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Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki

April 16, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki: Spring signals the start of the busiest period for your machines and Kawasaki has some top tips for minimising downtime and maximising productivity. Coming out of winter storage and into the growing season, your machines will need to be functioning to their full capabilities. Martin Cook, Parts and Technical Manager […]

ICL integral to fairways recovery

April 16, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

ICL integral to fairways recovery : Ian Cambridge, Course Manager at Saffron Walden Golf Club in Cambridge, has revealed how the correct advice, seed, and nutritional products from ICL have been integral in helping the fairways recover from drought. The infamous drought of 2018 proved to be problematic for greenkeepers and course managers throughout the UK […]

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki

April 16, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

ICL integral to fairways recovery

April 16, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki

April 16, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki: Spring signals the start of the busiest period for your machines and Kawasaki has some top tips for minimising downtime and maximising productivity.

Coming out of winter storage and into the growing season, your machines will need to be functioning to their full capabilities. Martin Cook, Parts and Technical Manager at Kawasaki Engines, highlights key maintenance tasks to make sure your engine and machines perform at their absolute best this season.

Having a mower Powered by Kawasaki will get you through the Spring growing season with minimal downtime and maximum productivity. Seen here is the FS730V.

First and foremost, remove the spark plugs and check the gap. Oil on a spark plug could be a sign of low compression. Don’t be tempted to clean the carbon deposits off the spark plugs, this can cause more problems than it’s worth for the price of a new spark plug. It is very important to get this right as misfiring or poor performing plugs can put stress on the engine.

The importance of performing overall checks on your machines cannot be underestimated and some have to be done more frequently than others. Engine oil level, loose or lost nuts and screws, fuel and oil leakage, battery electrolyte level and checking for a clear air intake screen are best done daily. Make sure you clean the air cleaner foam element every 25 hours and the spark plugs and air cleaner paper element every 100 hours or in preparation for Spring, whichever comes first.

While most of the checking and cleaning can be done by a workshop technician or competent landscaper, greenkeeper or groundsperson, there are some checks best performed by an authorised Kawasaki Engines Dealer. For example, changing engine oil and filter, cleaning the cylinder head fins and checking and adjusting the valve clearance.

If you didn’t drain the tank before storing the machine for winter, you are going to need to check the tank is clear of any water or debris. Ethanol attracts water and the engine could misfire if there is water in it. This should be easy enough to do as most engines have plastic, see-through tanks and the water will be sitting at the bottom. If in doubt, drain and refill.

Most ride-on mowers will have two oil reservoirs, one for hydrostatic oil and one for engine oil. Always check you are using the correct one when topping up. Some hydrostatic drives use the same oil as the engine. For those please check your machine’s operating manual.

One of the most important things you can do for the overall performance of your machine is to make sure the blades are sharp and balanced. All other aspects of the mower’s maintenance can be perfect, but if the blades are dull your engine has to work that much harder to deliver, and that has repercussions on the longevity of the engine’s life and fuel economy, as well as leading to recutting, affecting productivity.

One easy way to maintain your Kawasaki Engine’s reliability is by using only Kawasaki Genuine Parts. This can make all the difference between a reliable machine and one that is not. Using non-genuine parts means your machine is less likely to operate as productively or efficiently as it should. When you choose Kawasaki Genuine Parts you are assured of quality, reliability and compliance with original equipment specifications.

Most oil filters look the same on the outside, but inside a Kawasaki filter, a slotted alloy tube protects oil flow. A pressure-activate bypass valve prevents cold-start wear and maintains flow in case of blockages. Silicone valves, rubber seals and a heavy canister stand up to high temperatures and severe use. Kawasaki build provides a different level of engine protection, one you can count on.

Similarly, with Kawasaki air and oil filters, these are specifically designed with permeability that matches flow rates, operating pressures and temperatures of your Kawasaki engine – and most importantly, they fit exactly.

With machines heading into their busiest period, make sure you’re preparing them for peak performance. Time spent on routine preventative measures now, will mean any downtime is kept to a minimum and productivity at a maximum.

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ICL integral to fairways recovery

April 16, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

ICL integral to fairways recovery : Ian Cambridge, Course Manager at Saffron Walden Golf Club in Cambridge, has revealed how the correct advice, seed, and nutritional products from ICL have been integral in helping the fairways recover from drought.

The infamous drought of 2018 proved to be problematic for greenkeepers and course managers throughout the UK and Ian Cambridge was no exception.

“Back in the summer of 2018, like most golf courses, we lost a high proportion of our grass sward on the fairways due to the drought,” he said. “We had overseeded in the spring of 2019 without great success and the fairways were quite poor through the early part of the season.”

Looking for a solution, Ian contacted ICL and Andrew Pledger (Technical Area Sales Manager) visited the East Anglian club. He and Ian walked around the course looking at the conditions and probed into the soil to see what could be done. It was at this point that Andrew suggested a programmed approach which centred around ICL’s recently launched Vitalnova Links bio-stimulant.

Vitalnova Links consists of a unique combination of concentrated seaweed extract Vitalnova SeaMax and the proven biostimulant Vitalnova Blade. In turn, the formulation brings together and accentuates the benefits of both products.

Vitalnova Links was combined with a wetting agent and 8kg of a water soluble 35-0-5 fertilizer.

Andrew also advised, that due to not having any irrigation capacity, Ian should not overseed again until the autumn. This time, however, Andrew recommended that Ian use a multi-blend mixture consisting of rye, fescue and SSMG (Smooth Stalk Meadow Grass).

“The grass species that we lost the most of was the fescue and we were unsure of what we should do,” said Ian. “However, Andrew explained that by using a blend of three different species we would be spreading our bets a bit more with any future drought.

“The nutritional and wetting agent programme had actually helped with some natural ingress of our existing sward. This helped lower the amount of seed that we needed to use in our overseeding that autumn and it was a great help with lowering the costs. The seed mix we chose was the ICL ProSelect 2 Tees/Fairways mix and we had great germination success.”

ProSelect 2 Tees/Fairways is proving to be an extremely popular choice with golf courses throughout the UK and beyond. The mixture is a blend of fine fescues and perennial ryegrass which creates a turf surface that can recover strongly from divoting.

The blend contains Traction smooth-stalked meadow grass and Torsion TRT perennial ryegrass to provide rhizomatous and Turf Repairing Tiller (TRT) growth for extra durability and recovery from divots. It is renowned for providing great colour, all-round disease tolerance and close mowing tolerance.

The new nutritional programme and seed were put to the test in 2020 when the drought inevitably returned.

“In the spring of 2020, the fairways were filling in very nicely, however, the conditions became very droughty once again,” said Ian. “The difference this time was that we were already on a wetting agent and nutritional programme, and yes the turf browned off but when the rain returned in August the sward came straight back.

“Our over-seeding requirements were reduced, we believe, due to the choice of the quality seed and the advice from Andrew on our nutritional programme.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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)

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki

ICL integral to fairways recovery

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki

ICL integral to fairways recovery

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki

Genuinely maximise productivity with Kawasaki: Spring signals the start of the busiest period for your machines and Kawasaki has some top tips for minimising downtime and maximising productivity.

ICL integral to fairways recovery

ICL integral to fairways recovery : Ian Cambridge, Course Manager at Saffron Walden Golf Club in Cambridge, has revealed how the correct advice, seed, and nutritional products from ICL have been integral in helping the fairways recover from drought.

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