Tag Archive for: After

Woodchippers Bought After Trial

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Woodchippers Bought After Trial: Beechwood Trees and Landscapes Ltd has purchased three new Först Woodchippers, after a successful trial that saw the team of arboriculture experts thoroughly impressed with the high level of performance and robust nature of the machines.

Established in 1998, Beechwood is one of the country’s leading arboricultural, fencing and landscaping contractors, and is continuing to show sustainable growth and development. With a team of 30 staff members, the success of the business over the past 20 years has been vast and the company is now recognised as one of the most forward thinking, innovative businesses within the industry.

Woodchippers Bought After Trial

Simon Rotheram, who has been managing director of Beechwood since the company’s inception, explains why he chose to work closely with Först after using woodchippers for more than two decades.

He said: “The majority of our work consists of site clearances and sectional take downs with housing associations and local councils, so it’s vitally important that we utilise a woodchipper fleet that can tackle any job, whilst also keeping maintenance and service to a minimum. In our industry, time literally is money, so we can’t afford any machinery downtime or lack of performance.

“To make sure we maintain our high standards, we carry out a rigorous maintenance programme that sees us review all of our machinery fleet every 3-4 years to ensure we are utilising the best and latest equipment. Over the past 20 years we have generally stuck to what we know when it comes to woodchippers, but on this occasion Först kindly agreed to lend us an ST6 and ST8 machine for a week and we were curious to see how they matched up against our current fleet.

“We put both woodchippers straight to work and the feedback I received from my team of operators out in the field was great. In addition to the impressive productivity of the machines, the woodchippers are also light and mobile, which makes transportation and completion of jobs in difficult to reach locations very simple.

“Outside the operation of the woodchippers, the Först machines also come with a three year warranty, which is a great asset to our business as these woodchippers really are put through their paces. In addition, our local Först service partner is just down the road to cover any minor mishaps, so the service and aftersales care Först can offer is second to none. When you combine all of this, the decision to move across to Först really was a no brainer and we purchased three ST6 machines as soon as we could.”

With the investment in Först woodchippers made, Simon can only see the working relationship with the manufacturer growing stronger moving forward.

Simon concluded: “We are very excited about working with Först. Although it’s still early days, the service support we have received from the manufacturer in such a short period of time, as well as the performance of the woodchippers, is something I have been really impressed with and this enables the team and I to simply focus on the job at hand.”

For more information on Först’s high performance range of woodchippers, or to book a demonstration, visit www.forst-woodchippers.com or call 01264 721790.

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Greenkeeper Retires After 45 Years

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Greenkeeper Retires After 45 Years: Eaton Golf Club recently came to the end of an era, as Mick Lathrope retired from his position as head greenkeeper after an impressive 45 years of service.

Green-keeping colleagues and members from Eaton and other Norfolk clubs attended a presentation ceremony at the club to hear a warm tribute from club manager Peter Johns.

He said Lathrope’s career had begun as an apprentice at Maylands Golf Club, in Havering, Essex before moving to Eaton in 1972.

His lengthy spell with the club saw him go on to work with 46 club captains, 46 ladies’ captains, 24 club presidents and 23 lady presidents.

Johns told well-wishers: “Mick has overseen many changes to the golf course.

“He has been an extremely conscientious worker, balancing the needs of the golfer with the natural beauty of our wonderful 106 acres of land – so much so that in 2005 Eaton was awarded the prestigious Golf Environment Award.”

The ceremony was also attended by several members of Mick’s family, including his daughter Jane who said in her own tribute that there would be an enormous gap in the family’s life without their association with Eaton.

However, there would be other things ahead for her father: fishing, playing golf and in particular enjoying long rides into the country on his 1961 BSA Super Rocket motorbike, which will all keep him busy in the years ahead.

His successor at Eaton is Rob Ransome, 41, who lives in Pulham, with his wife and two children. He began as an assistant greenkeeper at Marriott Sprowston Manor and was promoted to head greenkeeper while at Diss.

“As a 16 handicap golfer myself, I appreciate the need to present the course really well and make sure it is always improving,” he said.

“I’m delighted to be at Eaton, a course that I always enjoyed playing.”

Meanwhile, Roger Garwood, the outgoing club captain of Barnham Broom, presented a cheque for £3,000 – the money raised during his year in office – to Paul Daynes, the finance manager of the Norwich and Central Norfolk branch of Mind, the mental health charity. He stipulated the money should be used in Norfolk for young sufferers.

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Bright Future Ahead After SALTEX College Cup

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Bright Future Ahead After SALTEX College Cup: The SALTEX College Cup returned to the NEC once again at this year’s event and highlighted just how well young grounds staff are academically prepared for careers in the industry.

The SALTEX College Cup, sponsored by Ransomes, is a national student-led sports-turf challenge. It is an academic test of turf management knowledge for student competitors who are enrolled at colleges throughout the UK on relevant courses of study.

Bright Future Ahead After SALTEX College Cup

Askham Bryan College, Bridgwater & Taunton College, Myerscough College and, last year’s winners, the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) Greenmount Campus competed for a chance to have its name engraved on the trophy in support of their respective turf programmes.

In teams of four, the colleges embarked on the two-hour competition consisting of paper-based multiple choice and short answer questions on turf management, plus a case study which required a more in-depth written answer. The students were also presented with live test samples in which they had to identify potential threats to the health of turf.

CAFRE, from Northern Ireland, claimed the top prize for the second year running although Askham Bryan were only one point behind in what was a closely fought competition between all of the colleges. CAFRE was awarded the trophy, a £500 cheque for the college’s turf department, and each student received a £50 Amazon voucher. The team was also presented with a prize that money can’t buy – the chance to get involved with pitch preparation at the 6 Nations, Scotland vs England, at BT Murrayfield Stadium.

Results were announced on the first day of SALTEX and CAFRE’s senior tutor, Paul Campbell, revealed his delight at picking up the trophy for a second successive year.

“A combination of excitement and disbelief ensued among the squad as they emulated the achievement of 2016 – particularly for team captain and rugby fan Michael Dundee as he realised he was on his way to BT Murrayfield – and he didn’t need a ticket!

Paul continued: “CAFRE staff and students fully support the concept of the SALTEX College Cup – it provides a forum for showcasing and acknowledging the skills of young people making a career in the industry and allows college staff to benchmark how their programmes are performing against other specialist colleges in the UK. The excellent organisation of the event, the generous sponsorship and the once-in-a-lifetime experience afforded to the winners will mean healthy competition for next year`s team and guarantees CAFRE will return to defend the title in 2018.”

Commenting on the sponsorship of the 2017 SALTEX College Cup, Ransomes senior director Alan Prickett said: “The SALTEX College Cup was another success this year, and we were delighted to have sponsored it for the second year running. Ransomes has a commitment to educating the next generation of groundscare professionals, and we aim to support this in a variety of different ways, including sponsoring the SALTEX College Cup competition. CAFRE, based in Northern Ireland were deserved winners again this year.

Congratulations to CAFRE and we look forward to seeing if the college can retain its title for a third time next year!”

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

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