Bristol Rovers Pitch Renovations

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Bristol Rovers Pitch Renovations: Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke has praised the impressive work of the ground staff at the League One club who are going above and beyond to ensure the team have a world class playing surface this season.

The state of the Memorial Stadium pitch was a constant source of frustration last season for both the home and away sides with the turf badly cutting up at times.

However The Gas have taken dramatic steps to solve the problem, pulling up the old pitch after the final home game of the 2017/18 season and planting a new fibre one.

What the fibre does is reinforce the turf meaning it should not come up in clumps.

Talking about the new playing surface, Clarke said: “The Mem pitch is coming together really nicely. Again it is testament to the owners who have spent a fair bit of money on it.

“The ground staff have been working tremendously hard on it. I think Daryle [Sullivan] the groundsman even stayed at the ground for a week or so, sleeping at the ground, he has been working that hard.

 “That is credit to him and that is what we want at the top football club, everyone pulling together in the same direction to make things better and try and help move us forward and that is testament to the staff.”

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Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre

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Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre: Within the framework of Kubota’s ongoing growth in Europe, Kubota Corporation has announced that it will invest €55 million in a new R&D Centre in Europe. The new site will be located in Crépy-en-Valois, France and will be fully operational in 2020. 

Kubota Corporation continues to make significant investments into its expansion throughout Europe and will now invest in a brand-new R&D Centre that will be the Competence Centre of Engineering for agricultural tractor markets, and the base for Kubota’s research activities for tractors in Europe region.

Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre

By establishing a best in class R&D Centre in Europe, embedding up to date engineering and validation tools, Kubota will develop cutting edge technology for its new models to meet the specific requirements of European farmers while keeping the Group’s DNA: reliability, ease of use and best cost of ownership.

As part of Kubota’s globalisation process, Kubota Corporation intends to boost its product development, in line with its aspirations to adapt to the specific needs of its host markets. The new centre plays a vital role in this process, so Kubota will further develop agricultural machinery that is customised to work efficiently and effectively for local crops, field conditions and work processes.

Kubota, already present in more than 110 countries worldwide, aims to continue growing internationally, and this latest investment will accelerate this expansion and growth. Since Kubota Holding Europe B.V. was launched in 2017, the company has reinforced its corporate identity in Europe,  with employees  synchronising  processes and procedures so that there is a consistent approach to how all our business units work and can provide the best services and products for its dealers and end user customers.

Kubota’s tractor sales continued to grow in Europe during 2017 and its products have received prestigious recognitions and awards in Europe, including the FIMA TECHNICAL NOVELTY Award for the Agri Robo autonomous tractor, and the TRACTOR DE ESPAÑA Award in the ‘Specialty Tractor’ category for the M5101 Narrow Advance Cab model.

For more information, visit: www.kubota.com

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New TYM Tractors Dealer

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New TYM Tractors Dealer: TYM Tractors has welcomed Rafferty Newman in East Hampshire to its dealer network, and in doing so doubles TYM’s coverage to the groundscare market in the West Sussex area.

It’s not one of the biggest counties in the country, but Sussex has plenty of agricultural and groundscare customers, including private estates, smallholdings and farms in need of a compact tractor, says Mick Challen, owner of the 50-year-strong Rafferty Newman.

New TYM Tractors Dealer

“There was a demand to meet in our area. Tractors have been part of our range in the past and after hearing about TYM’s reputation for quality, we got in touch with its distributor Reesink Turfcare and joined forces with them.

“Often customers come into the shop without knowing exactly what kind of product they’re after but knowing the tasks they need it for. We’ve previously offered tractors but more recently, while we’ve been specialising in UTV and ATV vehicles, there have been times when customers’ tasks have called for more than a vehicle – for front loaders or PTOs.”

Now Mick can cater to these needs again, as he explains: “We now stock the excellent value TS25 with HST and loader, along with the popular T353 manual tractor and mid-duty T433 roll bar tractor, as we thought these would most appeal to our customer-base – clearly we were right as the latter has already sold! It’s great to know we can cater to any of our customers’ needs and order in any tractor from the TYM range, ranging from 25-105hp.”

Scott Turner, southern regional sales manager at Reesink Turfcare, comments on the new partnership: “There’s enough of a demand for TYM in Sussex to warrant two dealers meeting it and the appointment of Rafferty Newman ensures sufficient coverage in the area. There are a good many reasons why Rafferty Newman has such a strong, loyal customer-base and we are very glad to entrust them with the TYM brand by welcoming them to our ever-expanding dealer network.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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More Than Washing Golf Machinery

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More Than Washing Golf Machinery: Fineturf, founded in 1995 by Simon Hutton, specialise in the construction, installation and maintenance of sports turf surfaces. The company started life providing deep tine aeration and top-dressing services to local golf courses, football and cricket clubs and went on to turf production in 1997. Since then, Fineturf has expanded and the company under Simon’s stewardship, has become established in the fine turf sector along with a good reputation.

Clients include football and rugby clubs, golf courses, bowling clubs, tennis clubs, racecourses and cricket grounds. Services offered include sports pitch and golf course construction, maintenance, drainage and irrigation along with bulk earthworks and contract spraying. Other companies in the group include Tillers Turf, a leading grower of golf, landscape and wildflower turf, throughout the UK and Europe and Fineturf Machinery, who specialise in the sale of new and used groundcare machinery and is a Toro dealer in Lincolnshire and North Nottinghamshire.

More Than Washing Golf Machinery

Simon Hutton, ever aware of current trends and developments in the sector Fineturf operate in, is keen to stay abreast. One such matter of concern was to ensure that, especially with the growing volume of plant and machinery requiring cleaning, compliance with legislative requirements relating to washpads was met. Simon believed that an efficient and effective recycling system was the answer. Having carried out some research on the subject and seen a system in operation locally at Sleaford golf club, Simon visited the ClearWater stand at BTME last year and was most impressed with the latest washpad water recycling system, its unique benefits and competitive price.

Simon was particularly interested to learn that a “self-install” option was available but explained that the site was not so straightforward. Not seen as an issue, ClearWater offered a free site inspection and this was carried out soon after the show. It was immediately clear that a ClearWater system could be easily installed and in the preferred location adjacent to the maintenance workshop. ClearWater provided a detailed plan and quotation and the order was placed.

The system was delivered and, with Jim Coleman acting as project manager, Simon Thorpe and the groundwork team carried out the installation following the detailed installation instructions provided by ClearWater. “It really was easy to do” said Simon.

More Than Washing Golf Machinery

To make the installation as unobtrusive as possible, the below ground system tank was installed behind the workshop and, with the washpad screened from view by specially designed splash-backs, very little is evident as our pictures show!

The ClearWater system is certainly well utilised and washes not only machines used on their own golf course, but also customers machines being serviced, Fineturf’s work vehicles and their own course construction and maintenance machines. Michael Baxter, Head Mechanic uses and looks after the system which includes dosing the system with micro-organisms. He is most impressed with ClearWater’s performance and said; “It’s certainly made life easy. It is so close to the workshop and there’s more than enough water pressure!” One machine, in for maintenance when ClearWater’s post-installation visit was made, was a GKB Combinator (a multifunctional fraise mowing machine), recently back from a job at a Premiership football club. Michael enthused; “This was caked in 2 – 3inches of mud and ClearWater blasts it of; better than a jet wash!” Compliments indeed.

Asked about the maintenance regime, his comment was: “It’s a doddle”. He ensures that the grass trap is emptied regularly and the pad kept clear and clean. Once a week he doses the system with the ClearWater micro-organisms. These micro-organisms (specially formulated and supplied by ClearWater) ensure that any oils, grease, fuel, etc. is treated and the water cleaned for recycling.

More Than Washing Golf Machinery

A Water Technology List (WTL) officially approved ClearWater system not only provides effective wash-off but ensures futureproof legal compliance by preventing groundwater pollution. It also saves thousands of gallons of precious (and increasingly expensive!) water by recycling. An added bonus is that the cost of the project (system and installation) can be offset against taxable profits under the ECA scheme, enabling further cost savings.

Be it golf, sports facilities, public schools, heritage properties, service and machinery dealers, ClearWater offers cost effective and compliant wash-off.  ClearWater Commercial, with its dedicated rinse package, offers the same effective wash-off with a superior finish and is ideal for hi-end vehicles, motor homes, etc.

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Reesink’s Mike Stephenson Retires

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Reesink’s Mike Stephenson Retires: After 21 years of serving the business “extremely well” across a number of roles, Reesink Turfcare’s business information manager Mike Stephenson is now retiring.

A well-rounded individual, Mike gained experience from every pocket of the industry over his expansive career. He explains: “After studying Agricultural Engineering at Rycotewood College, I started out as an apprentice at a tractor dealership in Yorkshire where I worked my way up to service manager.

Reesink's Mike Stephenson Retires

“From there I worked in a range of engineering, sales and aftermarket positions for irrigation equipment and agricultural machinery companies, before joining Lely Turfcare [now Reesink Turfcare] as turf product manager in 1997.”

Throughout his time at Reesink Mike mastered many roles involving service, dealer support and training, all the way to aftermarket support, running business operations and project management. As a result, his skillset grew exponentially and he became an instrumental figure during many Reesink milestones.

Reesink Turfcare’s managing director, David Cole, says: “Over his 21 years with the business Mike has adeptly covered a variety of roles, starting out as turf product manager through to his current post of business information manager. His positive approach and attention to detail has served the business extremely well through many important projects.”

One such project was of course the company’s transition from Lely Turfcare to Reesink Turfcare, when Royal Reesink acquired the business in 2016. Mike deems this the biggest challenge he faced in his career: “My job during the changeover was to see the Lely business information system transition to Reesink. This should have been an 18-month project, but we had just four months to complete it – and we did! The key to success was having a hardworking and dedicated team around me.

“Another of my biggest achievements,” he continues, “was being part of the Lely Group Continuous Improvement team in 2009. For this I analysed and advised how to improve our processes around Europe. I found the role incredibly fulfilling as I was sharing the knowledge I’d gained over the years to make jobs more efficient and easier for people.”

Mike reflects on his time at the company: “Reesink has been a brilliant company to work for. My job has been varied and my role within the business kept challenging me – every day has been exciting! I particularly enjoyed my time working with Toro on our shared business information systems and helping with UK product launches. Toro is second-to-none in the industry and it was a privilege to share such a close working relationship. It’s thanks to all this, and great relationships with my team, that I always looked forward to going to work.”

David summarises: “I was involved in Mike’s original recruitment back in 1997 and have always appreciated his drive and focus for the right outcomes – and his sense of humour, which is probably a secret of his longevity.

“Our business has benefited from his exemplary commitment and loyalty. I would like to thank Mike for his contribution over the years and wish him all the best for a well-earned, fulfilling and enjoyable retirement.”

During his retirement, Mike will continue to pursue his passion for the industry as an active member of IAgrE (The Institution of Agricultural Engineers). He also plans to spend a lot of time outdoors enjoying the countryside through his hobby of wildlife photography and by volunteering for wildlife charities.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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