Tag Archive for: New

Makita Pruning Shears A Success At New Hall

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Makita Pruning Shears A Success At New Hall: On the serene, undulating grounds of New Hall Vineyard in Essex, Makita’s new cordless 36V LXT backpack pruning shears are making light work of the annual seasonal prune.  Spur pruning is an essential requirement carried out on the estate by a team of professional stewards who are involved in every aspect of the vineyards planting, maintenance and harvesting routines.  The process of pruning is essential to the quality of the harvested grapes and at New Hall the routine is assisted with the use of cordless, battery operated pruners throughout January and February each year.

New Hall, a family run business, has been open since the late 60’s and excels in producing award-winning wines.  Vintners Andy and Lucy Hares have managed the 150 acre vineyard for the last four years.  It is now one of the largest and oldest first established commercial vineyards in the UK and referred to by many as ‘a hidden gem’.  New Hall has also taken The Winemaker of the Year Award several times.

Makita Pruning Shears A Success At New Hall

The new Makita Twin 18V LXT pruning shear, the DUP361ZN, provides 36V of power and features a 2-stage blade opening adjustment which varies according to the size of the branch.  The shear has a maximum cutting capacity of 33mm and a maximum blade opening of 54mm.  The blade can be interlocked with the trigger providing smooth blade movement similar to that of a hand pruner.  A newly designed slim backpack harness provides comfort, while an arm band and cord holder prevents the connection cord from dangling around the operator’s body and from getting caught on branches.

“Operator safety is of great importance to us and many of our stewards have been with us a very long time,” says Andy Hares.  “Our team have a demanding 8-hour day, regardless of weather, so it is essential that the kit they are using is both comfortable and safe while at the same time offering high cutting efficiency.”

Two Makita 18V Lithium-Ion batteries, housed in the water resistant backpack harness that fits neatly into the small of the back, supply energy to the powerful 36V DC motor drive and work in series.   The DUP361ZN shear features an electronic current limiter for overload protection, a motor protection circuit and a twin LED battery fuel gauge clearly positioned on the switch box.

“The weight distribution of the harness is particularly comfortable and secure, and wide padded shoulder straps provide good support,” says senior steward Mary who has been at New Hall for over 25 years, “The hand grip of the shear contours nicely in my hand and feels lighter than others we have used.  And its size allows you to cut closer to the crown of the vine so it is really quite flexible.”

Using two 5.0Ah Li-Ion batteries a run time of three working days is delivered although branches and growth of wider diameter can reduce this slightly.  The charge time of a 5.0 Ah battery using a Makita fast charger is 45 minutes and Makita’s intelligent battery technology heightens charge retention.  This model has a net weight of 3.3kg, has low sound and low vibration levels.

New Hall, who contract-makes for other vineyards, has an output of 150,000 bottles of still wine annually while some 75,000 bottles of sparkling wine are made in the traditional method requiring two years maturing in the bottle.  In hot summers, such as that of 2018, yields are significantly higher and some grapes are sold to other vineyards.  New Hall excels in customer relations with Summer and Christmas festivals, tastings, tours, trials and Limited Edition celebrations.   New Hall’s new book: ‘A History of the Vineyard’ will be published in June 2019.

This Makita body only machine comes with oil supply, wrench, diamond file and shear blade set and is packaged in a robust and weatherproof Makita tool bag.

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New Countax C40 Launched

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New Countax C40 Launched: Effortless mowing of large areas of lawn are all in a day’s work for the new Countax C40. Property owners with around an acre of lawn to cut will find this new garden tractor fits the bill perfectly with its full Countax specification. British weather conditions are not the kindest for garden machinery so it’s good to know the C40 is tough and durable. Designed and manufactured in Britain, using the latest technology, you will find there are features on the C40 you would expect only on top of the range ride-on mowers.

Take the 97cm (38”) reinforced cutter deck. It’s the ideal size for those one-acre lawns, and places where there may be access limitations. Fitted with the optional 300 litre Powered Grass Collector you get a superb cut and collection of the grass, even in wet conditions, with the integrated roller leaving behind a neat striped finish. Driving the C40 you’ll appreciate the single cylinder Ariens 546cc engine for its smooth running, high torque, economy and durability. You’ll notice as well the low noise operation, a result of a cleverly designed double skin bonnet and the cut and collect system which minimises air disturbance from the blades, reducing unwanted sound.

New Countax C40 Launched

List all the features on the C40 and it’s impressive. The garden tractor is ergonomically designed with easy-to-use controls including a geared deck-lift system that lets you change the cutting height with ease. The pedals and levers are all positioned within easy reach and are engineered to be lightweight in use. One pedal controls forward speed, press it further and your speed increases, release it and you slow down. The dashboard display with running hours, cutter deck and Powered Grass Collector status indicators is visible at all times. Don’t try starting the C40 if the hand brake is not engaged because you won’t be going anywhere. This important safety device is fitted as standard. Access on and off the tractor is made easy with a shaped steering wheel and adjustable seat position.

If the going gets rough you can rely on the strength of the heavy duty cast axle to withstand the stresses of uneven terrain, while the strong, durable, single pressed steel body is built for longevity. When it comes to maintenance nothing could be easier with easy access to the engine area and the translucent seven litre fuel tank for checking fuel levels. Above all the C40 is a Countax with a long British heritage, offering premium performance at an entry-point price.

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ICL’s New Research Project

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ICL’s New Research Project: Producing the top-quality turf needed for high-level sports requires a keen focus on turf maintenance and inputs. All applications of water and nutrients should be optimised to ensure responsible resource-use efficiency. ICL has started an exciting research project exploring the use of wetting agents to further improve water use and to potentially help optimise nutrient use for managed amenity turf.

It is a three-year research project delivered through the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation, Lancaster University. The Centre is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is supporting local sports field construction specialists J Mallinson in collaboration with surfactant specialists at ICL.

ICL's New Research Project

Dr Andy Owen (ICL International Technical Manager) has been instrumental in planning the project. “I have known the research team here at Lancaster Environment Centre for a number of years and the chance to collaborate and generate useful research optimising inputs to turf through wetting agent use is invaluable.”

Graduate researcher Vasileios (Billy) Giannakopoulos is working under the supervision of Dr Jaime Puertolas and Professor Ian Dodd. Billy was selected ahead of a number of other applicants to embark on the three-year project and said “I’m delighted to be a part of this project as this kind of research has never been undertaken until now. It is such an interesting and relevant topic, with the potential to make a real difference for turf and crop management.”

The project will be utilising ICL’s H2Pro range of wetting agents which includes TriSmart, AquaSmart and FlowSmart and the research team will be using these products in a series of experiments, both laboratory, glass house and field-based.

A year has already passed on the three-year project and Dr Puertolas believes that some new ground-breaking information could well be on the horizon.

“Understanding surfactants and what they do is a very interesting subject, we normally modify the soil moisture by how we place the water through irrigation type or the frequency of the irrigation application but this is another way of manipulating how the water is distributed in the soil.”

“We hope to generate information which could improve irrigation effectiveness and better understand water and nutrient movement through a soil and uptake by a plant.”

“Working with J Mallinson and ICL is a win-win situation because we can deliver research in our line of expertise but also connect with industry practice; that is really important to us because it covers two of our aspirations – to be more environmentally friendly and to continue to innovate.”

Lana Farren, Research Manager for ICL, believes that the research is being carried out at an incredibly appropriate time. “The world is becoming more and more environmentally aware. The reality is that demand for water is increasing with large volumes being used for irrigating crops and amenity turf.

We also lose a lot of applied nutrients through leaching which can be environmentally damaging. If we can improve water and nutrient use efficiency then ultimately, we are becoming more sustainable.”

ICL's New Research Project

Prof Dodd commented “Providing sufficient water for crop production is a major challenge in many parts of the world. Even in the UK it can be difficult to assure this, as crop water use peaks in the summer when water availability in the environment can be limited, as we’ve seen this year.

This project is one of a number that have been funded in Lancaster’s Plant & Crop Sciences research group via the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation, and it is heartening to see such engagement between academics and industry to develop real-world solutions.”

Andy feels that as a global supplier of turf and agricultural products, ICL has a certain responsibility to conduct such vital research. “ICL will continue to invest in good quality independent research that helps support our products. We recognise that water and nutrient use efficiency is critical for crop management worldwide, so this research is vitally important.”

“Our wetting agents are used both in sports turf and agriculture and ultimately we want to be able to support the whole range with robust data, so we can market them responsibly.”

For more information about the H2Pro wetting agent range please contact ICL on +44 (0)1473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie. For more information about the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation please visit www.globalecoinnovation.org.

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Best Buy For New 47cm Model

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Best Buy For New 47cm Model: EGO is once again adding to its list of independent ‘Best Buy’ awards for its range of outdoor power tools.

BBC Gardeners’ World rated the EGO Power+ LM1903E-SP 47cm Self-Propelled Mower one of its best mid-price mowers, scoring it 19/20 and reporting on the ease of use.

Best Buy For New 47cm Model

The mower, which is new for the 2019 season and uses the brand’s 56V Arc Lithium battery, was trialled head-to-head with other established brands, coming out as one of the top on test.

With the write-up, in the March issue of the magazine, now on newsstands, it puts the newly launched model in a great position from the off.

Steve Roskell, marketing director (EMEA) at EGO, comments on the latest accolade: “Since our launch, we have been awarded numerous independent ‘Best Buys’ throughout Europe reflecting our position as the experts in the field of cordless technology in outdoor power equipment.”

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Royal Reesink’s New Partnership

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Royal Reesink’s New Partnership: Royal Reesink has joined forces with Vincent Achten to create TurfTroniq, a company that will develop and deliver the technology for automated steering of Toro mowers to the UK and Ireland.

The collaboration with Vincent, who has more than a decade of experience in robotising mowers, is in response to customer interest for automated steering for Toro. TurfTroniq has developed two types of system, both have been supplied to customers in Europe and ongoing  trials continue: the Assisted Mowing System (AMS) is an advanced mowing aid and the Robotic Mowing System (RMS) is a fully automatic system which enables the machine to mow independently.

Royal Reesink's New Partnership

David Cole, managing director of Reesink Turfcare UK, says: “We’ve watched with interest the progress of this technology so far and it’s ever-evolving. TurfTroniq has developed a real understanding for where GPS control technology is, how it works and what needs to happen to deliver a reliable, safe and quality product to our customers.”

AMS automatically lowers the mower units and follows the pre-programmed mowing lines. All the operator has to do is turn the machine in front of the cutting line and the system takes over. There are several potential benefits to this approach, says David, predominantly that it can be used for training operators and eliminating ‘fairway creep’, raising the standard of the operator, their productivity and enhancing course presentation.

“AMS can be set-up by an experienced operator for a junior member of the team to complete the mowing to an extremely high standard,” David explains. “It gives the operator mowing experience, allows for machine familiarisation and helps with training. The skills of the more experienced operator can then be redeployed to more challenging and technical work rather than time consuming wide area mowing. And because the machine can follow exactly the same route each time, it eliminates ‘fairway creep’ and ensures the definition of the fairway remains the same cut after cut.”

The RMS meanwhile is a fully automatic system to enable the machine to mow independently using 3D camera technology to quickly detect obstacles in its path. David says: “This is a technology some of our customers tell us they are interested in and want to understand more about in terms of its potential place within their own particular maintenance regimes. With a focus on increased productivity through minimal overlap and repetitive mowing results, there’s no doubt a role for it in the turfcare maintenance of tomorrow. We look forward to engaging with customer opinion to understand further what place this emerging technology has for them in a practical sense and that’s where TurfTroniq is right now.”

Over the past several years, the systems have been installed on Toro fairway mowers and have been extensively tested and, according to TurfTroniq, proved to be very reliable. Systems are working in the field and continue to undergo rigorous testing in daily maintenance operations. Both systems are easy to use, and the progress of the machines can be monitored live with any smartphone.

This collaboration to develop GPS mowing technology for Toro mowers with Vincent’s experience supported by Reesink’s distribution network for the UK and Ireland, will ensure that Toro customers will soon be able to benefit from assisted and automated steering. Roon Hylkema, director of Royal Reesink B.V, concludes:” The market is ready for this innovative technology and we are delighted to be able to make it available in the UK and Ireland.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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