Tag Archive for: Nottingham

Nottingham Gun Club credits Husqvarna

Nottingham Gun Club credits Husqvarna: Nestled in the heart of Sherwood Forest lies Nottingham & District Gun Club, established for over 55 years, the club has turned its attention to robotic mowing, crediting Husqvarna Automower® for maintaining the club’s immaculate grounds.

Directing their attention to innovative mowing in 2019, the Club chose Husqvarna Automower® 550 to maintain four of its shooting layouts. Covering up to an acre of land, the robotic mower has enabled the grounds team to free up hours of time, previously spent mowing.

Nottingham Gun Club credits Husqvarna

Nottingham Gun Club credits Husqvarna

Offering lessons, shooting memberships, events, and stag and hen parties, the Gun Club requires picture-perfect grounds, all year round. With a restricted amount of time to mow, fears of theft, and the limitations of shared equipment, the Club turned to B&B Tractors and Husqvarna Automower®, to help assist with their challenges.

Carl Smith, Owner at Nottingham & District Gun Club, discussed the switch to Automower®: “For many years we’ve worked with the team at B&B Tractors as their service has always been fantastic. When we discussed the idea of turning to robotic mowing, it quickly became evident that it would be the smart thing to do, and Husqvarna Automower® stood out as the obvious choice.

“The Club has always had the challenge of maintaining the grounds when clients are there, which means limited hours in which to do so. Time is the most precious thing that the ground staff has, but with limited hours to work in, it’s never something we’ve had surplus of.

“Trying to keep the layout tidy has always been a challenge we’ve faced, with dandelions and daisies becoming a particular issue in the past. As quick as we’d be at removing them, the quicker they’d be at growing. We knew we needed an innovative solution, and so purchased Automower® 550.

Ever since the first Automower® was introduced in 1995, Husqvarna has been known as the world leader in robotic mowing. With over 2 million sold worldwide, Automower® is renowned for its low energy consumption, zero emissions, low noise and high productivity. Covering everything from smaller urban gardens to challenging areas up to 5,000m2, Automower® can also handle difficult inclines up to 70%.

Carl continued: “Shortly after our Automower® was installed, it wasn’t long until we were seeing the fruits of its labour. Being able to mow day or night, in rain or shine, our layouts looked better than ever. The dandelions and daisies were also no longer an issue, as Automower® keeps the grass at a short length. Just as we need it.”

One of the biggest issues the Gun Club faced was the breakage of garden machinery while being swapped between the grounds team, and the threat of theft while being stored overnight. Carl discussed: “Storing expensive equipment has always been a worry in case of break-in’s, and when tools are being swapped between many different team members, breakages are inevitable, and so it became a conscious decision to stop buying expensive equipment.

“Using lower-quality equipment was okay in the short-term, but eventually we decided it was time to invest in Automower®, thanks to its abilities to avoid these issues.”

Featuring GPS theft tracking which registers the mower’s GPS position every 30 seconds, as well as a high-pitch alarm which starts when moved and can only be deactivated with the mower’s unique pin code, extra security is provided with the Automower® models.

“One of the best things about Automower® is that it never gets ill, doesn’t need any holidays, and can work day or night, in any weather condition. With minimal input needed, the risk of damage is minimal, which has eased my worries about breakages significantly. In addition, the amount of time it has saved our team is incredible and allows us to spend more hours on tasks that require more skill and precision.”

“With the Automower® Connect app, we’ve been able to remotely control the mower through our phones and tablets. We’re able to change its settings, track its movements, and check its status, at any time, wherever we are, it’s really remarkable.”

“I have to admit, I was initially sceptical whether the Automower® would be able to deliver all that it promised, but it has certainly proved its worth. In the future we look forward to expanding our Automower® range and taking further advantage of Husqvarna’s innovation.”

For more information on Husqvarna Automower®, visit: https://www.husqvarna.com/uk/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/

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Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest

Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest: Since their Turf Tank One arrived at the Nigel Doughty Academy, Nottingham Forest Football Club has marked every pitch and grid they have with the GPS line marking robot.

The club’s interest in the Turf Tank One began at the end of a hectic 2019/20 Championship season when a high volume of games were played before a short renovation window led straight into the 2020/21 season. With initially marking the pitches taking two or three days, the Turf Tank was brought in to mark everything comfortably within one. And after seeing it in action, it was difficult for Grounds Manager Ewan Hunter and Academy Head Groundsman Matt Tietjen to let it leave the site.

Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest

Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest

“I was very, very impressed. Obviously, I had never seen it before, and as soon as it started marking out, I was like, wow, this is brilliant,” Matt begins. “It’s very, very accurate, and every time it goes out, it’s spot on.

“It saves us a hell of a lot of time. To mark one pitch, it would take myself or two of my staff an hour, an hour and a half to two hours. But obviously, with the Turf Tank to mark one pitch alone, it takes 20 to 25 minutes. Another factor for us is it allows our staff to carry on with the other jobs that need to be done, and the machine can basically look after itself. Generally, we’d use five to six litres of paint to mark a pitch, but with the Turf Tank, we probably use four litres.

“If you are able to use a tablet or are reasonably good with technology, it’s very, very simple to use, and the programme is very straight forward. I’m not particularly brilliant with technology, but it takes five minutes to set it up, and then you can go and do other jobs while it marks out.

Adding the Turf Tank One to their team initially relieved pressure during a busy time, but the benefits of saving time, being able to work while the robot marks and the accuracy of the lines have all been vital during another packed season.

Using the Turf Tank tablet, custom grids are regularly overmarked within pitches, as well as custom goalkeeping areas and other pitch markings. This is just another reason why the robot has worked so well at Forest, but for Ewan, it’s the accuracy that really impresses.

“We have got some really good staff, and they can do some really good marking. And the lines looked straight, and they looked to be in the right place,” Ewan explains.

“It wasn’t until we used the GPS machine that it highlighted the fact that when you come to mark a line freehand, they creep a bit. And then they creep a little bit more. And then they creep a little bit more, and you don’t really notice the little bit of creeping until you get a GPS line marker overmarking the pitches that were already there. You realise that they’ve moved a considerable amount of distance, and it kind of highlights that the lines were actually in the wrong place.

“They managed to plot it with all of the additional markings on top of the pitches. So we’ve got dashes and little grids and five-a-side pitches and full-size pitches, and it can basically do whatever you plot it to do, and it takes care of all the markings on the whole site now.”

For more information on the Turf Tank One or to have a demonstration contact alex@turftank.co.uk (southern UK) or matt@turftank.co.uk (northern UK).

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