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NEWS ARTICLES

GKB Combinator a star attraction

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GKB Combinator a star attraction: GKB Machines, leading providers of innovative machinery for the maintenance of natural and artificial sports surfaces, are returning to SALTEX this November with an even bigger stand to showcase even more equipment!

Visitors to stand H051 can expect to see a number of new developments, including the newly re-designed GKB Combinator, which will be on show in the UK for the very first time.

GKB Combinator a star attraction

GKB Combinator a star attraction

The Combinator has established itself as one of the most reliable fraise mowers available – removing up to 50mm from the surface in a single pass. To further improve the cleanliness of finish, the cross conveyor on the re-designed Combinator has been moved closer to both the rotor and blade tips, to cleanly transfer more of the removed material up and away into an awaiting collector. The elevator will also now be partly covered to protect the material from wind as it makes its way to the trailer.

The drive system on the re-designed model has been enhanced and features a solid direct drive from the gearbox over a PTO-style yolk. Inside, a stainless-steel hood protects against abrasive sands and delivers an improved flow of material. Available in four working widths ranging from 1.2m to 2.4m, there’s a Combinator to suit all sports surfaces including hybrid pitches, where an optional ‘hold down plate’ can be specified to protect hybrid fibres while scarification takes place.

Also on show at SALTEX for the first time will be the Deep Tine Aerator (DTA). As the name suggests, the DTA delivers intensive aeration, with larger models in the range working to depths of up to 400mm (16”). Unique to the GKB DTA is the tine mounting system – the tines fit into a ‘block’ rather than individual mountings. This allows for more tines per head and improves the speed and efficiency of switching between tines, whilst also reducing the wear imposed on parts when changing tines in more traditional ‘tine holder’ set-ups.

Alongside equipment for natural surfaces, the team will be on hand to discuss the range of machinery available for synthetic surface maintenance. Stand H051 will also showcase the GKB Quick-Brush, the Top Clean and the deeper-working, more invasive GKB Quick Clean.

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Demon International at SALTEX

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Demon International at SALTEX: Demon International are launching the latest machine in the market leading portable bowser machines. The Tornado Maxi-Bowser has 50% more water capacity than the current models with 225ltr water tank. A lot of bowser pressure washers are used on site for general cleaning and wheel washing and we feel that the Maxi-Bowser offers an option on the towed bowsers.

The Maxi-Bowser has a range of benefits including:

Return to tank unloading saving excess seal wear.

Ball valve filling for constant use.

Anti-puncture tyres.

Ease of storage for security.

Heavy duty hose reel with 30m of hose as standard.

Demon International at SALTEX

Demon International at SALTEX

All of these are standard fits on the Tornado Maxi-Bower as we have looked at where problems occur and looked to remove them to keep reliability as high as possible. There are a range of engine and pump options up to 2900psi/15ltrs min.

Demon will also be presenting the Hurricane E, at Saltex the latest in our range of battery industrial pressure washers using lithium ion technology. The Hurricane E is the total green cleaning pressure washer.

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About COMPO EXPERT

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About COMPO EXPERT: COMPO EXPERT, is a multi-national Fertiliser manufacturer with 700 employees world wide. We manufacture all of our products from raw materials and we are the market leaders in speciality fertiliser manufacture in Europe.

We have unique industry leading products like our surfactants; Kick & Kick LDS. Our SRF Floranid Twin range is unrivalled and utilizes the three forms of synthetic Nitrogen, providing an activity index of 95%. We also have our leading DMPP biological coating technology that stabilizes Nitrogen to an industry leading release pattern of eight weeks. Our. renowned Turf Research and Development facility is based in Wolbeck, near Munster and the state of the art factory is located in Krefeld near Dusseldorf, making COMPO EXPERT the leader in Turf throughout Europe.

About COMPO EXPERT

About COMPO EXPERT

This factory is the only one of its kind to be to be able to manufacture the three synthetic forms of Nitrogen; Methylene Urea. Isodur and Crotodur. Chemistry is at the heart of COMPO EXPERT manufacturing and we are proud that we sell the finest ‘Conservation Fertilisers’ in the Turf market.

All our products have a high activity index, low salt concentration, low volatisation and leaching, with good agronomic safety. The full product range includes innovative slow-release, special minerals, coated, nutrient salts, liquids, trace elements and soil treatments.

If your SRF Fertiliser does not have an Activity Index of 95%, then be responsible and talk to COMPO EXPERT. Our 25Kg bags contain 25Kg of chemistry: no fillers, padders, inert material or bulking products. Use the best, reduce application rates and talk to COMPO EXPERT at SALTEX on stand G100.

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GroundWOW® gearing up for success

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GroundWOW® gearing up for success: North-West autonomous technology innovators, GroundWOW, have been gearing up for success aided by the gradual opening-up of sport around the globe.

“There has definitely been a discernible change over the past three or four months. We developed so much through the pandemic itself and since then, it feels like target clients have really switched on to getting back to their business. For us, that has meant being busier than ever with product demonstrations at our HQ near Manchester or at client sites” commented Chief Commercial Officer, David Pritchard.

GroundWOW® gearing up for success

GroundWOW® gearing up for success

“The willing embrace of the likes of Zoom and MS Teams through the pandemic allowed us to remote in contacts from all over the world who have been clambering to see what we are up to. Truth is, we can entertain anybody either virtually or in person, and the real magic moment is when a target customer is able to view their logo being printed live from the viewing platform directly above our indoor test track. For lots of customers, that is when the penny really drops” continued Pritchard.

Outside of events and demonstrations, the team behind the world’s first autonomous full colour ground printer has been eyeing up new premises as the expansion of their enterprise continues.

“We knew when we moved to our current address that we would outgrow it quite quickly and that is exactly how things have played out. The team has grown enormously. If we look back to Saltex 2019, there were probably eight or ten of us, but we are already approaching thirty employees with a plan to double that inside the next twelve months. We design and develop here, we manufacture here, we test and demonstrate here, all of our future pipeline comes from here…and that all brings with it a requirement for more space”.

GroundWOW are also entering an active schedule of exhibition and conference events as part of further revealing their technology to the world of sport. GroundWOW attended Leaders Week at Twickenham in October and as well as Saltex in November, will attend and present at Stadium Business Summit at Emirates Old Trafford in December. “It’s all part of what we consider the missionary work – taking a new technology to an expectant market and walking through how it works in such a breadth of use-cases” added Pritchard.

“Internationally, we have been hamstrung like everybody else by the inability to travel and so we are thrilled to finally be planning trips to the Middle East, South Africa, the U.S, Australia and New Zealand. We will certainly be racking up the air miles as we undertake the next phase task of establishing operational bases in these target territories. Beyond sport, our autonomous technology has found application in healthcare and other sectors creating significant hyper growth opportunities. You could definitely say it is a busy time for us at GroundWOW!”.

Launched in October 2019, GroundWOW® was developed with a founding mission to make printing on ground as easy as printing on paper. GroundWOW® SPECIAL FX can print any logo, any size, on any surface. Deployable in under 10 mins, autonomous technology, A.I and an end-to-end Cloud platform combine to create images as accurate as a blade of grass.

GroundWOW and GroundWOW Special FX are trademarks. GroundWOW is a trading name of Micropply Limited.

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New Soil Scout partnership

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New Soil Scout partnership: Leading underground soil monitoring specialists Soil Scout are delighted to announce a new and exciting strategic partnership with principal turf grow lighting supplier Turf Lightning Solutions (TLS). The partnership, which is effective immediately, comes at an exciting time for both companies who are experiencing significant worldwide growth and acclaim in the sports turf and golf course industries.

The strategic partnership will see Soil Scout’s real-time soil monitoring data available via it’s open API on Turfpal – TLS’s flagship web based software.

New Soil Scout partnership

New Soil Scout partnership

Developed with ease of use in mind, Turfpal has become the most comprehensive management software option for football, golf, rugby or any sports arena with a natural turf surface. Remote turf management, monitoring and control 24/7 via PC, tablet or smartphone giving sports turf professionals the tools required to better manage, operate, prepare and budget for their grounds and turf maintenance.

All new TLS’s lighting rigs are Turfpal compatible providing customers with online monitoring and operation of rigs at any time from anywhere.

Adam Sedgwick, VP of International Sales at Soil Scout said of the new partnership: “Soil Scout are really lucky to have found another leading sports turf company that shares our same vision and objectives as we strive to bring innovative technology and sustainability to the industry. This strategic partnership will be a real game-changer for TLS customers who are looking to enhance their real-time maintenance practices based upon our data.”

Soil Scout CEO, Jalmari Talola added: “Understanding what happens under the turf is critical if pitches are to reach their true potential. When it comes to sports turf professionals, their challenge is real – to maintain extremely high-quality pitches while facing pressures to cut water consumption and act in an environmentally sustainable way.

“Our partnership with TLS Turfpal will see Soil Scout sensors strategically buried across sports venues, giving sports turf professionals an instant understanding into what’s happening below their soils. These insights will be added to the Turfpal platform allowing them to see everything happening at their venue – and be able to plan their day’s work, before they set foot outside.”

TLS Chief Executive Officer Edd Tveit commented upon the partnership: “TLS’s mission is to offer turf growth through science. Through our partnership with Soil Scout our Turfpal platform now includes live soil data 24/7, even during ongoing matches and events. The data will help secure a good looking high playing quality sports turf.”

Mark Sinnett, Director Business Development for TLS said: “It’s exciting times at TLS at the moment with investment made to expand and develop, with the addition to bring Soil Scout on board as a strategic partner. We will work together to broaden the range of services we offer our customers. Providing industry leading technology through the use of Soul Scouts sensors and TLS’s Turfpal.

“This combined technology enables us to give our users live data 24/7. Supporting the planning and managing of daily operations. This also allows our customer to operate our lighting rigs remotely via the Turfpal app. Having Soil Scout on board allows us to give full analysis of what’s happening under the soil with temperatures, moisture and salinity to help assist the quality above the soil with the use of the TLS lighting rigs and TLS turf fans.”

Soil Scout is rapidly becoming a global market leader in underground soil monitoring with their advanced wireless sensor solution. The fully buried Soil Scout system is helping sports turf professionals keen on having real-time data at their fingertips reduce maintenance costs and water consumption.

Permanently positioned sub-soil sensors stream moisture, temperature and salinity readings from key locations across pitches and courses, collecting all of the data needed to make real-time decisions on where to allocate time and resources with an unfair competitive advantage of 20 years battery lifetime.

Turf professionals receive a detailed view of the in-field variations of their surface, and with more accuracy can treat areas of concern, whilst collecting historical data over a period of time gives an overall clearer view of seasonal trends.

TLS was founded in 2012 and is backed by staff with more than 20 years of experience in the turf industry. A leading manufacturer of innovative turf lighting products TLS offers the most flexible system on the market today. TLS products are designed with the highest level of attention to detail and they are operating on many different sports venues around the world. TLS is continually expanding and evolving to ensure they are at the forefront of new technology and offer advanced ongoing technical support to their customers. The TLS lighting rigs now offer online monitoring and control through Turfpal, the innovative online turf monitoring, control and management platform. Constantly developing new technology, TLS uses feedback from their customers when adding new innovations and features to their products and services.

For more information on TLS turf lighting solutions and Turfpal please visit; www.ra-tls.com or email; post@ra-tls.com. To contact Soil Scout and find out more about their wireless soil sensor system please visit; www.soilscout.com or email; sales@soilscout.com.

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