Tag Archive for: Combo

Verti-Quake and Verti-Drain combo help Wrekin GC

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Verti-Quake and Verti-Drain combo help Wrekin GC: Like many, the team at Wrekin Golf Club have recorded extraordinary levels of rainfall over the winter of 2023/24. And yet, Course Manager Gary Turner explains that they’ve emerged with free-draining fairways, which he attributes to a single pass with their Redexim Verti-Quake. The timely purchase in the autumn has now been followed up by the delivery of a Redexim Verti-Drain 1517 to further improve aeration results and enhance drainage in other areas of the course.

Nestled at the base of the Wrekin and surrounded by both natural woodland and picturesque views, Gary is now into his 20th year at the Telford club. A lack of available resources has meant that no aeration has been conducted on the fairways for the last three or four years, which is why the delivery of the Verti-Quake 2516 by Charlies Ag & Turf in September 2023, has been hailed a ‘godsend!’

Verti-Quake and Verti-Drain combo help Wrekin GC

Verti-Quake and Verti-Drain combo help Wrekin GC

“They had begun to lay wet so we knew it would take something robust to break through those years of compaction. The budget we had at the time allowed us to purchase the 2516, which went out on the fairways almost as soon as it came through the gates and the results were astounding! We created channels at depths of 4” and transformed the fairways into the driest part of the course with just one pass.”

“The plan will be to utilise this during renovation weeks in March and September and complement the linear aeration with monthly passes of our new Verti-Drain 1517 on the fairways, as well as the greens and tees.”

The 1517 from the award-winning Redexim range offers a lightweight aeration solution with a 1.7m working width and 6” working depth – a combination that makes it a popular choice for sensitive turf areas. It’s larger size and faster operating speed compared to Gary’s previous aerator presents more effective results, in less time.

“Matt Lewis from Charlie’s delivered the Verti-Drain at the start of March and, as soon as it was dry enough, we passed over all 18 greens with 12mm solid tines, in three and a half hours less than the task previously took. A few weeks on and we can still see the holes.” Gary adds, “We plan to follow the monthly verti-draining with applications of dressing, which will bring multiple benefits to the profile and help us manage the challenges posed by mother nature!”

He concludes, “The service we’ve had from Matt and the Charlie’s team has been excellent at every stage and the machines have already proven to be the best, and most timely, purchases we’ve ever made.”

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Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC

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Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC: For the first time in four years, the players at Warrenpoint Golf Club are going into the winter on main greens, thanks to an extensive aeration programme introduced by Head Greenkeeper Matt Purcell.

It’s also no coincidence that this year, Matt purchased a Redexim Carrier and Verti-Drain® 1513 allowing the team to effectively aerate all 18 greens in as little as a day – keeping them bone dry and proving themselves as fit for year-round play.

Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC

Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC

Warrenpoint is ranked as one of the top parkland courses in Northern Ireland, situated in the heart of County Down and surrounded by the Mourne Mountains on one side and Carlingford Lough on the other. Matt heads-up a maintenance team of five and, on joining the club in late 2021, took some soil samples on the greens which highlighted the need for some ‘TLC’. “Like a lot of golf clubs in Ireland, we were previously relying on contractors to come in and aerate, but my experience from working in clubs in England means I appreciate the multiple benefits that can be brought about with regular aeration every five to six weeks.”

“After speaking to the board, we invited Ian Lauder from Redexim and local dealer Cyril Johnston in with the Redexim Carrier and Verti-Drain®, which I had trialled at a previous club. I was no-less impressed seeing it the second time around! The great thing is that the implement can be used with the Carrier or swapped onto a tractor giving you complete flexibility, and a power unit that can then conduct other operations on the greens and tees” Matt explains.

Since the combination was purchased and delivered in March this year, Matt and the team have aerated all greens once a month, along with the tees twice and specific problem areas on some of the fairways. “This set-up is just brilliant. It is faster and wider than other comparable models meaning we can complete most of our greens in four or five passes, and all 18 greens in a day. The tyres are much better as well being slick, which means we can go anywhere with it and not have to plot a specific route around the course.”

The Redexim Carrier is powered by a 31hp engine and hydrostatic transmission which lends itself to high output and ease of operation. It can work with a variety of implements such as seeders, verti-cutters and in this instance the Verti-Drain® 1513 – a lightweight 1.3m model, working with 15o of heave and to a maximum depth of 6” making it ideal for use on sensitive turf areas.

Matt adds, “Time is of the essence with everything we do on the course. Not only do we need to be aerating when the conditions suit, but when we do the operation, we want to be round as quickly as possible so that the members can play golf. With this combination, we can now do both – delivering huge improvements to playability and course condition that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the players and the club.”

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INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham

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INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham: They say ‘all good things come to those who wait’, and for the team at Durham County Cricket Club, they’ve waited almost five years for their very own INFINICUT® and UltraGroomer™ set-up!

The combination has been on the mind of Head Groundsman Vic Demain since 2017, so when funding became available, the INFINICUT® was top of the shopping list. Following delivery in March, the INFINICUT® has been living up to expectations – swiftly tackling the invasion of annual meadow grass on the club’s practice facilities.

INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham

INFINICUT® combo lands at Durham

In charge of preparing surfaces for T20, County and International Cricket, Vic keeps his eyes and ears close to the ground when it comes to new solutions to the key maintenance tasks. “We had the opportunity to use the INFINICUT® complete with UltraGroomer™ for a couple of weeks back in 2017 and were hugely impressed by it, but unfortunately until this year the funding hasn’t been available” Vic explains. Over the COVID period, four units were hired by the ECB to help with preparations for those fixtures taking place behind closed doors, with one of these now finding a new home with Vic and his team of five.

“Having been sold on the UltraGroomer™ from all those years ago, we jumped at the chance to purchase one, together with a 22” INFINICUT® FL. It was delivered just as we began to see the grass thicken up and the annual meadow grass coming through which is where this machine comes into its own.” Featuring over 80 tungsten carbide tipped blades, the UltraGroomer™ from the TMSystem™ range improves the plants immediate environment by removing Poa ingress, lateral growth and organic matter to enhance the movement of oxygen, moisture and nutrients.

“While the Poa keeps growing and seed heads are showing we’ve been conducting fortnightly runs with the UltraGroomer™ and it’s done a fantastic job. We will also be looking to use it for thinning out the sward as part of our main pitch preparations.”

The INFINICUT® also becomes Vic’s first battery powered machine, something that will be in use even more frequently when he receives his new SMARTCut™ cutting reel. “We’re excited for the INFINICUT® to become a dual-purpose machine, with it lining up to be used to cut the main square and practice areas.” Vic adds, “Through the summer we are often hosting meetings and weddings and the last thing they want in the background is noisy mowers! Where we would previously be told to turn them off, with the INFINICUT® we’ll be able to cut the grass without disturbing the guests.”

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Top Marks For Dennis Combo

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Top Marks For Dennis Combo: Ian Smith, turf consultant for St Albans School, Woollam Trust Playing Fields, uses a combination of the Dennis G860 cassette system and Razor fine turf mower to maintain the cricket pitches, and has seen excellent results from the machines.

The Woollham Trust Playing Fields are the largest development of their kind ever undertaken in a single phase in Europe. The school’s outstanding facilities include a huge pavilion, 22 winter pitches for rugby and football, an all-weather hockey pitch and 8 cricket squares. Not only is the magnificent 73 acre site shared with the Old Albanians Club but it is also the training base for Saracens Rugby Club.

Top Marks For Dennis Combo

“Standards are exceptionally high here at the school and we take our pitch preparations incredibly seriously,” said Ian. “You can imagine the situation if someone like Owen Farrell (England and Saracens rugby union player) was to turn an ankle on an uneven pitch. Of course it is great to have fabulous presentation but player safety is paramount here.”

The school boasts its own exceptional sporting teams and the cricket department, headed by former Essex CCC cricketer Mark Ilot, has always carried an excellent reputation, which is undoubtedly enhanced by the quality of the pitches.

In preparing the cricket pitches, Ian first of all uses the Dennis G860 which is the ideal machine for someone looking to complete a number of tasks with just one power unit. Featuring an interchangeable cassette system, users have the option of fitting different types of cassettes including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, and slitters.

“The reason we purchased the G860 was because of its versatility and the fact that you can have all of the different cassettes for different maintenance needs,” said Ian. “We can use it for cutting the squares, cutting the outfields, but then we can also use it to scarify. For pre-season we have a cassette which has 1mm scarifying blades so we will use that at the start of the season to thin the square a little bit. We’ve also got the new spring tine rake cassette which we also use for cricket pitch preparation.

Excellent Results From Dennis Combo

“As the pitches are drying out we use the brush cassette to flick out a lot of the older dead grass, and generally to clean them up and make the grass stand up for when it is time to cut with the Razor.”

Superbly balanced and ideal for cricket pitches and other fine turf surfaces, the Razor 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 encompasses the simple ‘no tools required’ click height adjusters for quick and easy operation, a feature which Ian is particularly fond of.

“The Razor is great because we are starting on turf that has been cut down to 12mm by the G860. With the click system of the Razor, it is very simple to change the height. Instead of having to go out with two separate mowers set at two different heights, like we were previously doing, you just use the one mower.

“In a matter of seconds we can go down from 12mm to 10mm and then you give it a couple of clicks and then you are down to 8mm and then a couple more clicks and you are down to 6mm, it’s as easy as that. No tools are required and any of the staff can use it without any problems whatsoever.

“The cutting cylinders on both mowers are as good, if not better, than anything I have used before.”

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

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