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New versions of L1 & L2 Series available

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New versions of L1 & L2 Series available: Kubota continues working tirelessly to provide the best solutions to meet every need. It is in this spirit that the Japanese manufacturer has launched two brand new ranges of compact tractors, building on the success achieved in the past by the L1 and L2 Series.

Both new series are now equipped with Kubota Stage V engines and the exterior and interior design have been entirely renewed for a stylish new look.

New versions of L1 & L2 Series available

New versions of L1 & L2 Series available

The new Kubota L1 Series compact tractors have been designed to be highly durable and easy to operate and maintain.

There is a choice of three-range HST hydrostatic transmission or a synchronised manual gearbox featuring eight forward and  eight reverse gears, and they are powered by four-cylinder 45, 51 and 55hp Kubota Stage V diesel engines, which make them exceptionally clean-running.

One of the main advantages of Kubota’s tractors is the spacious, comfortable design of their platform, and the L1 Series is no exception with its folding rear ROPS frame and height-adjustable steering wheel. The L1 series also features generous rear lifting capacity at a maximum of 1750kg.

Compact tractors in the L2 series feature an unprecedented combination of comfort and efficiency, which makes them ideal for demanding professionals.

The L2 range allows users to choose between three different engine outputs from 45-61hp, spacious and well-equipped cabin or ROPS versions, 16F+16R mechanical or three-range hydrostatic transmission. Rear linkage lift capacity is 1750kg, allowing a wide range of implements to be handled with ease.

Another advantage of the L2 range is its user-focused design, and an example of that is the one-piece engine cowling that can be fully opened, giving operators effortless access to all important service points in the engine compartment.

In addition, the front axle with bevel gear drive and the integrated power steering guarantee excellent manoeuvrability.

Both tractors can be specified with Kubota front loaders offering even more versatility and expanding the range of tasks that can be performed.

The new L1 and L2 ranges constitute an example of the great performance and adaptability of Kubota’s products, and show the company’s commitment to meet the operator’s needs, whatever they may be.

Model hp Transmission Cab/ROPS
Kubota L1452 45 HST three-range ROPS
Kubota L1522 51 Mech 8×8 ROPS
Kubota L1552 55 HST three-range ROPS
Kubota L2452 45 Mech 16×16 ROPS
Kubota L2452 45 HST three-range Cab
Kubota L2452 45 Mech 16×16 Cab
Kubota L2522 51 Mech 16×16 Cab
Kubota L2622 61 HST three-range Cab

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Royal Cinque climbs the rankings

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Royal Cinque climbs the rankings: Since having a new Toro irrigation system installed in 2019, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club’s course has seen a “remarkable improvement” according to course and estates manager James Bledge.

“The new Toro irrigation system has been a huge success,” explains James. “We’ve reached the top100golfcourses.com world rankings for the first time ever, which we can in part attribute to the remarkable improvement the course has seen thanks to Toro irrigation.

Royal Cinque climbs the rankings

Royal Cinque climbs the rankings

“Not only did Toro help us get through one of the driest summers in history last year, but the water savings were incredible,” says James. “We kept within our water allowance and didn’t lose any turf coverage, which is definitely something our old system wouldn’t have managed. In fact, the turf quality has come on leaps and bounds despite the tough conditions.”

Part of James’ drive to continuously improve the course, March 2019 saw Royal Cinque Ports install a Toro Lynx Central Control System and Infinity sprinklers on the greens, surrounds, approaches and fairways with B Series sprinklers on the tees and T5 and PRN combinations on the walkways. The installation came shortly after another Toro machinery fleet agreement, so had the added bonus of securing the club’s position as a Toro Total Solutions customer.

Despite its success, it wasn’t a given that Toro would be awarded the irrigation contract. In fact, initially James considered staying with the same brand as the previous system for the irrigation update, but changed his mind after being “thoroughly impressed” by Toro in a demonstration by Reesink Turfcare.

“The whole team really liked the way the Toro Lynx Central Control System and the sprinkler heads worked,” says James. “In particular, being able to change the trajectory and ease of set up of the sprinkler heads is incredibly useful when it comes to dealing with the strong winds we get here as a links course.

“The course itself has changed quite a bit in the last twenty years and as a result lots of areas weren’t benefitting from the irrigation, such as the walkways. So, we wanted something which would water more of the course and target areas more efficiently. The Toro system has given us the opportunity to tackle the issues we were having and make further improvements.”

Plus, James tells us, he was keen for a more sophisticated control system: “Having previously had a 20-year-old irrigation system, faults with the electrics meant it was time for a change. The system had stopped coming on during the night which was a huge issue. A complete replacement was needed which included the pumps and wiring alongside a new control system, sprinklers, additional pipework and the creation of a new abstraction point from the water source to the reservoir.

“The new control system is much more modern and it’s great to be able to make adjustments from my mobile phone and provide the same accuracy as hand watering. It’s a real game changer.”

With the installation completed by one of the leading golf construction companies MJ Abbott, both the installation process, and the support from Reesink Turfcare since has impressed James. “It’s been really great from the first demonstration through to now. In particular, Robert Jackson and Peter Newton at Reesink have gone above and beyond. The communication has been a different class, whether we needed parts, back up or training, Reesink was always available to help.”

He concludes: “With our Total Solutions package, we are continuously improving and well on the way to making the club a ‘bucket list’ destination.”

To talk to someone about the finance options available and how the Toro range would suit yo

To talk to someone about the finance options available and how Toro irrigation would suit your course, visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk, call 01480 226800 or email info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Marvellous wildflower project commences

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Marvellous wildflower project commences: Work has started on a new wildflower project that will enhance roundabouts and verges at three West Berkshire locations.

The ‘Tesco roundabout’ on the A339 Sandleford Link, the roundabout on the junction of the A4/B4000 Stockcross Road, and the verge at Cow Lane in East Ilsley will all benefit from specialist wildflower products supplied by Wildflower Turf Ltd.

Marvellous wildflower project commences

Marvellous wildflower project commences

West Berkshire Council has appointed experts Wildflower Turf Ltd to create the eye-catching wildflower displays. With eco-friendly projects including the supply of wildflowers to the London 2021 Olympics, The Hive at Kew Gardens, and thousands of other small and large projects around the UK, Wildflower Turf Ltd is recognised as the UK’s leading wildflower specialist.

West Berkshire Council will be utilising both Wildflower Turf® at East Ilsley and Meadowscape Pro™ to enhance the roundabouts. The turf is ready planted as a roll containing immature wildflower plants and a healthy root network and once laid, creates an almost instant meadow. Likewise, Meadowscape Pro™ is a pre-seeded growing medium used by professionals for effective wildflower establishment and creates an environment for much more effective seed germination than conventional direct seeding methods. Both products have been carefully chosen to produce flowering plants from late-spring to mid-autumn which will create visual impact as well as helping to feed and shelter bees, butterflies, and all manner of other wildlife, with only limited maintenance required throughout the year.

Wildflower Turf® has already been laid in East Ilsley with the A339 and B4000 roundabouts also being completed this week.

Steve Ardagh-Walter, West Berkshire’s Executive Member for the Environment, said: “It’s great to see this exciting project underway. Wildflowers offer so many benefits, not least because they are beautiful to look at. They are an environmental winner too as they can provide vital refuge for many kinds of wildlife, from insects to reptiles, mammals and birds.”

He added: “The environment is a priority for everyone and, as a council, we are working hard to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. Our 2021-22 Budget includes a £12.5m commitment to our Environment Strategy which includes a council owned solar farm and projects such as this one that will go towards meeting this vital environmental target.”

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Hicure strengthens ITM programmes

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Hicure strengthens ITM programmes: Biostimulants offer an exciting chance to strengthen the role of Integrated Turf Management (ITM) in producing consistently high-quality playing surfaces.

Speaking at the launch of Hicure, the first biostimulant for turf from Syngenta, Professional Solutions Business Manager Daniel Lightfoot, reiterated cultural controls have always been, and remain, the primary mainstay of good practice for greenkeepers.

Hicure strengthens ITM programmes

Hicure strengthens ITM programmes

“But whilst in the past they might have reached for a chemical solution as the next option, there are now real advances in monitoring and modelling of issues and the potential for biological solutions that are increasingly effective steps in the ITM process.”

He emphasised that chemicals remain a key part of greenkeepers’ armoury, with Syngenta’s commitment to continue to develop and extend new options, such as the introduction of Ascernity in the UK and Ireland earlier this year.

“However, we see that biologicals and biostimulants such as Hicure can genuinely complement and support existing technologies, particularly against a backdrop of challenging regulatory legislation” advocated Daniel.

“It is an area of real focus and huge investment. We’ve committed the same rigorous R&D approach to Hicure and future biostimulant developments as a new chemical product.

“That means we can support what is said with data and experience, and that turf managers can be confident it is fully tried and tested.”

Hicure strengthens ITM programmes

Hicure strengthens ITM programmes

Digital support

Daniel Lightfoot believes that biostimulants can be better incorporated into ITM programmes with the support of innovative digital tools to aid monitoring and modelling of potential problems.

Tools such as Disease Forecasting, Growing Degree Day Calculator and historic weather and disease records, all available on the GreenCast website, build a picture of where and when actions can be proactively targeted to best effect.

Digital tools of the near future will look to predict precisely where efforts can be targeted, before the problems occur, he predicted.

“When you combine digital precision, with innovative biostimulant technology and proven chemical solutions, the top of the ITM pyramid takes the next step to producing the consistently better playing surfaces demanded by greenkeepers and players.”

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Hicure launch sees biostimulants building

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Hicure launch sees biostimulants building: Hicure is set to be a key building block of future turf agronomy programmes, according to Syngenta Technical Manager, Glenn Kirby.

Speaking at the Hicure on-line launch event, he said: “The potential of biostimulants is immense. Some of the things we’ve seen during glasshouse research – by way of turf rooting, drought tolerance, colour and recovery, for example – have been really impressive.

Hicure launch sees biostimulants building

Hicure launch sees biostimulants building

“In practice differences are more subtle, but get things right and fine-tune the timings, then you could see some big differences,” he reported. “We’re beginning to unlock the potential through really deep research.”

Glenn highlighted over five years research with Hicure has given valuable insights into the product and how to use it to best effect. Key to its success is not just its high level of amino acids, but the fact that a high proportion is immediately available to turf plants to counter stress effects.

“Amino acids are like building blocks that the plant can use to build the structures it requires. It does that by joining individual amino acids into peptides, and then linking multiple peptides together into ever longer complex chains used to create specific proteins.

Hicure contains 10% of raw amino acids, along with 53% as short chain peptides that can be absorbed through the leaf and rapidly utilised by plants.

“Unlike other amino acid sources, Hicure contains 18 individual types of amino acids that are of most use to plants to build the proteins required to stop stress effects.” All amino acids contain a nitrogen molecule, which is a crucial element as an organic N source to provide plant cells with energy to build proteins – particularly when stress adversely affects photosynthetic capability.

Most other amino acid biostimulants are predominantly made up of long-chain peptides, which are typically slow to be utilised and as the need to be broken down by the soil before they can be absorbed by the plant.

“Understanding the function of amino acids and how they are used in the plant’s physiology is crucial in targeting and timing their use.

“With Hicure, we’ve seen real benefits building from targeting foliar applications close to the onset of stress periods for rapid uptake into the plant,” he advised.

With an application rate of 20 l/ha per month over the summer period, that may be split into two, three or even four treatments, in combination with a Primo Maxx II PGR or foliar nutrition programme, for example, he cited. Excellent results had also been seen in tank mix with fungicides.

“With a wide range of stresses in the summer months, including the onset of drought, light and heat a programmed approach is effective to give turf coverage over a prolonged period of potential stress events,” he advocated. “But we are also doing more research and trials into forecasting stress effects and the fine tuning of Hicure timing to optimise applications.”

That includes countering a wide range of abiotic stress effects where plants can build specific protein responses. Whilst there is no direct effect of Hicure on disease pathogens that cause biotic stress, trials have shown that alleviating turf plants’ abiotic stress factors can help put the turf plant in a better position to tolerate biotic stresses, including impacts of anthracnose and microdochium patch.

“Building Hicure into the agronomy programme can add up to make incremental gains with all the products’ applications,” he added. “That’s ever more important to cope with increasing climatic and management stresses imposed on turf every season.”

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