John Osman champions refurbished mowers

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John Osman champions refurbished mowers: Providing customers with high-quality refurbished machinery has been a cornerstone of John Osman Groundcare’s business since it was founded in 1992 by Managing Director, John Osman.

The company works on a variety of mower brands but has found that the build quality, accessibility and cost of parts for Jacobsen machines make them one of the best on the market for refurbishment.

John Osman champions refurbished mowers

John Osman champions refurbished mowers

A recent package provided to Wergs Golf Club has highlighted how much of a working life used Jacobsen mowers can still have, with some in the deal having done up to three and a half thousand hours of work.

John explains: “New machines create used machines and we’ve always found the Jacobsen equipment good enough to go again. From a customer’s perspective, if they are buying new Jacobsen equipment and at the end of the lease or their ownership, there is a significant value still in the machine because it can be refurbished and resold again, it gives them a lot of confidence with their initial purchasing decision.

“As I said, Jacobsen mowers are built well enough in the first place that they can be refurbished and go again, and to be fair; we aren’t just working on Jacobsen, we’re working with other major mower brands as well. They are one of the brands we’ve got to spend the least amount of money on to get back up to good order. Some other brands are very expensive for parts or are already worn out so it wouldn’t be viable to refurbish these.

“Access and the cost of spare parts is paramount in all of this. At the end of the day availability is very, very important but on top of that is the cost because that factors into the affordability of the refurbish process. We take a lot of pride in our refurbishments, and we won’t deliver them unless we are happy with them. Like any machine, you can always get niggles, but you can get niggles with a brand-new machine, we try and be as thorough as we can be. The more of these refurbishments you do, the more experience you gain with it and you know the areas to look at and what needs to be addressed with them.”

Wergs Golf Club in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, is just one example of how well a refurbished fleet can work. The club received a package including two Eclipse 322 Hybrids, two Fairway 305’s, two AR522’s and a TR3 all which meets their specific needs at a cost that is affordable with a back-up service that they can depend on.

“With the Eclipses, the owner had done a lot of research and watched YouTube videos and other media, and from that, they’ve gone for the hybrids. The fact they don’t use oil was a major positive because they’d suffered from several oil leaks on the greens with their other machines.

“They’ve got a large fairway acreage, and it’s a grass factory, especially with the weather we’ve been having through the summer and September. So, the Fairway 305 with that extra width of cut, slightly heavier units and contour following is doing an expectational job for them.

“They find the AR522’s which we delivered recently absolutely staggering, and they cannot get over the capabilities of that machine, they’ve even rang me up to say how impressed they are with it. It’s a contour trim mower that really sucks up the grass, so the presentation they are getting is fantastic. The TR3 is also proving to be a great addition giving a very clean boxed finish on tees and approaches even when there is a dew.”

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Home of Golf maintains standards with Foley

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Home of Golf maintains standards with Foley: St Andrews Links is home to two of the latest Foley Company grinders that have become popular machines with the greenkeeping and maintenance teams.

Ease of use and quick grind times have contributed to the popularity among the staff who have to cater for everything from family golf to the Open Championship. An average Open tournament requires up to 110 units to be sharpened and the Foley will be there to ensure uniform cutting perfection in 2022 when the 150th edition of the Championship is played.

Home of Golf maintains standards with Foley

Home of Golf maintains standards with Foley

Away from the Old Course, the greenkeeping and maintenance teams are kept busy with six other courses catering for families and all regular golfers, totalling in the region of 230,000 rounds of golf a year. No one is more familiar with what it takes to accommodate such a large volume of golf more than workshop manager, Lani Togi.

For himself and his team, the Foley Company 653 Accu-Master Reel Grinder and 673 Automatic Bedknife Grinder make grinding quicker, easier and most importantly for Lani, more enjoyable.

“When it comes to saving time, the Foleys are a lot quicker than anything we’ve used before,” he began. “Previous grinders have been quite labour intensive, whereas we don’t have that issue now. The team really like using them, and if they’re happy using them, it makes it so much easier because they do a good job and we get the best results.

“One of the biggest things that’s helped us get those results is the Borazon stone that we have for the 673 bottom blade grinder. The new Toro E-Reels use a tungsten mixture that makes them extremely hard, and that stone really cuts it in well. That prevents a lot of problems that previously would have meant we would have to sharpen them repeatedly to get the same result. Now we get it done the first time around.”

Well thought out automation and features are a part of what makes the 673 Bedknife Grinder so user friendly. An Innovative Bedknife Mounting System uses powerful electromagnets to hold the bed bar in place, and Positive Gauge Stops to make set-up fast and straightforward. You can grind any bed bar arrangement without additional tooling and use the Fast Angle Set-Up to provide repeatability without recalibration. Set the Angle Stops once, and the 673 will grind the same angle repeatedly to ensure consistency and time-saving. Changing from grinding the front face to the top face is as simple as pushing a button and watching as the powered Tool Bar rotates into the position.

Automation is only one part of what makes Foley Company’s operation work for its customers. Training and a full back-up service are crucial elements to ensuring users can always grind when they need to, and with UK distributor, ProSport UK Ltd, Lani trusts they’ll never have any issues.

“When it comes to buying machines, it’s not always about the cost of the item; it’s the personal side of things as well,” he said. “You buy from people, and we’ve worked with Ian at ProSport UK for many years, and we know we can rely on his back-up service.”

For more information or a demo of Foley Company’s range of grinders, visit www.prosportukltd.co.uk/foley-company or email prosportukltd@gmail.com.

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Greensward supporting local clubs

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Greensward supporting local clubs: A southwest contractor is doing his part to help clubs at all levels come through turbulent times

Andy Boyce, Director of Greensward sports consultancy, based in Bath, says if pitches are playable for whatever part of the season that remains, then officials can more easily focus on business matters and financial survival.

Greensward supporting local clubs

Greensward supporting local clubs

“Every effort must be taken to ensure surfaces are optimal prior to Christmas. Effective deep aeration and recovery time will rejuvenate turf in preparation for the coldest and wettest part of winter that lies ahead.

“We’re keeping our rates as keen as we can and supporting existing customers who are having it tough. When halted matches are able to resume we want everyone to get back into their sport and start enjoying life again,” he said.

A former greenkeeper for 15 years, nine of those as Course Manager at The Bath GC, Andy set up Greensward in 2008.

“A background in golf genuinely does prepare you for most turfing matters; all the H&S protocols transfer across and experience of dealing with committees comes in handy. I just fancied steering my career in a slightly different direction with more renovation and construction projects.  Gradually we’ve built to a team of eight and we have a lot of repeat business.

“Aeration is probably the most significant intervention you can make to a turf surface to keep it healthy.  I’ve been in the industry 30 years and I don’t think anything has come along to surpass the effect of deep aeration.  In the early days, as an apprentice greenkeeper, the contractor would come in once a year and spike your greens but gradually more and more golf courses have access to their own machine.

“Regular aeration is vital for rugby, football and cricket outfields. Much of our work is for local clubs, we’ve probably aerated nearly 30 different sites across October, then there are maintenance contracts for schools and for Parish Councils.

“We use a Wiedenmann Terra Spike XF8 paired to New Holland T495 tractor which covers it out perfectly and has the right amount of power. We spike a full size pitch to a depth of 220 mm in less than three hours, which suits us fine as much of the ground is bult on stone with fairly  shallow rootzone.

“Across 2019 there was huge amounts of rainfall and lying water; when the rain started it never seemed to stop.  But in this part of the world, the weather here has been kinder, so this season’s winter maintenance on a firmer footing. But it’s still a bit of a patience game doing spiking in the right conditions. When the prevailing conditions are right you need to take full advantage.” said Andy Boyce.

GreenSward can be contacted on 07972 630518 info@greenswardsports.co.uk

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New way to find best pre-owned Toro machines

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New way to find best pre-owned Toro machines: Reesink Turfcare has created an online nationwide network providing access to the best used Toro machinery available in the UK.

Ree.Own, the newly launched service accessible online at reeown.co.uk gives customers the chance to browse, compare prices and match budgets on a range of machines that are guaranteed to have less than 3000 hours use on the clock, have been used for less than seven years and been through a multipoint check by trained technicians.

New way to find best pre-owned Toro machines

New way to find best pre-owned Toro machines

Alastair Rowell, UK sales manager – turfcare equipment at Reesink, says the team has been working towards a single point of call for all the best used machinery for some time and this is the culmination of that work: “For some time we’ve wanted to be able to provide customers with a single source for all used machinery within our dealer network and now we can.

“Now more than ever, there are so many reasons to buy used machinery and this type of machinery access in this sector has been all but unobtainable. We have hundreds of used machines a year that qualify, to sell, coming in, through dealers and off lease programmes. We have a team dedicated to the servicing and preparation of these machines to ensure they are customer-ready and the distribution network to do that now.”

Every machine receives a rigorous multipoint inspection by a team of trained technicians, looking at everything from the engine and cooling system, hydraulics and electrical system, steering and brakes, chassis, fuel system, transmission and final drives, wheels and tyres, cutting units (cylinder or rotary) and the operator’s platform and control. This is as well as regrinding and cleaning.

Alastair continues: “By the time we have finished, the machines are mechanically sound and ready to perform. Our branch locations and authorised dealers have years of training and experience working specifically with Toro machines and this gives customers peace of mind, especially when they know back-up is there should it be required.”

All machines are provided with a minimum 90 day warranty and longer in many cases, and as well as back-up, replacement parts aren’t a problem either. Reesink holds 15,000 genuine Toro parts, all of which are available for delivery at 24 hours’ notice anywhere in the UK, just as if you had a new Toro machine. Plus, a further 12,000 fast-moving lines are housed at the European distribution centre with 48-hour delivery and all other parts are available from Toro HQ in Minneapolis within 72-hours, ensuring minimum downtime.

Alastair concludes: “We wanted to create a place where customers could buy used Toro machines with the utmost confidence, and there’s no better place for that than with Ree.Own, through UK and Ireland’s exclusive Toro distribution network. This set-up means more customers can benefit from the quality of cut, precision engineering and innovation that comes with a Toro and that is hugely important to us.”

Visit reeown.co.uk, the UK’s only used Toro professional turf machinery network.

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Zero deposit and nothing to pay until March 2021 on Pellenc

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Zero deposit and nothing to pay until March 2021 on Pellenc: Pellenc, distributed in the UK and Ireland by Etesia UK, is taking flexible finance to a new level by offering zero deposit and nothing to pay until March 2021.

From 1 November 2020, customers purchasing the Pellenc Landscape Pack, which consists of three market leading ULiB 1200 batteries, Excelion 2000 cow handle brushcutter, Rasion Easy pedestrian mower, Helion 2 Compact hedge strimmer and Airion 3 leaf blower, can take advantage of delivery now and not paying anything until March 2021, with weekly payments at just £66.51 and a competitive APR of just 5.95% over three years.

Zero deposit and nothing to pay until March 2021 on Pellenc

Zero deposit and nothing to pay until March 2021 on Pellenc

Over the three-year finance period it is also estimated that users could save over £10,000 compared to the use of petrol-powered equivalent tools.

Les Malin, Etesia UK’s managing director, says: “At Etesia, we have always aimed to offer customers the best tools for the job, and as such we’ve worked hard to bring to market this new competitive finance option on a range of Pellenc batteries and tools. Customers can take advantage of purchasing their tools now and have nothing to pay until March 2021. When you take into consideration all of the health and environmental benefits of using commercial battery-powered tools, with over £10,000 cost-savings, there has not been a better time to go green.

“This finance option has been designed to help customers buy the tools they need now without compromising cash flow, in a way that suits their current financial situation.”

All Pellenc batteries come complete with a comprehensive market leading four-year warranty and all tools with a commercial three-year warranty.

The new Pellenc finance option is available until 28 February 2021, subject to status and only available in the UK and Ireland through Etesia UK’s finance partner Golf Finance.

Zero deposit and nothing to pay until March 2021 on Pellenc

Zero deposit and nothing to pay until March 2021 on Pellenc

For more details on these and other finance options, customers should contact Etesia UK on 01295 680 120 or email sales@etesia.co.uk

Pellenc is distributed in the UK and Ireland by Etesia UK.

For more information, please visit www.pellencuk.com

You can also follow Pellenc on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PellencUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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