Kubota’s Perfect Match

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Kubota’s Perfect Match: Boasting over 2000 pitches for touring, holiday and residential mobile homes across seven separate sites throughout the UK, Partingtons Holiday Parks is a nationwide leisure company that has firmly established itself as a popular household name, and is next year celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The successful business is overseen by the 4th generation of the Partington family. Robert Partington Kearsley and his sister Andrea Challis run the business and employ over 250 individuals as part of their ‘family first’ approach.

Kubota's Perfect Match

With six Visit England accredited holiday sites and one residential site in the Partingtons portfolio, it’s imperative that each park is kept in the best condition possible to ensure visitors continue to return year after year. This is a challenge Robert and Andrea’s grounds maintenance teams face on a daily basis and easily achieve through their longstanding relationship with high quality suppliers, working closely with Kubota and local dealer Dennis Barnfield over the last 15 years.

Currently boasting a 25 strong Kubota fleet, maintenance of the various sites is headed up by each individual park manager and their dedicated grounds maintenance teams.

Speaking of the partnership, Robert said: “With seven different parks to contend with, it’s vital that our grounds maintenance is consistent across the board to ensure we achieve the highest standard at every park. The service we receive from Dennis Barnfield and the varying models of quality Kubota machinery they provide, ensures each of the sites are kept in premium condition.”

From transporting seven tonne caravans across the park to mowing and mulching of the lawns, Kubota machinery plays an essential role in the running of the sites. The parks have been home to a multitude of machines over the years, with its current fleet including a number of G Series high dump mowers and F Series ride on mowers for regular grass cutting.

For the more heavy duty site work, two L Series compact utility tractors, four larger scale M6040 tractors and two L3200 tractors are used to help the maintenance teams move the holiday homes and complete essential upkeep. With such substantial loads to transport across the parks, the high performance tractors are the perfect solution for the task, safely and carefully helping the team to transport the caravans around the site.

The sites are also home to five recently acquired RTV-X1140’s. Robert continued: “We recently purchased the new RTVs because the option to have an additional two seats in the back or a larger cargo bed is useful for the team when transporting equipment around the vast sites. The RTV-X900 we previously purchased was so robust and resilient that I knew we needed more Kubota RTVs to help the maintenance team complete their tasks easier and quicker.

“Past generations of the Partington family has used Kubota machinery for decades based on the quality and reliability of the brand, as well as its first class aftersales services. Our confidence in the performance of the machines means that Andrea and I have one less thing to worry about as we know the maintenance of the sites will continue to run like clockwork.”

For more information on Kubota and its range of solutions for the groundcare sector, visit www.kubota.co.uk/groundcare or call 01844 268 000.

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Preventative Treatments Impress In STRI Trials

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Preventative Treatments Impress In STRI Trials: It has been proven in recent STRI research trials that preventative disease control programmes outperform curative options when analysed for turf quality, colour and presence of Microdochium Patch.

STRI research manager, Mark Ferguson, explains these results and stresses the importance of preventative programmes in light of the recent loss of curative active ingredient iprodione.

Preventative Treatments Impress In STRI Trials

“When measuring disease presence, the STRI team looked specifically at the level of Microdochium Patch cover on the plots. As expected, the preventative treatments performed significantly better than the curative ones.

“The trials ran over the course of eight months, comparing nine preventative and three curative programmes, as well as one untreated plot.

“The first three programmes used purely preventative fungicides from Bayer. The rest of the preventative plots used a combination from Rigby Taylor and Headland Amenity teamed with plant health products to reflect a more realistic approach,” says Mark.

In general, preventative programmes five to seven showed the most consistent results across turf colour, quality and Microdochium Patch presence by using an integrated approach with both fungicides and plant health products.

Preventative Treatments Impress In STRI Trials

“The fungicides within the curative programmes (11 -13) were applied as and when disease developed to an unacceptable level, mimicking traditional control strategies.

“It’s important to note that none of the trial plots had any cultural controls or biological practices applied prior to or during the trial, other than mowing and switching, which was carried out when necessary,” adds Mark.

Bayer technical manager, Dr Colin Mumford, says the trial results show that even the most ‘bullet-proof’ curative programme was significantly outperformed by the preventative options.

“The disease control landscape has changed and it’s more important than ever before that greenkeepers don’t wait for disease to appear as they may have done in the past,” he says.

For further information please visit www.environmentalscience.bayer.co.uk or contact the Turf Solutions Team on 00800 1214 9451, at turfsolutions@bayer.com.

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Sherriff Launches E2 Pro Elicitor

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Sherriff Launches E2 Pro Elicitor: Sherriff Amenity has announced the launch of E2 Pro Elicitor, a new and unique soluble plant biostimulant containing Harpin aβ. E2 Pro is a brand of turf care products which is viewed as being synonymous with quality, and the ever-growing portfolio includes a range of both high performing water soluble and liquid fertilisers.

There are currently five different analyses within the water soluble range and eight in the liquid portfolio, ensuring that there is a solution to suit a wide range of nutrient requirements throughout the year.

Sherriff Launches E2 Pro Elicitor

Elicitor is the latest product to be welcomed to the E2 Pro family and by all accounts it appears that turf managers will be more than pleased with addition.

This unique soluble biostimulant contains an elicitor that stimulates gene expression in plants, delivering improved abiotic stress tolerance and better plant growth. Elicitors are known to activate a variety of biosynthetic pathways within the plant and the inclusion of Harpin aβ can significantly enhance results. Rigorous trial work has concluded that Harpin aβ specifically stimulates plant growth (above and below ground), nutrient absorption and tolerance to abiotic stress, including drought, temperature stress and pesticide detoxification. Further benefits include increased photosynthesis and enhanced root development.

Harpins are acidic, heat-stable, glycine-rich proteins produced by Gram-negative bacteria, which trigger defence responses in diverse plant species. When applied as a foliar spray, the Harpin proteins bind to plant receptors, initiating jasmonic acid and ethylene dependent signalling pathways; known as a Hypersensitive Response (HR). Harpins induce the expression of genes involved in cell wall development, cellular communication, and signalling and defence responses.

Harpin aβ proteins can be applied as either a seed treatment, or as a foliar spray. When used as a foliar spray, application every 3-4 weeks during growth is recommended. As Harpin aβ activates genes within the plant, there is no requirement for full coverage at the time of application. Once the genes are activated, the plant response is initiated within 24 hours.

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

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AMS Expands Into Pitch Mowing

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AMS Expands Into Pitch Mowing: Automated Managed Services Ltd (AMS) is the UK’s official distributors for Belrobotics robots and offers a contract based robotic maintenance service solution for turf care. With the aim of building on its undoubted success in the golf industry, AMS is kick-starting its expansion into sport pitch/field care with upcoming installations at Barking FC and Halesowen FC.

These football clubs will be home to the new BigMow Connected Line robotic mower, released into the UK market in April of this year it will be showcased at this years SALTEX show. Its features include a large working area capacity of 24,000 m2, up from the 20,000m2 coverage offered by its predecessor the BigMow Classic. Design improvements to the shell/body design contribute to low noise level output of 52db. It has five sonars used to navigate its surroundings and to perform effective obstacle avoidance. A Belrobotics smartphone app has also been introduced to allow customers to programme mowing schedules and monitor performance.

AMS Expands Into Pitch Mowing

With 45 plus robot locations across the UK, a single BigMow robotic mower can mow a pitch 5 to 7 times per week and imposes no stress to the grass due to its lightweight design. It has 15 razor sharp blades that trim the top of the grass into tiny clippings, which then decompose quickly acting as a natural fertiliser. This in turn reduces the need for chemical fertilisers and frees up personnel to focus on other aspects of pitch care. The BigMow’s manicure style mulching also means there is no green waste to collect, store or remove.

Additionally due to a regular mowing schedule, the grass roots grip is strengthen allowing better anchoring into the soil. Creating a denser sward that is better resistant to wear and tear. This means frequent traffic areas like goalmouths become more shear resistant due natural ample continuous grass growth. With the overall quality of the pitch becoming softer and more homogenous, results in a better ball flight, shot accuracy and playing experience for users.

AMS’s automated maintenance service solution requires no capital outlay and is run on an affordable monthly service contract.  Sport facilities with limited resources can also benefit due to the availability of turf care grants, meaning cash strapped facilities can also reap the benefits robotic mowing provides. A typical robot mower installation involves the install of a docking station and a perimeter wire.  The docking station is where the robot goes to recharge and the perimeter wire emits a magnetic field acting as an underground boundary to guide the robot.

“We’ve had a lot of keen interest from grassroot sport facilities over the last few months, which have lead to installations at Hitchin Town FC and Old Halesonians RFC. With several other installs already in the pipeline, the potential benefits of redeploying personnel to other tasks, operational cost savings, overall health benefits to turf and the availability of grants offered by the FA, ECB and the RFU, are just some of the reasons robotic mowing is fast becoming a desirable turf maintenance option. “  Philip Sear Managing Director of Automated Managed Services Ltd

Visitors to Saltex 2018 at NEC Birmingham, October 31st – 1st November, can see the BigMow Connected Mower in action at Stand A090 or alternatively visit www.automatedmanagedservices.com or call 01462 676 222 for more information.

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Jacobsen A Ryder Cup Supplier

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Jacobsen A Ryder Cup Supplier: The 2018 Ryder Cup is approaching, and Jacobsen® turf equipment is an Official Supplier to the tournament, and will be offering support to the greenkeeping team throughout the competition. Staff based at Ransomes Jacobsen France (RJF) in Toulouse will be assisted by technical staff from the Ipswich-based Ransomes Jacobsen facility.

Jacobsen turf equipment is designed and manufactured by Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company.

Jacobsen A Ryder Cup Supplier

 In 2016, Le Golf National signed a five-year preferred supplier agreement with Ransomes Jacobsen. The prestigious golf course, which belongs to the French Federation of Golf, has demonstrated its confidence in Ransomes Jacobsen France, which has supplied equipment to the facility since 2010.

 In addition to the course’s regular fleet of Jacobsen equipment, an additional 31 pieces of equipment have been delivered to support The Ryder Cup. The additional machinery consists of 12 Eclipse 2 greens mowers, three SLF-1880 fairway mowers, three AR-3 rotary mowers, two Jacobsen Trucksters, four Smithco Lite rollers and 11 mower caddies.

Alejandro Reyes, Golf and Courses and Estate Manager at Le Golf National, said of the support provided by Jacobsen and RJF:

“Le Golf National has been in partnership with Jacobsen since 2011. The quality of machinery, the back-up support, and the product innovation are just some of the reasons we choose Jacobsen. Together, we have created a world-class golf course that will host The 2018 Ryder Cup, and the Olympics in 2024.

Jacobsen A Ryder Cup Supplier

“We are excited to use Jacobsen equipment during The Ryder Cup. I am confident that it will assist us in making the Albatros course absolutely spectacular for such a huge event. The HNA Open de France went very well, and we are making sure that we maintain high standards all the way through until the Ryder Cup in September.”

Since opening in 1990, Le Golf National has hosted the Open de France 25 times. It consists of three courses: the Albatros, an18-hole championship course, on which The Ryder Cup will be played; the Eagle, a second 18-hole course; and the Oiselet, a 9-hole course.

For more information, visit: www.jacobsen.com/europe

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