Groundsman ‘Tweaks’ Pitch Plans

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Groundsman ‘Tweaks’ Pitch Plans: Fleetwood Town’s head groundsman Nick Hyndman has revealed that feedback from keeper Alex Cairns has resulted in a different approach to relaying the Highbury pitch this summer.

Hyndman is hopeful the pitch will be in “brilliant” condition by the time Premier League side Burnley arrive for a friendly on July 23.

 

The groundstaff’s normal summer schedule was altered last year, when Highbury staged Alfie Boe’s Homecoming concert in June and all Town’s pre-season fixtures were away.

This year Town will host the Clarets and Preston in their final warm-up games and Hyndman told the club website how preparations are going ahead of the players’ return to the revamped Poolfoot Farm pitches for training on June 26.

He said: “We are under tight deadlines to produce a surface, so we are trying to make it grow as quick as possible. It’s all guns blazing to get the pitches ready.

“We have the stadium but ultimately we have everything that is happening at the training ground, and that is where we are day-to-day.

“It’s a very similar process to what we do each year, even though there have been some slight tweaks due to how we feel the pitch performed.

“We stripped the turf and added over 150 tonnes of new material. We’ve added synthetic goalmouths – called hybrid carpets – like last season. We got some feedback from the keepers that they weren’t getting stability throughout the season.

“The hybrid carpet almost looks like astroturf. It’s five per cent artificial fibres. Your seeds and grass grow into the fibres to create a strong rooting system that gives instant stability.

“We’ve been able to get the surface up earlier than last season, so our main aim is to get it ready for Burnley and keep it up for the game against Preston North End on July 27.

“I’m fully confident that we have more than enough time to present a brilliant surface for both games.”

As for Poolfoot, he added: “We are just over two weeks from seed now and we’ve had a brilliant uptake.

“The weather has been brilliant for it – a mix of sun and rain – which has enabled us to get on with it earlier this year.

“We were cutting it after 10 days, which I would say is the best I’ve ever seen it.

“The contractors have done a really good job. My guys have been keen to get on there to start doing what we need to do to get it ready for the start of the season.

“We normally need eight weeks to grow a pitch. Each year the players seem to be coming back earlier and earlier, which has an effect on us.

“They go on the development pitches, which we take up early so the first team can come straight back on to the grass.”

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Karl Wiedenmann Retires

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Karl Wiedenmann Retires: BTME and Saltex regular for the last 24 years, Karl Wiedenmann has retired.  Even though his remit was heading up worldwide sales for Wiedenmann Gmbh, Karl made it his business to make as many UK trade shows as possible.

For the last two and a half decades Karl has helped expand the Wiedenmann fleet beyond Terra Spike aerators into other areas such as  collecting,  sweeping, seeding  and artificial turf maintenance.

Karl Wiedenmann Retires

At a special farewell at Wiedenmann UK’s HQ, David Rae, Wiedenmann UK’s managing director said that Karl’s influence was everywhere in the Wiedenmann brand.  “Not only is he expert in logistic and technical matters, Karl’s dependability to ‘do the right thing’ shines through. Dealers and customers up and down the UK got to know him and valued his opinion. Every business needs a Karl.”

Even Karl’s legendary reliability at client functions came in for special praise.  David Rae quipped “Karl could be last to leave the bar and put the lights off at 04.00 am yet be first up, fresh and ready for breakfast at  06.00am.  We, his colleagues, loved him for that alone. He was great to have on the team.”

Karl Wiedenmann Retires

After accepting a presentation of an engraved quaich and Scotch whisky, Karl acknowledged the UK has become like a second home.  However he reserved his warmest tribute to Wiedenmann UK chairman, Alistair Rae, crediting him for generously passing on the education that enabled Karl’s smooth transition from agriculture to sports turf in the 1990s, saying it was on Alistair’s solid foundation he built his Wiedenmann career.

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Dover’s Pitch Makeover

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Dover’s Pitch Makeover: The new football season might be two months away but preparations have already started on Crabble’s turf ahead of Dover’s 2019/20 National League campaign.

Following the installation of the fibre sand pitch last year, Head Groundsman Sid Fletcher is now performing the necessary maintenance work to ensure the ground is in top condition ahead of Whites’ first pre-season match at Crabble, against Maidstone United on Tuesday 16th July.

“It was a big job last year,” said Sid, “however, it’s a smaller in-house renovation this summer and we have a lot more time to get the pitch how we want it.

“There were a few bald spots towards the end of last season, so we have overseeded and implemented the fertilising regime to allow the grass to grow all over the pitch.

“The plastic fibres in the sand will give the turf the necessary strength needed to withstand the rigours of a football season and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

“My aim is for it to look the same at the end of the season as it will at the start!”

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Thief Steals Football Lawnmower

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Thief Steals Football Lawnmower: A local football club that has had to endure a traumatic season off this pitch has been dealt another blow.

Boston Town FC have been dealt a huge blow off the pitch as their Ransom 2 wheeled lawnmower was stolen from the ground on Tuesday May 28.

Other equipment used to maintain the pitch – a strimmer and a cutter were also taken.

Chairman Mick Vines has spoken of his frustration after a traumatic season off the pitch for the United Counties Premier Division side.

He told Lincolnshire Live: “It’s a massive kick in the teeth for a club the size of ours.

“We’ve had a difficult season off the pitch, we had to pay £32,000 to our landlord.

“We’ve also had to raise £15,000 to spend on floodlights.

“The amount of money we’ve raised over the past season was amazing and to be hit with another problem it really is hard to take.

“We’re at the part of the year where we should be looking forward to next season and looking to improve.

“The lawnmower weighs in the region of three quarters of a tonne, I find it hard to believe that nobody has seen anything.”

Mick said that the police are involved and they’re hoping that someone knows what happened.

He said: “Our groundsman was at the ground at 7.30am and shuts the main gates every night.

“When he got there this morning the main gates were swinging open and when he got closer he noticed the container doors were wide open.

“Someone must have seen something.”

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TM1000 Tackles Golf Course Thatch

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TM1000 Tackles Golf Course Thatch: Normanby Hall Golf Club Head greenkeeper Michael Burgin has reported hugely successful results from using the SISIS TM1000 tractor mounted heavy duty scarifier to combat high levels of thatch on the greens.

This delightful golf course in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, adjoins the picturesque Normanby Hall country park and is set in 117 stunning acres of mature woodland and parkland. The 18 hole, par 72 course is widely considered to be one of the toughest courses to play in the area, providing a challenge for players of all abilities.

TM1000 Tackles Golf Course Thatch

Michael, who has been in the greenkeeping industry throughout his entire career, has been at Normanby Hall for eleven years. Two years ago, he was promoted to the position of head greenkeeper and one of his first tasks in charge was to tackle an abundance of thatch which had occurred on the greens.

“We established that we had a large layer of thatch on the top of our greens; it was on all of them throughout the whole course. This resulted in some drainage problems and I knew that we desperately needed a new piece of equipment which could help us solve the problem.

“I did a lot of research and came across a number of videos online of greenkeepers using the TM1000. I then read an article about the course manager at Greetham Valley Golf Club using it and what he said about the machine pretty much persuaded me to buy it.”

The SISIS Rotorake TM1000 is a tractor mounted heavy duty scarifier and linear aerator and is un-rivalled when it comes to removing and controlling thatch. It includes a collector box and floating unit to follow ground contours and its contra-rotating reel throws debris forward ensuring a clean, consistent groove resulting in an excellent finish. The TM1000 also features interchangeable blades and a quick, simple depth setting without tools.

The fact that the TM1000 collects debris was a key factor in his decision and also something which was incredibly important to the greenkeeping team according to Michael.

“There were other machines on the market but the ones we looked at didn’t collect. This would mean that you would require two or three guys going behind the machine clearing up.

The hydraulics on the back of the TM1000 means that the operator doesn’t have to keep jumping in and out to empty the grass box – which would be very time consuming. For a small team, if you can get one man to do this job then it is a massive benefit.

TM1000 Tackles Golf Course Thatch

“I also like the fact that the TM1000 can go down to 50mm deep. The SISIS TM1000 runs straight through the turf – like a knife through butter.

“We have found that the time of year doesn’t really matter when it comes to using it. The first time we used the TM1000 was mid-February in winter conditions and we found that it did not phase the machine whatsoever.

“No matter what the weather you can’t even tell that the TM1000 has been across the greens and that has really impressed me. It’s a reliable machine with very little maintenance required.

“Overall it is just a fantastic piece of kit. There has been a big improvement in the greens and our soil samples have proved that the thatch levels have dropped dramatically since using the TM1000.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

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

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