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NEWS ARTICLES

Firm Fast Greens At Knole Park

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Toro Delivers Firm Fast Greens At Knole Park GC: Located within the boundaries of Knole Estates in 1000 acres of outstanding Kent parkland and with 600 deer roaming freely around the estate is a club like no other.

Knole Park is one of the most unique courses in the country; not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also for the fact that this one course plays home to two clubs.

Course manager at the club, which is home to Knole Park Golf Club and Sevenoaks Town Golf Club, is Gavin Kyle who has been at the club for 15 years. Gavin keeps a regular annual machinery replacement programme and this year he had a focus on choosing the right machines to create firm, true, fast surfaces, which is where Toro joins the story.

Firm Fast Greens At Knole Park

“It is important to consistently maintain a challenge for players,” says Gavin. “It’s for this reason that recent years have seen us extend the course by 200 yards, with further extension planned in the next year. There is a fine balance between offering a good game to all golfers, including those with a five handicap and below. We have players of all abilities across our two-club membership including a lot of scratch players and our greens needed an update this year to offer a consistent challenge to all.

“When choosing our next greens machines we checked out the market, going through rounds of demos from distributors. If I’m honest I haven’t bought Toro since I’ve been at Knole Park, so for 15 years! But Toro is renowned for its greens machines in particular so were naturally included on the demo list. What appealed with the Greensmaster TriFlex 3420-H machines, which we went for, was that they’re hybrids. I sought to reduce the risk of hydraulic leaks on the greens and I wanted the advanced control these machines can offer.”

The TriFlex Hybrid’s electric cylinder circuit is designed to eliminate up to 90 percent of hydraulic leaks, and the Turf Guardian leak detection system provides immediate audio and visual indication of possible leaks. Plus, the electric cylinders have less drag and spin more freely than hydraulic motors providing a sharp cut which leads to firmer and faster greens, exactly what Gavin is after. “Firm, true and fast greens is what we’re all after and the Toro TriFlex is helping us achieve this at Knole Park,” he confirms.

Providing the advanced control Gavin mentioned is the machines’ Info Centre, which has an easily customised clip for different heights of cut as well as other operational settings to give complete machine control on cylinder speed, hours of function, system voltage for cylinders and diagnostic descriptions. It’s this that provides the advanced control that appealed to Gavin in the TriFlexes.

But as Gavin goes on to say, it’s never just as simple as the machines: “A machine is often only as good as the backup that comes with it. We’re dealing direct with Reesink Turfcare for the first time and we’ve found that to be a great experience so far.”

It seems opportune that Toro arrives back at Knole Park for the first time since the 1970s in the year that it hosted the Tillman Trophy, the tournament widely attributed to changing the face of amateur golf. We’re sure with Toro on side, Gavin and his greenkeeping team of six will change the challenge of the course for all its members.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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First Intelligent One In The UK

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Richard Peel Groundcare first in the UK to offer GPS guided line marking with the Intelligent One Line Marker: Constantly adopting new innovations is a principle of Richard Peel Groundcare and the addition of the UK’s first Intelligent One Line Marker has brought a number of benefits to the company and their customers.

The GPS guided machine, supplied by Intelligent Marking’s UK distributor Rigby Taylor, can mark a FIFA regulation 11v11 football pitch from scratch in 29-minutes 45 seconds and can also be used for track and field marking, rugby union and league, lacrosse and customisable grids, shapes, and tracks.

First Intelligent One In The UK

Savings to customers come directly in terms of labour and paint. The machine can mark out two to three fields on one drum of paint depending on the nozzle used making it very easy to calculate when new paint is needed.

For Richard Peel Groundcare managing director, Richard Peel, being able to offer high-quality line marking at an affordable price to customers.

“We’re always looking at the new technology that’s coming into the market and I’m proud to say we’ve purchased the first Intelligent One Line Marker in the UK,” he said.

“Line marking is a skilled job that takes time and in the current climate restricted budgets make it difficult for clubs and councils to consistently mark their pitches. By using this marker, we can provide high-quality accurate marking every time whilst cutting costs on paint and labour.

“The feedback we’ve received from the demos we’ve done has been very positive and we expect the machine to be in high-demand in the near future.”

The intelligent nature of the machine means it is capable of marking a fixed socket 11-a-side football pitch and fixed socket rugby union and league pitches. There is also the option of marking a 11v11 football pitch with two 8-a-side pitches built in with all football pitches customisable in length and width.

All running track markings are also customisable in terms of the number of lanes, giving customers a large variety of options to choose from across all sports. For more information on availability please contact Richard Peel Groundcare at www.richard@pinhaw.com

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Driving Your Growth!

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Driving Your Growth! Grasslands are one of the largest turf growing experts in the country completing jobs for the Tower of London, Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens, Bluewater and most recently, Leicester Square.

They have been using Antonio Carraro Tractors since 1985 and have recently brought a brand new TTR 4400 from UK Importer- Kirkland UK. The multi-functional tractor comes with a 38hp engine and hydrostatic transmission. Head Landscaper, Paul Farmer has been working for Grasslands for over 15 years.

He is ecstatic with their new TTR 4400:“The reverse drive of the Antonio Carraro tractor is ideal for my line of work. Turning the seat round means I watch where I lay the turf without straining my neck giving me optimal vision.”

Driving Your Growth!

Simon Baxter, manager at Grasslands has dealt with Kirkland UK for years. He said:“I chose to buy from Kirkland because they offered the right tractor at a good price and the sales service was excellent. Their after sales has been good, and we have always received the right advice plus our parts orders are all on time.”

Paul also said how the hydraulics on the reverse drive tractor are ideal for their jobs as it easily picks up their big rolls of turf measuring 12-15 metres and weighing 500kg allowing them to complete their tasks efficiently & quickly. Specially designed for ground care, the TTR 4400 can be fitted to a variety of attachments such as mowers, shredders, hedge cutters, sprayers and many more.

Paul is pleased with the versatility of the tractor:“I would definitely recommend Antonio Carraro Tractors. as well as laying big roll, we also do prep work such as rotavating, levelling, ploughing- any job a big tractor can do, mine can do as well!”

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Kubota Keeps Wheels In Motion

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Kubota Helps Keep Wheels In Motion: When Lee Smith and Liz Marley moved to the Suffolk countryside in 2012, they left their established professions in engineering and law behind them for a more relaxing lifestyle.

Fast forward six years and they are proud owners of Poppies Care Farm, the first care farm in the UK to comply with Care Farming UK’s Code of Practice. Traditionally a European concept, care farms provide health, social and educational care services for individuals from a range of vulnerable groups.

Kubota Helps Keep Wheels In Motion

Located on a seven-acre smallholding on Purdis Heath, Poppies Care Farm has been in operation for four years and is accredited by Suffolk County Council. It features areas of woodland, pasture, and fruit and vegetable growing areas and is also home to four alpacas, seven goats, two donkeys and a range of chickens, guinea pigs and bees.

Through a dedicated learning programme, the individual needs of each participant is taken into account, enabling them to increase their social contact and build confidence through a range of activities that help them achieve realistic goals.

The team currently hosts up to 24 clients, who attend one or two days per week to partake in a range of activities including caring for the animals, farming projects, horticulture, wildlife conservation and wood working.

Speaking of the farm, Liz said: “When we first purchased the land we were unsure of what we would actually do with it, until a friend suggested that we transformed it into a care farm. Over the last four years it’s been a real pleasure to see the care farmers develop both their social and practical skills, from learning how to grow vegetables and tend to the animals, to making bird boxes and selling them at the local Suffolk markets.”

To enable the team to complete all of these activities successfully, they recently fundraised for a Kubota BX2350 tractor, trailer and LA423 loader to replace their existing Kubota machine. This was made a reality by receiving donations from Comic Relief, National Lottery Fund and Kubota UK.

Liz continued: “It’s been absolutely fantastic to have the new tractor here at the farm. We bought our previous Kubota machine when we first opened, and although it was over 30 years old, it did the job really well. However, as the size of our operation has grown, the Kubota tractor was being put through its paces more and more, so it was time to invest in a new machine.”

The BX2350 tractor was delivered by their local dealer Thurlow Nunn Standen after Liz and Lee visited the dealership to find out which machine would be right for the farm. As they had worked with a Kubota machine for three years, the couple knew they wanted another Kubota tractor due to its outstanding reliability and durability.

“The BX2350 was the perfect machine for us as the four-wheel drive makes the machine so easy for the care farmers to operate, along with the comfortable seat and simple to use layout of the levers and pedals. As many of the care farmers are unable to drive a car, they find real pleasure from being able to drive the tractor, with many of them able to successfully reverse the machine with a trailer on – something that is really tricky to do!

“We use the Kubota for a range of activities, from shifting heavy loads of wood, concrete and rubbish, moving and turning compost, to repairing the track to the farm. We are really grateful to Kubota for providing funds towards the tractor purchase, whilst also donating the trailer and loader. The machine supports our daily learning programme, enabling the care farmers to complete a wider range of activities that are all designed to support their ongoing development.”

For more information on Kubota and its wide range of solutions for the agricultural, groundcare and construction industries, call 01844 268000 or visit www.kubota.co.uk.

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Gamekeeper Wins Polaris ATV

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Carrbridge gamekeeper wins Polaris ATV in SGA prize draw: Long standing SGA member Ewan Archer expressed his gratitude to Polaris UK after taking delivery of his brand new Polaris Sportsman 570, won in the 2017 SGA raffle.

The Carrbridge gamekeeper, who works at Kinveachy Estate, was handed the keys to the hard-working ATV at the organisation’s Perth HQ on Thursday after buying his winning ticket through the SGA member magazine, Scottish Gamekeeper.

Fringed by SGA Chairman Alex Hogg, Richard Coleby of Polaris and Iain Stratton of supplier Stratton ATV Ltd, Ewan was delighted to get the first glimpse of his prize.

Gamekeeper Wins Polaris ATV

After entering the annual draw every year since the SGA formed 21 years ago, he admitted he entered the 2017 draw more in support than expectation of winning.

Luck proved to be on his side, though, and he was enormously thankful to collect the smooth riding sage green vehicle.

“Since the outset of the SGA, my family and I have always bought tickets but I didn’t believe it when my wife informed me I had won this year,” he smiled. “A lot of the estates around about us are using Polaris to great effect for grouse moor management and for day to day getting about.

“I am very grateful to Polaris. It is a very generous prize.”

The 44 horsepower ATV is built for safety off-road, with smooth suspension and All-Wheel Drive on demand, single lever brake system and automatic transmission.

It is already a highly popular choice on Scottish estates, as Director of Stratton ATV Ltd, Iain Stratton, acknowledged.

“Ninety five percent of our custom comes from sporting estates. A lot of gamekeepers will use them for feeding in areas they can’t reach with bigger machinery and for towing behind game feeders. It is great for deer extraction as well.”

SGA Chairman Alex Hogg was delighted to see the 2017 prize go to a long-time member of the SGA family.

On the back of successful partnership, the SGA and Polaris are set to renew their arrangement for 2018, with the raffle prize again set to be provided by the company.

“It is really important we have partners like Polaris,” said the SGA Chairman.

“I have used a 6 wheeler Polaris UTV myself for 5 years and it has been really good. In terms of this particular bike, it is a quality product, very sturdy with a good engine. I am sure it will suit Ewan perfectly.”

Polaris UK District Sales Manager Richard Coleby said the partnership was a win-win for all parties and both organisations are looking to make the most of their continued association in 2018.

“Shoots, estates and gamekeepers represent a big market for us, as a business, so it is important to support where we can in Scotland. We are probably the leader in the estates market so it is important for us to maintain profile. All our products are designed for heavy off-road performance so they really suit this type of work.”

Polaris Britain: 0800 915 6720 www.polaris-britain.com

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