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Toro The Choice At Bridgnorth

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Toro The Choice At Bridgnorth: Bridgnorth Golf Club in Shropshire recently signed their fourth renewal agreement with Toro despite competitive offers from other brands because “nothing matched up” says head greenkeeper, Martin Jones.

When it came to the end of the club’s third renewal agreement with Toro, Martin chose to consider all the options to find the best possible machinery for the parkland course situated alongside the River Severn.

Toro Beats Competition At Bridgnorth

“One company even brought a whole fleet for us to trial,” says Martin. “But at the end of the day, myself and the whole team agreed that nothing matched up to Toro.

“Since our first agreement, we’ve been impressed with the quality of machines, service and the improvement to the course, and it’s continued to get better through the tenure of two more agreements. In fact, in the last five years, I can count on one hand the number of issues we’ve had! That’s an incredible track record that’s hard to beat.”

Martin also credits the service from local dealer Oakley’s Groundcare and Reesink Turfcare, an official Toro UK distributor, as largely influencing the decision to renew for a fourth time.

“We’ve got a great relationship with Oakley’s. On the rare occasion we have a problem, I know I can pick up the phone and they’ll get a mechanic out to us in an hour and a replacement machine within a day. Similarly, Reesink’s area manager John Pike has been really helpful, from general advice to the training; it’s all been great.”

Having been at the club for 42 years and head greenkeeper for over 20, Martin knows quality when he sees it, which he says is exactly what Toro provides.

“The quality of Toro machines is second to none and every single machine does exactly what it says on the tin. That’s why we’ve renewed like for like as well as purchasing a couple machines from our previous fleet.”

The new fleet consists of a Greensmaster TriFlex 3400, Groundsmaster 5610, GM4000-D, GM3500-D and Reelmaster 3100-D alongside a purchased Workman HDX-D and GR3250-D. “The quick release unit of the Greensmaster TriFlex 3400 in particular is fantastic,” says Martin. “It’s a real time saver and the standard of cut is outstanding.”

“With every new renewal the course has improved, particularly the fairways and the tees,” Martin concludes. “With Toro things just keep getting better!”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Dog Handler Rescued By Tractor

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Dog Handler Rescued By Tractor: When Mary Grant dislocated and broke her ankle at work, paramedics were struggling to find a way to get her safely to the ambulance. Mary, a senior dog handler at KDW Doggie Day Care in Kelty, Fife, was teaching puppy agility at the centre when the accident occurred on May 16th.

There are twenty-five acres where the dogs can run and exercise and she was stranded in a hilly area a big distance from the car park. Quickly on the scene the paramedics attended Mary and had her strapped onto the wheeled stretcher. The question was, how to get it across three undulating fields to the waiting ambulance?

“Even though she was obviously in a lot of discomfort, she still saw the funny side when she laid eyes on the makeshift rescue vehicle. No air ambulance for her I’m afraid.” Said Debbie Clarke, KDW’s owner.

Instead, they hitched up the centre’s own Countax 4×4 garden tractor to the trolley and carefully towed her out. Mary is due an operation and will be in hospital for a short while. She says she’ll remember the day, not for the accident but for being rescued by a garden tractor.

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Allett Launch Electric Mower

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Allett Launch Electric Mower: Allett Mowers invited industry leaders to Twickenham Rugby Stadium on May 14th to showcase the new Allett C34E battery powered mower and hold informal talks on sustainability.

Attendance at the venue represented football, rugby, cricket, Royal Households, Oxford and Cambridge University colleges and dealers. Austin Jarrett, Allett’s Managing Director, gave a talk on the company’s battery machine strategy and the technology behind battery electric power helping to drive the future for professionals. He emphasised the health and safety benefits of non-particulate power and sustainability with zero emissions at the point of use, low noise, low vibrations and minimum maintenance.

Twickenham Rugby Stadium’s Head Groundsman, Keith Kent, talked about how he maintains a world class pitch, providing the same standards whatever the use, be it international rugby, leisure events or even schools tournaments. The third speaker, sustainability expert Professor David Stubbs, presented on the challenges in the industry, using a case study of the London 2012 Olympic Games. His talk embraced climate change and how sport can help address major global ecological problems.

Allett Launch Electric Mower

The talks were followed by pitchside demonstrations with everyone allowed access to the hallowed turf and a very green pitch in bright sunlight. The Allett C34E was exceptionally well received with its battery packs and futuristic looks combined with the tradition and heritage of the Allett cylinder mower. Since it was first seen at Saltex 2018 Allett have spent the months in trials and further developments, to bring the mower to the stage where it is ready to go into production. Powered by the latest Lithium-ion system battery technology, the C34E has a new chassis design while maintaining compatibility with Allett’s renowned turf maintenance system. The mower has plenty of power to drive the interchangeable cartridges for powered raking, aerating and brushing. Delegates were shown that, just like its petrol counterparts, the C34E gives an impeccable cut and lays down Allett’s hallmark stripes.

Austin Jarrett says: “We’ll be using the debate and feedback from the customers to form part of Allett decision making and future planning in our battery machine strategy. The industry is rapidly changing and while we aim to be at the forefront we will only be launching twenty C34E this year. When a customer buys one of the first 20 machines we will work with them and their dealer on any developments of the machine before we go into mass production next year. They will become an Allett Pioneer Programme member and attend focus groups and factory visits and will also get exclusive Pioneer merchandise.” The consensus after the meeting was general agreement the industry is quickly learning about sustainability and recognising the need to gain greater momentum in the face of climate change.

01889 271503 www.allett.co.uk

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Fantasy Football Winners

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Fantasy Football Winners: The Premier League Season is now over for another year, and with it brings the conclusion of the 2018/19 Turf Matters Fantasy Football League.

In a season where the Premier League title race was fiercely contested right to the wire, the Turf Matters Fantasy Football league was won by a much more convincing margin.

Our top prize goes to Ossie Rowland, who was crowned league champion with an outstanding points tally of 2520, winning the league by a whopping 222 points, and ranking just 38th in the whole of England.

Stu Dunn finished a respectable runner-up with 2298 points, whilst Craig Williams completed the top 3 with a score of 2291.

Congratulations to all of our top 10 prize winners.

Place

Team Name

Manager

Prize Money

1

Highway to Pell

Ossie Rowland

£250

2

 God Bless The Freaks Stu Dunn

£100

3

KDFC

Craig Williams

£50

4

The Wizard of Özil

Chris Lynch

£25

5

Thats what she Sedge

Chris Sedgwick

£20

6

D-Boy Utd

D Boy

£15

7

Porter Vale

Alex Porter

£10

8

Game of throw ins

Mike Sage

£10

9

Scorpio Rising FC

Tom Clayton

£10

10

Doomed FC

Alastair Cuthbert

£10

Turf Matters would like to thank all those who took part in this season’s competition, along with league sponsors Dennis & SISIS.

If you were one of the lucky ones to make our top 10, please email sinead@turfmatters.co.uk by 5pm on Friday 31st May to claim your prize. All prizes will be sent via post within 30 days of the closing date.

GreenMech Launch Evo 165

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GreenMech Launch Evo 165: The ARB Show provided the launch platform for GreenMech to introduce their much-anticipated revolutionary new woodchipper series, the EVO 165. Capitalising on GreenMech’s engineering prowess, this new range has been designed in direct response to industry demands to deliver more aggressive torque, more powerful bite and more throughput.   

The EVO 165 combines a wealth of new features, together with some of GreenMech’s proven innovations which have seen their chippers become the preferred choice with many industry professionals. Its wide infeed chute, together with twin horizontal rollers and GreenMech’s ‘No-Stress’ control system mean the Evo 165 efficiently grips timber and brash and controls its lateral movement to provide maximum bite and unparalleled processing power via its new, heavy-duty flywheel and re-flowed exit chute.

GreenMech Launch Evo 165

Optimised outputs from a diesel or petrol engine option provide usable power that matches budget with operational needs, alongside maximum fuel efficiency and compliance with Stage V Emission requirements. The EVO is the quietest machine GreenMech have produced to date, beneficial for both operators and neighbours alike.

Together with improved performance, the aspects of safety, durability and ease of maintenance have also come under the spotlight. GreenMech have fitted the Evo with a new safety bar system to minimise nuisance tripping while offering a better inflow of material. The Evo’s durability has been increased with the adoption of a one-piece fabricated chassis that provides greater strength in even the most demanding of operational conditions. Meanwhile, GreenMech’s patented Disc Blade system continues to provide in excess of 900 chipping hours before replacement.

When maintenance is required, the vertical and horizontal shear bars have been re-engineered to be more accessible and a centralised greasing point has been introduced to make regular servicing easier to carry out.

Commenting on its introduction, Sales Director Martin Lucas said, “As the requirements of today’s arborists continue to evolve, it’s vital that we as manufacturers are listening to them and providing them with the tools to meet their growing demands. The Evo 165 is designed to do just that, with years of developments and trials going on behind the scenes to create our most efficient chipper to date. This launch marks just the beginning of our EVO development programme and we’re expecting this to make a big impression at this year’s Arb Show and beyond.”

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