Deere Roam Blackheath Once More

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Deere Roam Blackheath Once More: Royal Blackheath Golf Club in Eltham, south east London, has returned to the John Deere stable after signing a five-year package deal with Farol Ltd of Twyford in Berkshire for a new fleet of course maintenance equipment.

A total of 11 new machines have been acquired under the John Deere Financial operating lease deal. These include three 2500E hybrid electric greens mowers, for use on both greens and tees, two 7700A PrecisionCut fairway mowers, an 8800A Terrain Cut semi-rough mower, a 1600T wide area mower for the main rough areas, and three TH 6×4 diesel plus one TX Turf 4×2 petrol Gator utility vehicles. These join a number of older Deere machines bought in previous deals that date back to the early 2000s, including compact tractors.

Deere Roam Blackheath Once More

Instituted in 1608 by the court of King James I, Royal Blackheath is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, with a 17th century clubhouse and records showing that members originally played on Blackheath itself, adjacent to Greenwich Park. The golf course has been extensively remodelled over the past six years, with all the bunkers being redesigned and renovated, many tee complexes reconstructed, and also many ditches and ditch banks reshaped.

“We’re looking forward to a major course relaunch in 2020, so it’s going to be a big year for us,” says golf course manager Allen Blizzard, who leads a team of five greenkeepers plus two Hadlow College apprentices. “A lot of the bunkers had become a bit of a mismatch over the years, and we wanted to go back to James Braid’s original design, with fewer trees, more open aspects around the course and more, longer rough grass.

“Alongside this, the club secretary Mark Hickson and I had a good look around at the latest golf course maintenance equipment, to see what the market had to offer. We’ve always had a good relationship over the past couple of decades with John Deere’s turf dealers, and Dave Searles of Farol came up with the right package that was also very competitive financially.

“We’ve found over the years that an operating lease works very well for us, plus their dealer and manufacturer back-up, after-sales service and support have always been excellent. I’ve always felt that John Deere machines suit our needs well, especially for precision mowing – they’re great for following the contours of the course to provide a first class finish.

“I also think that Deere’s rotary mowers are the best I’ve ever used,” says Allen. “They’re comfortable to operate, reliable and time efficient. With other machines we’ve had to use a tractor and blower to tidy up the mess left by clippings, which made it a two-man job. With 125 acres to cover, and all the extra reconstruction work we’ve had to do, we need to make the most of our available manpower.

“This has also been our first experience with John Deere’s latest A Model TechControl and QA cutting unit technology, which helps us be even more productive. From my point of view the new machinery fleet, especially the semi-rough mower, really suits our needs and the golf course is looking in really good shape.”

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Volunteers ‘Disheartened’ After Pitch Vandalism

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Volunteers ‘Disheartened’ After Pitch Vandalism: Volunteers at an amateur football club have been left “disheartened” after vandals rode across their pitch on off-road motorcycles.

After going to check the pitch at Breightmet Wanderers’ Dolan Park on Sunday morning, a member of the club spotted long tyre trails across the turf.

The pitches, off Newby Road, have been left open to the public since the team took ownership of them around two years ago but club secretary Andy Fearnley said they might have to be closed off following the “frustrating” vandalism.

He said: “It’s something I don’t want to do because it’s there for the community to use but it’s just a shame when something like this happens. We’re looking at closing it to the public if we have to.”

The pitch is used by nine teams, with age groups from under 8s to 17s playing games at Dolan Park. It is kept in shape by a team of volunteers from the club.

Mr Fearnley explained that, while the damage to the pitch was not extensive, it has caused concern.

He said: “On Saturday we had three sets of teams playing there, the under 8s, 9s and 10s, so if this had happened a day before then all of the games could’ve been cancelled.

” It’s not a major amount to fix depending on the weather but it’s all voluntary so when you turn up and see this it’s awful.”

He added: “There’s a difficult balance between providing a maintained pitch for our players and appreciating the need for a local community outside area but this makes me want to put barriers up.”

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New Products From Etesia At SALTEX

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New Products From Etesia At SALTEX: Etesia will be launching three new products on their new stand number E085 at IOG SALTEX 2019.

The new products will include a ride-on mower, the new facelift Attila brushcutters and electric wheelbarrow. Full details will be announced on the first day of the show on 30th October.

New Products From Etesia At SALTEX

Also on show will be the recently relaunched PRO46 PHTS3 single speed self-propelled and PRO46 PHE3 push pedestrian mowers.

Following the same concept of the PRO46 range of pedestrian mowers first launched in the early 1990’s, both models feature Xenoy cutting decks for increased strength, shear washer crank protection, individual height of cut adjusters, a new 22mm handlebar design, the latest Honda GCV170 engine and are supplied complete with 80 litre grass box and rear deflector as standard.

Visitors to stand E085 will also get the opportunity to see the new AK60 & AH75 pedestrian brushcutters, which were first shown to the UK market at SALTEX last year. With built-in rugged reliability as standard, both models have been designed to work in the toughest of conditions. These powerful workhorses effectively deal with clearing vegetation from a wide variety of sites – long grass, weeds, bracken and brambles on woodland paths, orchards, holiday parks and road verges. Ease of operation and manoeuvrability ensure total efficiency and high output.

New product brochures ahead of the 2020 season will also be available, as will the company’s knowledgeable staff to answer any questions.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk.

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

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Reesink Commend Dealers Who Do More

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Reesink Commend Dealers Who Do More: Reesink Turfcare is delighted to announce the winners of its Aftermarket Dealer Awards. Commending exceptional performance, the awards acknowledge the top performers in customer service across Reesink’s dealer network.

With awards in Outstanding Performance in Service, Parts and Skills, as well as recognising an overall Dealer of the Year for ‘Excellence in Customer Support’, it’s an impressive accolade to achieve.

Reesink Commend Dealers Who Do More

This year the winners are: Redtech Machinery Limited in Coventry for Outstanding Performance in Service, Oliver Landpower Limited in Hertfordshire for Skills, and Revill Mowers in Gloucestershire for Parts. While the much coveted Dealer of the Year Award for Excellence in Customer Support is awarded to Cheshire Turf Machinery in Stockport.

Reflecting on their win, Cheshire Turf Machinery’s service director Mark Woodward said: “Winning this award is proof of the great effort from our parts and service team, who have enabled us to achieve this award for a second year in a row. I would also like to thank the staff at Reesink who provide us with exceptional support and assistance throughout the year.”

Runners up in the categories are Cheshire Turf Machinery for Service, Lloyd Limited in Cumbria for Skills, Gambles Grass Machinery in Nottinghamshire for Parts, and Revill Mowers for Excellence in Customer Support.

“We work incredibly hard throughout the year to ensure we are always working to the highest standards,” says Revill Mowers joint director Jason Revill. “Customers are at the forefront of everything we do and awards like this give them the ultimate reassurance that their Toro machines are in safe hands.”

In keeping with its Service Level Agreement (SLA), which benchmarks great customer service, Reesink awards those dealers achieving the best scores, rated on quarterly Key Performance Indicators (KPI), within each of the three sections, while the Dealer of the Year Award combines the KPI scores from all three.

As a leading UK distributor of top turfcare brands, excellent customer service is paramount to Reesink – and delivering that with all its business partners even more so, says Reesink operation manager David Jackman.

“We are continuously investing in improving our customer service after a sale completes. Our Service Level Agreement which outlines core customer service standards, goals and considerations adopted by all our Authorised Service and Dealer Locations is another way to showcase to our customers the quality of Reesink’s service.

“These awards provide an excellent platform on which to highlight the fantastic service and work that our dedicated dealers produce and we’re delighted to recognise all of the winners and runners-up. With continued recognition and encouragement of high standards of customer service, ultimately, the customer benefits from an improved overall experience – which is what we’re all here to provide.”

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KAR To Launch Hunter TTS Rotors

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KAR To Launch Hunter TTS Rotors: KAR UK is set to unveil a unique range of new Hunter TTS rotors at SALTEX 2019.

KAR UK – the leading wholesaler of irrigation equipment in the UK, will be situated on stand E053 at SALTEX 2019 and visitors can expect to find out more about a wide range of irrigation products from prominent international manufacturers.

KAR To Launch Hunter TTS Rotors

Boasting an impressive portfolio, with a vast array of products on display at SALTEX, anticipation is already building around the soon-to-be launched new Hunter TTS-800 series.

The Hunter TTS-800 rotors provide maximum uniformity and longevity. The high-torque gear drives are the strongest in the industry, so the challenges of reclaimed water use or poor water quality are mitigated. An extra-large, fast-access flange compartment comfortably accommodates wire connections and other components.

The new 800 series feature Hunter’s patented TTS (Total-Top-Service) technology which allows for every serviceable element of the rotor to be accessed through the top. Mechanical and electrical, big and small, you can get to every component without disturbing the playing surface. That means there’s no more digging, no more unsightly scars, and more importantly, one less item on a busy turf manager’s schedule.

Another highlight on the KAR UK stand will be the recently launched ST-1700V rotor which offers unrivalled high-performance irrigation for synthetic turf. Simplicity is the key to the ST-1700V as it integrates Valve-in-Head (VIH) capabilities and a TTS design to simplify installation and maintenance.

Hunter’s line-up of controllers offer an array of user-friendly features and smart controller water-saving options built to fit any sports and landscape irrigation system. The modular design of the ICC2 and the ACC2 controllers set yet another industry standard for easy-to-use and expandable automatic irrigation controllers.  KAR will also demonstrate the new Centralus Software which is available to the ICC2 and ACC2. Both of these controllers will be showcased on the stand at SALTEX.

SALTEX visitors may well be pleased to see the Rega Rainking on display – which is an ideal sprinkler for watering sports turf and can water the complete pitch in just 2 runs. The unit is suitable for night operation which will help with water usage as less water is evaporated in the early hours. The Rainking covers up to 38m width and with 135m cable will cover up to 175m length.

A trip to the KAR UK stand will also enable visitors to find out more about the innovative Kasco product portfolio which includes fountains and aerators for projects of all sizes.

The experienced KAR UK team will be on hand throughout the two-day event to provide advice and support for any of your irrigation projects.

For more information, please visit www.karuk.com or www.hunterindustries.com.

You can also follow KAR UK on Twitter @KARUK_LTD for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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