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Agrovista Amenity launches at BTME

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Agrovista Amenity launches at BTME: Maxwell Amenity and Sherriff Amenity, the professional turf and landscape division of Agrovista, have joined forces to herald the start of an exciting new era.

Agrovista Amenity, launched at BTME in January, brings together two of the most experienced and progressive teams in the amenity turf market and is the result of a long-term strategy for growth and evolution.

Agrovista Amenity launches at BTME

The new company represents a shared vision – an emphatic passion for this much-loved industry, a desire to create and implement new innovations, to deliver real results for customers and suppliers, to provide technical and service excellence and to empower and inspire staff to help them flourish and prosper.

Agrovista Amenity is just the latest step in delivering these values to the market.

Spearheaded by an experienced senior management team, customers will now benefit from a wider breadth of innovative products and specialist technical expertise. Furthermore, Agrovista Amenity is committed to offering improved customer interaction across on and offline platforms, through a modern, technical approach to amenity care.

It is the perfect addition to the Agrovista family – a company established more than 60 years ago, that takes pride in its traditional values of professionalism, cutting edge technology, and customer service.

Already servicing the sector through established brand Sherriff Amenity, Agrovista now extends a warm welcome to Maxwell Amenity.

Maxwell Amenity trades in the amenity, landscaping and horticultural sectors, offering product supply, media, sports turf contracting, and grounds training.

The consolidated expertise will enable Agrovista Amenity to thrive in the industry it knows best, operating across a wide range of turf sectors including greenkeeping, sports turf, the public sector and landscaping.

This future-proof, customer-centric business model will benefit all, according to John Marland, Head of Amenity:

“Agrovista Amenity has been built upon a commitment to innovation and the highest standards of customer service. There is a clear fit between our two businesses, as our services are highly complementary, so it creates exciting potential.

“As one, Agrovista Amenity will be well-equipped to pursue new opportunities for growth, to the benefit of our customers, suppliers and employees.”

Managing Director of Maxwell Amenity, Dave Saltman, added, “We are very excited about this new era; both our teams have highly-qualified and knowledgeable staff. Together with the greater research and product development support available, the new business will be a leading force in the professional turf sector, providing all customers with an even greater level of service.”

For more information, visit www.agrovista.co.uk

To view the video with Agrovista Amenity Head of Amenity John Marland at BTME, click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF_K1Q75ZGw

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Campey set to exhibit at STMA

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Campey set to exhibit at STMA: Campey Turf Care Systems is exhibiting at the 31st annual STMA conference and exhibition on the 15th and 16th January 2020.

This year’s event is taking place at the Palm Beach County Convention Centre, Florida. It will feature the Campey’s latest synthetic, hybrid and natural turf grooming products the Campey Uni-Scratch and UNIRAKE. The Uni-Scratch is the ideal solution for those looking for professional and effective maintenance of natural and synthetic grass surface.

Campey set to exhibit at STMA

The machine has been developed to infill or refill when installing or looking after synthetic grass carpets. It can also be used for the final organic matter removal on natural grass hybrid carpet pitches when carrying out annual renovations. The Uni-Scratch moves on four supporting rollers which are adjustable in height to allow the most appropriate working depth. The rotors can be equipped with springs or linear brushes in PPL, with rear linkage to tractors of at least 30hp.

The UNIRAKE serves a similar purpose by removing organic matter. Still, users can adjust the severity of grooming to remove a varying amount of organic matter or simply stand the sward up to encourage growth. Altering the severity of grooming is quick and easy and can be done in no less than 30-seconds.

As always, the weeklong STMA event, starting on 13th January, will provide a number of invaluable seminars, training opportunities and networking events. Throughout the week, Campey product specialists will be available to give advice on machinery and answer any turf related questions.

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SISIS success at Colliers Park

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SISIS success at Colliers Park: Two SISIS machines are helping to keep the natural grass pitches clean and healthy at Colliers Park according to Dylan Thompson, grounds maintenance manager.

Colliers Park in Gresford, Wales has recently benefitted from a major renovation following the FAW’s acquisition of the site. It has now transformed into an elite training facility which boasts two full-size training pitches and a synthetic pitch.

SISIS success at Colliers Park

Dylan embarked on his new role in March 2019 and found himself with an arsenal of brand-new turf maintenance equipment at his disposal. The new equipment was based on what the grounds staff use at Dragon Park (the FAW’s other football development centre) and there were two machines which particularly caught Dylan’s eye.

“After using them for the first time I could immediately see why both the SISIS Quadraplay and the SISIS Multitiner were high priority,” said Dylan. “They are both superbly built and can carry out a wide range of tasks.”

As Dylan says, the multi-functional SISIS Quadraplay single pass maintenance system is perfect for busy groundsmen as it incorporates a mounted frame for up to four implements such as grooming rakes, spikers, slitters, rollers and brushes. The implements can be fitted to the mainframe in any order and can be independently adjusted to achieve the desired effect. Compact, robust, versatile and with the ability to carry out up to four operations simultaneously – the Quadraplay makes life a lot easier for many groundsmen as Dylan explains.

“We’ve got the four implements and we mainly use it for brushing and raking. When we are brushing, we will have the slitter down and go as low as we can go just to provide a little aeration – it is great at breaking up the surface algae if we have any. The roller is used to give the pitch a light roll, rather than compacting and is perfect for a nice presentation. With regards to raking we will vary the depth depending on how aggressive we want to be. We’ve done a lot of raking this summer because there was a lot of thinning out required. It has kept the pitch nice and clean so that it is not suffocating.

“I would say that we use the Quadraplay at least once a month – it’s nice and easy to use and changing the depth of the implements is incredibly simple. It is one of those machines which you can get on and complete a number of tasks within a short timeframe.

“Likewise, the Multitiner has 3-point linkage, no hydraulics and there is no messing about – it is quick, simple to set-up and effective.”

For further aeration requirements Dylan relies on the SISIS Multitiner 1.8m – a tractor mounted drum-type aerator. It has three drums with independent rotation and its interchangeable tines with a maximum depth of 100mm ensure excellent turf care when the time comes to aerate.

“The amount we use it all depends on the amount of pitch usage and the weather conditions but we have a general rule of trying to use it on a fortnightly basis,” said Dylan. “On the fibresand pitches we try and keep the structure firm so we will use the Multitiner just to give us a bit of surface aeration.

“Ultimately it keeps the turf healthy and clean and that is exactly what I want.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

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Razor Ultra Demain mower at Durham

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Razor Ultra Demain mower at Durham: Vic Demain, Durham CCC head groundsman, says that the Dennis Razor Ultra 560 fine turf mower has made a significant improvement to the pitch at the Emirates Riverside stadium and in particular has praised the groomer reel attachment.  

Vic was appointed head groundsman at Durham County Cricket Club in 2015, following two years as deputy head groundsman at Trent Bridge and before that seven years as head groundsman at Uxbridge CC.

Razor Ultra Demain mower at Durham

He was the first ever cricket groundsman to win the Professional Groundsman of the Year in 2017 and just last year his team was named Professional Cricket Grounds Team of the Year. It is without doubt testament to the incredible job he is doing at the Emirates Riverside. To say that Vic is constantly striving for improvement is an understatement.

“I’m someone who constantly needs to be challenging himself,” he says and candidly admits to facing a number of trials throughout his five-year tenure at Durham.

“When I first came here a lot of the equipment was aging and money hasn’t particularly been forthcoming so we soldiered on with what we had,” he said.

However, Vic claims that his most recent addition of the Dennis Razor Ultra 560 fine turf mower has made a significant difference to his pitch preparations.

Before purchase, the mower was demonstrated at the Emirates Riverside and there was something in particular which caught Vic’s eye.

“The Razor Ultra has a tungsten tipped groomer reel and I’ve never really used one of these for cricket before. However, at the time I had a very good friend of mine with me who had come over from Australia to help out with the World Cup preparations. He is in golf now and told me that he uses groomer reels all the time. Needless to say, he was really impressed and so I decided to give it a go.

“It takes a lot of rubbish off the pitches such as creeping grasses and all the stuff that is lying down flat. This groomer simply flicks them all out and carries out a more thorough job than a cutting reel.”

Razor Ultra Demain mower at Durham

Superbly balanced and ideal for cricket pitches and other fine turf surfaces, the Razor Ultra features a 560mm (22in), 11 blade cutting cylinder for a perfect finish. An ultra-short wheelbase ensures easy manoeuvrability and excellent performance, even on undulating surfaces. The Dennis Razor Ultra encompasses the simple ‘no tools required’ click height adjusters for quick and easy operation, a feature which Vic is particularly impressed with.

“It is so easy to adjust the height of cut with the simple click adjustor – half a mm here or half a mm there, depending on requirements, and it is not a question of running for the spanners or any other tools.

“I’ve been working with Dennis for as long as I’ve been in the industry and they have never once let me down.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK. You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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Win at winter maintenance

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Win at winter maintenance: With the winter season upon us, it’s important to keep golf course machinery up to scratch and capable of dealing with the challenges colder weather brings.

With Royal Norwich Golf Club’s new course in its first winter, estates manager Peter Todd, with 30 years of experience in the industry, explains why winter maintenance is so important.

Win at winter maintenance

“Golf is now very much a sport which is played 365 days a year,” he says. “It used to be that winter would signal a break in the level of activity, but more and more golfers want to enjoy golfing throughout the year and make the most of their membership. And their expectations of the course don’t change just because the weather has.

“In order to keep standards high, you have to keep your machinery in top notch condition and paying attention to parts maintenance is your first point of call in order to do that.”

It’s well known that the winter season provides many challenges for greenkeepers. For one, cutting turf in wet conditions makes it more difficult to get a perfect finish. So, sharpening cutting unit blades in winter is essential, says Peter.

“With wet grass and the increase in earthworm castings in the autumn and winter, it becomes more difficult to keep blades sharp,” he says. “Although you need to make sure your blades are sharp throughout the year to keep quality consistent, the winter season brings that more into focus. Plus, not cutting cleanly will increase the risk and spread of disease in your turf – so that’s an added reason to ensure the proper maintenance of your machinery parts in the winter.”

With a blade for all seasons, choosing Toro guarantees not only a perfect fit but one carefully crafted to suit specific turf needs. For example, the ‘Atomic’ blades are what’s best later in winter, perfect for mulching up leaves or for use with a recycling deck to mulch the grass.

The cold weather can also have an effect on machinery starting systems, says Peter. “Engines will take longer to start up in the cold and checking batteries and electrics, changing the oil and cleaning blocked air filters will save you time in the long run. Switching to new tyres to ensure you have improved grip in the face of unforgiving ground conditions as well as keeping a stock of replacement parts will ensure productivity remains high.”

However, just as preparing the turf for winter is a year-round endeavour similarly so is machinery maintenance says Peter. “There is a tendency to push the majority of machinery maintenance into the off season when there are fewer jobs to do around the course and cutting frequency has decreased, and while it does provide the time to do the machine’s ‘MOT’ if you like and a full service and deep clean, you’ll never regret paying attention to your machinery and parts maintenance throughout the year.”

Peter concludes: “Keeping on top of general maintenance ensures your machines are in the best possible condition. It can be tempting to cut corners when it comes to preventative service work, but breakdowns and downtime are more expensive and well-maintained kit tends to be trouble-free. In an ideal world maintenance should always be done as per the machinery manufacturer’s instructions in order to keep standards high.”

To stock up on Toro Parts or for winter machinery maintenance advice, customers can get in touch with their local genuine Toro parts dealer or service centre or contact Reesink via reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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