Tag Archive for: A

Handy offers give retailers a sales boost

/in , /by

Handy offers give retailers a sales boost: British garden equipment manufacturer Handy has announced a raft of promotional offers across a substantial range of garden machinery ideally suited to Autumn tasks.  Retailers can benefit from increased margins on leaf blowers, log splitters, chainsaws, hedge trimmers and more, of up to 34%.

Autumn is a busy time in the garden as the big post-summer tidy-up begins, planting for spring takes place, and gardeners around the nation prepare for the dormant winter months ahead.  Having the right Autumn gardening machinery in stock is essential to meet customer needs and provide valuable sales opportunities.

Handy offers give retailers a sales boost

Handy offers give retailers a sales boost

The unusually hot summer months the UK has witnessed this year have left lawns parched and worse for wear.  Repairing and reviving the lawn is an early Autumn task, which starts with scarifying to remove thatch and moss.  The Webb WEESR electric lawn scarifier and rake from Handy is a quick and easy way to achieve this and now has a retailer margin of 32%.

A further convenient piece of garden kit is the garden blower, which makes clearing up those seemingly endless Autumn leaves a breeze.  Handy has special offers on blowers, and combined Vacuum/Blowers that also shred debris into a compostable mulch, across its Greenworks cordless, The Handy and Q Garden electric, and McCulloch and Webb petrol models.  There is a wide range to choose from to suit all budgets.

Autumn is the time you’re most likely to hear chainsaws in the garden, as larger trees get pruned and turned into firewood.  Handy has a comprehensive range of chainsaws and log splitters.  There are ten chainsaws included in the Autumn promotions, including Greenworks cordless, Webb electric and petrol, and McCulloch petrol models.  Log splitters on promotion are from The Handy brand, from an 8 Ton Vertical Electric Log Splitter through to a 4 Ton Electric Log Splitter with Guard, all with a 32% retailer margin.

When it comes to getting rid of all your leaves and branches after pruning back those trees, a shredder is ideal.  Three shredders are included in Handy’s special Autumn promotions: The Handy Electric Impact Shredder with Box & Detachable Hopper, the Webb Electric Silent Shredder with Box, and The Handy Petrol Drum Chipper Shredder.

Over 70 garden machinery products have been included in Handy’s new Autumn garden machinery promotion, which is available on orders placed before the end of September 2022.

For more information, visit www.handyonline.co.uk/blog/news/plan-ahead-our-autumn-promotions.

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.

Hunts Engineering a successful dealer

/in , /by

Hunts Engineering a successful dealer: After working together now for just over a year, Hunts Engineering Ltd is proving a highly successful dealer in the Midlands, for Campey Turf Care Systems.

Starting as an agricultural dealership focusing on engineering, the Warwickshire based family-owned company has established itself in the professional turf care sector.

Hunts Engineering a successful dealer

Hunts Engineering a successful dealer

Hunts Engineering a successful dealerWith Peter Hunt having more than 35 years of experience in the industry and a strong reputation for customer service, Hunts make the perfect addition to the Campey dealer framework. Founded in 2007 owners of Hunts, Peter and Julie Hunt, want to continue growing the fine turf arm of the business, and they believe the Campey line of machinery is the perfect portfolio to do it with.

“We’re taking on everything that Campey does. We want to have the complete range so we can go into a golf course, club or school and offer them a comprehensive package. For us, that was really important because we want our customers to come to us with any requests or issues and have an answer or solution for them.

“We’ve grown our business on the back of service and our dedicated and skilled team. Having the final solution is a big value to us and our customers.

“This industry is very much person to person, and demonstrations are important. Especially with Campey machinery because it’s not the run of the mill tractors and mowers; it’s specialist equipment.

“Personally, it makes our jobs more interesting working with this type of equipment. Most of the time, you can see an instant result or effect with this machinery, and we think that is why people respond to it.

“We also need support from Campey when we have questions and Jason Moody has been very good for that. When he says he’ll do something, he does it, which is so important for our customers and us.”

With two dedicated Campey salespeople and five fully qualified mechanics operating on-site and in the workshop, the Hunts backup team is more than capable of providing the first-class service customers expect from Campey.

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.

International Thank a Greenkeeper Day

/in , /by

International Thank a Greenkeeper Day: The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association, in conjunction with other global greenkeeper and course superintendent groups, is recognising those who help keep golf courses enjoyable and sustainable with an international ‘Thank a Greenkeeper Day’.

BIGGA, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and other partner associations are encouraging those who love golf to take a moment to thank their course’s greenkeeping team.

International Thank a Greenkeeper Day

International Thank a Greenkeeper Day

Thank a Greenkeeper Day will be celebrated on Tuesday 13 September, which also marks the GCSAA’s 96th anniversary.

The celebration will include a commercial that will appear on the Golf Channel and other media outlets and social media messages touting the many ways that greenkeepers benefit the game and their communities’ golfers. Others are encouraged to join in the conversation on social media using the hashtags #ThankAGreenkeeper or #ThankASuper depending on their country’s nomenclature. In addition, golf courses and other groups are encouraged to provide special recognition for their greenkeeping teams on 13 September.

During the 2021 Thank a Greenkeeper Day, social media messages reached more than 9 million followers around the world.

To learn more about BIGGA and the role greenkeepers play in the enjoyment and sustainability of the game, visit www.bigga.org.uk

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.

A decade of MM seed for Rugby School

/in , /by

A decade of MM seed for Rugby School: James Mead, Grounds Manager at the world-famous Rugby School in Warwickshire, has revealed why he has used MM50 grass seed for the last ten years.

Rugby School, founded in 1567, is one of the oldest public schools in England, and is renowned worldwide for being the place where the game of rugby was born and developed. In fact, visitors travel from far and wide to visit the school’s small museum and to see where the legendary student William Webb Ellis, took a football in his arms and ran with it.

A decade of MM seed for Rugby School

A decade of MM seed for Rugby School

It is fitting that a school of such status also boasts a fabulous sporting reputation and James Mead and his experienced team work hard to keep the facilities in pristine condition.

James believes that a grass seed is one of the most integral components in producing a high-quality sports pitch and it is for this reason that he chooses to use MM50.

“I initially heard of MM50 through seminars and various events, and I’ve now been using it for just over ten years,” he said. “The quality of the grass and the cleanliness of the mix is very important – we don’t want any rogue grasses or agricultural left in the mix. MM50 is a very clean mixture.”

MM is one of the most respected brands in the UK amenity industry, with over 40 years of experience and knowledge. The extensive product portfolio is second to none with performance proven mixtures that are used at many leading venues in the UK and Europe.

MM50, in particular, is one of the UK’s biggest selling grass mixtures. The hard-wearing ryegrass mix is very fine leaved, has high shoot density, is tolerant to close mowing down to 4-5mm and produces a great colour all year round. It also has quick recovery from damage and play.

“We use MM50 on our cricket squares, wickets, cricket outfields and we also use MM60 on the first team rugby pitch,” said James. “We overseed as much as we can depending on weather, and it gives us great coverage, great density, and a good fineness of leaf. Very rarely do we get disease and it gives us first-class colour. Playability wise it is excellent and it is ideal for the run of a ball. MM50 just ticks all the boxes that we are looking for.”

Both MM50 and MM60 (an ideal mixture for winter sports pitches) are treated with Headstart® GOLD – a revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination. It benefits from minerals such as Phosphorus, Sulphur, Copper and Molybdenum which all help to stimulate root formation, development and growth ensuring that the seedling grass plant develops a strong root system during the critical start-up phase.

“The speed of the germination certainly takes the pressure off the initial seeding,” said James. “We tend not to put fertiliser down with the MM50 straight away, instead we let the seed come through first. The initial protection to the plant from the mix is ideal.

“The quality of MM50 has never diminished and if anything, it keeps improving. It is a very trustworthy product. Seeding takes a lot of time and effort, and you want the best results for your hard work.”

James also praised the support he receives from both MM and Agrovista Amenity (distributor of MM).

“I have a very good relationship with Matt Gresty from MM seed and also with Mark Allen from Agrovista Amenity – who is able to provide various products of great benefit to us.”

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

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.

A quasquicentennial celebration for Canmore

/in , /by

A quasquicentennial celebration for Canmore: Canmore Golf Club is celebrating 125 years with delivery of the industry’s first and only fairway hybrid mower, the Reelmaster 5010-H from Toro.

It’s quite the achievement to reach your quasquicentennial milestone and Canmore Golf Club in Dunfermline, Fife decided to combine that with also making it the year they chose distributor Reesink Scotland to help address several problems it was experiencing, all of which were solved thanks to this brand-new budding relationship and one of Toro’s most revolutionary inventions: the Reelmaster 5010-H.

A quasquicentennial celebration for Canmore

A quasquicentennial celebration for Canmore

Golf course manager Graeme Holland, who has been overseeing operations at the club for over 30 years, explains the decision-making process: “It was time to make some changes. We needed to reduce fuel consumption and noise pollution and just felt the time was right to go the hybrid route for environmental reasons, and we needed a dealer we could rely on.”

Recognised as the industry’s first and only fairway mower with a true hybrid drive system, the Reelmaster 5010-H represents an absolute breakthrough in technology and is a big highlight in the turfcare machinery journey towards electric power. And now two are part of Canmore’s arsenal.

Graeme continues: “The reliability is there with Toro. They test the machines a lot more than the competition so they’re a lot more user-friendly and easier to work with. They have similar controls as the greens machines and that means we can swap machines with no issues. Sometimes we don’t even need to call in a mechanic because we can work out the problem ourselves as they’re so intuitive.

“The price of fuel is horrendous right now so any savings we could make and redistribute to other parts of the golf course were most welcome. We’re saving around 20 percent on fuel now and that works out to be quite a substantial figure on the total cost of ownership.

“Three quarters of the course is surrounded by houses, so noise was an issue when we started work in the mornings. Now we carry on with our routine as normal but with less disturbance. Pollution-wise, they’re a lot cleaner than diesel and of course there’s no risk of hydraulic oil spills.”

Graeme further comments on the performance of the Reelmaster and how he had some reservations at the start:

“We have a lot of slopes to cut so we needed a fairway machine that had four-wheel drive and enough power to get the job done,” he explains. “I was a bit sceptical as the 5010-H only has a 25hp engine but with the batteries also producing power, it’s more than enough and we can safely work in any conditions on the course. We’re getting a very consistent cut throughout and thus there’s a much better level of play on the fairways.”

The decision to change dealers came into play as the service the club was receiving from its previous dealer was not up to par with Graeme’s standards. He comments: “The overall experience is better with Toro and Reesink. The service department at Reesink Scotland, from the reps to the mechanics, is brilliant. Their back-up and knowledge of the machinery is fantastic – they know everything there is to know. Their service van holds maybe fifty common parts that we would use, so all it takes is a quick call and they’ll have whatever it is we need ready the next day.

“We’re always extremely busy as we’re a small club with just about one of every machine. So, if one goes down, we need that quick turn-around to allow us to keep things always moving. Reesink fits the bill for that, and we couldn’t be happier we made the switch especially in such a key year in our history.”

To talk to someone about Toro technology and how the Toro range could suit your course, call 01480 226800.

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.