Great - Turf Matters

Tag Archive for: Great

Etesia Hydro 80 A Great Performer

March 20, 2019/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Etesia Hydro 80 A Great Performer: Inverallan Landscapes managing director, John Maxwell, has reported a number of benefits from using the Etesia Hydro 80 MKHP ride-on mower.

Established in 1998, Inverallan Landscapes is a family run business based in Stirling. Over the past 21 years the company has specialised in grounds maintenance contracting and has a large client base which includes sites such as business parks, office developments, tourist attractions, churches, nursing homes, hotels, car dealerships and residential developments.

Furthermore, its sister company Inverallan Garden Services, solely focusses on domestic gardens within a 30 mile radius.

The company also boasts ISO 14001-2015 Environmental Management and ISO 9001-2015 Quality Management Systems certifications.

Inverallan Landscapes has seen incredible growth over recent years and now has an impressive fleet of machinery which offers a solution for every grounds maintenance requirement.

John is quite particular when it comes to selecting machinery, insisting on using only equipment of the highest standard. Therefore, when he needed a new ride-on mower he was careful to ensure that it ticked all of the necessary boxes.

“I wanted a ride-on mower that was compact, light and offered excellent performance,” he said.

“We have limited space in our work vans so the machine needed to fit into the back of them, which proved to be a difficult search. We also had to consider that there are some considerably tight and awkward green spaces which we need to attend to.”

Measuring less than 1 metre wide, the Etesia Hydro 80 is easily transported in any vehicle whether it be a van or a trailer. Its compact size means that this impressive machine can pass through most gateways and its tight turning circle makes it ideal for small or awkward areas. It mows close to walls and fences and is highly manoeuvrable. Also, with its large-sized front wheels, the Etesia Hydro 80 easily overcomes all obstacles such as pavement kerbs.

It has been designed to cut and collect both long and short grass, without clogging. Add to that its compact dimensions, ease of use, hydrostatic drive and powerful 15hp twin-cylinder Kawasaki engine, and you have a highly efficient machine offering the kind of output that would easily replace three walk-behind mowers.

The Hydro 80 has been robustly built and requires minimal maintenance. Operators have access to the engine and all working parts and the hydrostatic transmission system is maintenance free. The specially coated 60 mm tubular chassis is also designed for strength and long-life.

“We have had the Etesia Hydro 80 for three seasons now and it is used mostly every day between four different vans. It is nice and light as opposed to some of our other larger equipment too. Up here the ground can be very wet and soft at times so the Hydro 80 is the ideal machine to get on and get these areas cut. We have the flexibility to mulch or pick-up the grass which is beneficial too.

“It is also brilliant when attending to large grass areas because as opposed to having two or three operators using push mowers, we can just have one person covering the whole area with the Hydro 80.

“Overall the Etesia Hydro 80 has been a great machine for us.”

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

You can also follow Etesia on Twitter @EtesiaUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth

November 27, 2018/in News, Press Release/by Colin Hoskins

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth: Great Yarmouth Racecourse has been named as the best flat course in the Racecourse Association’s prestigious grounds staff awards 2018, and Rigby Taylor’s amenity products have played a vital role.

Combined with high-class groundscare routines led by head groundsman Richard Bradley, the use of a host of products as well as continual advice and support by Rigby Taylor this year saw the Great Yarmouth team succeed with a “well-covered and great-coloured” course during a racing season that experienced the hottest summer on record.

According to Clerk of the Course, Richard Aldous, the award reflects “both the success of the grounds team’s expertise as well as the efficacy of the products” that have been used at the site for the past five years or so.

“We use a range of Rigby Taylor products to ensure the track consistently looks and performs superbly,” he says, “and we’ve been especially pleased with the combination of using the Fineturf 6-0-18 and PolyPro 25-3-15 slow-release fertilisers and Microlite Activ-8 (both 12-0-12 and 6-0-24).

“Together these have enabled us to produce a track that particularly this year has received laudatory comments from jockeys, trainers and owners.”

He continues: “We re-laid the turf on the straight in 2015 to ensure we could attract top-class horses to Great Yarmouth and to provide opportunities, particularly for horses which might go on to big festival meetings such as Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. This has certainly been the case this season and I’m in no doubt that the amenity products we use have played a significant part in that success.”

Staging 23 meeting each season on the course, from April through to October, the Great Yarmouth team utilises a year-round programme of Rigby Taylor soil testing regimes and products, including the Propel-R wetting agent, liquid seaweed, Greenor systemic herbicide, and Delta Sport granular and Microsol soluble fertilisers, as well as overseeding with the R14 100% perennial rye seed. This, says Richard, “not only germinates quickly and presents a sward that holds together excellently, but it also is very wear- and disease-tolerant”.

With expert groundscare routines coupled with regular visits from Rigby Taylor’s Technical Sales Representative Mark Keysell who, adds Richard, “is always on hand and offers an awful lot of support”, the Great Yarmouth team is happy that everything is being done to ensure they stay on track for successful racing at the 300-year-old racecourse.

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Toro’s Great Results At Carnoustie

September 11, 2018/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Toro’s Great Results At Carnoustie: This year’s hot, dry summer led to Sandy Reid, links superintendent at Carnoustie Golf Links, facing an unusual set of circumstances in the lead up to, and during, the Open Championship.

Weather prior to the Championship had produced the fast-running links conditions many had dreamt of, but the turf was so dry it was barely growing, and vehicles travelling over the course were causing damage.

“We were delighted with the conditions as it shows links golf off to the very best,” says Sandy. “But we were also apprehensive because we weren’t used to it and we had never prepared the course in conditions like that before. It was just so dry.”

So, to give the fairways all they needed throughout the Championship – a gentle trim – the Toro Reelmaster 3555-D fairway mower was perfectly suited for the task.

“We brought in a vehicle and buggy ban inside the ropes for a week in advance of the Championship and for the week itself, and this applied to everyone from the contractors, the TV camera crews, the R&A and ourselves,” explains Sandy, who together with Championship Course head greenkeeper, Craig Boath, managed a large team, and support staff for the week.

“The RM3555 fairway mower was absolutely perfect as, with three wheels and slick tyres, we could use it with the confidence that it was not going to damage the turf and as it uses the same cutting units as the Reelmaster 5410 we knew we would get consistency of cut.”

As usual Carnoustie produced a fantastically exciting Open with Italian, Francesco Molinari, producing a bogey-free weekend to top a leaderboard stacked with big names. Before Molinari had holed his final putt both Tiger Woods, leading with just nine holes to play for the first time in 10 years, and Rory McIlroy, tied second, had the galleries roaring their approval.

With three courses to maintain, Carnoustie Links have a substantial fleet of Toro equipment from a long-standing agreement with Reesink. But for such a huge championship extra equipment, plus Toro tournament support staff, were brought in for the week.

“It was great to have this equipment ready and waiting even if it wasn’t used as much as other tournaments. However, there was rain overnight on the Friday, which created some growth, and having additional fairway mowers meant that we could cut them from one direction, tee to green,” says Sandy.

And of course, the work didn’t stop when the players and public galleries returned home, then began the recovery work!

“We had the ProCore 648s doing solid tining and mini coring in some of the well-trafficked areas, so we could get some air into them and some seeding done. The HydroJect have also been very useful. We’ve got a couple of pedestrian ones, but we still have a trailed one which we put on the back of a Workman with some wetting agent in the tanks for some of the barer spectator routes.”

Having been head greenkeeper on the Championship course, working under links superintendent, John Philp, at the last Carnoustie Open in 2007, Sandy is well placed to assess the development of equipment in the intervening 11 years.

“I would say that there have been improvements. We’ve moved to 11-blade units, even on our triples, while we find the latest machines’ ability to follow contours and curves, particularly with the Greensmaster TriFlex Hybrid 3420s, so much better. The balance of the wheels and tyres means that you don’t see wheel marks to the same degree as you used to. They don’t put the pressure on the turf that the older machines used to.”

He is delighted with the support Carnoustie Links gets from Toro and distributor Reesink Turfcare, while the quality of the equipment itself pleases not only him, but his team of greenkeepers.

“It is first class machinery throughout the fleet and we have full confidence that whatever task we are doing we will get a great quality finish. The guys all love using it as it is comfortable, understandable and easy to use.”

‘Rest’ is a four-letter word not often heard at Carnoustie and there won’t be much of it coming up as the annual Dunhill Links Championship, with its host of celebrity golfers, takes place over Carnoustie, The Old Course, and Kingsbarns, in October.

Nothing to faze Sandy and his team, however, and, with the support of Toro and Reesink, it will all be taken in the Carnoustie stride.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk