Tag Archive for: Success

The Workhorse Behind Toberona Stables’ Success

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The Workhorse Behind Toberona Stables’ Success: For Paul Nolan and his team at Toberona Stables in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, the Avant 423 compact loader has proven to be an indispensable asset in managing their busy equine operations.

Specialising in training racehorses, Toberona Stables accommodates over 60 horses in training, with an additional 50-60 horses on-site for resale. The farm transitioned from sheep and tillage farming to a full-fledged racing yard just a few decades ago, and the Avant 423 has been essential to their ongoing success.

The Workhorse Behind Toberona Stables’ Success

The Workhorse Behind Toberona Stables’ Success

“We’ve been doing this for 30 years now,” explains Paul. “We used to farm sheep and do tillage, but we decided to make the switch to horses. We are now a full horse farm with a training yard, focusing exclusively on racehorses.” With such a busy operation, efficiency is key, and the Avant 423 has become essential in helping the team streamline daily tasks.

The Avant 423, a compact and highly versatile compact loader, is used extensively throughout the year at Toberona Stables. The machine’s hydrostatic drive system, with just a forward and reverse pedal, makes it incredibly easy to operate, even for those without prior machinery experience.

“We had heard about the Avant and saw one in action, and we really liked what we saw,” says Paul. “We had another machine here before, and it wasn’t nearly as versatile. It was awkward to use, and compared to the Avant, it didn’t match up at all. Now, we couldn’t imagine managing without the Avant. It’s the best machine we’ve ever had on the farm.”

The Avant 423’s compact size makes it ideal for manoeuvring in tight spaces, such as in the stables or along narrow pathways, yet it packs enough power to perform a range of tasks efficiently.

“We use the Avant for a whole range of duties,” Paul notes. “We use it for feeding the horses, pulling trailers with hay, loading barrows with wood chips or shavings, and sweeping the yard. It does a lot of hours every day and is used 365 days a year without fail.”

One of the standout features of the Avant 423 is its versatility, made even more efficient by its range of attachments. Paul and his team use several attachments to tackle the different tasks required on a horse farm.

“We have a brush, a bucket, and a grab,” explains Paul. “The grab is great for mucking out the stables. The brush attachment is a game changer—it sweeps the entire yard and deposits everything into the dung heap. It doesn’t leave anything behind.”

Before acquiring the Avant, the team used other equipment, such as road sweepers, but none proved as effective as the Avant’s brush attachment.

“Before, one man would need a whole day to sweep the yard,” Paul recalls. “We had brushes on the back of the tractor, but they didn’t work half as well as the Avant. It does the work of 3-4 men and gets the job done in no time.

Paul also credits Ferrybridge, the authorised Avant dealer, for providing exceptional service and support. When Ferrybridge first became an Avant dealer, Paul was the first to purchase an Avant machine in the area, and he has never looked back.

“Service is crucial, especially these days when it’s hard to get people round for repairs or maintenance,” Paul says. “Having a good dealer like Ferrybridge has been a blessing. Any issues we’ve had have been resolved within a day, and their service is always first-class. We know we can always count on them.”

The Avant 423 isn’t just about feeding horses and cleaning stables. Paul’s team also uses it for specialised tasks like maintaining the gallops, which are crucial for the horses’ training.

“We use an electric sprayer, which we put in the bucket on the Avant,” says Paul. “We use it to spray the sides of the gallops to control weeds. It’s so easy to drive along with the Avant and spray.”

The Avant 423 has proven itself as a vital tool at Toberona Stables. Its combination of power, versatility, and ease of use has made it the go-to machine for a variety of tasks that keep the yard running smoothly. For Paul and his team, the Avant is more than just a piece of equipment—it’s an essential part of their daily operations.

For more information, please visit www.avanttecno.com/uk

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Attraxor powers turf success for North Foreland

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Attraxor powers turf success for North Foreland: Simon Grand, Course Manager at North Foreland Golf Club in Kent, has reported impressive results from using BASF’s Attraxor, a plant growth regulator recommended and supplied by Agrovista Amenity.

Known for its unique coastal setting and historic courses, North Foreland faces the dual challenges of high traffic and dry, windswept conditions. For Simon, the location was a major draw when he joined nine years ago. Moving from a North London clay course, he was eager to manage turf on the free-draining chalk downland and embrace the challenges of this coastal environment.

Attraxor powers turf success for North Foreland

Attraxor powers turf success for North Foreland

Managing the club’s courses, which host approximately 60,000 rounds of golf annually, presents unique challenges. The main course is particularly demanding, with its exposure to winds and a need for consistent, high-quality turf management. With a relatively small team of eight full-time staff, efficiency and innovative solutions are key.

Simon’s relationship with Agrovista Amenity dates back years. Familiar with their product range and expertise, he has trusted the company’s advice and offerings to optimise the club’s turf management.

This year, Simon decided to trial BASF’s Attraxor plant growth regulator: “I’d read positive studies and listened to feedback about the product from other users, particularly its seed head suppression and disease management benefits. The buzz around it grew to the point where I had to see for myself,” he said.

Attraxor is designed to reduce vertical grass growth while promoting lateral spread and tillering. This leads to a denser turf with improved playability and less frequent mowing, freeing up valuable time for other maintenance tasks. The product is especially beneficial for suppressing seed head production and can play a role in disease management.

Simon’s first application on the Northcliffe course was in early spring. “We applied it at the full rate during a mild March. The results were immediate. Within the first few weeks, we noticed significantly reduced growth leading to less leaf removal when cutting and more consistent putting surfaces. I definitely noticed a reduction in seed head as well, when normally they would have been very prevalent at that time of year. There was also a major decrease in disease considering the conditions we were facing. After the initial application we are generally applying it every three weeks and have continued to do so ever since.”

The results impressed Simon enough to integrate Attraxor into the main course maintenance plan later in the summer. “It wasn’t just a short-term solution; it became part of our long-term strategy.”

Attraxor powers turf success for North Foreland

Attraxor powers turf success for North Foreland

Attraxor’s use on the two courses demonstrated benefits like reduced mowing frequency and lower disease presence, which were crucial given the limited resources of the team. “We’re not the largest team managing two busy courses, so any product that helps us maintain quality while reducing workload is invaluable. The challenges we face now as an industry are immense. Greenkeeping can be a tough environment based around labour shortages and the limited products you can use, so a good growth regulator can be a key product in this respect,” he said.

Simon values the ongoing relationship with Andrew Norman, his Agrovista Amenity representative, whose knowledge helps guide North Foreland’s maintenance practices. “Andrew and I have a great understanding, and we work well together. Furthermore, Agrovista’s seminars and resources have been great for learning about new products like Attraxor and fitting them into our programmes,” he added.

The positive results from the initial trials have encouraged Simon to explore Attraxor’s use on tees, aprons, and even bunker faces as time and conditions allow. He remains committed to building on this year’s success and integrating Attraxor into a broader, year-round turf management plan. “I think all the time the grass is growing, Attraxor will be a part of the programme,” Simon said.

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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Wildwood Machinery continues run of success

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Wildwood Machinery continues run of success: Following a year of consistent expansion in 2024, Winchester-based groundcare business Wildwood Machinery has maintained its run of success at the start of 2025.

“Firstly, we have extended our product range with the addition of an important dealership contract with Wessex International,” says managing director James Bastian. “Secondly, we have secured a significant contract with a local authority client that we will be announcing shortly.”

Wildwood Machinery continues run of success

Wildwood Machinery continues run of success

“The recent appointment of Sales Manager Rob Hogarth, who brings 40 years of experience in the groundcare sector, is an indication of our intention to continue growing Wildwood Machinery this year,” says James Bastian. “He has brought a wealth of contacts and expertise to the business, and we are already seeing the benefits of that.”

Wildwood – which launched in 2022 – has scaled up rapidly, winning clients across professional and community sports clubs, Local Authorities, schools, National Trust properties.

“A vital component in our success has been our ability to source, supply and maintain the very best equipment available to the UK market. We are already the sole dealer across much of southern England for INFINICUT. Now, as the main local dealer for Wessex International – who manufacture a durable, versatile and reliable range of mowers – we are in a position to meet an even wider range of clients and projects,” comments James Bastian.

Sheldon Diplock of Wessex International, says: “Our mowers deliver superior presentation and professional striping, in dry or wet conditions. This is made possible by our ‘tip speed’ that is approximately 20 per cent faster than other rotary mowers on the market. Investing in Wessex Roller mowers brings a host of other benefits such as savings on mowing time and maintenance costs, whilst getting more value out of the tractors already on your fleet. The Wessex CRX320, a key player in the Golf and Sports Turf market, comes in at around the third of the price of traditional rough mower units.”

James Bastian adds, “At Wildwood Machinery our focus is on providing the absolute highest quality services to the groundcare profession, from our base in Winchester. It’s proving to be a potent combination, and appeals to clients from schools through to clients including Premiership football clubs, Local Authorities, the National Trust and many of southern England’s leading golf clubs.”

Wildwood – which has its main headquarters at East Horton Golf Club in Fair Oak – made regular hires throughout 2024 across engineering, maintenance, customer service and sales, and has bucked the trend across the economy as a whole with rapid growth.

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Reesink East Anglia builds on success

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Reesink East Anglia builds on success: The East Anglia and Midlands branch of Reesink UK is celebrating two years of successful operation and attributing a significant proportion of its achievements to its machinery servicing and parts departments.

Trevor Chard, Branch Manager of Reesink East Anglia, says: “We set out with a firm focus on sales, servicing, training and parts, and what we’ve noticed since opening is just how highly the servicing and parts departments are valued and in particular how popular the ReeAssure maintenance plans are.”

Reesink East Anglia builds on success

Reesink East Anglia builds on success

The reason for this is multifaceted says Trevor: “We’ve noticed customers are holding on to their machinery for longer. The cost of living crisis does affect businesses and the post-COVID spend is long behind us, but this is where buying Toro in the first instance pays dividends.

“It’s longevity and reliability is such that with regular maintenance and servicing by our team of experienced and trained technicians they can easily get upwards of a decade of solid work performance in.”

In fact, such is the demand for Reesink’s servicing maintenance support that the Burwell branch now has three technicians full-time on the road and two at the branch, with recruitment currently active to further bolster the team.

The reason for this is that from a choice of three service plans for customers, Burwell branch customers favour Gold. “They want to know everything is covered, scheduled and every eventuality taken care of. That’s unlimited visits, breakdown and call out costs, and all manufacturer’s routine maintenance and scheduled servicing. With most customers choosing this plan, it’s easy to see why the team is expanding.

“The growth of the maintenance and support we provide has been organic and demonstrates just how important it is to have a local branch to respond to customer demand and react to specific requirements of our local customers. That’s what sees us gaining new customers and welcoming returning ones.”

Trevor has noticed that most machinery enquiries focus on hybrid and electric options and he puts the branch’s point of difference down to that fact that they may act as an independent, but they have access to all the advantages being part of an international distributor brings.

“We’re trained as the distributor but we act as the retail outlet,” he says. “We can respond instantly to local market changes and design our business to offer the right products for the local industry but also pull on the power of being part of Reesink’s impressive network of market-leading brands, latest technology, guaranteed delivery times, and more.”

To speak to Reesink Burwell about what brands, services and expertise it can offer, call 01638 594340.

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GGM Group success at APF

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GGM Group success at APF:  GGM Group are celebrating huge success at APF 2024, which was held at Ragley Estate, Warwickshire last month with fantastic footfall, demos and connections made.

The APF Exhibition is the UK’s largest forestry, arboriculture, firewood. fencing, trade show. It attracts over 320 exhibitors and 23,000 visitors.

GGM Group success at APF

GGM Group success at APF

The APF was an opportunity for GGM to showcase its product range aimed at the woodland and tree-care industries. The range showcased included the TP280 tracked chipper which generated a huge amount of interest and requests for demos and just prior to the show, GGM had made a sale of a new TP280 tracked chipper and the event allowed for a handover to the customer with the technical team from TP.

Key features of the product include:

  • A large, 11” in-feed with aggressive ”shark teeth” vertical rollers generating a strong and effective in-feed
  • TP “Fast Feed” option giving the chipper the safe hand feeding as well as the benefit of excavator feeding for larger timber
  • Full radio remote operation for controlling the chipper from the excavator seat
  • No need for HGV transport, the TP280 chipper can be transported on a suitable 3,500kg GVW Plant trailer behind a capable pick up or van.

The event also provided an opportunity for the business to showcase the Cast SSQ Worky-Quad skidsteer loaders which revolutionize on-site working where narrow access and confined workspaces are an issue. Thanks to the interchangeability of multiple attachments, the SSQ Worky-quad can complete a large range of tasks throughout many different industries

The addition of Worky Quad to the product range follows significant developments in GGM’s entry in to the Arb market, including the expansion of their FSI territories with the addition of Yorkshire to North Wales and North of England. FSI is Europe’s largest manufacturer of stump cutters and becoming the FSI Stump Cutter Dealer for most of the North of England along with TP and Workyquad is a large step towards the company’s ambition to become the tree surgeon’s dealer of choice in the North.

The GGM range of Ag & Arb equipment also offers high-performing solutions from manufacturers including Kubota, Knegt, Major, Eliet, Echo and Husqvarna amongst others.

Phil Edmondson of GGM said:

“It was fantastic to exhibit at this national show allowing us to showcase our range in the best possible way. We had a huge number of visitors with enquiries right across our product range.

With FSI and TP also having stands at the show, the added benefit of having manufacturers present to offer hands-on advice direct to the end users proved theirs, and GGM Groups commitment to the arb industry”.

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