Polaris Responds To Emergency Call

Polaris responds to emergency call: A new emergency police vehicle capable of mobilising officers quickly in some of West Norfolk’s most hard to reach places has been launched in Hunstanton.

Polaris responds to emergency call

The Polaris Ranger 570 All-Terrain Vehicle, supplied by Linstead Farm and Garden Machinery, will be based at Hunstanton beach to help search for missing people or assist officers in emergency situations. It is the first time this type of vehicle has been used by Norfolk Constabulary and whilst it will mainly patrol Hunstanton beach, it can also be used on rural land and territory.

Temporary Inspector John Bane, who has taken delivery of the Polaris, complete with police livery, said: “This vehicle will enable us to respond quickly and effectively to incidents taking place on the beach.

“In the cases of a missing person, it provides us with the opportunity to cover lots of the beach in a short space of time where a police vehicle or an officer on foot cannot.

“The vehicle will also be used to patrol the beach and will support the Sandi Starfish initiative which helps reunite families if a child is lost. The vehicle has been designed to catch the eye of a missing child who can then flag it down if they see it and get the assistance they need.”

Temporary Inspector Bane added: “The vehicle has the potential to be deployed to other areas, such as woodland and farmland, to assist in other missing person enquiries or pre-planned operations, therefore enhancing our ability to respond to incidents in rural locations.”

Norfolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Lorne Green, said: “Norfolk has a wonderful variety of attractions for families to visit during the long summer holidays not least the long sandy stretches of Hunstanton Beach. While we want this summer to be one to remember for all the right reasons there is always a possibility a child can get separated from their family. We hope the introduction of the Polaris ATV will help reassure families officers will be able to respond quickly to provide any assistance where needed.

“Rural crime remains one of my top priorities and it is also reassuring to hear the ATV can be deployed to incidents in areas of the countryside where local patrol cars may find it difficult to access.”

Officers were looking to name the Polaris Ranger 570 to help make it more recognisable to children and asked the public to help by voting for their favourite name. There were three names to choose from: Nelson, Rocky and Sunny and the name finally chosen was Nelson.

For more information, visit: www.polaris-britain.com

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Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

Yeovil Golf Club invests in two Toro machines for quality: Toro has impressed again at Yeovil Golf Club, where the quality of a TriFlex 3400 and Reelmaster 5610-D has shone through at the 27-hole parkland course. 

Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

While Yeovil has praised the heavy-duty 5610-D fairway mower for its comfort and “ease of use”, the 3400 greens mower is the real favourite with course manager James Leitch hailing it as “superior to all other machines.”

“Having been in the industry for over 25 years I’ve experienced my fair share of mowers, but the TriFlex 3400’s quality of cut is superior to all other machines. Its DPA units leave such a beautiful finish that you’d think it was the result of a pedestrian mower,” James enthuses.

He continues: “On top of all that the 3400’s ease of use is great too: it’s fast to transport, easy to service and changing units is simple thanks to the tool-free quick change feature.”

Both machines have impressed with their high build quality, and James chose them for this very reason: “With Toro you are guaranteed quality, and with known quality comes a higher residual value. The new machines have already proved their worth and will make great long-term investments for the club too I’m sure.”

With every Toro machine purchased, Elliot Wellman from Toro dealer Devon Garden Machinery has been “reliable and helpful”. James says: “We’ve worked with Devon Garden Machinery for years and the back-up service is excellent. Elliot is a brilliant guy and it’s reassuring to know that he’ll get hold of any Toro spare parts quickly should we need them.”

Investing in Toro machinery paid dividends earlier this year when a flood hit Yeovil on the weekend of the Dorset County Championship: “A thunderstorm flooded the course with two inches of rain on the Friday of the competition – we thought we’d have to cancel the event entirely. The next day, the water had drained away completely and there was no trace of the flood!

“I put it down to the maintenance me and the wider greenkeeping team did with our Toro machines in the lead-up to the championship. Regular aeration with the ProCore 648 and top-dressing with the ProPass 200 meant we didn’t have to call off the event!”

Come rain or shine, Toro continues to prove itself a worthy investment for Dorset-based Yeovil Golf Club. From playing an instrumental part in helping the course recover from a flood, to the positive first impressions of the club’s new machines, it’s clear that James can always rely on Toro’s “quality” machinery.

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New ECHO Lithium Ion Hedge Trimmer

New ECHO Lithium Ion Hedge Trimmer: ECHO have introduced a new hedge trimmer, the DHC-200 to their 50V Lithium Ion battery series which also includes trimmers and power blowers.

New ECHO Lithium Ion Hedge Trimmer

Like all ECHO products this hedge trimmer has built-in features which take into consideration the environment in which it will be working and operator productivity. As a Lithium Ion product, the hedge trimmer offers clean battery power whilst providing performance equal to its petrol counterparts. It’s also built to the same professional standard as ECHO’s petrol hedge trimmers with their reputation for being powerful, tough and durable.

“The ecological features of the new DHC-200, as with all the ECHO Lithium Ion series products,” say ECHO “offer contractors and professional landscapers exceptional benefits. The low noise makes them ideally suited to use in noise-sensitive areas such as schools and nursing homes. Low emissions are beneficial in their use in parks, nature reserves and organic gardens.”

There are other considerations such as reduced maintenance costs due to fewer moving parts, easy-to-use controls with no recoil start, no more fuel filling or cold starting. The DHC-200 just needs charging up and it’s ready to go. It’s lightweight and very comfortable to use, thanks to the ergonomic design of the front handle which helps manoeuvrability, and it can be used for long periods with little fatigue. Gardeners trimming ornamental hedges can count on the variable speed control for precision cutting and optimized run-time. The 62cm double-sided precision cut blades provide a clean cut with a long-lasting sharpness for a beautiful finish. The DHC-200 uses energy efficient motor controls to manage motor speed, power delivery and battery temperature for improved cutting performance and battery life.

The DHC-200 comes with a 2Ah battery and rapid charger as standard, with an optional 4Ah battery for a longer run time. The rapid battery charger ensures the 2Ah battery is boosted to 80% capacity in 24 minutes and the 4Ah in 48 minutes. It’s also a hedge trimmer that is clean to use and store and there’s no need to store and mix two-stroke fuel. The two-year professional use and 5-year domestic warranty shows that ECHO are extremely confident in their machines. This confidence continues in its 50V battery range with a two-year warranty on all 50V lithium ion batteries.

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Jacobsen and T.H. White Support Trilby Tour at Gaudet Luce Golf Club

Jacobsen and T.H. White Support Trilby Tour at Gaudet Luce Golf Club: Jacobsen and local dealer T.H. White provided tournament support recently as the Trilby Tour, the only televised amateur golf tournament, came to Gaudet Luce Golf Club in Droitwich as part of a series of Regional Championships across the UK.

Jacobsen and T.H. White Support Trilby Tour at Gaudet Luce Golf Club

Jacobsen, together with T.H. White supplemented the club’s existing Jacobsen machinery for the duration of the tournament. Three Eclipse 322 greens mowers, one GP400 ride-on mower for tees and surrounds, two TR-3 triplex cylinder mowers, two LF570 fairway mowers, one HR600 wide area rotary mower, two Smithco Tournament Ultra greens rollers, one Turfco Torrent blower, one Cushman Hauler Pro-X, and 12 E-Z-GO RXV golf cars were used for maintaining the golf course’s championship standard status. The club is part of a growing customer base taking advantage of the recently conceived Textron Golf concept of a “one-stop shop” for turf maintenance equipment across the Jacobsen, E-Z-GO and Cushman brands.

Andrew Laing, Course Manager expressed his appreciation for the support the club received in the lead up to the event,

“I spoke to Simon Bingham from T.H. White and Steve Alabaster from Jacobsen at BTME earlier in the year about tournament support for this event. They both unreservedly said that they would support us in every capacity, and they haven’t let us down. We have had a relationship with T.H. White for over 14 years now, and since changing our equipment to Jacobsen back in 2008, we’ve never looked back. The machinery is reliable, and the after-sales support is second to none.

“I would just like to show my appreciation to Steve, Simon, and also Albie the Debach driver who delivered the tournament support equipment. Without them, our preparations would not have gone so smoothly, so I can’t thank them enough. It’s also important to thank all the volunteers from local clubs such as The Worcestershire Golf Club and Droitwich Golf Club who have supported us as well. It’s times like this that you realise what a fantastic, and friendly industry we work in.”

Simon Bingham from T.H. White commented on supporting the club during the Trilby Tour,

“It has always been important to us to support our customers both when they ask for it, and also when they don’t. We pride ourselves on our customer service, and Andrew is a brilliant example of the relationship that we strive to achieve with everyone who walks through our door. The course looked fantastic as always, and we look forward to assisting in the same way for future tournaments at the club.”

For more information, visit: www.jacobsen.com/europe

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First Sports Stadium To Install Toro Lynx Reports Back

Lynx Let Loose At Rhino’s Home: First Sports Stadium To Install Toro Lynx Reports Back

First Sports Stadium To Install Toro Lynx Reports Back

In 2013, Headingley Carnegie Stadium, the West Yorkshire home of Leeds Rhinos rugby club and Yorkshire County Cricket Club, was the first sports stadium in the UK to opt for Toro’s advanced irrigation system, Lynx.

Four years on the sports venue has a new head groundsman, Ryan Golding, and here we talk to him about how he has found taking over the system, the installation of which placed the stadium at the forefront of sports pitch irrigation.

“Lynx was chosen by my predecessor Jason Booth as part of a £1 million pitch rebuild,” Ryan says. “He saw the reasoning behind having a high spec system for many reasons, but predominantly for its real-time intuitive control and water sustainability.

“It makes no sense spending thousands of pounds on a pitch and having a bog standard irrigation system. To join a stadium which had that vision and invested in a state-of-the-art system, which is still state-of-the-art, was brilliant.”

When Lynx was installed at the club, the idea was that the system would enable the club to access detailed and comprehensive information on all aspects of the pitch and its irrigation programmes, to monitor water, energy and other inputs and based on the findings introduce a more sustainable way to manage the pitch.

Ryan confirms that as hoped, the Lynx system puts the pitch management team in control. The computer-based software is coupled to wireless soil sensors beneath the surface enabling effective planning and real-time adjustments to benefit plant health, playing surface conditions and to sync with other turf management regimes.

“As I’ve said, part of the decision making process was based on how Lynx could help with water sustainability. Well, I can confirm that it is contributing in a big way. The efficient head-to-head sprinklers, soil sensing equipment, weather station system and integrated pump stations have had a big impact on how much water we use and on the club’s bottom line. Water off the mains is not cheap and it’s sensible not only for the environment, but also our budget to use the resource effectively. We’re making big savings and it’s improving grass-growing conditions, too.

“There are plans to put in place water holding tanks underneath the stands to harvest water from the stand roofs. The surface area there will collect a good amount of water to reuse,” Ryan tells us. “The important thing is ensuring the water is thoroughly cleaned as, in order for the collected water to be used for pitch irrigation, the salt content of the water, which can be high in rainwater, will have to be low enough to not damage and depreciate the irrigation system. I will test the nutritional value of the water every four weeks and from the results will be able to decide whether to use the water to irrigate the pitch or use it in the washrooms and showers.

“The bottom line is Lynx gives us the power to make these kind of big-impact, long-lasting decisions, which is fantastic.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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