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Allett At The Mower Shop

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Allett At The Mower Shop: It’s been almost thirty years since Steve Bartle set up The Mower Shop and over twenty years of which the company has been an Allett Mower dealer.

The dealership based in Northamptonshire is the largest of its kind in the Midlands and is just a hop off the M1 Motorway at Watford Gap.  Catering for both the domestic and professional turfcare markets, The Mower Shop has seen the natural progression from selling the old Bosch Suffolk Punch to the superior Allett version for today’s consumer. The bigger Allett machines are sold to customers with large houses and gardens, and private estates. The business has grown vastly over the years, now with ten staff, but prides itself on still providing a personal service.

On the sports side, sales of Allett machines are made for use on bowling greens, cricket and football pitches, complementing the professional services The Mower Shop offers for larger mowers.

Allett At The Mower Shop

“We have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Allett,” says Steve, “they are nice people to deal with and their interest doesn’t stop with us. They are keen to know where a mower is going, who the customer is and how they can help ensure the customer experience with their mowers is the best. We’re also keen on the development of battery power and at the moment Allett are the only ones producing cylinder mowers that are battery powered, with their Liberty range.”

Powered by Lithium Ion batteries the Allett Liberty mowers offer the convenience of cordless mowing, low noise and a greener alternative for mowing the lawn. There are currently three Allett battery mowers, two of which are self-propelled, with cutting widths of 12”, 14”, and 17”. The Liberty 43 takes ALL the cartridges in the Allett range for additional lawncare tasks, making it the most popular in the battery powered range. A fully charged battery allows for up to 600m2 of lawn to be mowed or up to 40 minutes mowing for just a few pennies per charge.

Allett Mowers 01889 271503

For more information, visit: www.allett.co.uk

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New Toro Deal At Moor Hall

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New Toro Deal At Moor Hall: The latest fleet of machinery at Moor Hall Golf Club has been curated to bring the club the latest technological developments, tackle particular environmental considerations and make specific improvements.

Course manager Wayne Ganning at the club based in Sutton Coldfield created a wish list and with the help of Reesink Turfcare and dealer Redtech Machinery now has a fleet he can rely on to produce results, make savings and implement a more responsible course management programme.

New Toro Deal At Moor Hall

The fleet features two of Toro’s latest UK launches – the brand new GreensPro 1260 and the GeoLink Precision Spray System, the industry’s first turf-based spray system – and 15 greens, tees and roughs mowers, top dressers, aerators and UTVs vehicles.

Wayne says: “Despite being a 100 percent Toro club, this is actually the first fleet we’ve brought in. Our machinery replacement programme for the last decade has seen us bring in a couple of new machines a year, but this year I presented my colleagues Jon Lewis at Reesink and Graham Hall at Redtech with plan of what I wanted to achieve with the course and they pulled out all of the stops to make sure I got what I needed.”

In opting for the GeoLink, Moor Hall was one of the first clubs in the country to reap the benefits of precision spraying. GPS technology and a single nozzle level control means application is accurate to within 10mm. The system automatically turns individual sprinklers on and off based on the machine’s exact location and the boundaries set, and thus virtually eliminates waste. Wayne says of this decision: “We are making a concerted effort to be more environmentally friendly in our approach to course management. The GeoLink is a fantastic and effective way to do this. Not only do we make a difference to the amount of chemicals we’re putting on the ground, but there are significant savings to be made when there is far less wastage.”

Among the many technological improvements in the GreensPro 1260 is a hydraulic drive system. This replaces the hydro and chain drive and eliminates leaks and potential contamination of the grass as well as reducing the amount of maintenance required with chain drive systems. Wayne says this is already proving to be “more reliable and easier for the team to use”.

As for the rest of the fleet, the Groundsmaster 4700-D is cutting the roughs with two more units than the club’s previous mower and that’s making a big difference in terms of productivity, while the SandPro 5040 has won Wayne the thanks of the six-strong greenkeeping team: “The extra hydraulics on the front of the machine is making a huge impact on raking especially in inclement weather. It’s certainly saving our backs!”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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New John Deere Fleet At Abridge

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New John Deere Fleet At Abridge: Based in 160 acres of beautiful Essex parkland with stunning views of the countryside which can stretch as far as London on a clear day, Abridge Golf Club at Stapleford Tawney near Romford describes itself as combining traditional values with a modern outlook.

Course manager Geoff Smith welcomes what he also describes as a ‘new dawn’ at the club, with recent developments including a third successive John Deere course maintenance equipment fleet deal with local dealer P Tuckwell Ltd at Ardleigh, near Colchester. This is based on a John Deere Financial operating lease with PowerGard Protection Plus warranty and maintenance cover for the duration of the lease, based on simple monthly payments.

New John Deere Fleet At Abridge

This deal has been complemented by the arrival of a new teaching professional and a new golf club fitting centre installed by Golf Principles of Basingstoke, as well as plans for a redesign of the clubhouse plus an overhaul of the practice facilities and driving range. A new full wall-to-wall Perrot state of the art irrigation system, the first one of its kind in the UK, is also being installed by contractors M J Abbott this winter.

“It’s a really exciting time for the club,” says Geoff Smith. “With this new investment, the first for several years, we are aiming to bring the course back to Open Qualifier standards and keep ahead of the competition. The only real asset we have is the golf course, so it needs to be looked after.

“Members can already see what we’ve achieved, and our board members believe the course is the best it’s ever looked. A neighbouring club’s greens chairman even said that he’d heard Abridge is in absolutely magnificent condition.”

With this third package deal, 100 per cent of the equipment has been leased compared to just 40 per cent with the club’s first agreement. “The terms of the deal and the service package have improved each time, and with this latest investment we know exactly where we are budget wise for the next five years, with no hidden costs,” says Geoff.

The package covers 26 John Deere machines, including PrecisionCut and TerrainCut walk-behind and ride-on mowers for the greens, tees, approaches and rough, compact tractors and a front loader, Gator utility vehicles, an amenity turf sprayer and a bunker rake, plus ancillary equipment.

“We looked at all the main brands and had machines on demonstration – all of my staff get to try them and report back on their likes and dislikes,” says Geoff. “Our mechanic Paul Aylett, deputy course manager Ben Scrivener and I then evaluate the staff’s findings and look at price options and back-up issues.

“For us it all comes back to the dealer and the service we’ve historically had and continue to get from Tuckwell and sales manager Neil Peachey. All the advice, help and extra support really count – it’s a good relationship, and it works well for both sides. Our machines do a lot of work and if Paul cannot solve things, I need to know that someone from the supplier can be with us within 24 hours.”

Geoff Smith also says he’s very impressed with the new John Deere 9009A rough mower, which provides much better definition around the course. “When it was first demonstrated I didn’t want it, I thought it was too big, but Neil said he’d take it back if I really didn’t like it – and it stayed!

“I like the new 220SL walk-behind greens mowers too – we hand cut five out of seven days in high season, using lights and front brushes, and they do a very good job. The new A Model mowers with the TechControl display on the CommandArm are great as well, allowing every machine to achieve the same consistent finish across the course.”

For more information, visit: www.JohnDeere.co.uk

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New G860’s At Wolves

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New G860’s At Wolves: A fresh strategy devised by the owners of Wolverhampton Wanderers has led to the football club purchasing three new Dennis G860 cylinder mowers.

It’s an exciting time for the West Midlands based club; when the new owners took control last year part of their strategy was to place a big emphasis on the style of football they wanted Wolves to play. As a result they were committed to investing in the surface at Molineux Stadium.

New G860's At Wolves

A state-of-the-art Desso Grassmaster hybrid pitch, which is used by top clubs across Europe, was installed shortly after the new owners’ arrival. Secondly, it was time to look at upgrading the turf maintenance machinery.

“When the option came to invest in new machinery, we jumped at the chance of going back to Dennis,” says Anthony Parker, deputy head groundsman. “Certainly for me, I’ve come from a private school background where I have been brought up on Dennis machines. We also used to use the Dennis Premier here on our old fibre elastic pitch. However, the Desso Grassmaster is renowned for being a bit firmer so we decided to go for the Dennis G860 when the new pitch was installed.”

Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls for – throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive. The mower also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion.

The Dennis G860 also features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks. With a simple one-minute changeover, users have the option of fitting thirteen different types of cassettes including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, and slitters as well as six, eight or eleven bladed cutting cylinders.

“We purchased three G860’s with the full range of cassettes which gives us so much versatility,” says Anthony. “We use them on a daily basis. The verticutting unit is used quite regularly to clean out the surface and we really see the benefits from this. The brushes are a great option too and we use the machines at both the stadium and the training ground.

“With three mowers we now double cut on match days and the G860’s are perfect for presentation and getting a quality finish every time. They create the ideal pitch suitable for how the owners want the team to play.

“Dennis mowers are simply renowned for being a quality piece of kit and the equipment speaks for itself. They are really user friendly and since we’ve had them all of the team have been really impressed.”

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

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park: Several hundred thousand pounds was spent by Doncaster Knights on a brand new main pitch at Castle Park over the summer and it’s proving to be money well spent.

“We are into February now and the pitch is still looking good in the areas where you traditionally get some wear and tear despite Doncaster Phoenix also playing on it,” said head groundsman Lee Blagden.

“Whereas with a traditional grass pitch the grass roots are just below the surface the roots on our pitch go into a synthetic matrix mat and that makes them much stronger and less prone to damage.

“Everyone loves playing on a well-grassed pitch at the start of the season and what the new pitch – which is 100 per cent natural grass – is designed to give you is a similar surface throughout the season even though you do lose some of the grass.

“Due to the fact that we open the pitch up with a machine called a procore, which goes down five inches, it helps to avoid compacting the soil and softens the blow when players are tackled and hit the ground hard.

“The work we do also helps players’ boots dig in a bit more and gives them a better footing. With the pitch also being level and having no ruts it should help reduce ankle and knee injuries.

“We’ve been lucky with the weather so far this winter. We’ve had the rain but because of the new drainage system, which is absolutely fantastic, the rain drains away very quickly and we’ve had no puddles or soft areas.”

This week’s weather, as was the case in late December, has posed different problems.

“Because it is 100 per cent grass you have exactly the same situation as with a traditional pitch if you’ve got frost,” said Lee.

“As we’ve done in recent years we cover the pitch with covers, which we’ve done this week, if frost is forecast.

“The covers we use will generally protect against frost down to around minus 5.

“We also use them if snow is forecast.”

Although the end of the season is almost three months away, Lee and his team don’t intend to let the grass grow under their feet whilst doing just that.

“We are looking at doing an over-seed later this month at a time when the team haven’t got a home game which will probably take about two weeks to come through,” he said.

“We use a dimple seeder and that opens the ground up and lets you put a couple of seeds in and then it covers it to keep the birds away.

“We’ve already started to see some growth when we had a few warmer days towards the back end of last month.

“If I come across any areas showing wear during the winter months, and the weather is warm enough, then because of the new sprinkler system we’ve installed under the pitch we can put some new seed on the surface and it will germinate and grow.”

Although Lee and his staff are delighted with the way the pitch is looking, he says there is more work involved than with a traditional pitch.

“I would say there is double the work,” he claimed. “For a start you’ve got to make sure that the pitch is clean both after training and after matches.

“We’ve some mowers which are like a basic home mower and we go up and down and clear all the debris (old grass, mud) off the pitch so all the root base and leaf is all clean

“With it being a sand-based pitch you’ve got to try and keep your sand and plant clean.”

Lee and his staff are also charged with the upkeep of the five other pitches on the Castle Park site used by the junior section and the various senior teams below Championship and Midlands Premier level.

Knights also train on the outside pitches during the week in addition to two 40-minute sessions on the main pitch (weather permitting) and the weekly captain’s run on a Friday.

Doncaster RLFC have also used the facilities, though not the first team pitch, during the last couple of months for pre-season training

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