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Toro MVP Kits Increase Uptime

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Toro MVP Kits Increase Uptime: Greenkeepers, workshop technicians and mechanics can prevent maintenance headaches in the season ahead with Toro’s MVP kits.

 As the grass growing season gets into full swing and your fleet’s workload increases, the last thing needed is extended machinery downtime and unexpected maintenance costs. This is a situation that can be avoided with Toro’s MVP (maintenance value performance) kits.

Toro MVP kits Increase Uptime

With an individual kit for blades, roller rebuilding, cutting unit overhauling, seals, and blades and belts, whichever kit you go for, one thing guaranteed is that you will have all the genuine Toro parts needed to quickly get your turfcare machinery working again.

So, instead of spending valuable time sourcing individual parts as issues arise, greenkeepers can purchase Toro MVP kits in one convenient box that comes with the added benefit of saving up to 20 percent in repair expenses.

Michael Hampton, Reesink Turfcare parts manager, comments: “As we all know, time is of the essence for greenkeeping teams in the summer and machines are worked hard to keep turf in play and in immaculate condition. Owning an MVP kit means no longer being caught out by a machine in need of care, as you will be prepared with every part needed to quickly get your turfcare machinery back into action.”

Instructions give advice on when to perform specific maintenance tasks depending on the model and the number of hours of use, helping prevent running machines into the ground and incurring unnecessary costs to repair them.

Michael continues: “Keeping turf in premium condition is rightly at the forefront of greenkeepers’ minds, with constantly high-performing machines being the means of achieving this and downtime being a possible obstacle. Toro’s MVP kits enable you to react and resolve maintenance or repair issues immediately, keeping uptime at an all-time high.”

Added to this, if used to perform regular maintenance, MVP kits keep cost of ownership low and allow for more accurate forecasting when setting budget aside for parts and servicing.

Investing in Toro MVP kits is, says Reesink Turfcare, a wise decision.

For more information contact distributor Reesink’s Toro parts department on 01480 226800, go to reesinkturfcare.co.uk, or visit your local dealer.

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Sherriff’s First MyTurfClub Event

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Sherriff’s First MyTurfClub Event: Sherriff Amenity recently hosted the very first myTurfClub event at Syngenta UK’s Jealott’s Hill Research Centre in Bracknell – and by all accounts it was regarded as a huge success.

myTurfClub is a new initiative from Sherriff Amenity which has an ultimate goal of helping to improve the UK turf amenity sector stewardship of pesticide and products. The event proved a great opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals, share and gain knowledge, learn best practices and ultimately enhance their education. Every delegate also gained 6 BIGGA CPD points by attending.

Sherriff's First MyTurfClub Event

Following an introduction by Sherriff Amenity’s Joseph Dormer; Dan Lightfoot, UK and Ireland business manager for Syngenta, proceeded to provide a fascinating industry update and a great insight into fungicide planning.

Next up was Rod Burke, Syngenta’s portfolio development manager for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, who offered some extremely helpful tips in his presentation entitled “Pigments – a first look”

Prior to lunch, Joseph provided a virtual tour through the online mySherriffAmenity platform. Sherriff Amenity has always been a big advocate of education within the turf and amenity industry and many have benefited from using mySherriffAcademy which is a feature of this platform. mySherriffAcademy is ideal for learning more about the amenity business as users can participate in courses to enhance knowledge on a wide range of topics such as disease and the correct products to use.

Lunchtime offered all attendees a great chance to network before they embarked on a tour of Syngenta’s impressive, state of the art facilities. Jealott’s Hill is a key site in Syngenta’s global research and development network and key activities include research into discovery of new active ingredients, new formulation technologies, product safety, technical support of products and seeds research.

To conclude the event, Joe Kinder (Sherriff Amenity Technical Manager) advised on tank-mixes before Johnny Beck (Sherriff Amenity Amenity Specialist) delivered a captivating insight into trial work as well as revealing key results.

Sam Evans, Head Greenkeeper at Fulwell Golf Club in Middlesex, was in attendance and believes that an event like this is essential to the future of the industry. “I came along today because I wanted to develop my spray-tech knowledge and have a look around the impressive Syngenta site. There are some really exciting products coming out and it is good to know that companies like Sherriff Amenity and Syngenta are looking to the future and are passionate about developing products. Events like these are vital for head greenkeepers and course managers; it’s all about enhancing your knowledge and planning for disease prevention because it is so critical in our industry.”

Ben Mills-Reed, Assistant Greenkeeper at Rustington Golf Centre in Sussex, is currently working his way through the mySherriffAcademy modules and felt that by attending the seminar, he gained a greater knowledge of the products he is using on a regular basis.

“I attended the event to find out more about the products we use, why we use them and how they are made. It has been really informative. I’m doing the mySherriffAcademy modules at the moment and I’m piecing all the bits together so today has been a big help.”

Commenting on the successful day, event organiser Joseph Dormer said: “We put this event together specifically because there is a need to become more pro-active in our industry. We need to be able to predict what is going to happen and have a plan in place because we are slowly losing all of the fire-fighting products.

“This event is all about giving something back and to not just host an event where everyone is sat there staring at a presentation on a screen. We wanted to create an event which is all about getting the delegates to be a bit more interactive and ultimately try to ensure that everyone leaves here with something – from the assistants all the way up to the course managers.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the turn out today, considering the pressure everyone is under at the moment with the weather. Plus a lot of people are trying to get greens renovations done and get their courses up to scratch for spring.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to Syngenta for hosting the event. I’m planning on partnering up with all of our key suppliers so there will be a number of different subject matters in this myTurfClub series. I’m sure this will be the first of many great events.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

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Pellenc’s Factory Award

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Pellenc’s Factory Award: After transforming its state of the art factory in Pertuis, France, the Pellenc group has been presented with the Industry Showcase of the Future award.

Since the Pellenc group was created in 1973, the company has based its development on a policy of constant innovation. The group’s ability to be able to anticipate changes in its markets has led to the registering of 1081 patents – winning numerous awards for the excellence of its products.

 

A forerunner when it comes to lithium-ion technology, Pellenc has established itself in the “Zero Emission” professional power tools market. The company has seen rapid growth since 1973 and in just the last five years Pellenc has doubled its turnover. With a policy of investing 10% of its turnover back into research and development, the group is committed to continually developing its industrial processes and this led to the transformation of its factory.

Pellenc’s factory transformation objectives were to not only improve operations but also to enhance the working conditions for employees – increasing their safety and optimising the comfort of the workstations.

The transformation of the plant has already proved to be hugely beneficial. Assembly times have been significantly reduced, while service rates in the workshops and production line areas have also been greatly improved. In turn, the teams involved feel better prepared and trained for the various stages of production.

Pierre-Antoine Barre, Pellenc Industrialisation Methods Manager was delighted to have achieved such large-scale objectives: “Transformation of the Pertuis site means that the Pellenc group’s capacity and industrial flexibility has grown, and the competitiveness of its product range has improved, building on French know-how, a symbol of industrial excellence and a source of employment reaching +7% a year.”

Pellenc's Factory Award

Aurélien Blanc, technical assistant in the portable power tools shop, offered a great insight from an employee’s point of view: “The changes in the plant have reduced movements needed and distances covered. They provide real improvements in ergonomics, productivity and quality of work.”

The Industry Showcase of the Future award is testament to the success of the factory transformation, but Pellenc refuses to rest on its laurels. There are many more factory projects planned for this year, including new innovations for the newly created areas, new workflow displays and automation systems.

Always seeking further improvements, the Pellenc group continues to innovate and it is no wonder that its products are spearheading the markets throughout Europe and beyond.

Pellenc products are exclusively distributed in the UK by Etesia UK.

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

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ISEKI UK & Ireland Launch

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ISEKI UK & Ireland Launch: ISEKI UK & Ireland hosted an official opening at its new Ipswich home last week.

Since being founded in 1926, ISEKI has contributed to the modernisation of Japan’s agricultural industry as a full-time manufacturer specialising in farming machinery. ISEKI prides itself on extensive research and development that is matched with high quality manufacturing and assembly processes to produce a range of machinery for today’s demanding applications in many global markets.

Recent years have certainly proved successful when it comes to the distribution of ISEKI products throughout the UK and Europe by Ransomes Jacobsen. Following such successes David Withers, Managing Director at ISEKI UK and former President of Jacobsen, is understandably excited about seeing a wider acceptance of products through expanding markets and building yet more awareness, trust, and demand for ISEKI’s tractors and mowers.

ISEKI UK & Ireland Launch

“I started to work with Iseki when the product line came to Jacobsen in 1996 and I’ve always enjoyed being involved with such an exciting and reliable product line. When ISEKI outlined their strategic vision of getting closer to customers by investing in their own distribution within the UK it made sense and this is a really exciting time for the brand” said David.

Kazuya Tani, the European Managing Director of ISEKI, is also extremely excited by this latest investment, saying “We’ll be investing more in marketing and promotions of the ISEKI brand and want to see a wider acceptance of our products through expanding our markets and getting more share from our current customers. The commitment of ISEKI to the UK Market will be significant and we trust that the market will react positively to this approach.”

ISEKI UK & Ireland Launch

With the exception of some new key additions, the dealer network will mostly remain the same. For more information, contact ISEKI UK and Ireland on 01473 599266.

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ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

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ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC: After some shading issues were resolved at the exclusive Blackwell Golf Club located in Worcestershire, Head Greenkeeper Rhys Thomas has since restored the greens back to their full health thanks to a range of fertilizers from ICL.

Blackwell Golf Club may well be the most exclusive club in the Midlands. With approximately 170 members, but despite the club always having a small membership, it has never stopped the club from achieving. In fact, Blackwell has been ranked in the top 100 UK courses for a number of years, boasts three English Amateur Champions, has hosted the Open Championship Regional Qualifying Event six times and was home to the Midland Boys Championship, won one year by a 14 year old Sandy Lyle.

ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

Blackwell Golf Club will be celebrating its 125th centenary and throughout that time the course hasn’t changed much from the original 18 hole design. The truth is – it hasn’t really needed to, which is perhaps testament to the vision of Herbert Fowler and Tom Simpson who designed the course in 1923.

“Following a ecology report from the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute), we decided to remove the trees around the greens and tees that had been planted 50 years ago,” says Rhys. “The trees had had little maintenance and the greens were in the shade and we’d struggle to get growth through the winter. Obviously, they would have a lot of wear during the summer and they never had an opportunity to recover.”

After the trees were removed, it was apparent that the greens would need a lot of attention after being in the shade for such a long time. Disease had crept in, which had resulted in a few scars and damage, and in Rhys’ own words – “If someone has a cold or is ill and they don’t take any medicine, then they don’t get any better. It’s the same with the greens – they need good products to keep them healthy.”

“ICL’s Greenmaster Pro-Lite Cold Start is great for the spring,” Rhys continues. “We know that the greens will kick-off immediately once we get it applied in March. Previously, members used to say the greens were not playing well until June. The right products are being used now and the members have certainly noticed the difference.”

Rhys was also quick to highlight Sierraform GT K-STEP 6-0-27+2MgO+TE, which has a high potassium content to harden the turf in particularly stressful winter conditions.

ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

“In January or February, we turn to Sierraform GT K-STEP which trickles along nicely and we normally get a good amount of growth following application. We may also re-apply it in March if we are doing some renovation work just to give us a bit of recovery.

“Because of the microclimate we have here at Blackwell, it does make it hard to have a strict programme in place – we just have to judge it as and when. But I’ve been using ICL products for a long time and I use them because I know how they work and I can judge the timing of the fertilizers.

“The ICL fertilizers have significantly improved the greens because they are a lot healthier now.

On hand to offer Rhys all-year-round assistance is ICL’s Emma Kilby and he revealed that she has been instrumental in helping him bring the greens back to the standard expected by Blackwell members.

“I have a great relationship with Emma and she is always available if I need her.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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