Fleet paint VE Day rainbow

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Fleet paint VE Day rainbow: About 4 weeks ago, we were asked by Julie Wills, the Head Teacher of Upton Upon Severn Primary School, if we could paint a large rainbow on their playing field in support of all the Key Workers. We of course said “Yes, it’ll be a pleasure!”.  So my colleague, Chris Bridges, and I set about creating a beautiful rainbow on their playing field.

The end result was amazing and was reported by BBC Hereford & Worcester and appeared on BBC Midlands Today TV at tea time.

Fleet paint VE Day rainbow

Fleet paint VE Day rainbow

A couple of weeks later, Malvern Community Hospital asked if we could paint another outside the reception of the Hospital, on grass. So again Chris and I set about creating a smaller rainbow outside the Hospital. This is still bringing smiles to the faces of staff as they enter and leave the hospital.

Whilst being interviewed by Justyn Surrall of BBC Hereford & Worcester after the second rainbow, Justyn jokingly said to me “maybe we’ll have a competition to see who can do the biggest rainbow”. This stuck in my mind for a couple of weeks. I then called Malvern Rugby Club to check they would be ok with us (Fleet) painting a rainbow, the full length of the 1st XV PITCH from try line to try line …. 100 metres in length! The Club were extremely excited about the whole idea.

This rainbow needed to be different to the other two, which it certainly would be due to its size! My colleague Chris reminded me about VE DAY on the 08th May, so with this is mind, we thought we’d make it a tribute to all the Key Workers as well as remembering VE DAY.  The end result has been particularly well received. It has made the National News channels, as well as Regional News. It has appeared as far afield as New Zealand on their National News as well as many countries across Europe. As well as being 100 metres from one end to the other, below the net arc of the rainbow, we painted the VE DAY logo set on top of a Union Jack Flag. Our MAQA GNSS system was used to plot the Flag, our BeamRider Laser System was used for the VE DAY logo and it was back to basics using a tape measure and straight edges to do the lettering etc. The 7 & 5 on the VE DAY logo were 6 metres in height, the VE DAY letters were 4 metres high and the rest of the text at about 1.3 metres. Each colour of the rainbow was 2.5 metres in width. If you walked around  the red arc of the rainbow, the distance would be around 157 metres!  It took about 2.5/3 days for Chris, Ali S, Adam and myself to get this “small project“ painted in ( plus I roped in my son for half a day and Ali M who flew the drone for videos and pics was roped in for a few hours as well! All socially distancing of course) A massive thanks and pat on the back to everyone involved.

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New irrigation controller from Rain Bird

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New irrigation controller from Rain Bird: Rain Bird has introduced the new smart ESP- LXIVM two wire irrigation controller with a smart solenoid Integrated Valve Module (IVM).

This innovation represents a major step forward in landscape and sports turf irrigation control through real-time communication and providing the user with immediate feedback and diagnostics as well as highly reliabile, closely controlled irrigation.

New irrigation controller from Rain Bird

New irrigation controller from Rain Bird

Installers and their customers can take advantage of ESP-LXIVM’s powerful features including the fact that the controller and the irrigation valve speak the same language. It can be used for a spectrum of irrigation control application from landscaped housing developments, schools and sports training grounds to public parks and larger industrial or commercial sites.The Standard version has a 60 station capability whilst the Pro offers 240 stations which can be split across 10 flow zones.16 stations can be run simultaneously and up to 40 irrigation programs can be set.

With the integrated IVM-SOL control station the need for a decoder is eliminated and 50% fewer connectors are required in the field. This means simplified installation, saving time and money, as well as lowering future maintenance requirements and potential field repairs.

The ESP- LXIVM can communicate wirelessly and be used in conjunction with the Rain Bird’s IQ Platform, including the new IQ4 100% browser based irrigation management system. This gives users convenient remote internet control from a smartphone, tablet or desktop PC. The controller’s display panel has a simple user interface with a large backlit screen, an easy to operate programming dial and additional buttons for extra functions. In conjunction with the real-time diagnostics feature, users can access historical electrical data and other operational information through the screen and react quickly to any potential problems in the field.

The controller’s IVM-SEN interface allows real-time flow management tools such as Rain Bird’s FloWatch and FlowManager to be employed and guard against high or low flow conditions. Water can also be conserved and total watering times reduced by interfacing with weather sensors.

For more information, contact Peter Longman, Northern Landscape Area Manager, Rain Bird Europe. plongman@rainbird.eu  www.rainbird.eu

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G860 integral for Notts County FC

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G860 integral for Notts County FC: Matthew Hallam, head groundsman at Notts County FC, claims that the versatile Dennis G860 cylinder mower has been a saving grace after they were unable to carry out end of season renovations.

Matthew, who started life in the industry as a greenkeeper, has been the head groundsman at Notts County FC for just over 18 months. Previously, he spent ten years working at the nearby Nottinghamshire Golf and Country Club before taking the head groundsman position at Ilkeston Town FC. It was here that Matthew quickly impressed showing huge ability as a football groundsman and it wasn’t long before he was offered the top job at Notts County FC.

G860 integral for Notts County FC

G860 integral for Notts County FC

It is safe to say that Matthew had somewhat of a baptism of fire upon starting his new role – the club were on the verge of relegation, and a change of ownership was looming. This, along with other unforeseen circumstances, resulted in no end of season renovations being carried out.

Despite being unable to strip the top off the surface and remove vegetation, Matthew has done a remarkable job in keeping the pitch in a superb condition all season. With the odds stacked against him, regular maintenance has been key and Matthew claims that the Dennis G860 has been integral to the cause.

“With us not being able to carry out the work, the Dennis G860 has really helped us,” he says. “We have the Spring Tine Rake, the Verti-Cutter, the Brush, and the 8 Bladed Cylinder – so it is like a four-in-one maintenance machine. In the summer, we were verticutting as much as we could because we knew we had a thatch issue, and since then we have constantly brushed the pitch and raked the algae off the top of the surface. It has been a brilliant bit of kit for us and if we didn’t have the G860 then these problems would only have intensified.”

As Matthew says, the Dennis G860 features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks such as including scarifying, verticutting, brushing, spiking, and slitting. Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls for – throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive.

The mower also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion.

“The finish it provides is nothing short of excellent,” he continues. “With the G860 we cut to 25mm in the summer and from October time we will raise it to 26mm-27mm. When winter arrives, we will raise it to 28mm and will stay at that cutting height until April – depending on the weather.

“It’s very easy to use and it takes no time at all to take the cassettes in and out. We have tried other machines and we just feel that the Dennis G860 is the best on the market.”

With a first full season nearly completed at Notts County FC, Matthew is looking forward to finally being able to carry out end of season renovations. While being relatively new to football groundsmanship, it is safe to say that Matthew has already found his calling but admits that every day offers a new experience.

“I have found that you are always learning in this industry,” he says. “There is not one day where you do not learn something new and you are constantly getting new ideas and sharing experiences with other groundsmen.

“So, I will continue to learn and progress, and in the future choose to use Dennis Mowers due to their reliability, versatlility and the quality of cut.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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

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STIHL announce new bar and chain upgrades

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STIHL announce new bar and chain upgrades: STIHL continues to offer professional forestry and agriculture chainsaw users enhanced performance with the introduction of a newly designed guide bar and saw chains for 20% faster cutting performance, with lighter weight.

Standard fitment on the MS 261 C-M forestry and MS 271 agriculture chainsaws, the Light 04 chainsaw bar features a new innovative slim contour design that means it weighs up to 200g less than the previous Rollomatic E bar, ensuring forestry and agriculture workers can benefit from easier manoeuvrability, improved balance, and less fatigue when cutting. The new guide bars weigh 10% (40cm bars) to 20% (50cm bars) less than previous versions, while the slimmer profile and bar tip allows for faster plunge cutting.

STIHL announce new bar and chain upgrades

STIHL announce new bar and chain upgrades

As part of the new chainsaw upgrades, the MS 261 C-M will now come fitted with .325” RS PRO and the MS 271 with the RM3 PRO saw chain as standard. The 1.3mm gauge chain, which matches the 1.3mm bar groove, offers up to 20% greater cutting performance when compared to .325 RS saw chains, which are 1.6mm thickness. The faster cutting comes from the thickness of the cutter tooth that is reduced from 7.7mm to 6.8mm, meaning less wood is removed from the cut for more efficiency.

The MS 261 C-M and MS 271 are available from May 2020 with the new Light 04 and new RS saw chains.

For more information on STIHL’s range of petrol powered chainsaws, please visit www.stihl.co.uk.

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Ease, accuracy and time saving from Foley

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Ease, accuracy and time saving from Foley: Starnes Engineering has experienced the benefits of an automatic relief grind using the Foley Company 633 Accu-Pro.

The East Sussex company has been continually growing since it was started four years ago by ground care and agricultural engineer, Jamie Starnes, with grinding counting as a key service over that time.

Ease, accuracy and time saving from Foley

Ease, accuracy and time saving from Foley

Jamie has gathered a vast amount of grinding experience within the industry, including working as tournament support at the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews, Wentworth and The Oval. During this time, he has used an array of grinders from various companies, but the Foley 633 Accu-Pro has proven the best he’s used for relief grinding.

“It’s just so user-friendly compared to anything else that I’ve used, and I’ve used quite a few different makes for myself and companies at different sites,” Jamie explained. “I think it’s just superb, really. It’s easy to use and set-up, and it’s accurate with it. And the fact its automated means you can leave it to it, so you’re gaining productivity time, and you’re not disappointed with the results.

“Relief grinding makes such a difference to the quality of cut and the general ware of the machine, units and grass itself. It’s a vital thing to do for anybody, but it is time-consuming with other machines compared to this one even with the units themselves. With different makes, you have to remove a lot of stuff from the unit like rear roller brushes for example, but on the Foley, you don’t have to strip down units and take things off, you can pretty much clamp and hold down any unit with anything still on it, which is another massive time-saving aspect.

“I was looking for something that was fully automated that would speed up the whole process, and something that could be set up quickly and easily that you can walk away from when possible to do other things and make use of the time. When I’ve used other grinders to relief grind, I’ve had to stand there and manually push and pull the machine through each individual blade whereas once the Foley is set up, you can leave it.

“Once you’ve set it up and you know the formula from having done a unit, and you’ve got another five, ten or however many left to do you can more or less put them in and run through them. We’ve had a lot of use out of the grinder since we got it in January – at least 40 units or more. It’s been used to grind Jacobsen, Toro and John Deere, so we’ve had a bit of everything. It is very simple to go between each brand. The machine is superb for simplicity and swapping between units. And not only for the positioning of the bench and stuff but other things like moving the motor drive from left to right. On other models, it’s actually quite a paraphernalia to move it all around, but with the electric motor you pick it up and move it from one side to the other, so it’s a vast improvement for ease and speed and everything like that.”

Several features on the 633 Accu-Pro combine to make it a reliable and straightforward grinder. The Accu-Touch 3 Control system provides a step by step tutorial for new technicians, while more experienced operators can use the system to tell the machine what they’re working on and it’ll do the rest. Automatic placement features, the Accu-Reel Selector and Cylinder Height Stop, automatically locate the reel for a fast and easy spin and relief grind in one set-up and work with the pre-set relief angles to provide the hands-free relief grinding Jamie has found so beneficial.

To experience the difference of the Accu-Pro 633 or other Foley Company models, contact ProSport UK Ltd at prosportukltd@gmail.com.

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