Tag Archive for: Aeration

GKB aeration duo making a real difference

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GKB aeration duo making a real difference: For Mike Powles and his team of six volunteer grounds staff at Walsham Le Willows Sports Club, the aim of their maintenance is simple: to keep the surfaces in the best possible condition all year round.

That task is now much easier thanks to the purchase of a Deep Tine Aerator (DTA) and Combislit from GKB Machines – allowing the club to maintain consistently high-quality pitches, without reliance on external contractors.

GKB aeration duo making a real difference

GKB aeration duo making a real difference

Located in the heart of Suffolk the club is a hive of activity, with 24 football teams and eight cricket teams just a few of those making the most of the multi-sport facilities. While the team of volunteers can keep on top of the regular grass cutting and general site maintenance, historically, they relied on contractors to aerate the pitches twice a year. However, as Mike explains, this approach came with challenges. “Contractor availability rarely aligned with our schedule or the ideal ground conditions which meant that costs quickly mounted, but the results weren’t always as we’d hope.”

Looking for a more flexible and cost-effective solution, Mike attended SALTEX, where he said the GKB Deep Tine Aerator (DTA) stood out straight away. “It looked solid and strong. You could tell it was built to last.” Despite torrential rain on demo day, the results were evident – leading to the purchase of a 1.6m model via Ernest Doe close to two years ago.

“We now have full control over where and when we aerate. If conditions are good, we get it on the back of the tractor and away we go” he says. “It’s lovely and straight forward to operate which is important for us as a volunteer team and has meant we’ve been able to get the DTA out more often which is paying dividend in terms of surface quality.”

Impressed by the performance of the DTA, the club returned to Ernest Doe earlier in 2025 to add a GKB Combislit to their fleet. “We attended a GMA event where the pitch advisor suggested we look at a slitter and, because the DTA has worked so well, we only looked at GKB.”

Together, the DTA and Combislit now give Walsham Le Willows year-round options for aeration, whether the upper surface needs opening or for when deeper penetration is required. Mike adds, “We’ve always been impressed with the service from Ernest Does, particularly Adrian Kersey who has been our point of contact for the last eight years. His support, together with that of GKB’s Tom Shinkins has got us up and running and, going into winter, the pitches have never looked better!”

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Putting a spring in your aeration step

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Putting a spring in your aeration step: Always keen to support its customers, Reesink is not only maintaining 2024 parts prices in 2025 but offering customers a further 10 percent off genuine Toro tines this spring. The promotion is for all tines, including Titan, on orders placed up until 31 March.

A key part of spring maintenance, aerating is a practice that cannot be overlooked, and tines are the key ingredient to successful results.

Putting a spring in your aeration step

Putting a spring in your aeration step

Michael Hampton, Purchasing and Sales Process Manager at Reesink, says: “As the grass begins to wake up after winter, there are multiple things that can be done to ensure a good start to the growing season and desired standards are achieved. Arguably the most important is decompaction through aeration.

“There are however many different aeration practices and tines available depending on what the customer is looking to achieve.”

Deep tining is the preferred for this time of year as it decompacts the profile after the cold, often wet months of winter and helps promote drainage. In addition, there’s hollow tining to control organic matter and as an effective way of soil exchange when used alongside topdressing.

Solid tining, both shallow and deep, provides enhanced gas movement between the root zone and the atmosphere. Shallow (less than 150mm) is useful for aerating the upper level of the root zone and particularly good for sandy soil that doesn’t need much turf compaction relief.

With over 150 Toro tines to choose from, customers can be assured there is something in the range for all seasons, surfaces, purposes, and soil conditions. And with Toro genuine parts guaranteeing the best form, fit, and function on the market – and all included in the 10 percent off deal – now is the time to stock up ready for the all-important spring maintenance weeks.

All Toro tines are designed for performance, durability, and longevity, leaving pure holes for the best aeration techniques, but Toro Titan tines take things a step further and last four times longer than standard non-Toro tines meaning less replacements and change-outs for greater productivity.

Michael concludes: “The phrase we often apply to Toro parts is buy smarter and get much more for your money. With Reesink maintaining 2024 prices and offering promotions on genuine Toro parts not just now but throughout the year, the value is the best it’s been.”

Reesink is reminding customers that all Toro parts can be purchased through their local dealer or service centre, where they will receive help and advice getting the right part with the exact engineering specifications for their equipment at the best possible price.

To find your nearest Toro dealer, visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk or call 01480 226800.

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New airter® models revolutionise active aeration

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New airter® models revolutionise active aeration: Lister Wilder have reached an agreement with Novokraft AG to become the new exclusive UK importer for airter® – the world’s only continuous and homogenously operating pneumatic soil aerator.

In an exciting time for the partnership, two brand new airter® machines are set to be unveiled to the UK market at BTME 2025, with the airter® neo and airter® trike on show on stand 642.

New airter® models revolutionise active aeration

New airter® models revolutionise active aeration

After more than three years in development, the airter® neo and airter® trike are set to revolutionise sports turf aeration, utilising high compressed air to not only break through surface compaction, but provide 100% biological and effective control of pests, root-damaging grubs and Tipula larvae (Leather Jackets).

The new airter® neo 12140 is equipped with 12 lances making it ideal for large golf greens and football pitches, which can be covered in less than three and a half hours. One of the largest models in the airter® range, it’s set to deliver high productivity without excess weight preventing any further, unnecessary compaction.

Designed for smaller areas such as golf greens, the airter® trike 8140 is an electrically driven, self-propelled unit featuring 8 lances for impressive aeration. Work is also underway which will see the airter® trike become the first autonomous model in the range.

The working depth on both machines can also now be quickly and easily adjusted, tool-free, directly on the unit to suit operations between 8cm and 20cm in the ground.

Commenting on their appointment, Sales & Hire Director for Lister Wilder Phill Hughes said, “We’re delighted to be partnering with Novokraft to bring the airter® to the UK. The benefits that the machines offer for aeration and water filtration are exceptional but add to that the reported reduction of Chafer grubs and Leather Jackets through regular use, we believe these machines will play a vital part for the future of sports turf management.”

“In Lister Wilder, Novokraft AG has a strong and trustworthy partner for the distribution and sale of our newly developed airter® machines, which will redefine the market for active, deep compaction relief” adds Eric Hardman, CEO of Novokraft AG.

More information on the new additions, and the full airter® range can be found at airter.com or by speaking to the Lister Wilder team at BTME 2025 in January, on stand 642.

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Toro simplifying turf aeration

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Toro simplifying turf aeration: Fife-based Scotscraig Golf Club, the 13th oldest in the world, has recently invested in the Toro ProCore 648s aerator to improve the overall quality of its surface and the playability of the course. The result is a much faster and easier aeration process. 

Led by course manager Darren Mckenna, the team at Scotscraig is always looking for new ways to optimise its golf course that is surrounded by history and that has welcomed some of the sport’s greatest names. 

Toro simplifying turf aeration

Toro simplifying turf aeration

In particular, by purchasing the Toro ProCore 648s through Reesink Turfcare, the golf club wanted to maximise its resources, improving surface quality and playability. 

According to Darren, “This model makes the aeration process much faster and easier. Previous solutions had to be moved by a tractor—which could be hard and even dangerous to manoeuvre in tight areas and on slopes—leaving tyre marks on the green that would last for days. But with the ProCore 648s, it’s a completely different story. I didn’t realise how easy and clean the job was going to be.”

Another game-changer, tells Darren, is the InfoCenter Smart Settings feature, which “makes it a breeze to calibrate the machine with just a few buttons—and you can also recalibrate it throughout the day, allowing you to keep a consistent depth and optimise tine wear.” The on-board computer is very helpful as well, as it calculates “the total area of work and how much material you remove when coring, taking the guesswork out when topdressing.”

Talking about his aeration efforts, Darren explained how his new Toro solution helps him significantly improve the health of the surfaces by accelerating top dressing and increasing air movement within the profile and root depth. 

When commenting on the choice of the brand, Darren said that it was a no-brainer: “Toro is a name you can trust, and it’s the gold standard in this industry.” Even in his experience with other golf clubs, the ProCore 648s “is the go to machine for lightweight aeration and it’s so reliable that you can see people using them for a very long time without issues. So, its longevity makes it a great investment for the long run as well.”

Further proof of Toro’s reputation came when Darren announced the purchase of the ProCore 648s over a year ago. He recalls that “The whole team was incredibly excited about this new addition to the fleet and couldn’t stop talking about it. And when the machine finally arrived, everyone wanted to try it despite the heavy rain.”  

“All in all,” Darren concluded, “we’re very happy with the results provided by the ProCore 648s. It is just an easier and better user experience, and after this success we’re looking to use other Toro solutions in the future to improve the cut quality of our fairways.” 

According to Darren, working with Reesink has helped make the whole process much smoother. From the quick and simple order process to the training once the machine arrived, Reesink offered guidance and professionalism at every step of the journey.  

Learn more about Toro’s technology and how it could benefit your course, by calling distributor Reesink at 01480 226800, emailing info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk or visiting reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange

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Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange: Hallam Grange Bowling Club has its roots in a tennis and sports club dating back a hundred years. Located to the west of the vibrant city of Sheffield, today’s club draws enthusiasts of all ages and levels with first-class facilities and until recently the bowling green was no exception.

Well maintained and meticulously taken care of by a small number of members and led by volunteer green keeper, Martin Westley, the green had begun to suffer after last winter and the exceptionally wet build-up into spring. It was known the green was originally constructed on an area used for spoils from house building many years ago and the only drainage was in the gutters around the edge.

Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange

Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange

“Usually, we have a smooth, even, and top-quality surface,” says Martin, “but last winter was so very wet and we started to get pooling across the green. We have done regular vertidraining down to about twelve inches, but each time there’s heavy rain we have standing water. We were certain the combination of the original foundation of the green and sixty plus years of play had led to compaction at depth and lack of drainage.”

Martin did some research to see what was available to solve the problem. He came across Terrain Aeration and spoke to other clubs whose greens had been treated as long as fifteen years ago and were still draining freely.

The Terrain Aeration Terralift system works on the principle of a probe drilling down to a metre depth and releasing compressed air at a maximum of 20Bar (280psi). This fractures and fissures the soil to allow drainage. On the tail end of the blast, dried, milled seaweed is injected. Over time, the seaweed expands and contracts in the soil, similar to ‘breathing’ underground, to help keep the fractures open. The probe is removed, and the process repeated using two-metre centre spacings on a staggered grid pattern. This grid ensures that each probe shot links with the previous ones. Terrain Aeration says the long-term solution leaves little surface disruption and allows immediate play after treatment. That was certainly the case for Hallam Grange. Martin says, “Terrain Aeration arrived at ten in the morning and worked through to about three in the afternoon, and you couldn’t really tell where they had been. We played a league match at six-thirty the same day.”

Terrain Aeration www.terrainaeration.co.uk  01449 673783

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