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Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest

August 10, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest: Ewan Hunter, Grounds Manager at Nottingham Forest FC, has praised the products and service he receives from Mansfield Sand. After starting his career as a greenkeeper, Ewan Hunter moved into football grounds management and has remained in the sector for over 20 years. His first job in football was […]

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

August 10, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Challiss

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers: To support their rapid and continued growth, Garsons Group Ltd have been investing in equipment to help them deliver contracting and maintenance services to the full spectrum of sports surfaces. One machine that joined the fleet and has now become their ‘go-to’ for topdressing is the GKB Sandspreader – […]

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest

August 10, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

August 10, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Challiss

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest

August 10, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest: Ewan Hunter, Grounds Manager at Nottingham Forest FC, has praised the products and service he receives from Mansfield Sand.

After starting his career as a greenkeeper, Ewan Hunter moved into football grounds management and has remained in the sector for over 20 years. His first job in football was at Rushden & Diamonds FC before starting at Nottingham Forest FC in 2005. Having been at the club ever since, Ewan’s work has been recognised through numerous groundsman awards, and he can now add the title ‘Premier League Groundsman’ to his CV after Forest recently achieved promotion to the top tier.

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest

Ever the professional, Ewan remains focussed.

“Our work won’t change with us being in the Premier League,” he said. “We will continue to do our job the same way we always have. Obviously, we want to improve standards all the time, and there are future projects, which include new first-team pitches for the training ground, and eventually we will have a new stadium pitch. Yes, the technology we utilise might be better and more modern, but our work will remain the same.”

Ewan oversees a team of seven members of staff that work across the stadium pitch and the training ground. All the pitches across the two sites are of the same construction as Ewan explains.

“All of the pitches we have here are Fibresand, and we use a variety of Mansfield Sand’s products. I’ve been working with Mansfield Sand since my days at Rushden and Diamonds, so well over 20 years.”

Mansfield Sand is a company with history and pedigree – in fact, its origins can be traced as far back to 1840. It has been a long-standing pioneer in the development and production of premium sand-based products and boasts the most up-to-date and advanced equipment currently in the industry.

From winter sports pitches, golf courses, bowling greens and all amenity turf areas – Mansfield Sand has a solution for all.

Ewan continued to offer an insight into how he uses Mansfield Sand’s products.

“Most of the products we use from Mansfield Sand are renovation products. We will strip the pitches, Koro them off and then top dress with Mansfield’s MM40. If we are adding fibre to the pitch then we will use their Fibresand, and that is mixed into the rootzone by the contractor.

“Through the season, we will use their top dressing and a little bit of rootzone, mainly to level out the goal mouths that get a lot of wear.

“Rootzone is very important and is integral to a healthy pitch.”

Furthermore, two pitches at the training ground are currently being reconstructed using 5000 tonnes of gravel, 6902 tonnes of MM40 sand and 4089 tonnes of 85/15 sand soil rootzone, all of which are sourced directly from Mansfield Sand’s Two Oaks Quarry.

The work is being carried out by Ewan’s reliable contractors MJ Abbot and Premier Pitches, who order the products directly from Mansfield Sand. Ewan may not necessarily be involved in the ordering process anymore, but he still maintains a good relationship with the company.

“The customer service from Mansfield Sand is perfect, and Sharon Morris (Sales Manager) is brilliant. She is a life-long Forest fan, and she comes to watch the games. I talk to her pretty much after every home game and she will wander down from the stands after the match to have a chat. She is always on the other end of the phone if we need her, and she always goes out of her way for us.”

For more information visit www.mansfield-sand.co.uk

You can also follow the company on Twitter – @MansfieldSand and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MansfieldSandSportSurfaces/

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

August 10, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Challiss

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers: To support their rapid and continued growth, Garsons Group Ltd have been investing in equipment to help them deliver contracting and maintenance services to the full spectrum of sports surfaces.

One machine that joined the fleet and has now become their ‘go-to’ for topdressing is the GKB Sandspreader – and while perhaps it wasn’t quite ‘love’ at first sight, Director Gareth Davies says it was definitely ‘the perfect fit’ at first sight after spotting the SP100 at BTME!

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

“Straight away, I could tell that SP100 was a great size machine that would suit the variety of work we do” explains Gareth, who has spent 25 years working in the groundcare industry and established Garsons as a limited company three years ago. “We’re conducting renovations, reconstructions and ongoing maintenance for winter sports pitches, cricket and golf courses so need something with a large enough hopper capacity to be efficient, but not too big that access to certain sites may become compromised. The Sandspreader ticks all the boxes.”

Gareth opted for the mounted SP100 model and, since its delivery in the spring of 2021 from local dealer Ernest Does, he estimates they’ve applied in the region of 4000 tonnes of sand with it. “The hopper is the main benefit for us. The SP100 holds 1m³ of material at a time meaning we can apply over 100 tonnes in a day which is critical when the team are working to tight deadlines. It’s also really easy to use and adjust for lighter or heavier applications when needed. We use it primarily for football and rugby, but this year we used it on a cricket square for the first time and it did a brilliant job.”

The GKB SP100 is the smallest unit in the Sandspreader range, with larger models offering up to a 4m³ hopper capacity. The material is transported from the hopper to the adjustable metering valve via an internal conveyor belt, before being efficiently and evenly distributed via the double disc hydraulic spinners. As well as trailed and mounted formats, GKB also offer the SPM model, which features a side material handler for the convenient filling of bunkers or trenches.

“Another big thing for us, has been the support and customer service from GKB, which has been excellent throughout. Tom Shinkins is always on hand for advice and, when we needed some additional parts recently, he was able to get them to us in under 24 hours which is the kind of back-up we need as we drive our business forward.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest

Mansfield Sand is fab for Forest: Ewan Hunter, Grounds Manager at Nottingham Forest FC, has praised the products and service he receives from Mansfield Sand.

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers: To support their rapid and continued growth, Garsons Group Ltd have been investing in equipment to help them deliver contracting and maintenance services to the full spectrum of sports surfaces.

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