Tag Archive for: Horse

White Horse Contractors turn to Koro® FTM®

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White Horse Contractors turn to Koro® FTM®: The Koro® FIELDTOPMAKER® with Campey UNIVERSE® rotor from Campey Turf Care Systems was the number one choice for White Horse Contractors Ltd for its unrivalled precision and excellent results on hybrid pitches.

White Horse, who became a member of The Slatter Group in 2019, partnered with GrassMaster at the end of 2020 to offer hybrid turf sports construction in England and Wales. This partnership and increased demand for renovations on hybrid and natural turf led the company to look for the best option on the market for fraise mowing, with the Koro® FTM® with Campey UNIVERSE® rotor providing everything they needed for all surfaces.

White Horse Contractors turn to Koro® FTM®

White Horse Contractors turn to Koro® FTM®

“We have had the machine since April, and we’ve carried out renovations throughout the spring and summer, and it’s performed very well,” White Horse Contractors Ltd Managing Director, David Smith, said.

“Our operators have loved using it because it’s very well built and reliable, but mainly it’s the precision of the machine that has impressed them. We know when we set it exactly what results we’ll get, and that is important for the customer and us. That precision is especially important when working on hybrid surfaces, so you don’t damage any of the fibres, and we know we can operate confidently with the Koro® FTM®.

“We’re installing more hybrid fields at the moment due to demand and our partnership with GrassMaster in the UK, but a big part of our service is the renovation contracts and programmes that follow. We want to ensure our customers get the best service and pitch possible, and a part of us being able to provide that is the service we get from Campey.

“We run a lot of other Campey equipment, and this is a continuation of our partnership with them. We get very good customer service from Ben Taylor, and with a machine like this that is used heavily during a specific time of year, the backup is crucial. We haven’t had any issues with it, but working with Campey before, we know that anything we need is sorted out quickly, and that’s why we chose and continue to choose to work with them.”

The patented Campey Universe® rotor (fitted with 10mm blades) achieves excellent surface hygiene on all pitch surfaces. It is particularly suited to hybrid pitches as it attains results without damaging the exposed synthetic/hybrid fibres. The whole annual renovation process, including dressing with 60/80 tons of sand, fertilising and overseeding, can be carried out in a few day’s instead of four to five.

With 3mm, 5mm or 10mm blades available for the Campey Universe rotor, any amount of the surface can be removed from 15% to 100%, and the entire surface can be removed up to a depth of 50mm. Micro adjusters offer unrivalled accuracy when setting the rotors, making the Koro® FTM® a precision fraise mower chosen by the world’s leading contractors, clubs and sports facilities.

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S&C Slatter Acquire White Horse Contractors

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S&C Slatter Acquire White Horse Contractors: S&C Slatter is delighted to announce the acquisition of White Horse Contractors which becomes a member of The Slatter Group.

White Horse Contractors was established in 1957 by Arnold Binning. Since then it has grown into one of the leading providers of natural turf sports facilities, land drainage, water engineering, landscaping and civil engineering projects. It has gained a first-class reputation for quality and service in these sectors.

As a well-established family business, S&C Slatter are acknowledged as one of the Country’s foremost experts in the design and construction of sports facilities including artificial and natural pitches, multi-use games areas (MUGAs), hard and soft landscaping. The Surfacing & Civils division is also very successful in securing an increasing share in the infrastructure sector – car parks, roadways, hard standings.

White Horse Contractors will operate from the Group Head Office in Enborne, Newbury as an autonomous business under the guidance of newly appointed Managing Director David Smith and Technical Director James Welsh.

With this addition, The Slatter Group offers an unrivalled scope of services to a broad reach of clients within the sports grounds, amenity, leisure, agricultural and equestrian sectors. The knowledge base and resource that White Horse Contractors brings to the Group complements perfectly the skills, technology  and experience in artificial surfacing, civil engineering and project development accessible from the  existing specialist divisions of S&C Slatter.

David Slatter, who oversees the operations of all Group companies, comments ‘When I first took over the business from my Father, we provided sub-contract services for White Horse Contractors on their bigger projects. For me they were always the ‘Gold Standard’ which I was aiming to emulate and to this end I saw a perfect opportunity to approach the Directors of White Horse Contractors. To be able to bring their expertise and resource to our family business is a dream come true for me. The depths of services, skills and knowledge that we can now offer our clients in a one stop shop is industry leading.’

James Binning is the third generation of the Binning family to chair White Horse Contractors and says, ‘I am delighted that we have found another family business which can take White Horse Contractors to new heights and that shares our company ethos and family values. Many of our staff have worked with us for decades and it is important to us that the business continues to be run in the same style as it has for the last 60 years.’

However, the Binning family association with the industry will not cease as White Horse Contractors’ workshop and plant will continue to grow and thrive under a new name, Muddy Plat Hire Ltd, providing specialist plant hire services to The Slatter Group and the industry at large.

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Makita Help Create War Horse Story

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Makita Help Create War Horse Story: War Horse, the war drama film by Steven Spielberg, and hero of Michael Morpurgo’s novel, has taken many Best Picture, golden Globe Awards and BAFTAs.  It is the story of Joey, the much loved horse of young Albert Narracott who lived in south west England with his family.  Joey was one of the millions of horses, mules and donkeys who served their time in World War 1.  They were used for transport, communication and companionship, carrying water, food, ammunition and medical supplies to men at the front while some 200,000 pigeons carried essential messages.  Of our soldiers, 886,000 men died representing 2% of the country’s entire population.

Ian Murray, the renowned chainsaw sculptor, has carved many and varied subjects from timber  mostly as commissioned works from individuals and organisation keen to have his breath taking works of art.  As 2018 marks the 100th Centennial of the end of World War 1, and to commemorate this special occasion, Ian has been tasked to carve a life size Joey, standing at 7’3”, from solid oak, in just 70 amazing hours.  Chainsaws and other high performance tools, accessories and PPE have been supplied by Makita UK, the UK’s number 1 professional power tool manufacturer, via regional distributor Morris Garden Machinery, Rhuddlan.

Makita Help Create War Horse Story

Richard Kendrick, Royal British Legion organiser in Rhyl, N Wales, who is responsible for the Poppy Appeal, is aiming to raise £3,500 to pay for the creation of Joey.  He is working with local schools and colleges to help raise these funds.  “When Ian has finished creating War Horse, we plan to visit local schools and educate our children about World War 1,” says Richard.  “Together we want to tell children about the war and what happened – to understand the hardships our soldiers and our horses endured.”

Adds Ian Murray: “We’re hoping the children will enjoy this real-life lesson as they will be able to connect with War Horse, to see him and touch him, and we hope they will appreciate how much our servicemen and women did for us over 100 years ago.”

There is also hope that local MP Chris Ruane may be successful in arranging for War Horse to visit the Palace of Westminster, the iconic home of UK parliament, and that other children around the UK will see and request a visit to their own school and to learn of our gallant forces and what they contributed to the country.

Makita UK has supported the project in supplying chainsaws to Ian Murray, a keen Makita fan, for the creation of War Horse including three chainsaws, one with Easy Start and another featuring the market leading Vibration Dampening technology; a cordless LXT blower; 18v cordless grinder, file sander and die grinder, as well as accessories and PPE.

“This carving of War Horse has been a bit daunting,” reports Ian, “and I had to make this creation in two bursts due to essential overseas travel in the middle of the project. But this allowed the timber time to stabilise and take on a new position while it dries out naturally adding greater dynamics to the wonderful Joey.  I’m very pleased with this creation.”

Jonathon Morris of Morris Garden Machinery has encouraged Ian Murray over recent years.  “His sculptures show exceptional talent and we are delighted that he uses Makita saws. We are a Makita approved PDI dealer and sales have expanded tremendously in recent years.  The products are excellent and, above all, reliable,” reports Mr Morris.

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