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Redexim Carrier labelled the ‘most important piece of kit’

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Redexim Carrier labelled the ‘most important piece of kit’: Constructed on the site of a former gravel quarry, the greens at Kilworth Springs Golf Club in Leicestershire are incredibly mobile and free draining which, despite having some perks, also means they are prone to compaction.

That’s where the Carrier and Verti-Drain® 1513 from Redexim comes in! Head Greenkeeper Joel Chappell claims this combination delivers effective compaction relief and versatility for aeration tasks around their busy course, making it the ‘most important piece of kit’ in their shed!

Redexim Carrier labelled the ‘most important piece of kit’

Redexim Carrier labelled the ‘most important piece of kit’

Founded in 1993, Kilworth Springs delivers a challenging 18 holes of play overlooking the Avon Valley. Because of the nature of the soil and sand foundations, the main issue for Joel and his team of four is that for 12 months of the year, the course is always bone dry. “We can support year-round play where other courses local to us sometimes struggle during the winter months” explains Joel. “This sustained level of traffic means compaction is our biggest hurdle. As a club, we needed something that could get aeration completed quickly whilst leaving a minimal imprint on the greens.”

The Redexim Carrier was delivered by Ben Burgess just prior to Joel joining the club in July 2022, but he was instrumental in the purchase. “We were impressed with this being light weight, yet robust to deliver impressive aeration on our hard ground. We’ve hired machines that have succumbed to the tricky conditions and fallen apart after a week where the Carrier and 1513 Verti-Drain® stands up to the task with ease.”

Powered by a 31hp engine and hydrostatic transmission, the Carrier can be utilised with a variety of implements such as seeders, verti-cutters and aerators for high output, effective operations with minimal ground pressure. The 1513 Verti-Drain® – with its 1.3m working width, 15o of heave and a maximum depth of 6” – is ideal for use on fine turf surfaces.

“We conduct traditional verti-draining at least once a month and more often in winter where it’s out three weeks in every four across greens, tees and approaches. We also hollow core with this set up.” He continues, “When ground conditions allow, we can also use the Verti-Drain® with our compact tractor which frees the Carrier up to be used with other implements which we’re now exploring.”

Joel concludes, “Greenkeepers I think are naturally cautious and sceptical of change and new things but within a week of using the Redexim partnership my whole team were so impressed with what it could do… now we couldn’t be without it!”

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Air2G2 336 last piece in aeration puzzle

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Air2G2 336 last piece in aeration puzzle: England’s finest links, Royal Cinque Ports, has found the final piece of their aeration puzzle by using the Air2G2 336 on their greens and fairways.

Course Manager, James Bledge, has been in charge of the Kent based links for nine years, and for a majority of that time, has hired an Air2G2 for use on the club’s large greens. Brilliant results over that time and a desire to work freely between tournaments and trial ideas led the club to purchase their own machine in August 2021, from Campey Turf Care Systems and put it straight to work to do what it does best.

Air2G2 336 last piece in aeration puzzle

Air2G2 336 last piece in aeration puzzle

James explains: “It’s one of these machines that’s hard to quantify because you don’t see instant results, but it’s part of the jigsaw puzzle that comes together with everything else. We maintain really nice surfaces here, and I believe that to be part of it – we’ve had far less disease than we’ve ever had, and our greens have been firmer than ever.

“We had four big back to back competitions in this last month. First, we’ve had the Boys Amateur Championship, which is one of the biggest R&A events, then we had a week off before Deal Week, the South East Links Championship and the Halford Hewitt, which is the world’s largest amateur golf competition at the end of that with 640 competitors. So this week, we managed to get out and aerate everything, and it’s been well-timed because we got heavy rain at the end of that week, which could have seen the greens puddle up, but instead, they were fine.

“Not one single person could tell we’d been out with the Air2G2 the Monday following the Boys Amateur, and that’s a seven-day competition with all your practice days and qualifying. These greens were cut and rolled every single day, which could potentially bake them or form a hardpan near the top because it’s such intensive work, but the Air2G2 after that was the ideal thing to do, and they haven’t seemed stressed out since.”

With their own Air2G2, James can now deploy it as and when needed, which includes working on fairways. In the past, the club hired the smaller model, but with the 336, they are able to cover all of their greens in less than three days and build in time to aerate the new 0.8 hectares of fairway extensions.

“We’ve got it back out this morning on fairways which is probably a first, and I don’t think many people would do that, but with the crane fly and leather jacket activity high just now, and it probably will be for the rest of the year, I’m intent I want to watch when putting holes in the ground. The Air2G2 is a fantastic tool for that if you can explain to your team when they’re being sent out to do bits of fairways here and there.

“Our two new fairways are a lot firmer than the rest so you really need to get that into it to break up the soil, create some air and pore space and get the roots and moisture going through it. You can see there are some places where it’s pulling up a little bit, but I’m trying to explain to the staff that this will only be for a certain amount of time. The more we can get the Air2G2 into it, the more space there will be for the roots to dive down, and the fairway will get better.”

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