with Toro on side, Gavin and his greenkeeping team of six will change the challenge of the course for all its members.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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First Intelligent One In The UK

Richard Peel Groundcare first in the UK to offer GPS guided line marking with the Intelligent One Line Marker: Constantly adopting new innovations is a principle of Richard Peel Groundcare and the addition of the UK’s first Intelligent One Line Marker has brought a number of benefits to the company and their customers.

The GPS guided machine, supplied by Intelligent Marking’s UK distributor Rigby Taylor, can mark a FIFA regulation 11v11 football pitch from scratch in 29-minutes 45 seconds and can also be used for track and field marking, rugby union and league, lacrosse and customisable grids, shapes, and tracks.

First Intelligent One In The UK

Savings to customers come directly in terms of labour and paint. The machine can mark out two to three fields on one drum of paint depending on the nozzle used making it very easy to calculate when new paint is needed.

For Richard Peel Groundcare managing director, Richard Peel, being able to offer high-quality line marking at an affordable price to customers.

“We’re always looking at the new technology that’s coming into the market and I’m proud to say we’ve purchased the first Intelligent One Line Marker in the UK,” he said.

“Line marking is a skilled job that takes time and in the current climate restricted budgets make it difficult for clubs and councils to consistently mark their pitches. By using this marker, we can provide high-quality accurate marking every time whilst cutting costs on paint and labour.

“The feedback we’ve received from the demos we’ve done has been very positive and we expect the machine to be in high-demand in the near future.”

The intelligent nature of the machine means it is capable of marking a fixed socket 11-a-side football pitch and fixed socket rugby union and league pitches. There is also the option of marking a 11v11 football pitch with two 8-a-side pitches built in with all football pitches customisable in length and width.

All running track markings are also customisable in terms of the number of lanes, giving customers a large variety of options to choose from across all sports. For more information on availability please contact Richard Peel Groundcare at www.richard@pinhaw.com

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