TYM tractor still making magic

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TYM tractor still making magic: Earlier this year Douglas and Alex Chalmers, Countryside’s TYM competition winners, compared the T194 tractor they won for the year to a fairytale: “It’s a bit like Goldilocks. Not too big, not too small, but just right.” And six months on, it’s still making magic.

Learning Fields, a not-for-profit centre of wellbeing based at Nag’s Head Farm in Cumbria, has not been operating this year, but that doesn’t mean the T194 tractor hasn’t been put to good use on the farm!

TYM tractor still making magic

TYM tractor still making magic

“We use the tractor around three times a week, and once it gets started up it doesn’t stay idle for long,” says Douglas, director of the business. “It’s been instrumental in getting jobs done around the farm and we would have really struggled without it.

“We’ve invested in pigs this year, and the T194 has made that possible,” he says. “Outdoor pigs need to be moved routinely so that they’re always on fresh ground, and we’ve been using the T194 to transport them and their hut around the farm. As you’d expect with pigs, it can get very muddy and at first I was unsure how the tractor would cope with that, but it’s had no issues with the tough conditions.

“It’s a massive improvement compared to the quad bikes we were previously using to transport equipment across the farm. All the tractor’s controls fall easily to either hand, and are light and easy to operate. Plus, it allows us to complete tasks that we just couldn’t do before. But the biggest bonus is definitely its size.”

Part of the TYM compact utility range, the T194 combines the practicality of a smaller tractor, weighing in at just 650kg, with enough power to pack a punch – thanks to its 19hp three cylinder Yanmar engine.

“As a smaller tractor, it gets jobs done without damaging or tearing the grass, which is a huge bonus” says Douglas. “But what is very impressive is its handling. We have smaller areas and narrow gates, and tight turning is important. The T194 can turn on half a sixpence, and can do so in wet conditions without damaging the soil. We cut a series of paths through our woodland to assist access for visitors, and I thought the tractor would manage some of these just leave a small area to strim – not at all, it zigged and zagged its way through all the narrow spaces between trees with no problems.”

With their 12 months with the tractor nearly over, it certainly has left an impression. “It saves time, labour and toil,” he says. “There were so many jobs we couldn’t do before, or that would need to be done by hand – but with the T194 I can get everything I want done, in a fraction of the time.”

He concludes: “When I next need to expand my equipment fleet, I wouldn’t hesitate to consider TYM. This past year, the T194 has had no issues and coped in a variety of conditions, which gave us complete confidence and peace of mind any time we started a job.”

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New mowers make a big difference

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New mowers make a big difference: “It’s fair to say that if it wasn’t for the dealer back-up and the relationship I’ve built up over the years with James Moore of Farol and John Deere, I wouldn’t still be using their machinery, it’s that simple.”

So says course manager Alec MacIndoe of West Surrey Golf Club near Godalming, who earlier this year completed his second John Deere course maintenance equipment package deal with Farol at the club, and his fifth overall at three different courses over the past 20 years or so.

New mowers make a big difference

New mowers make a big difference

The latest fleet of 22 machines – mostly bought on a John Deere Financial operating lease with some on hire purchase – includes four of the company’s brand new 2750 E-Cut hybrid electric triplex mowers, as well as fairway, tees & surrounds and walk-behind greens mowers, a ProGator utility vehicle equipped with an HD200 sprayer, TX Turf Gators and a zero-turn rotary mower.

“We recently completed an £800,000 refurbishment of the clubhouse, renewed or redesigned all of the course’s 64 bunkers, and we’re a long way down the line with upgrading the irrigation system, so the club has proved it’s progressive and committed to investing in the facilities,” says Alec. “I did a lot of work with James Moore to identify and settle on the best options for this latest replacement package, while trying as far as possible to maintain the same financial commitment as before, so as not to overstretch the budget.

“My main question to Farol and John Deere was, as we’re already at a high level, how can we get even better and extend the quality of the playing surfaces even further? I was lucky enough to be shown the answer at the John Deere Classic in the US last year, where I saw the new 2750E for the first time, alongside the company’s GPS PrecisionSprayer and autonomous mower.

“Having this opportunity to see where John Deere was making positive changes to its equipment, particularly with the 2750E mowers, was a real eye-opener. These new mowers have changed our cutting regime massively and I’ve been enormously impressed with the improvement in quality, we’re now getting a much better finish.

“The original idea was to hand mow the greens for most of the summer, but we found that the 2750E gives us the same pace on our USGA spec greens as the walk-behinds. We’d never cut the greens for the club championship with a triplex before, and the positive feedback we got was amazing. We will still hand mow through the winter though, and just use the triples at the weekends.

“We had 7700 fairway mowers in the first package, equipped with QA7 cutting units, but this time round we went for the 7500AE with QA5s, also for the better quality of cut they offer – we’re always looking for improvements in whatever we do. We’re now cutting the fairways at 12mm, and the difference in sward quality is huge.

“Using John Deere’s TechControl system on the mowers, you can set them up to maintain a consistent clip frequency at whatever forward speed you’re running. We run two of the 2750Es with 11-blade cylinders on the greens and two with seven-blade cylinders on the tees, approaches and surrounds, and keep a spare set of the 11-blade units.

“We also have a set of GreenTek vibratory rollers for the 2750E, in addition to our Tru-Turf greens roller, to help keep the putting surfaces smooth with no compaction, particularly after aeration and coring. These rollers will be used three times a week in the winter, when we only cut once a week.

“All four of the 2750Es are equipped with three-wheel drive and are completely interchangeable, all around the course. Now I’ve seen and used this new mower, for me there’s no comparison with the previous 2500 model – that was a great mower in its time, but the new machines are quicker, more flexible and more versatile.

“As for fuel economy, we haven’t physically measured it but I know we can get three times around the course before needing to fill up, so we have noticed considerable fuel savings.”

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Hybrid mowers prove their worth

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Hybrid mowers prove their worth: Founded in 1889, Royal County Down is one of the oldest golf clubs in Ireland and features two 18-hole links, the Championship Course and the Annesley Links.

Located in the beautiful surroundings of the Murlough Nature Reserve in Northern Ireland and set against the magnificent backdrop of the Mountains of Mourne, the links stretch along the shores of Newcastle’s Dundrum Bay and provide a different view from virtually every hole.

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Eamonn Crawford has been links manager at Royal County Down for 10 years but has worked here for 45, maintaining not just his beloved links to the highest standards but also a consistent approach to the purchase of new course equipment.

“Every golf course is different, but I like to have a mixture of machinery and if it’s good enough I’ll use it,” he says. “My approach is very much horses for courses, and I aim to buy the right make for the jobs that need doing, to get them done properly.”

As a result, one of the club’s most recent investments has been in a fleet of four new John Deere 7500A E-Cut hybrid electric fairway mowers, delivered by local dealer Ricky Neill of Johnston Gilpin & Co at Lisburn. These have joined seven of the company’s TH 6×4 Gator utility vehicles as well as two vintage 1200A bunker rakes, which are approaching 15 years old and still doing a good job.

“I’ve dealt with the dealership for nearly 20 years,” says Eamonn. “Service and back-up are very important to us, and Johnston Gilpin have always proved their worth on that score, particularly with loan equipment. Generally, we need demo machines for more than just one or two days, preferably three or four weeks so we can test them properly in all conditions, and that’s what happened last year with the 7500AE mower.

“We get a lot of rain here and cutting in the wet is just the worst job. Fairway mowers in particular can leave a lot of mess, but the collection on these new machines is very good, the grass gets thrown right to the back of the boxes. We box off all the cuttings on the Annesley Links, which we’ve never done before, and people have been commenting how good the fairways are playing there now.”

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Six of Royal County Down’s 17 full-time greenkeeping staff are dedicated 7500AE operators. All four mowers are set to cut the fairways at 9mm on both 18-hole courses every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus all the pathways. Nets have been added to the mowers’ roll-bars for protection, as there are a lot of blind tee shots around the courses.

“One of our greenkeepers, Mark Kennedy, is very mechanically minded and has done a lot of product training with Johnston Gilpin learning about the machines and how to set them up, so he looks after them all,” says Eamonn. “All the operators know their machines well too and are very good at their job.

“They’ve got to be comfortable using the mowers, given how much time they spend in the seat all day, and they always report back, good or bad! The 7500AEs hold their cut very well, especially down to the bottom of the contours and hollows. Golfers like a tight lie, and the new mowers give us the consistent quality of cut that our members and visitors appreciate.

“The E-Cut hybrid electric system also saves fuel and produces very low emissions, so it all adds up so far. We’re very pleased with these new John Deere fairway mowers, and I’m very confident that they will be with us for a long time, particularly with Mark looking after them so well.”

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SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman

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SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman: Lawrence Brown may have only just embarked on a career in groundsmanship (2 months in fact) but he’s already chosen the perfect partner to help him at Ilford Rugby Club in the form of a SISIS Quadraplay.

Ilford Wanderers Rugby Football Club has been established since 1896. The club has a sense of belonging and community, with families getting together to support players of all different ages. “We play together, we win together; we lose together, we stay together,” is the club’s motto.

SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman

SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman

It is easy to see why Lawrence wanted to work for a club such as Ilford Wanderers.

“This is my first job in groundsmanship and I love it,” he said. “The club is fantastic; I always liked the idea of working outside – especially on pitches; I like using machinery and I really enjoy driving tractors. The groundsman job came up, I really wanted it and fortunately I got it.”

Lawrence was straight to work and is slowly but surely developing the skills required to maintain sports pitches. He admits that it will take time but claims that equipment such as the SISIS Quadraplay is certainly making his first taste of groundsmanship enjoyable.

“It’s such a joy to use and it does everything we need,” said Lawrence.

The SISIS Quadraplay has now progressed into one of today’s most useful pieces of kit in the groundsman’s armoury. One SISIS customer once even compared the Quadraplay to a Swiss army knife – compact, versatile, and utterly useful.

It is a multiple-purpose, single-pass maintenance system which 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 as Lawrence explains.

“I use the slitter regularly because it really helps with surface drainage and with aeration,” he said. “On the pitch we do get quite a bit of surface water, especially when it rains, so I run the slitter over it, and it makes a huge difference.

“The brush I tend to use after a cut. Just recently, for example, the grass had got long before I Joined so I used the brush to sweep all the cuttings to the side of the pitch, which made it easier to clear. The brush also massively helps with presentation.

“The roller is also very beneficial. Naturally, the turf gets torn from the players so I use the roller to level out any divots. Also, when it comes to presentation then you cannot beat the roller.

“The players have commented that the pitch looks great,” concluded Lawrence. “At the end of the day my job is to make the pitch better for them and the Quadraplay is helping me to achieve this.”

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

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter and Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

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TYM apiece for Palace

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TYM apiece for Palace: In its biggest deal with distributor Reesink Turfcare yet, Crystal Palace Football Club has chosen TYM tractors for grounds maintenance at both its Selhurst Park stadium and training grounds in Bromley, South East London.

The deal, which includes Toro machinery, comes as the club works toward becoming one of the country’s leading academies. As part of this, the club has invested in its Academy site, expanding its football facilities to include a full-sized pitch and nine additional pitches of varying sizes.

TYM apiece for Palace

TYM apiece for Palace

Bruce Elliot, head of grounds and estates, explains: “The club is investing a lot in its facilities at the moment, with a new stand being built at the stadium and the academy training ground expanding. It made sense, therefore, that with this development and improvement of the facilities, we would upgrade and expand our turfcare machinery, too.

“We first added Toro and TYM to our fleet in 2016 and have been consistently impressed by the work they’ve done, so we decided to make our biggest purchase yet at the end of last year,” continues Bruce. “We needed to replace some older machines at the academy and we also wanted to expand the fleet at our main training ground and stadium.”

And it’s certainly a large investment, with the club having purchased a TYM T293 tractor and the Toro ProCore 648 for the stadium and TYM T393 tractor, alongside two Greensmaster TriFlex Hybrid 3420 mowers and a tractor-mounted ProCore 864 which will be used on the T393 for aeration at the main training ground. A Toro Reelmaster 3575-D mower and Workman MDX utility vehicle for the academy grounds are included in the deal.

Having seen TYM and Toro in action at the club for several years already, the combination of the two was the first choice for Bruce when looking to expand the fleet: “We’ve always found TYM tractors to be reliable and adaptable, with a definite bonus being that they have such an extensive range. The fact that they work so well in conjunction with Toro for things like aeration is a winning combination.”

With the new machines in use across the grounds, now, Bruce is looking to the future: “We’re confident that we’ll be able to rely on TYM and Toro to provide the excellent standard of turfcare maintenance we need and it’s highly likely we will be investing in more Toro and TYM as the club’s facilities expand.”

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