Tag Archive for: Best

Knapsack sprayer best practice

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Knapsack sprayer best practice: A new initiative between leading land-based training body Lantra and sprayer specialists Hozelock-Exel aims to raise operator awareness of the mechanics of knapsack sprayers to improve performance and longevity of equipment.

Raising operator awareness of the importance of sprayer maintenance is a key priority for both Lantra and Hozelock-Exel in what is a drive to reverse the throwaway culture endemic in the industry.

Knapsack sprayer best practice

Knapsack sprayer best practice

Units available to trainers include the Berthoud 16l capacity Vermorel 2000 Comfort, the 20l Cooper Pegler CP3 Evolution and giant telescopic lances, particularly helpful for arb applications.

Robert Tabor, Chief Operating Officer for Lantra Awards, stressed the importance of maintenance to the effectiveness of spraying and sprayer lifetimes: “It’s only by working closely with industry experts, including manufactures like Hozelock, that we’re able keep in touch with current industry requirements and trends and tailor our training appropriately.

“Our Instructors are key in ensuring relevant industry comment is fed into our development process.  Discussions between our Instructor, Doug Price, and Allan of Hozelock, have highlighted an opportunity for potentially including a maintenance module to some of sprayer courses – a great example of effective partnership in practice”

Continuing the theme, Hozelock UK National Account Manager Allan Wainwright said: “Sprayer lifetimes can be considerably extended by operators ensuring they complete checks regularly, especially before storing sprayers for winter and preparing them for work in spring.

“Contractors should avoid viewing professional sprayers as items disposable as soon as there’s a hitch. The more operators know about how sprayers work, the more likely they are to be able to diagnose and rectify any functionality issues.”

Hozelock-Exel is committed to a programme of product support for trainers and instructors nationwide to extend knowledge of knapsack and compression sprayers.

Lantra instructor Doug Price commented: “As a freelance instructor, constantly moving from place to place, I can feel a bit isolated. But the background support I receive by being part of the Lantra team makes me feel less of a `lone wolf`.

“Their industry links are invaluable,” he added, “and this latest initiative with Hozelock-Exel is a prime example of the backing Lantra provide and the mutual respect both have for each other’s brand.

“As an instructor, I’m excited with the link-up and am only too happy to promote such reliable and effective knapsack sprayers.I look forward to christening mine soon.”

Allan concluded: “I believe that Lantra’s network of fully qualified trainers will be able to inject know-how of sprayer function in a way that will allow students to engage more completely with what are vital products in the groundscare sector.”

www.lantra.co.uk

www.cooper-pegler.com

www.berthoud.fr/en/

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The best machines for scrubland maintenance

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The best machines for scrubland maintenance: Scrublands are an extremely valuable habitat to many species, with the small patches of nettles and brambles, and the more densely packed young trees and gorse bushes, offering food and shelter.

Technically described as a ‘successional habitat’, scrub is temporary and transitions from one type of habitat to another. Despite this transitory nature, though, scrubs do require an element of maintenance to keep the area under control.

The best machines for scrubland maintenance

The best machines for scrubland maintenance

Preparing for scrubland maintenance

Before any scrubland maintenance can be done, preparation is essential for maintaining the area effectively and safely. A site survey should be conducted to ascertain what wildlife is present in the scrubland, allowing those carrying out the work to be mindful of these habitats. It’s also important to keep a variety of old and young scrub, to ensure variety and diversity is provided, making it appealing to a wider range of species.

When managing scrublands, it’s also important to maintain a direct link to surrounding habitats as this allows species to explore the landscape. Invasive species such as Japanese knotweed and rhododendron should also be controlled, as they have very little value for wildlife and will happily take over the site if allowed, causing more problems in the future.

Using a brushcutter on scrubland

There are a range of techniques that can be employed to control scrub when necessary, the most popular, of course, being the use of a brushcutter. These powerful machines are ideal for cutting through overgrown bushes and fields and for clearing through dense scrub. Billy Goat’s range of brushcutters have heavy-duty spindles, strong engines and ergonomic controls which make them easy to use in even the harshest environments, with a different model available for a variety of requirements.

The BC2600HEBB BC Series Pivoting Deck brushcutter has been engineered to glide over uneven terrain, like scrub, as its pivoting brush deck hugs the ground for a closer cut. Its improved traction also keeps the weight of the machine firmly on its extra wide tyres, helping to make user manoeuvrability as easy as possible. The machine also boasts a Tuff Torq™ variable hydrostatic transmission that features a fully automatic Enhanced Tractions Control (ETC), offering a superior traction in wet or uneven conditions and can cut saplings and brush at a rate of an acre per hour.

For those looking for a fixed deck, Billy Goat’s BC2600ICM BC Series Fixed Deck brushcutter is a great option as it provides excellent stability in deep vegetation. Powered by a Honda engine, the mechanical transaxle – which features three speeds forward and one reverse – is ideal for clearing meadows and fields or cutting paths and trails wherever dense brush and weeds present a clean-up challenge. The heavy-duty blade spindle is reinforced on four sides, so it can tackle even the toughest cutting conditions, including thick bushes, grass and weeds over 180cm tall, and saplings up to 5cm diameter.

For larger scrubland areas, the BCR3626BVECE 4WD Outback Rider is the ultimate brushcutter as it has been designed with a low centre of gravity, combined with a four-wheel drive system that enables it to tackle those hard-to-reach places that traditional machines are unable to reach. The spacious platform also provides sufficient space and operator comfort whilst the heavy-duty mower deck is equipped with swing-back cutter blades that swing away when accidental contact is made with solid objects. As well as protecting wildlife, these features also help protect the mower deck and cutter blades from accidental damage.

Whether it’s low level or extensive scrubland maintenance, Billy Goat has a range of brush cutters that make managing scrublands safe and easy.

Billy Goat products are available nationwide through Henton & Chattell’s dealer network. For more information and to see videos demonstrating their performance visit www.billygoat.co.uk.

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Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

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Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’: Coombe Wood Golf Club in Kingston Upon Thames is reaping the benefits of a tailored turf management programme from ICL and a dedicated greenkeeping team – according to Course Manager Laurence Fennemore.

“I knew the course needed a lot of work when I joined, but I saw it as an opportunity,” said Laurence. “It was a chance to test myself and put my name on the map. It helps having a great team around me too.”

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

Laurence always wanted to be a Greenkeeper – ever since embarking on work experience at a local golf club at the age of 15. He has been an apprentice, a deputy and now he finds himself in the top seat at Coombe Wood Golf Club – which he admitted is not without its challenges.

“It is like managing two different courses,” he said. The top half of the course consists of 10 very gravelly holes and the lower half, holes 11-18, is on clay which hold a lot of water. As soon as I came here in 2019, we had a very wet winter, and the lower half of the course wasn’t open at all.

“I found that the grass had died off on the fairways and had been overrun with weeds and there was quite a lot of disease on the greens.”

Laurence explained it was at this point that he got in touch with ICL.

“My old Course Manager worked with an ICL turf management programme, and I saw the successful results from that first hand. With this in mind I got in contact with ICL to see how they could help me out.”

Matt Nutter, ICL Technical Area Sales Manager, worked with Laurence to put a specific programme together for a full season that was within his budget. “We needed to focus on the greens and fairways and take into consideration that it is a very wet site, without any irrigation,” said Matt. “The aim was to apply some controlled release granular fertilisers as base feeds; get some good growth and give the golfers a course that they could use.”

Starting with the greens, the programme first saw Laurence apply Greenmaster Pro-Lite Turf Tonic 8-0-0 – a micro-granular fertiliser before going onto a fortnightly tank-mix consisting of Greenmaster Liquid CalMag, Vitalnova Stressbuster, Primo Maxx II plant growth regulator and Syngenta’s Ryder turf pigment. As part of the programme, Laurence also relies on monthly applications of Vitalnova SeaMax liquid seaweed extract and H2Pro TriSmart wetting agent.

“The greens have seen a big improvement and there is a lot more grass coverage,” said Laurence. “Primo Maxx II is controlling the growth and we are not taking large amounts of clippings off every time we cut; we have a nice tighter sward, and Ryder has really helped visually – it gives the turf a fantastic green colour.”

Matt was in agreement and added that he feels that the tank-mix has been integral to the results on the greens: “This mix is so consistent,” he said. “You don’t get a massive flush of growth and you don’t see the colour dipping off – you get the full 14 days out of it until it is ready for the next application.”

When it came to the fairways, Laurence applies Sportsmaster CRF Mini fertiliser and monthly applications of H2Pro AquaSmart wetting agent.

“The plan was to get moisture in the ground and to make the most of the wet in the spring,” he said. “AquaSmart at 10L/ha every four weeks from March until June really helped to keep enough water in the ground when the dry spells came in August and September. As a result, we didn’t lose any grass coverage.”

Without any irrigation, Laurence was forced to apply AquaSmart when it rained and that meant that he had to be flexible.

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

“We had the plans and everything in place but if it didn’t rain on the day I wanted to apply AquaSmart, then I needed to apply it as close to that day, within the four week window, as possible. This often meant coming in on my days off, but it was worth it because we have a nice even growth now and the moisture meter readings are proving that we have a high percentage of water being retained in the fairways.”

Buoyed by the successful results, Matt is now devising a new programme with some additions and tweaks. In the meantime, Laurence is not the only one to be impressed at Coombe Wood.

“The members are very happy with many commenting that it is the best it has been in decades,” said Laurence. “It is reassuring to have ICL and Matt on-board – I am always asking for suggestions and he is happy to talk it through and give me his opinion.

“It’s great to be able to bounce ideas off one another and the fact that I can have a tailored maintenance programme to suit my budget is invaluable.

“I would also like to add that my team have worked incredibly hard to turn the course around. Some of their practices have really maximised the results of the ICL programme.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Only the best will do for Woodlawn

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Only the best will do for Woodlawn: Woodlawn – a garden and lawn maintenance company in Northern Ireland, insist on providing the best service to their customers, and it is for this reason that it has invested in a brand-new fleet of Etesia pedestrian mowers. 

Formed in 2014 by Aaron Brownlee and Allen Davey, Woodlawn provides a wide range of landscaping services to private and commercial customers around Carrickfergus, Whitehead, Ballycarry, Jordanstown and surrounding areas in Northern Ireland.

Only the best will do for Woodlawn

Only the best will do for Woodlawn

Over recent years the company has seen incredible growth year-on-year – which can be attributed to the professionalism and high standard of work carried out by the Woodlawn team.

Owners Aaron and Allen, ever the perfectionists, admit to keeping a close eye on the turf machinery market to monitor any technological advancements. However, they claim that it was a chance demonstration which made it incredibly difficult to ignore the Etesia brand.

“RD Mechanical, an Etesia dealer in Northern Ireland, contacted us and said they had lots of exciting new equipment in stock,” said Aaron. “We were asked if we wanted to have a demonstration and that was when we first came across the Etesia Hydro 80 ride-on mower.

It was the one machine which really stood out and it was then that we realised just how good Etesia technology was.”

“After starting with the Hydro 80, we then went on to explore other Etesia mowers,” added Allen. “We concluded that Etesia was the way forward. Ultimately, we want to provide the absolute best service for our customers and that means that we have to use the very best equipment – that is why we have decided to switch all of our equipment over to Etesia.”

After reporting great results from the Hydro 80, Aaron and Allen decided to invest in a new fleet of Etesia pedestrian mowers consisting of four PRO 46 PHTS3’s and the BIOCUT 53 ME53C – the ultimate mulching mower which ensures a quick, clean and environmentally-friendly cut.

The PHTS3 is a single speed self-propelled mower which follows the same concept of the ground-breaking PRO46 range of pedestrian mowers which were first launched in the early 1990’s. The PHTS3 features an Xenoy cutting deck for increased strength, shear washer crank protection, individual height of cut adjuster, a new 22mm handlebar design, the latest Honda GCV170 engine and is complete with an 80-litre grass box and a rear deflector as standard.

The mower provides outstanding collection performance, even if the grass is long and wet – something that Etesia has prided itself on over the past 30 years. One main feature of the PHTS3 is the ‘one cut’ principle. This means the grass is only cut once before being sent to the grass box. The benefits of this are reduced power consumption from fast deck material ejection and secondly, as it is not multi-chopped, the grass does not stick to the cutting deck in the same way as multi-cut grass does – preventing unwanted blockages.

During peak season, the team at Woodlawn could be carrying out anywhere between 30-50 cuts per day with the Etesia mowers – and Aaron and Allen believe that the mowers give them a certain peace of mind.

“We are using these machines every single day for hours on end and we know that they will never let us down – they really are an all-round mower,” said Aaron. “They are versatile, robust, and for me, the best feature is that you can cut and collect in all weather – even in damp conditions.”

“The weight to power ratio is incredible,” added Allen. “They are so easy to manoeuvre and we lift them in and out of vans, down steps, up steps, on and off trailers all the time – they are just so lightweight but also offer performance of the highest quality.

“We feel that we made the right decision in switching our fleet over to these mowers – Etesia is definitely the way forward.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk.

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

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ISEKI’s best year yet

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ISEKI’s best year yet: In what has been a turbulent year worldwide with the COVID-19 pandemic, ISEKI UK has been full steam ahead developing the dealer network further and with exciting new products released recently, plus more planned for 2021, things are certainly looking exciting for the compact tractor and mower manufacturer. 

Among some of the developments is the further increase of dealerships, two of these being; Gammies operating out of their Forfar depot in Angus Scotland, and Chandlers covering Befordshire up to North Lincolnshire.  Alongside these businesses Glyn Lloyd & Sons in Wales, Youngs Machinery also in Scotland at Kilmarnock and FISCO Farm & Garden Machinery, who’s depot is based in Wakefield, also joined the ISEKI dealer family.

ISEKI's best year yet

ISEKI’s best year yet

Commenting on the announcement David Withers Managing Director of ISEKI UK said; “we are really excited to have all these new dealers on board with us to help continue to grow our market share. All dealerships have a great following in their area’s and we expect to see significant growth from our partnerships together”.

The change has also delighted Les Gammie who shared; “we have been selling similar products for many years with a wide range of customer’s so we are really looking forward to working with ISEKI to build on this further.  In the short time we have been with ISEKI we have been really pleased with the focus on our core market, the build quality and innovative features of the products are clearly superior to all the other products on the market”.

Further down the British Isles, the large established agricultural and vehicle dealer with seven depots, Chandlers Farm Equipment has also joined the ISEKI family.  Commenting on the recent appointment Gavin Pell, managing director said; “Chandlers are very pleased to have been appointed Iseki dealers. This excellent quality range of compact tractors, and diesel powered ride-on mowers will complement our professional groundscare range, and be supplied by our team of Groundscare Specialists from Belton, Horncastle, Spilsby, Holbeach, Barnack, Lutterworth, Shefford & Southam. We look forward to working with the team at Iseki to support our customers with this excellent range. Our Groundscare Sales Manager – Les Butters will be stocking the full range of Iseki products across our depots, along with running demonstration equipment which will be available to see on your farm, site, garden, sports field or parkland – with a machine suitable for every application”.

2020 has certainly thrown some unexpected changes to the way we do business this year and one thing that proved hugely successful was the demonstration videos produced during the first lockdown, dealers were reporting many sales direct off the back of these with customers finding all the information invaluable when searching for new machinery.  Commenting further David Withers said; “due to more people working from home and spending more time at their properties customers were looking for quality built machinery to assist in these tasks, the sales of our sub compact tractor TXGS24 with all its attachments has proved incredibly popular, this alongside the renowned SXG range of cut and collect mowers has made for a busy year.

“Contractors and business have also been looking at more reliable and efficient ways of mowing, our range of SF outfront mowers has been further developed this year, offering not only the rotary cut but teaming up with Muething we can now offer the ultimate combination of flail cutting and superior collection, or scarify and collect.

“With a raft of new machines being launched in 2021 ISEKI is looking forward to an exciting and once again rather different year.”

For further information on the full ISEKI range of Mowers and Tractors please visit www.iseki.co.uk or call 01473 599266.

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