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NEWS ARTICLES

Hybrid is Pitchmark’s New Line

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Hybrid is Pitchmark’s new line: After working closely with a number of groundsmen at leading Premier League clubs, Pitchmark will be introducing their new Hybrid line marker at Saltex, complete with a lifetime warranty.

“A large number of stadium groundsmen use transfer markers for many good reasons,” says Mark Rodman, Pitchmark Managing Director, “it’s easier to lift the back wheels over intersecting lines, there’s balanced weight and groundsmen like to walk slowly.  With a transfer marker you are using the same amount of paint no matter how slowly you walk.”

Hybrid is Pitchmark’s new line

The problems with transfer markers, Mark points out, is that they only tend to coat the tips of the leaf, so to achieve the required result it is double marked.  This means thick paint on the leaf which takes much longer to dry, and can cause ‘ghosting’ of paint over the pitch.

The Pitchmark Hybrid overcomes these problems with a three-wheeled design for ease of use, especially over intersecting lines. The Hybrid feels like a transfer marker to use and is supplied with a range of nozzles to suit the user’s walking speed.

“The Hybrid cone nozzles give perfect leaf coverage, “Mark says: “The thin coating of paint dries extremely quickly so there are no issues with irrigation, rain, or ghosting.”

The Limited Edition UK-manufactured Hybrid uses highly-engineered front discs as the front wheel. Designed for use with Direct and Ecoline+ low-volume, ready-to-use paints, the Hybrid also features adjustable line width to suit different competitions.

Pitchmark are taking pre-orders now and welcome groundsmen to come along to stand E125 at Saltex.  You can call 01454 776666 or email sales@pitchmark.com to arrange a demo. www.pitchmark.com

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Llanarth Cricket Club Awarded Groundsmen of the Year Trophy

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Their ground is as sound as a pound: Llanarth Cricket Club have been awarded the Groundsmen of the Year Trophy for their picturesque ground.

The sponsors of the South-east Wales Cricket league, Thomas Carroll Insurance brokers, were keen to Recognise the important but usually unsung role of the groundsmen in preparing pitches and maintaining facilities to enable amateur cricketers to participate in their favourite summer sport.

Throughout the cricket season visiting captains in all divisions of the South-east Wales Cricket League have been marking the standard of pitch, outfield and facilities at each ground that they played on. At the end of the season the results were tallied and it was village club Llanarth who were chosen as the inaugural winners of the trophy.

Llanarth’s ground is kept in immaculate condition by a dedicated team who not only give their time freely but often dip into their own pockets to purchase odds and ends and cover sundry expenses. The club is both proud and delighted that the efforts of their ground maintenance team have been recognised and is very grateful to each of them for their unstinting work.

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Glyphosate Debate Continues In Europe

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Glyphosate Debate Continues In Europe: The European Parliament’s Agriculture and Environment Committees held a joint hearing this week to listen to speakers from both sides of the glyphosate debate.

European member states will have the opportunity to discuss the renewal of glyphosate on 25 October at a special meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF).

Glyphosate Debate Continues In Europe

The EU is set to vote on whether to renew licensing for glyphosate.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the European Food Safety Authority have concluded that the herbicide is not carcinogenic.

Tim Bowmer, chairman of the European Chemical Agency (ECHA)’s Committee for Risk Assessment, toild this week’s hearing that there was “no classification for carcinogenicity is warranted”.

Professor Christopher Portier of Maastricht University criticised health authorities’ assessments in the US and in the EU, saying that they had disregarded up to half of cancer cases detected in animal studies of exposure to glyphosate.

Anti glyphosate campaigner Carey Gillam said Monsanto staff had discussed “ghost writing” scientific assessments of glyphosate’s toxicity.

Monsanto were not at the meeting.

The European Crop Protection Association pointed to research that shows EU farmer profitability increases by up to 25% when they use glyphosate to control weeds on their farms. This represents €11bn of a total €44bn profit and a drop in income this significant could lead to a drastic rise in the cost of a multitude of staple crops.

Crop Protection Association chief executive Sarah Mukherjee said: “Glyphosate is, and always has been safe. This debate has never really been about safety, it has been hijacked and politicised to force a wider debate on modern agriculture. It’s right that we’re having that debate, but it’s wrong to use health scares to get there.

“The European regulatory process is meant to be reviewing glyphosate, a product with more than 20 manufacturers supplying the European market and a vital tool in sustainable, productive farming. The unnecessary focus on one company risks diverting attention away from the science and opinions of expert regulators around the globe who agree glyphosate is safe. Failure to renew glyphosate’s licence risks damaging the economy, the environment and European agriculture.”

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Charterhouse At SALTEX 2017

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Charterhouse bring some of the old and some of the new to SALTEX: Charterhouse Turf Machinery will be highlighting the Graden GBS1200 at SALTEX this year.

As always, they will also be showcasing a vast array of equipment for the care of both natural and artificial sports surfaces as well as landscaping products from the BLEC range on an adjacent stand.

The Graden GBS 1200 is a 1.2m straight reeled unit ideal for flat areas such as sports pitches, cricket squares, tennis courts etc. This model can be mounted onto a 20hp+ tractor and can scarify to various depths of up to 45mm. The tempered steel blades, in optional widths of 1mm or 3mm, feature 8 tungsten tips and are fitted in reverse rotation to slice cleanly through the turf while the deep scalloped design prevents the blades from becoming clogged.

Charterhouse At SALTEX 2017

From Redexim, the Rink DS800 top dresser, which compliments the company’s range of Verti-Drains, will be another popular highlight. The Rink DS800 can be either trailed behind a 30hp compact tractor with the benefit of 4 wheels on an articulating axle, or fitted to a John Deere Pro Gator or Toro Workman truck for a light foot print. It has a variable spread pattern up to 12m (36ft) and gives a very good finish due to the dual spinners which can apply precise amounts of material, even if the material is wet.

Meanwhile the Verti-Top, from the Redexim Verti-Art collection, continues to set the standard for the cleaning and maintenance of synthetic turf surfaces. The powered rotary brush sweeps to a predetermined depth in the carpet lifting the pile and extracting the top 1mm – 15mm of infill along with any foreign material. A sieve then separates the infill from the detritus, the infill is returned to the surface, while the detritus is collected in the hopper of the machine. The cleaned infill is brushed into the fibres of the carpet leaving a clean, level and aesthetically pleasing finish.

A new face can also be found on Stand K070, as Ian Lauder Northern Territory Sales Managers makes his Saltex debut.

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A Solution For Every Surface On Stand E070

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A solution for every surface on Stand E070: At SALTEX 2017 Dennis & SISIS (Stand E070) will be living up to their reputation of having world-class maintenance equipment for every type of playing surface with a wide range of equipment on show. 

Featuring prominently on the stand will be the SISIS Javelin Aer-Aid 1500 – a tractor mounted vertical action aerator offering air injection, which recently gained rave reviews from the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute). Over a three month period, extensive STRI trials led by Dr Christian Spring were carried out which examined how and if the Javelin Aer-Aid had an effect on the hardness of the turf, the root depth, water infiltration and disease.

A Solution For Every Surface On Stand E070

“Following successful trials on an established sand based golf green, this aerator, when used as part of an integrated turf management programme, would be a very useful tool for managing soil and plant health. It became obvious that the Aer-Aid improved maximum root and depth within the soil profile and also had the benefit of increasing the depth of the average rooting mass,” said Christian.

SALTEX visitors will also get the chance to see the newly launched Spring Tine Rake cassette – which has been specifically designed for the Dennis G860 cylinder mower. Operators already have a plethora of options through the G860’s interchangeable cassette system, which includes scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, slitters and six or eight bladed cutting cylinders; and they will be pleased to see the launch of the Spring Tine Rake. This new cassette contains 42 springs with 12mm spacings that can be used for the removal of dead turf matter, cleaning the surface and helping to scratch through the black crust that commonly appears on the surface thus improving drainage.

The SISIS range of pedestrian scarifiers come highly recommended by turf managers, and a number of these products will be featured on the stand such as the Rotorake 600HD and the Auto Rotorake MK5. With a range of interchangeable reels consisting of thatch removal, thatch control and a range of brush reels, the Auto Rotorake MK5 can be used for several different tasks including scarifying, verticutting and brushing. From the same range, the Rotorake 600HD is a heavy duty pedestrian scarifier and linear aerator. This versatile machine is equally at home when used for regular routine use at a shallow setting or a deeper setting when required. It also contributes to aeration and compaction relief by cutting clean, continuous slits by utilising a high tip speed to assist water and air absorption.

For a machine which is equally effective on both natural and synthetic turf then look no further than the SISIS Osca – a tractor mounted powered oscillating brush. Also on the stand will be the SISIS Quadraplay; a single pass maintenance system which incorporates a mounted frame for up to four implements and the SISIS Towed Implement Frame which is designed specifically for daily maintenance of artificial surfaces – it can also be fitted with a number of implements including the Flexicomb and Straight Brush.

Also featuring from the SISIS portfolio is the Autoslit and Multislit, and visitors will get the chance to find out more about these unique products.

The SISIS Autoslit powered deep slitter is a familiar sight in a turf manager’s inventory, and offers deep, clean penetration with minimal surface marking. Possessing the same outstanding qualities as the Autoslit is the SISIS Multislit – a tractor mounted deep slitting lawn aerator. Both machines produce excellent underground cultivation due to the angle of the tines, with the spiral design of the tine shaft assisting penetration. Their simple design also means that they require little maintenance.

Visitors to the joint stand will no doubt already be aware of the highly regarded Dennis FT pedestrian mower series. Available in 17″ (43cm), 20″ (51cm) and 24″ (61cm) cutting widths, the FT series is an interchangeable cassette mower giving options to fit 12 different heads which offers the versatility that is essential for a busy club. The speed and ease of changing these cassettes has made the FT range a firm favourite.

SALTEX attendees can expect to see the Razor Ultra 560 which has a 560mm (22”) cutting width and incorporates many key features including an 11 bladed cutting cylinder, ultra-short wheelbase for undulating surfaces, tungsten tipped groomer, compact handle design for extra manoeuvrability, click height adjusters and stub free transport wheels for easy transport from site to site.

Dennis and SISIS’ experienced and knowledgeable members of staff will be on hand throughout the two days to offer valuable advice about the full range turf maintenance machinery. It will also be a good opportunity for visitors to find out more information about the upcoming educational events for greenkeepers and groundsmen.

Further information about the range of maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

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

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