Tag Archive for: Celebrate

PSD Groundscare celebrate roadshow

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PSD Groundscare celebrate roadshow: Leading specialist importer of Groundscare machinery, PSD Groundscare, is celebrating a highly successful 3-day Dealer Training and Innovations Roadshow, which took place at 3 locations across the country.

The “hands on” dealer training was led by the PSD team and supported by manufacturers, offering dealer sales teams the opportunity to see for themselves first-hand the extensive professional machinery range and experience features and benefits available to their customers. The training sessions covered both new and existing key products including AS Motor- a new range of E-Power commercial battery equipment as well as their extensive range of high grass mowers including the popular AS 940 remote control brushcutter.  Eliet- range of Green Waste Shredders and new Turfcare equipment including scarifiers and Overseeders. Koppl –2 new commercial battery powered walk behind power units c/w with attachments as well as the flagship Koppl Crawler (remote control tracked) power unit suitable for hard-to-reach areas or rough terrain.

PSD Groundscare celebrate roadshow

PSD Groundscare celebrate roadshow

Stuart Mercer, Sales Director for PSD said:

“The aim of the roadshow was to bring our dealer partners fully up to speed with product developments and offer the required training to ensure that they are well prepared for next season, with the opportunity to interact direct with our suppliers.

Each event was designed to enhance their understanding of our brands and create awareness of the opportunities they present to grow commercial sales. For example, we wanted to show our dealers that professional users can now benefit from the latest battery developments; we’re now offering high performing E-Power solutions from AS Motor capable of cutting long grass without compromising on performance as well as the 2 new models of E-Power machines from Koppl. The multi-attachment implement carriers are suitable for attachments including sweepers, weed removal and mowing.”

The roadshow followed hot on the heels of a record breaking Saltex, where PSD Groundscare, the exclusive UK distributor for European manufacturers AS Motor, Eliet, Koppl & TS Industrie, more than doubled its stand space in order to give visitors an even greater opportunity to see the latest product developments for the professional user.

Stuart Mercer continued:

“At PSD, we always pride ourselves on offering our dealers support of the highest level and this includes our training. Last year we turned to online training during the pandemic but it’s great to be able to get everyone back together in a safe manner.”

“We’re absolutely delighted with how well the roadshow went. We had a great turn out from dealers and it was wonderful to see people face to face once again and get back to doing what we do best – showcasing leading innovations to the industry and training and supporting our dealer network.

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SALTEX to celebrate 75 years

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SALTEX to celebrate 75 years: 75 years of groundscare equipment will be on display at SALTEX’s 75th anniversary show, which takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on November 3 and 4.

The new show feature, entitled a History of Groundscare Equipment (stand C065), will display vintage and classic groundscare machinery and tools covering 75 years of the profession. With so many machines being showcased, it will certainly offer a nostalgic walk down memory lane for visitors.

SALTEX to celebrate 75 years

SALTEX to celebrate 75 years

Vintage enthusiasts will be in for a treat as the collections will include a wide array of mowers, sprinklers, rain gauges, sorrel rollers, drag brushes and soil testers.

The feature is being staged by the Hall & Duck Trust which is an internationally recognised organisation, preserving all manner of artefacts from lawn mower development throughout the years. With a collection comprising of over 1000 machines dating back to the 1830s, the Hall & Duck Trust is a respected authority on the history of groundscare equipment, and founders Andrew and Mike will happily take the time to talk all things mowers at SALTEX 2021.

Furthermore, the history of SALTEX and Grounds Management Association will be outlined throughout the two-day event on the GMA Hub.

After an enforced year off due to Covid, this year’s SALTEX celebrations promise to be particularly special. Have you registered yet?

Pre-registration to SALTEX 2021 is essential this year. Attendees must print off their badges for entry to the show.

The safety of all our exhibitors, partners, visitors, contractors, and staff is our highest priority. For more information on Covid safety measures please visit https://gmasaltex.co.uk/covid-safety-measures/

Follow SALTEX on Twitter @GMA_SALTEX and Facebook – www.facebook.com/GMASALTEX

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Auto Roller celebrate 100 years

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Auto Roller celebrate 100 years: Auto-Roller – the world famous cricket roller is celebrating its 100 year anniversary, the first design finalised in 1921, manufactured and delivered all over the world ever since. An iconic design that still continues to be the choice of the world’s top groundsmen, from village cricket clubs to international grounds.

History:

Auto-Roller began its life as a product of the Auto-Mower Company (of Norton St.Philip, Bath, Somerset) founded by G Grist in 1920 upon leaving the army in 1918.

Auto Roller celebrate 100 years

Auto Roller celebrate 100 years

Back in the 1920’s the first Auto-Rollers were made from castings (supplied by Dennings of Chard) and bolted together, the design (finalised in 1921) has somewhat evolved since. The earliest Auto-Rollers can be identified by looking at the hand of the steering worm spur gears as these were used to get the steering to work the right way! The original engines were water cooled petrol engines, mainly JA Prestwich Engines.

A variety of rollers were manufactured for a number of applications, including hockey pitches, and as modified tractors rolling airfields.

Following on from this the Mower manufacturing rights were bought in 1946 by Ransome, Sims and Jefferies and the remainder of the business (including The Auto-Roller) was sold to TH White, Devizes in 1968.

At their time at TH White (Frome, Somerset) several types of engines were used; Briggs and Stratton petrol Engines or a Lister diesel Engines, eventually evolving to using a Kubota air cooled Engine (OC95) with just one fitted with power steering.

In 1995 Autoguide Equipment purchased the Auto-Roller Business from TH White thus keeping the Auto-Roller manufacturing and its history in Wiltshire. The traditions set by Auto Mower and followed by TH White are still being followed by us to this day.

The Auto-Rollers history with Autoguide from 1995:

  • We have always manufactured the Auto-Rollers with power steering and hydrostatic transmission
  • Due to some locations having a number of pitches some distance apart, we designed the roller to include a Twin Cylinder water cooled diesel engine, this made the journey that much faster.
  • USB Socket has been added (for the modern world)
  • The ECB guidelines for rolling pitches show that our standard rollers achieve the optimum mass/width factor for all pitch performance levels and we supply the Auto-Roller worldwide to Test Wickets as well as at County and Club level.
  • All Auto-Rollers now use precision ball bearings, which keep power requirement and maintenance to a minimum. The rolls are fully machined from 20mm thick steel, ensuring perfect concentricity and allowing the optimum radius at the roll edges.
  • Auto-Rollers as old as 1948 can have our repower kit fitted. This is effectively a ‘heart transplant’, giving them a new lease of life.

At Autoguide it is in our nature to always strive to look at ways we can improve design and engineering across all of our products. We have been working on concepts for our new ‘Green’ Auto-Roller which we endeavour to share with you soon!

Auto-Roller Range:

Standard Features:

Diesel Engine
Power Steering
Electric Start
Fully Hydrostatic Transmission

Up to 5mph Forward and Reverse
Tiltable steering wheel for best visibility
Bio-degradable oil

4ft Auto-Roller

Liquid cooled low emission Kubota 2 cylinder diesel engine

Smooth, quiet operation

Pre-lubricated bearings on roller shafts and precision machined rolls

Perfect pitch preparation

Full hydrostatic transmission and power steering, fully contained and run on biodegradable oil

Simple, safe and easy use

3ft Auto-Roller

Air-cooled low emission Hatz diesel engine

Easy maintainability

Smaller 3ft roll width, with no compromise to pitch preparation or ease of use

Cost effective option

Lower weight, with option of additional water ballast when in use

Towable by  suitable commercial vehicles

Our Re-Power Kit – Bringing the more mature rollers back to life!

The Re-Power Kit is an Auto-Roller specific bolt-in kit to update your existing machine. Having removed the existing engine, transmission and steering linkage, the Re-Power Kit (Hatz Diesel 9hp) simply bolts in.

The Re-power Kit can be installed by your own workshop or local engineer. Alternatively we offer a fitting service at our Wiltshire factory with the option of a complete refurbishment with shotblasting and respray of the old Roller.

Worldwide Stories:

Auto-Rollers are exported to wickets all over the world.  We have rollers on many of the Caribbean islands, In Bangladesh, and this year we shipped a gold one in our container shipment of Auto-Rollers to Australia!

There was a time when we shipped a roller to the Caribbean, bought through the foreign commonwealth office. We received a fax from the governor’s office explaining that the roller would stop after an hour’s use. We thought this could be due to the heat. It transpired that the back roll kept going round but the front roll stopped. After a series of fax exchanges we suggested that they jack up the rollers front rolls and put some grease in the grease nipples in the end of the roll shaft and roll the rolls. They hadn’t greased it for 18 months and the rolls had seized as they warmed up! That prompted us to change the design of the front rolls so they had lubricated for life ball bearings in them, which they still have to this day.

Auto-Roller travelling:  a local college has multiple pitches of which are accessed via grass slopes. The brakes were notorious for not working, this called for a redesign on the brake (whilst the hydrostatic transmission would enable control of the roller on hills) if the engine stops and the transmission fails the brake was then able to stop the roller.

In Jamaica they had to postpone a test match as they were unable to get the ground even using a single roll, they decided to buy an AutoRoller to rectify the problem – the roller was air freighted to Jamaica to arrive in the soonest possible time and to this day it would have been the fastest travelling Auto-Roller!

Edgbaston

We are proud that the Auto-Roller is the first choice of Test Cricket and were delighted that Edgbaston chose to have their new roller in gold and are the first ground in the UK to have received one.  Gary Barwell is a pleasure to work with, we enjoyed meeting the fantastic grounds team who work incredibly hard to keep the grounds pitch perfect.

It was a privilege to able to retake a photo of the same member of the team 20 years on, first on Edgbaston’s blue roller (only recently refurbished) and then on their new gold roller 20 years later.

Edgbaston have been a long standing customer of ours and we love nothing more than to see our Auto-Rollers at home on the grounds.

Centenary Celebrations

As part of our centenary celebrations we are offering to paint our newly manufactured rollers in gold at no extra charge, as well as returning back to the original front plaque on all of our rollers. Due to the personality that evolves with the life of the Auto-Rollers each roller is now named.

There will be various competitions opening up on our twitter page (@autoroller) so please follow to keep up to date with the latest information.

There is a beauty in the heritage of our Auto-Rollers, we are very proud of the prestige and design that has evolved over the years. We hold a book of serial numbers dating back to the 1940s, some rollers are still continuing to roll with our re-power kits, bringing the more mature rollers back to life.

We are holding various competitions on our twitter page @autoroller to celebrate. And if a new roller – gold or green – is of interest please don’t hesitate to get in touch 01380 850885 – www.cricketroller.co.uk

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Time to celebrate greenkeeping talent

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Time to celebrate greenkeeping talent: If there’s ever been a time when the industry needed something to look forward to and a reason to applaud greenkeeping talent, 2021 is it. And the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards is back and the way to do just that.

2020 was a tough year and there are undoubtedly so many greenkeepers who coped stoically in the face of furlough, put in the extra mile on a reduced team, used lockdown time to further their learning or just shined in adversity.

Time to celebrate greenkeeping talent

Time to celebrate greenkeeping talent

David Cole from award sponsor and Toro distributor Reesink Turfcare says: “Think back over the last year to which of your members of staff have demonstrated their mettle whether in the actual or virtual classroom or out on the course. Let’s make sure all of those young people are recognised with a nomination, give them a chance to look back on this time and remember it for something positive.

“It was hugely disappointing not to have a competition last year, but we’re determined the 32nd Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards will be even more valued, and no one should miss out because of the unforeseen pandemic. Therefore, we’re welcoming new entries for 2021 who will join the entries from the postponed 2020 event.”

It’s important to remember that it’s not just the students who benefit from winning, their nominators do too. Not only do they receive an all-expenses paid trip abroad the following year, but the winners’ success is testament to the excellent support they receive from their employers and lecturers, who Reesink and Toro are also delighted to be able to recognise.

Entries are open now for both the main and young awards. All those who entered the 2020 competition will automatically be put forward for the 2021 awards. If someone is currently 21 and has their birthday before the next application stage, they can choose whether they would like to stay in the young group or move up to the main award.

David concludes: “For 31 years the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards have supported the brightest young professionals in the UK’s greenkeeping industry and never before has there been a cancelled event. We do not plan on that being two! If the regional stage usually in July has to be held virtually, not a problem, we’re all au fait enough with Zoom now! We are confident that the September Finals can happen in a positive and engaging format and, excitingly, at a new location, yet to be revealed.”

Both employers and lecturers can make nominations. Visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk/sgoty to find out how to make a nomination into the 2021 awards.

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Team Sprayers celebrate 40 years

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Team Sprayers celebrate 40 years: British Sprayer company Team Sprayers are celebrating this year as they reach a milestone anniversary on 15th January – 40 years of manufacturing at their Ely factory in Cambridgeshire.

Team Sprayers was established by Bob Hubbard back in January 1981 after the closure of well-known company Dorman sprayers. A team of staff were recruited from the previous company bringing with them specialist skills and knowledge which were an essential building block for the newly founded company, one member of the original team still works for the business, stores manager Steve Whitehand. Utilising these skills combined with the 40 years’ experience Team has become a respected UK manufacturer supplying the Agricultural and Groundcare industries.

Team Sprayers celebrate 40 years

Team Sprayers celebrate 40 years

Team have a range of 12 different machines in the Groundcare range including, pedestrian, trailed, mounted and de-mountable options. All come with a range of options as standard and can be retro fitted with optional extras such as GPS mapping and boom section & nozzle control.

Team’s best selling Demount Pro Sprayer is popular with golf courses and comes in a range of tank sizes  of 400L, 600L and 800L and with boom options of 6m, 7m, 8m, 10m and 12m manual folding or 6-8m hydraulic folding.

Managing Director Danny Hubbard said: “We have experienced an increase in demand for our sprayers over recent years in both our agricultural and groundcare ranges which has led to investment in the expansion of the factory building, firstly to increase our production facilities and secondly to  alter the flow through the factory to improve efficiencies. Plus we have increased our outside yard space for testing and storage of the larger machines with plans to continue our expansion further over the next few years.

Team Sprayers celebrate 40 years

Team Sprayers celebrate 40 years

As a UK manufacturer with a majority customer base here in the UK, we have always had the ability to react quickly, give realistic lead times and provide an unrivalled back-up service. We have been fortunate to be able to continue production through these difficult times, but as for many businesses 2020 was a challenging year, with the uncertainty of the Brexit trade deal and the effect this could potentially have on our imports and exports and then we were thrown the Covid 19 pandemic!  Going into 2021 and our 40th year, we are hopeful that things will settle down and we are looking forward to a ‘new normal’ whatever that may be. It’s been an incredible 40 years and I look forward to seeing what the business can achieve in the future”.

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