Tag Archive for: Sailing

Aspen Fuel makes for ‘plain sailing’ servicing

Aspen Fuel makes for ‘plain sailing’ servicing: For marine engine specialist Peter White of Swordfish Marine, carburettor issues caused by extended periods of storage and inactivity are a thing of the past since the discovery of Aspen Alkylate fuel.

Having extensively tried and tested Aspen 4 in his workshop, at home and in his own 4-stroke outboard engine, the family-run firm became stockists three years ago to make the ethanol-free fuel more accessible for their customers.

Aspen Fuel makes for ‘plain sailing’ servicing

Aspen Fuel makes for ‘plain sailing’ servicing

Established by Peter in 2007, Swordfish Marine cover all areas of servicing and support for small leisure and commercial boats – based at the Holy Loch Marina in Dunoon, Scotland. With the vast majority of Peter’s customers being ‘seasonal boaters’, issues with expired fuel and component failures due to water ingress were a common occurrence until the team were introduced to Aspen Fuel.

“A friend recommended we look at Aspen Fuel maybe eight or nine years ago” he explains. “You often hear that once you try it, you’re hooked… and from just using it in our own petrol engines, we really were. The main difference is that the engine starts first time, every time, no matter how long it’s been in storage and knowing how much that would benefit the vast majority of our customers we knew we needed to offer it.” After their original stockist ceased trading during COVID, Peter became a stockist himself in late 2020.

As an alkylate petrol, Aspen 4 contains no ethanol and a vastly reduced harmful hydrocarbon content when compared to traditional petrol. Its greener, cleaner credentials make it an ideal option for those working in ecological and sensitive environments such as waterways, with Swordfish Marine selling Aspen 4 with all boats up to 6hp.

“There’s nothing more frustrating for people than pulling the boat out in April and finding the engine won’t start after a winter spent in the shed. The shelf-life of Aspen reduces the anxiety and risk of engine-related failures which ultimately gets people where they want to be, on the water.” Peter continues, “While the initial expenditure may be increased, this is negated by the vast savings in servicing and repair bills, and most find that one can will last them the whole season if not longer.”

“Ultimately when you think about it, we’re losing business! But morally Aspen has proven to be a fantastic decision and seeing everybody enjoy their boating, reliably and without horrible repair bills is what we’re all about.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Plain sailing with Toro

Plain sailing with Toro: As a prestige club with a proud history of hosting international tournaments, Nairn Golf Club, situated in the Highlands of Scotland, has yet again renewed its lease agreement with Toro, taking its fleet of machines to 22.

Nestled on the shore of the Moray Firth, the club is well versed in maintaining immaculate playing surfaces and requires an extensive fleet of mowers to support the work of its 14-strong greenkeeping team.

Plain sailing with Toro

Plain sailing with Toro

As well as having various pieces of Toro grass cutting machinery to maintain different cutting heights around the two courses, the fleet contains Workman MDX utility vehicles, sprayers, turf-irons and Pro-Core 648 aerators. Nairn is also one of the first Scottish clubs to take delivery of Toro’s Greensmaster e-Triflex 3370 riding greens mower, the industry’s first and all-electric ride-on mower.

Course manager, Richie Ewan, comments: “The performance and quality of the Toro mowers is second to none, but we are especially impressed with the electric ride-on. The cut is tremendous; as good if not better than a cut with a pedestrian mower. Plus making that step towards electric is a big environmental statement by the club.

“The machines are in daily use over both courses – our 18-hole Championship Course and the 9-hole Cameron Course – and both must be in pristine condition at all times. We have our own micro-climate in the Moray Firth, but the extreme challenges of the weather are definitely increasing and we know the Toro machinery is very reliable and user-friendly, making them a dream for our team to work with.

“Last year, 34,000 rounds of golf were played over our Championship Course despite intermittent lockdowns, and 39,000 rounds were played in 2019. We are busy with member and visitor play and we need a suite of machinery we can trust.”

As well as having hosted a raft of prestigious tournaments including the Walker Cup and the Curtis Cup, Nairn Golf Club has just played host to The British Amateur Championship for the second time, the first being in 1994. The Greensmaster e-Triflex 3370 mowers were in operation during the tournament, a first for this prestigious event and successful in producing the highest quality of cut.

During and in preparation for these events the club relies on the Toro equipment more than ever, as Richie explains: “We depend on quality machines to prepare and present the playing surfaces to the highest standard and it’s important that our members and visitors see the fleet in action to understand our commitment to high standards.

“Golf is most definitely growing in popularity after the experiences of the pandemic, with more people keen to take up outdoor pursuits. Plus flexible working hours has provided an opportunity to squeeze a game of golf into your working day. There was a time when courses were quiet over winter but now there is demand for playable surfaces all year-round, whatever the weather. It’s booming and our Toro fleet continues to grow with us.”

As part of the agreement, Nairn Golf Club is supported with back-up care from Reesink Turfcare’s Scotland branch.

Speaking of the relationship, Richie concludes: “With Toro you always have confidence that there’s nothing that can’t be resolved. You’re never on your own with the product and the back-up care and tournament support over many years has been excellent. We have been using Toro since the early 90s and we are delighted to have signed yet another renewal agreement.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Plain Sailing Renovations For Sportsfields

Plain Sailing Renovations For Sportsfields: To sit alongside Sportsfields Ltd’s aims to adopt the industry’s most innovative technology, they have added a Koro FIELDTOPMAKER (Koro FTM)  with Terraplane Rotor to their fleet.

Since 1991 Sportsfields has evolved from their beginnings in agriculture and landscaping to become a leading specialist in sports pitch construction and maintenance. To do this company founder, Geoff Collins, has continually embraced the latest technology to enable his highly trained workforce to deliver the exacting standards required in today’s market.

Plain Sailing Renovations For Sportsfields

To match the needs of the company’s client list of professional and amateur clubs, schools, colleges, local authorities and specifying architects Geoff once again turned to Campey Turf Care Systems and the new Koro FTM.

“We have had Koro’s before and have added the new Koro FTM to the fleet with its Terraplane rotor,” he said. “It’s a fantastic machine and makes an exceptionally clean job of ‘planing’ the surface and it’s particularly requested by groundsmen wanting to remove poa as part of their end of season renovations.

“The new Koro is faster and appears to cope with even more difficult conditions with ease and that is down to the development of the machine.

“Equipment has become more technical and job specific to achieve the tolerances demanded by the local authorities and private architects, groundsman etc from amateur and professional club levels. We work at all levels to all budgets and find the knowledge and demand for high standards is there from the Premier League down to the primary schools questioning why they can’t play on the field because it’s flooded again.”

Using the Terraplane Rotor is the most efficient to subtract poa from the surface with the carbide tipped blades ensuring all organic build-up is removed, leaving a clean and level surface. The advancement in technology that Geoff always strives to meet is clearly evident when it comes to the enhanced Koro FTM.

The new angled cross conveyor has been introduced to move material evenly with perfect belt tracking with front and rear roller blades contributing to the cleanest pass available on the market.

The weight and balance have been analysed resulting in a lighter, steadier machine with the redistribution of weight using a removable 100kgs meaning a much smaller tractor can be used to run the Koro FTM. This is because the centre of gravity has been shifted towards the tractor making it easier to lift. Even when the weight is removed the machine still has improved balance against previous models.

For more information, visit: www.campeyturfcare.com

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.