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Dennis selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament

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Dennis Mowers selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament: After being selected as the official mower at the two most recent FIFA World Cup’s in South Africa and Brazil, Dennis Mowers will be the mower of choice for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Dennis Selected As World Cup Mower For Third Successive Tournament

The Dennis G860 cylinder mower will have the task of preparing pitches for the world’s greatest football players when the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks-off in June 2018. Almost all of the stadiums used throughout the tournament will have their pitches maintained by the G860 and that includes the venues selected for the latter stages of the tournament.

The stadiums hosting the quarter finals, the semi-finals and the final itself have been confirmed as the Luzhniki Stadium, Saint Petersburg Stadium, Kazan Arena, Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Samara Arena and the Fist Stadium Sochi – and all of these pitches will be prepared by a Dennis G860, while some will also utilise the Dennis Premier in conjunction with the G860 for matchday preparation.

At the last tournament, these final games attracted worldwide audiences of up to 3.2 billion people, and it is for this reason, among others, that the G860 has been selected, according to Steven Rienks – managing director of Queens Grass, who are the official Dennis dealer in Russia.

“Quite simply, the main stadiums chose the G860 because of the quality and the presentation it offers. They all want that perfect stripe which the G860 provides because they know it will be watched by a worldwide audience,” says Steven.

“For the past ten years Russian clubs have been using turf maintenance equipment from Dennis and 70% of the Russian Premier League teams have either a G860 or Dennis Premier mower. Many groundsmen over here know of their quality and their robustness – they know that they can use them for a diverse range of maintenance tasks without ever having any issues.

“In Russia, the weather is not ideal – for instance, in one area we only have around 60 days of sunlight over the course of a year, and the interchangeable cassette system really helps with maintenance procedures in a difficult climate.”

As Steven says, the Dennis G860 features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks. With a simple one minute changeover, users have the option of fitting eleven different types of heads including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, and slitters as well as six or eight bladed cutting cylinders.

Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls – throttle, park brake, switches and cutter clutch and only the forward drive handle needs to be held in by the operator which reduces operator fatigue. The mower also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion.

“In my opinion I’m always delighted to supply Dennis equipment to our clients because it guarantees the quality our clients expect from us,” said Steven.

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis Mowers on 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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Get to the bottom of tall grass, brush, thistles and weeds

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Get to the bottom of tall grass, brush, thistles and weeds: IBEA Flail Mowers will get the job done!

Get to the bottom of tall grass, brush, thistles and weeds

Ibea Flail Mowers with 16” tractor wheel transmission make short work of heavy duty brush, tall overgrown grass, thistles and saplings plus they are easy to use due to an uncomplicated design and controls.

For steep slopes or banking applications a crawler tracked transmission option is available.  The machines are available with a range of Honda commercial engines from 5.5hp to 14 hp giving you the choice of power necessary.

Models start at 60cm (24”) wide with 32 blades up to 85cm (34”) with 48 blades and keen prices from £1607.88+ vat up to £3917.75+ vat there is a model for most applications and budgets.

Vibration damped, easily adjustable handle bars that not only adjust height but also swing to the side allowing safe cutting under trees, along fence lines, it also comes with a built-in rotor brake for added safety for the user.

For more information call Autoculture on 01342 870242 or email sales@autoculture.co.uk or visit www.ibeauk.co.uk.

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Groundsman impresses judges with Union Jack front lawn

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Aston Villa groundsman impresses judges with Jo Cox-inspired Union Jack front lawn in Great Barr:

This, believe it or not, is someone’s front lawn which leaves passers-by in Great Barr bemused – so much so that they “often stop to stroke it”.

The master behind the creation is Keith Smith, green keeper at Edgbaston Golf Club and part-time groundsman at Aston Villa.

Green-fingered Keith, of Swinbrook Grove, entered his Union Jack front lawn into the 2017 International Creative Lawn Stripes Competition.

He made the final six but Keith’s desperate to go one step further and win a prize place.

Keith said: “Last year’s flash floods nearly scuppered my creative lawn competition entry as the garden sank deep beneath a lake of rainwater.

“The diamond design I created in 2016 made the final four of the competition but this year the competition was opened internationally so I had to come up with something more striking.

“This year’s challenge included a 12-week recuperation from a back operation – Mrs Smith temporarily brandishing a lawn mower was scarier than the floods.

“The Union flag idea came from ‘The Great Get Together’ in memory of Jo Cox and how this united us during some of the most dividing times such as Brexit and recent terrorist attacks.

He made the final six but Keith’s desperate to go one step further and win a prize place.

Keith said: “Last year’s flash floods nearly scuppered my creative lawn competition entry as the garden sank deep beneath a lake of rainwater.

“The diamond design I created in 2016 made the final four of the competition but this year the competition was opened internationally so I had to come up with something more striking.

“This year’s challenge included a 12-week recuperation from a back operation – Mrs Smith temporarily brandishing a lawn mower was scarier than the floods.

“The Union flag idea came from ‘The Great Get Together’ in memory of Jo Cox and how this united us during some of the most dividing times such as Brexit and recent terrorist attacks.

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Sherriff Amenity Launch StimZyne

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Sherriff Amenity Launch StimZyne: Sherriff Amenity has announced the launch of StimZyne – a new range of hydrocarbon encapsulators and plant growth promoters.

Sherriff Amenity Launch StimZyne

StimZyne joins Sherriff Amenity’s leading range of bio-stimulants which are renowned for generating a positive effect on plant health in support of normal maintenance and fertiliser programmes.

Designed to be applied on all amenity turf and approved for use on all soil types, StimZyne brings with it a number of unique benefits to the plant.

  • The unique hydrocarbon encapsulator helps to neutralise harmful gases in the soil and release beneficial nutrients making them more available to the plant.
  • The natural properties of StimZyne, supports the microbial population of the soil, imparting efficient nutrient uptake and strengthening grass against pests and disease.

On poorer soils or in areas which are prone to pest attack, StimZyne Plus is recommended as it contains a significantly higher percentage of hydrocarbon enscapulator. This will increase the plant’s ability to survive attacks from root feeding pests.

StimZyne has been designed to be used throughout the year and can be combined with other Sherriff Amenity products for maximum results.

For example, the addition of Nemaflo at 1L/ha will assist in the delivery of the product to targeted areas of the soil for maximum effect.

To further improve the resilience and colour of the turf, GoGreen Select – a complexed iron sulphate, can be added to the mix at a rate of 20L/ha.

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

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Golfer says ‘thanks’ to his life-saver

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Golfer who ‘died’ for 18 minutes on seventh hole says ‘thanks’ to his life-saver: A pub landlord has been reunited with the greenkeeper who gave him life-saving CPR when he collapsed on a golf-course and ‘died’ for 18 minutes.

Steve Garrard, who runs The Punch Bowl pub in The Groves alongside his wife, Jan, suffered a heart attack as he played the seventh hole at Heworth Golf Course on June 5.

Mark Hirst, the course’s head greenkeeper was working nearby and rushed to help the 57-year-old and started CPR while emergency services were called in.

“It looked like he had taken his last gasp,” explained Mr Hist, 37.

“I didn’t want to see a fellow human die in front of me so I started doing chest compressions.

“Within a minute or so of doing that I saw him gasp.

“His heart was clearly in a very bad situation, so I continued doing CPR until paramedics arrived and took over.”

Paramedics used a defibrillator six times to shock his heart back into a regular rhythm.

Mr Garrard was taken to James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, by Yorkshire Air Ambulance and was placed in an induced coma on the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) for 10 days.

The dad-of-one underwent a triple heart bypass on June 15 and spent six weeks in hospital before doctors discharged him.

The pair have since been reunited so Mr Garrard could thank Mr Hirst for his lifesaving intervention.

Mr Garrard said: “It’s amazing what Mark did and I cannot thank him enough. I feel lucky to be alive because my heart stopped beating for 18 minutes.” The publican has no memory of the events, but his wife believes her husband was feeling unwell on the morning he set off to play golf.

However, she could not have predicted what happened next.

She received a phone call from her husband’s golf partner Richard Cussans explaining what had happened and the pair drove to the hospital together.

Mrs Garrard spent the next six weeks at her husband’s bedside and was able to see him in hospital every day while he was in Middlesbrough after a customer offered her one of his homes to stay in.

She said: “I was worrying all the time about him not coming out of the coma.

“It was touch and go and nobody knew how well he would be once he came out of surgery.

“We said ‘let’s get him through the operation’ and see what happens after that. I’m just grateful for everyday now and I get quite emotional thinking and talking about it, and it still brings a lump to my throat.”

The heart attack, which doctors blamed on Mr Garrard smoking, has forced him to quit work and cigarettes, but he is still hopeful of getting back out on the golf course when he is well enough. The couple are raising money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and held an event at the The Punch Bowl pub last Saturday.

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