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Valdor® Flex available from Agrovista

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Valdor® Flex available from Agrovista: UNIQUE residual turf herbicide, Valdor® Flex, is now available from Agrovista Amenity.

Valdor Flex was introduced to the UK turf and amenity market last year and has been widely praised for providing excellent residual control for even the hardest to manage weeds.

Valdor® Flex available from Agrovista

Valdor® Flex available from Agrovista

Turf and amenity managers are encouraged to improve the efficiency of their herbicide programmes by using the product, which is active on a wide range of surfaces including open soil, gravel and industrial areas.

Its success is attributed to its two synergistic active ingredients, diflufenican and iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium, which help to minimise the risk of resistance through two complementary modes of action.

In fact, Valdor Flex keeps the soil weed free for up to four months with just one single application, providing cleaner surfaces for longer, and helping to target herbicide use more effectivity.

Agrovista Amenity’s John Marland believes that the product is a great addition to the company’s ever-expanding portfolio.

“The long-term activity of Valdor Flex keeps soil weed-free for up to four months, which reduces the frequency of applications throughout the season,” he said.

“This makes it a cost-effective solution for our amenity customers, as well as offering other benefits such as contributing to resistance management, something that our industry needs to keep on top of.”

Valdor Flex controls a range of common weeds and can be used standalone prior to germination or before weed emergence. If weeds are present, it can be mixed with glyphosate or a fatty acid, which helps to provide the initial knockdown.

Manufactured by Bayer, it uses the latest generation of wettable granule (WG) to ensure the product remains stable in water for at least 24 hours, meaning any remaining solution in the tank can be used the following day.

Valdor Flex should be applied from February through to June, a single application required per season, and is available in 10g sachets or 500g bottles. The 10g sachets can be mixed in a knapsack sprayer with 6-10 litres of water, providing the operator with surface coverage of up to 200m2. For those looking to treat a larger area, the 500g bottle can be mixed with 300-500 litres of water and applied with a tractor mounted sprayer to achieve coverage of 1ha.

This unique product also has a low odour, eliminates the risk of stains on treated surfaces, and consists of an incredibly low dust formulation which helps to reduce operator exposure.

For more information, visit www.agrovista.co.uk

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SpeedSeed 1100 completes fairway recovery

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SpeedSeed 1100 completes fairway recovery: While the drought of the summer of 2018 may be a distant memory for some, other clubs are still feeling the effects of the damage caused.

One such club is Boat of Garten Golf Club in the Scottish Highlands, where Head Greenkeeper Michael Mann is still tending to some of the worst affected fairways. The overseeding of which is now much quicker and easier thanks to their new SpeedSeed 1100 from Charterhouse Turf Machinery.

SpeedSeed 1100 completes fairway recovery

SpeedSeed 1100 completes fairway recovery

The 18-hole, James Braid designed course is renowned for its challenging play and the cleverly shaped, undulating fairways. “The sharp undulations can pose quite a challenge when it comes to maintenance and finding machinery that can work with the challenging terrain” explains Michael, who has been at Boat of Garten for just under a year. “When we needed a new overseeder, we looked at three or four different makes and models, one of which was the new SpeedSeed from Charterhouse. Its compact size meant it could closely follow the uneven ground, so it worked out to be the best option for us.”

Offering a 1.1m working width, the SpeedSeed 1100 does not compromise when it comes to coverage and performance. Creating 990 holes per sq. metre, with an optional second spiked rear roller to double that, it can cover both large and small areas quickly, working at depths of up to 20mm. “After we took delivery of the SpeedSeed from MacGregor Industrial Supplies in July 2019, we were out with it pretty much straight away, overseeding the greens and some of the worst affected fairways. It’s such a great size, suitable for use site-wide.”

“The set-up and controls of the machine are all nice and user-friendly, and it’s accurate seed calibration system is easy to adjust and operate. It’s a very clean machine, that leaves minimal surface disruption and hardly anything to tidy up in its wake.”

By the back end of 2019, thankfully recovery work reached a conclusion, but Michael now looks forward to utilising the SpeedSeed to its full advantage as we enter the new growing season. “While we don’t have a set overseeding programme, now that we have the seeder at our disposal we can look to capitalise on any growth windows and start to work on other projects around the course – weather permitting of course!”

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Muck-Truck launch new electric wheelbarrow

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Muck-Truck launch new electric wheelbarrow: Muck-Truck have decided to launch their new battery powered wheelbarrow on the most perfect day of the year, National Battery Day (18th February).

The new addition to the Muck-Truck range is the Power Barrow 4WD which is an eco-friendly battery powered wheelbarrow. The innovative Power Barrow 4WD features a four wheel drive to manoeuvre with ease and the bucket tips electronically by a touch of a button which is a first for Muck-Truck!

Muck-Truck launch new electric wheelbarrow

Muck-Truck launch new electric wheelbarrow

“I am very proud of this new invention and excited for our Muck-Truck fans to try it. We have so many new developments in the making and excited to see what the future brings.” Terry Rowlands; owner and creator of Muck-Truck.

There are some amazing features to this Power Barrow 4WD such as its 5 hour running time and the ability to carry loads of up to 365kg.

The Muck-Truck range is extremely versatile. With the new Power Barrow 4WD, the unit can be converted into a vacuum or even a snow plough. It can also be fitted with a ball hitch and be used to tow trailers. The use of turf tyres offers protection from grass and the four wheels provides stability on uneven ground and up hills.

Muck-Truck is the market leader for powered wheelbarrows and is designed right here in the UK, if you would like more information please visit their newly designed website at https://www.mucktruck.com/power-barrow/

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Trio of INFINICUT’s at Reading FC

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Trio of INFINICUT’s at Reading FC: Reading Football Club are delighted with their trio of 34” INFINICUT® Fixed Head mowers – reducing noise, hand-arm vibration and lowering the club’s fuel costs.

For Grounds Manager Adam Grantham, as well as ticking a number of environmental boxes, the mowers have also achieved a significantly improved quality of cut.

Trio of INFINICUT’s at Reading FC

Trio of INFINICUT’s at Reading FC

Adam has been with the club for 16 years and is supported by a team of four at the club’s Madejski Stadium, with a further team of eight looking after Hogwood Park training ground, and their new state-of-the-art Bearwood Park facility. “There’s no denying that the industry is moving towards the electric route. We have to be mindful, in a stadium environment, of the decibel levels and the way this pollutes and echoes. Not only that but we should all be looking at methods and machines that are greener and safer for our teams to use on a daily basis.”

“We’d been in discussions with Vinny Tarbox for quite a while and trialled a couple of different INFINICUT® models before deciding that the Fixed Head machines were going to be the best fit. They have delivered a superior cut and finish and handle well, dealing with the camber and ‘shelf’ that surrounds the pitch” he explains. Its lithium battery power means quiet operation comes as standard, with the club’s shed now rigged up with easy ‘in and out’ charging points.

They also purchased a set of TurfClean™ cassettes for post-match debris removal and surface clearance, as well as ThatchMaster™ cassettes from the renowned TMSystem™. “Compared to other similar cassettes I’ve used, the blades on the ThatchMaster™ are so fine and intricate that they do a fantastic job of pulling everything out that shouldn’t be there. These were in use between the end of July and October, weather dependant, cleaning up the canopy and removing any thatch. This meant we went into the new rugby season, and winter months, in peak condition.”

Adam concludes, “The support we’ve had from Vinny and service technician Jonty Norton has been excellent throughout, providing help and advice to my team and I since we took delivery of the units in June 2019. With the combination of cassettes we have at our disposal, and the superior cut quality we’re achieving with the INFINICUT®, we’re in great shape as we, as an industry, continue to look for greener, cleaner ways to optimise plant health.”

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Award for John Deere mowers

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Award for new John Deere mowers: After a successful launch in 2019, John Deere’s 2700 and 2750 PrecisionCut and E-Cut hybrid electric triplex mowers have been honoured as a 2020 AE50 Award winner by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE).

Each year the AE50 awards highlight the industry’s most innovative designs in product engineering, as chosen by a panel of international engineering experts. The development of these new John Deere cylinder mowers was based on customer needs and challenges – most importantly, the struggle to find quality labour and tight operating budgets.

Award for new John Deere mowers

Award for new John Deere mowers

With this in mind, the mowers are equipped with the proven, advanced TechControl system, which is passcode protected and allows course managers, technicians and other trusted supervisors to input commands that control nearly everything regarding the operator’s performance. This includes frequency of clip, turn speed, clean-up pass speed and how fast the cutting units raise and lower.

The engines on all models are electronically controlled and include an Eco mode that automatically reduces engine speed when mowing, saving up to 30 per cent in fuel and reducing sound levels by up to 3dB(A). The lightweight, open platform design, with a low centre of gravity, ensures excellent stability and traction performance. The mowers offer a 62in (157cm) mowing width and speeds of up to 6mph (9.7kph) for increased productivity.

“Our customers are battling a variety of challenges, from labour to budgets. The 2700 and 2750 triplex mowers have been designed to directly tackle these concerns and take the stress out of mowing,” says John Deere Golf product manager Brad Aldridge. “From the innovative TechControl system to the open platform design and excellent cut quality, these machines deliver a precise, uniform cut, regardless of who’s driving – now every operator can be your best operator.”

ASABE is an international scientific and educational organisation dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food and biological systems. Each year the Society announces and presents the AE50 awards at the ASABE Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky in February.

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