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Trilo S3 takes command of leaf clearance

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Trilo S3 takes command of leaf clearance: The 18 holes at Hertfordshire’s prestigious Centurion Club explore pine-lined fairways and woodland that pose a challenge to players and greenkeepers alike.

One of the biggest problems for Course Manager Andy Garland and his team was, as the parkland course matured, so did the task of autumn leaf-clearance. That was until the club purchased a Trilo S3 vacuum sweeper from Vanmac two years ago, which has since been described as ‘fundamental’ in retaining the presentation, playability and health of the course.

Trilo S3 takes command of leaf clearance

Trilo S3 takes command of leaf clearance

Established in 2013 and renowned for its immaculate course condition, the Centurion Club has proudly played host to a number of high-profile tour events, most recently the first round of the inaugural Aramco Team Series in July. “The summer is all about presentation and tournament preparations and then we we’d get to the autumn and find ourselves faced with an ever-growing problem with leaves” explains Andy, who has been at the club for the last 15 years. “When the laborious task was becoming unsustainable by hand, we looked at the Trilo.”

“Having heard good things, we had a demonstration of the S3, fitted with the brush shaft, and it was evident straight away how it was going to absolutely transform the task for us.” Working at a convenient 1.5m wide, the Trilo S3 weighs in at only 1200kg making it suitable for compact tractors of 35HP+.  The full-floating brush head and low ground pressure, allows the machine to work under the heaviest of conditions, with hard-to-reach areas – in and around trees for example – cleared with convenience and ease thanks to the 6m wander hose.

“The S3 is in action every day during leaf-fall season, picking up leaves – both wet and dry – cleanly in one pass and collecting them in the large capacity hopper which we can then dispose of elsewhere around the course.” To convert the S3 into a year-round tool, Andy also has his sights set on the optional Verticut shaft which can be mounted to the unit in a matter of minutes, converting it into a quick and effective method of scarifying large areas such as the fairways.

He concludes, “From an agronomic perspective, the benefits of keeping the surface clear to allow for maximum airflow, sunlight and moisture movement are well documented. But, back to basics, there’s no question that the S3 has been fundamental in keeping certain areas of the course playable, and that in itself is invaluable.”

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Cabrio Tops Leaf Ratings

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Cabrio Tops Leaf Ratings: Cabrio Ultra Fine Ryegrass has, for the third consecutive year, been announced as the number one variety for fineness of leaf in the BSPB’s Series L Table 1 for perennial ryegrasses.

Formally introduced as a new cultivar in 2016, Cabrio Ultra Fine Ryegrass went straight to the top of the BSPB’s Table L1 for 2017 thanks to a fineness of leaf scoring of 8.8.  It retained this position in 2018 thanks to another score of 8.8, and enjoys the same position in 2019’s list thanks to a rating of 8.7 – a score which is still half a point clear of its nearest rivals at 8.2.

Cabrio Tops Leaf Ratings

“Cabrio continues to impress with its exceptional and consistent fineness of leaf score,” explains Richard Brown, Germinal Amenity Sales Manager.  “Cabrio also benefits from good all round scores for shoot density (7.8), visual merit (7.9), slow regrowth habit (7.2) and cleanness of cut (7.1) and therefore offers groundsmen, greenkeepers and turf growers an excellent opportunity to produce an exceptionally fine-leaved, hard wearing sward that can not only tolerate a close mowing regime, but which will also give good ball roll or bounce and will be very attractive aesthetically.”

Cabrio is recommended for use on golf tees and golf green aprons as well as tennis courts and cricket squares where it is ideal for repairing baselines and wicket ends.

Cabrio is exclusively available from Germinal in the company’s A5 Cricket, Tennis and Tees, A10 Golf Tees and Divot Repairs, and A28 Ultrafine Ryegolf mixtures.  Its inclusion in all three of these mixtures enhances sward density, wear tolerance and repair capability.

Cabrio Tops Leaf Ratings

Cabrio: cultivar characteristics*

  Table L1

(mown at 10-15mm)
Shoot density 7.8
Fineness of leaf 8.7
Slow regrowth 7.2
Visual merit 7.9
Mean 7.9
Resistance to Red Thread 3.8
Cleanness of cut 7.1
Winter greenness 5.2
Summer greenness 6.0

*Source: BSPB Turfgrass Seed booklet 2019

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Trilo Makes Leaf Collection Easier

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Trilo Makes Leaf Collection Easier: Four SU60 vacuum units from Trilo are the latest additions to fleet at the City of Wolverhampton Council, and have quickly made the momentous task of leaf collection that much easier.  At just shy of five million square metres in area, the grounds maintenance and street cleansing operation is certainly ‘large in scale’. The 131-person team, including six dedicated grass cutting teams, is headed up by Citywide Area Manager for Environmental Services Richard Macvicar.

“Our leafing period usually lasts from October through to Christmas and the New Year” explains Richard, who has been in his current role for 26 years. “During this time, the mechanical road sweepers are out but trying to collect all the leaves saw them blocking up quite quickly, so we looked around for something that could be used in conjunction with our current activities.”

Trilo Makes Leaf Collection Easier

With the team having previous experience of Trilo equipment and recognising its reliability and effectiveness, Richard went to local dealer Oakleys who carried out a demonstration. “We looked at a few alternatives at Saltex but after seeing the SU60 on demonstration, together with our past experience, we had no problem in placing the order.” The council took delivery of two units at the beginning of 2017, and another two in the autumn, split between the two city depots. They went into the leafing period with four units ready for full-time operation, shared between the parks, highways and street cleansing teams.

“The Trilo SU60’s are towable on a general license and can be detached and easily manoeuvred for easy transportation around the yard and out in the field. The manual wonderhose helps us get to
space-restricted areas, with the size and capacity of the machine ideal for roadside work, where you’re additionally restricted by traffic and pedestrians. As planned it’s also been great working alongside our road sweepers, which gather the leaves into piles before the Trilo’s come along and collect them.”

Final word from Richard, “For many years, the lads swore by our previous Trilo unit for leaf collection. This doesn’t look like it’ll change now with our new fleet – my supervisor on the ground said the operation over 2017/18 had never gone so well.”

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Trilo Eradicates Leaf Problem

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Trilo Eradicates Leaf Problem: Norwich based Eaton Golf Club describes itself as ‘owned and run by the members, for the members’ – a motto also supported by Course Manager Rob Ransome. Despite being there for less than a year, he recognises that the club’s “fantastic membership gives the club a thriving, upbeat feeling”. However, what didn’t leave such a positive feeling in previous years was the leaf-fall from the courses’ extensive tree population! Before he even began his position at Eaton, Rob purchased an S3 from Trilo, which has transformed the task of leaf collection at the club.

“I started at Eaton in September 2017 and it was evident right from my interview that the club had a big problem with leaves. The team were getting a lot of negative feedback on the conditions and players were frustrated with losing their golf balls! It was something I was keen to tackle straight away” explains Rob.

Trilo Eradicates Leaf Problem

Recognising Trilo offered good quality equipment he arranged for a demo of an S3 collector with local dealer Ernest Doe. “We were instantly impressed and you could see how it was going to transform the task for us so I placed the order so that it arrived in time for my arrival at the club. We found that we could run the unit with the brush attachment just above the height of the grass to collect the leaves into a high capacity hopper, without having a detrimental effect on the grass. The overall weight and compression tyres also help, leaving a minimal footprint on the ground, meaning we could get out everyday without the risk of causing any problems.”

The S3 was in action as soon as the leaves started to fall in October, for anywhere between 3 and 7 hours a day, until the end of the fall. “I delivered a presentation to the members in December and was apprehensive when I got to the topic of leaves, but people were so complimentary of what we’d achieved. It has transformed the winter presentation of the course so much that members are now going out on the course looking for leaves – and can’t find any! We can’t ask for better than that.”

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Thieves Steal Tractor And Leaf Collector

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Thieves Steal Tractor And Leaf Collector: A theft of equipment totaling £8,000 has left a football club facing financial ruin.

Members of Borden Village Football Club (BVFC) discovered the John Deere X360 and Agrifab leaf collector were missing.

Thieves Steal Tractor And Leaf Collector

Groundsman and committee member Roger Pudner said unless it is recovered, the theft will have to go down as an uninsured loss, potentially crippling the club.

BVFC, which is currently in the Premier Division of the Kent County Football League, is now offering a reward for any information which leads to the recovery of the tractor which was used to cut grass and maintain the pitch.

Mr Pudner said: “We’re all gutted really. We’re a small club and we spent ages fundraising to get our equipment and in one fell swoop it’s gone.

“I don’t know what we are going to do now.”

The thieves appear to have broken into the shipping container by using a disc cutter on the four hinges of the door.

The club recently improved the lock on the door after noticing signs it had been tampered with.

Mr Pudner added: “We have spoken to lots of people in the surrounding area and one lady said she definitely heard a couple of bangs on the Monday or Tuesday night last week when it was very windy.

“We believe they may have used the sound of the wind to cover up what they were doing.”

He explained the club leases the ground at Borden Playstool off Wises Lane and high insurance premiums would have meant it would cost about £1,000 a year to insure the tractor.

Mr Pudner went on to say the club would have to look at improving its security with CCTV.

BVFC is now offering a reward for any information which leads to the recovery of the tractor which was used to cut grass and maintain the pitch.

The theft was discovered on Saturday but may have been taken at any stage in the week prior.

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Trilo S3 Makes Light Work Of Leaf Clearance

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A Trilo S3 Makes Light Work Of Leaf Clearance At Keele University: Any machinery that makes time-consuming tasks more manageable is desirable and in the area of leaf clearance, a Trilo S3 is just that. At 617 acres, Keele University’s single-site campus is the largest in Europe. With woodland, gardens, sports facilities, halls of residence and academic areas to maintain the in-house maintenance team of 12 have their work cut out – that’s where the Trilo S3 comes in.

Jane Barker has been Head of Grounds at Keele University for 3 years but her knowledge of Trilo kit pre-dates this. “I’ve worked in grounds for the last 20 years, including for the MoD at Catterick Garrison, which is where I first came across the Trilo brand. We worked with a contractor at the time who used Trilo equipment and I was immediately impressed.” Upon Jane joining Keele, leaf collection was a task that was still done by hand, meaning it was both very labour intensive and tedious for the staff involved. “With over 4,500 deciduous trees on our site, generating millions of leaves, the clearance of these would very often go right through the winter and into the spring.”

Trilo S3 Makes Light Work Of Leaf Clearance

“One of my first decisions here was to invest in a Trilo S3 vacuum sweeper. Though it was greeted with initial scepticism based on past experiences of similar machinery, very quickly indeed they were all converted and were singing its praises.” Since the purchase, leaves are now completely cleared before the Christmas break which allows staff to be put to better use elsewhere. “It’s made an absolutely massive improvement!”

Working at a convenient 1.5 metres wide, but with a large 3m3 capacity, Jane says the Trilo S3 is the perfect size unit for their campus. “We have lots of narrow, twisty roads and paths and attached to our tractor we can take the S3 nearly every area we need to and those few spaces it can’t reach, we can blow the leaves to somewhere that it can.” The team were so impressed with the S3 that when it came to their tri-annual machinery replacement process, the S3 was top of the list with their new unit being delivered in April. “We always look at possible alternatives but everyone has been so pleased that going for a new S3 was the preferred choice. Our new unit comes complete with a flail and scarifier attachment which has delivered great results in its initial scarification work on some of the sites sports pitches.”

Final word from Jane, “The service and support we’ve received from Jon Proffitt has been great and thanks to him suggesting the additional attachments, our new S3 will now play an even greater year-round role in the maintenance of our site.”

For more information go to www.trilo.com

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