GKB launch innovative DTA

GKB launch innovative DTA: GKB Machines, the company behind sustainable, reliable and robust maintenance machinery for natural, synthetic and hybrid turf are providing the solution to ground compaction with the launch of the revolutionary GKB Deep Tine Aerator (DTA).

From the use of heavy-duty machinery to a footfall of thousands on sports pitches over time, many grounds staff do not comprehend how bad compaction really is and can be. Compaction is considered one of the major causes of poor sward density, root development and water logging. Designed to relieve compaction, the GKB DTA works on natural sports pitches to relieve the surface, compaction enabling water to travel through and for stronger roots to develop.

GKB launch innovative DTA

GKB launch innovative DTA

Consistently developing their product range through innovative research and expert engineering, Tom Shinkins, Operation Manager said, “We’re really pleased to have this machine added to our range, it now enables us to offer golf clubs and sport pitches the full maintenance package.” He continues, “it was the missing piece to our catalogue and now being able to offer customers the full range of reliable and robust machinery will allow us to truly stand out from the crowd.”

With an adjustable 25-degree heave angle, the GKB DTA’s tine holding system allows you to take control on removing compaction. From varying depths up to 16 inches. Featuring a 3-speed heavy duty gearbox, you can adjust the speed on the tines to create the required hole pattern in the turf, and with its unique tine mounting system, quick changeover for different size tines has never been easier.  In addition, built on the understanding that ‘the worker is king’, GKB Machines ensure that the GKB DTA requires minimal maintenance as it’s fitted with a heavy-duty sealed bearings on the crank shaft, ensuring focus is always on improving the ground and less on maintaining the machine.

Launching to market early April, the GKB DTA will be out for demos from now. If you’re interested in learning more or booking a demo, please contact Tom Shinkins on 07495883617.

For more on GKB Machines and their reliable and robust range of machinery for natural, hybrid and synthetic turf, please visit www.gkbmachines.com.

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Iseki launch virtual demonstrations

Iseki launch virtual demonstrations: The day after the UK Government announced a further lockdown of “at least three weeks”, David Withers, Managing Director of Iseki UK has produced the first in a series of virtual demonstrations showcasing the benefits of ISEKI ownership.

With turf care workers mainly unaffected by the lockdown and with grass continuing to grow as spring blossoms, Withers was looking for a way in which he could keep in contact with his customer base, ensuring that when the UK finally comes out of lockdown, grounds care professionals up-and-down the country are fully prepared.

“Demos are an important aspects of our sales process,” explained Withers, “so given the current restrictions concerning COVID-19, I thought that if customers can’t come to us, we’ll try to come to them, albeit even if it’s only in a virtual sense.”

The video, which was filmed by a member of Withers’ immediate family, was shot using an iPhone in a nearby paddock close to their family home in Suffolk, and as Withers explains, helps demonstrate an Iseki SXG323+ mower.

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve received a number of calls from prospective customers as well as our dealer network, saying that they’ve had a number of demos that have needed to be postponed due to the lockdown, so I thought that it made sense to try and answer as many questions about the SXG323+ as possible. ”

“I’m not sure we will win any awards for the narrative or the production quality of the video, but I felt that it was important to try to connect with as many of our community as possible in a light-hearted and informative manner.”

“We wanted to try and pretend that you were here with us in person rather than watching ‘virtually’ and hopefully we’ve been able to achieve that aim. These are challenging times for everyone working within the turf care sector, and I genuinely look forward to the time – hopefully, next month – when I’ll be able to demonstrate our range personally, rather than virtually.”

The video can be viewed on YouTube, the link is:  https://youtu.be/GVvM4Kbvi8Q

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Hayter restores vintage Harrier

Hayter restores vintage Harrier: As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Hayter® Harrier® range of lawnmowers, Darren Hummersone along with members of the Hayter team, worked to restore a vintage 1970’s Harrier model.

Forming part of the yearlong celebration of the Harrier’s golden anniversary, the search began at Hayter to source a vintage Harrier, to be set alongside the current models. The team eventually found a 1970’s model available for purchase online and went about ordering the mower.

Hayter restores vintage Harrier

Hayter restores vintage Harrier

When the team received the Harrier from its previous owner it was in good working order, but work was needed to bring it back to its original appearance – the work was superficial as the mower itself still functioned. Darren Hummersone, Grounds & Golf Product Specialist at Reesink UK Ltd., a distributor for Toro products, was primarily in charge of the mower restoration.

As the red and green colours on the classic Harrier had faded over time, Darren had to colour match the paint, and repaint all of the parts of the mower. This involved disassembling the entire mower, cleaning all of the individual parts, repainting them, and reassembling the mower. Some of the original labels and smaller components also had to be replaced as, due to the age of the machine, not everything had lasted or had been lost over the years. Some parts were also shot blasted in the Hayter factory to enable them to be painted again.

Darren Hummersone said: “It was a real treat working on the 1970’s Harrier and to restore it to its former glory was a privilege. The mower itself worked well when we managed to get hold of it, so the process of restoring it wasn’t too complex – I mainly had to repaint the machine to get it looking as good as it used to.

“The Harrier range of mowers has always been a hugely popular and prestigious product range and one that has always enhanced the British gardening experience. I am really proud to have been able to help with celebrating the Harrier’s 50th anniversary.”

For more information please visit www.hayter.co.uk.

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Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet

Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet: Inverallan Landscapes has taken one step further in its quest to become fossil fuel free by expanding its Pellenc portfolio with the purchase of two Rasion Easy self-propelled mowers and a set of Airion blowers.

Step by step, Inverallan Landscapes, a gardening and grounds maintenance contracting business in Stirling, is changing the way it does business. By integrating battery-operated equipment and reducing its carbon footprint, it hopes to offer customers a completely ‘clean’ service – according to managing director John Maxwell.

Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet

Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet

“We want to be the first landscape contractors that operate battery-only, so during the past three years we have been upgrading our tools and equipment to the equivalent battery models, as well as installing solar panels at our business unit,” he said.

The company first became acquainted with Pellenc equipment back in 2018 after purchasing a set of Helion 2 Compact hedge trimmers – the lightest battery-powered hedge trimmer on the market. After reporting excellent results, it continued to invest in Pellenc equipment and two years later, Inverallan Landscapes now boasts an impressive portfolio which includes chainsaws, blowers, hedge cutters, pole saws, road sweepers, grass strimmers and mowers.

The company’s most recent Pellenc additions were prompted after it was awarded a new contract in which a dedicated maintenance team would be working for a large housing association with over 1000 properties.

According to John, the zero-emission approach made total sense.

“To my knowledge this may well be the first maintenance team in Scotland to be 100% environmentally friendly so we are making huge strides. Not only will they solely be using the Pellenc equipment to maintain the houses and grounds, but they will also be using a brand-new Nissan E-NV200 electric powered van.

“It ticks every box – from the machinery point of view, the operator’s point of view and also from the residents’ point of view. There are just so many benefits from using the Pellenc equipment.”

Light, odourless, noise-free, with no starting problems and enough power to enable professional users to work for a full day on a single charge, it’s no wonder more and more professional users are turning to Pellenc. It is an attractive alternative to those who have, for a number of years, been relying on fuel-based machinery.

Not only will users see a huge amount of savings by eliminating the necessity of purchasing fuel but by using the Pellenc equipment, they will be contributing to protecting the environment by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and noise pollution.

“The team much prefer using the Pellenc equipment compared to the two-stroke products,” John continued. “It is far more lightweight, so they are less fatigued while working, there are no fumes and the equipment is so quiet. You particularly notice the benefits in those long, hot summer days.

“You also don’t have the issue of maintenance or parts going wrong in comparison to traditional two or four stroke equipment – such as spark plugs, air filters or oil changes. With the Pellenc equipment you just push a button and off you go.”

John saved particular praise for Rasion mower, claiming that it has enhanced the team’s grass cutting operations: “It’s a brilliant machine and it has more advantages than a traditional petrol mower. Firstly, it is so much lighter and from our point of view up here in Scotland, with the amount of rain we have, the ground can quite often be saturated. If you go onto that ground with a petrol mower, you are adding a lot of weight and you find yourself sinking into the ground. With the Rasion mower we have been able to get onto those saturated grounds and we have been able to tend to grass that we might not have previously been able to cut.”

“The other benefit is that it is wider than most petrol mowers, so we find ourselves cutting faster and covering more ground in a shorter amount of time.”

Inverallan Landscapes purchased the equipment from Agrovista Amenity in Stirling, and Allan Wright, amenity specialist for Agrovista, said: “It’s great to see that Inverallan Landscapes is revolutionising its approach to service provision through the introduction of battery-operated equipment.

“With Pellenc tools, there’s no compromise on performance, and users benefit from long-term cost savings, reduced noise and operator vibration.

“All Pellenc tools come with a three-year commercial warranty and batteries benefit from the new improved four-year commercial warranty. I believe the future is in the use of battery equipment and the new technological developments from Pellenc are certainly leading the way.”

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

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

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

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EVO 165D delivers powerful performance

EVO 165D delivers powerful performance: An EVO 165D from GreenMech has become the dominant machine on the arb fleet of Swansea-based Rooted Tree & Landscapes.

Owner Craig Mylan has been a loyal user of GreenMech woodchippers since he started the company in 2008 with the EVO becoming his fourth machine, and it’s the most powerful yet – transforming the way they carry out both commercial and domestic tree works.

EVO 165D delivers powerful performance

EVO 165D delivers powerful performance

“I first saw the EVO 165 at its launch at the 2019 Arb Show and the first thing that really hit me, or didn’t hit me more to the point, was the noise! We have a duty to our customers and our operators to look at things like reducing noise and this machine demonstrates real progress” explains Craig who heads up a team of six. “There are so many new developments on this machine – simple things like the foldable chute which makes storage of the unit that much easier.”

From a performance perspective, the re-designed flywheel and large infeed chute have resulted in labour and time savings when it comes to processing large volumes of woody waste. “The more powerful pull-through means we can feed in material without having to sned it down first. It then chips whatever we feed in quickly and efficiently before throwing it out again cleanly. It is without doubt the most powerful machine we’ve used in terms of torque and bite.” With its 165mm chipping capacity, the EVO isn’t the largest machine in Craig’s fleet, however it has been used on a range of projects both large and small.

Another factor that has kept Craig loyal is the superior back up support he’s received from those in the GreenMech dealer network. “I’ve worked closely alongside Julian Cullis of GreenMech since way back when, who has always kept me abreast of new and future developments. We’re also fortunate to have Chipper Hire South West not too far away who have a fantastic fleet of GreenMech machines to hire if we need them. With the EVO, the support we received from our local dealer Powercut in Carmarthen has again been first-class.”

“For us independent companies” Craig concludes, “our success depends on reliable and robust equipment that’s capable and working to its full capacity. The fact that the new EVO is a great machine is one thing, but the whole GreenMech ethos to support their users every step of the way is another to really be applauded.”

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