Tag Archive for: Terra

New look Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi6 in UK

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New look Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi6 in UK: One of the first Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi6s, liveried in Wiedenmann’s new vibrant orange colour and silver logo, has gone to Hilton Park Golf Club, Milngavie, Glasgow.

Stuart Neil, Courses Manager of the 36-hole site, is in the enviable position of already owning a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD, so is in a perfect position to compare.

New look Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi6 in UK

New look Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi6 in UK

“The new machine does look sharp and smart. It’s a stronger orange. The logo is more modern; I like it! Having two GXis for us is about efficiency; it lets us double up on aeration when we get necessary weather windows. It will be great to get our 36 greens done in virtually half the time.”

Choosing the 1.4 m wide Terra Spike was a relatively easy decision for Stuart, who has served the club for 39 years.

“The GXi 8 is a fabulous machine, always neat and precise; it leaves a very clean finish, even with our undulations. There is negligible disturbance. Across both our 18-hole courses there are a few tight spots that the GXi8 can reach but needs to manoeuvre to access. The GXi6 at 1.4 m wide is that bit smaller so can just nip in with fewer tractor movements.

“I am particularly looking forward to the solid three-part rear roller which is a real benefit. It’s got a good weight and helps leave a quality job.”

Aeration and coring at the James Braid-designed moorland courses will take place throughout the year as and when conditions allow.

“There are certain greens that seal up quicker than others which warrant a little more attention,” continued Stuart. “I’ve never had issues aerating during the playing season but obviously we would only ever use the finer tines, certainly nothing more than 12 mm.

“For various reasons we’ve had to shorten some of our planned maintenance periods; for instance, at the end of June we have only one week, instead of two, so there is pressure on the team to get tasks completed quicker. Having the new machine eases some of the burden.

“I believe in always having our GXi 8 ‘ready to go’. If it’s finished a task and the tines are worn, we are fortunate enough to be able to re-order spares at once, fit them on and be primed and ready for the next time. We will do the same with the GXi 6.”

Scottish Wiedenmann dealer, Fairways GM at Inchinnan, supplied the aerator with Area Manager, Stuart Cameron, himself an ex-greenkeeper at Hilton Park, providing sales support, alongside Wiedenmann UK’s lead demonstrator, Andy Kerr.

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Wiedenmann Terra Float Air is new arrival at Ardfin

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Wiedenmann Terra Float Air is new arrival at Ardfin: Newly appointed Director of Golf at Ardfin, Stewart Duff, has chosen a Wiedenmann Terra Float Air for his first machinery purchase.  

Stewart. who took up his post at the Isle of Jura estate in October, had been working as a consultant for the estate prior to taking on the Director of Golf role.

Wiedenmann Terra Float Air is new arrival at Ardfin

Wiedenmann Terra Float Air is new arrival at Ardfin

Exceptional in every aspect, Ardfin opened for play in 2017, and is set amidst 10 miles of unspoilt shoreline on the south of Jura, offering breath taking wildlife and golf in equal measure.

A niche project for the course’s greens and aprons prompted Wiedenmann UK’s Mike James to deliver the distinctive pneumatic overseeder via ferry.

“Ardfin has predominantly fescue greens,” explained Stewart Duff.  “As things mature, it’s not unusual for other grasses to creep in, resulting in a handful of areas appearing a little patchy. Our goal is to add another fine leaf bent grass into the surfaces without disturbance, which will help everything blend better.

“Gordon Howat from the R&A recommended the purchase of the Terra Float Air and I was in full agreement with his recommendation, so it was an easy choice. It was here within weeks, only some notable storms prevented Mike getting it to us sooner…”

With rates as low as 1 g / m², the Air offers class-leading features. The operator inserts the chosen seed into size-appropriate dosing sleeves. Next, the seed bed is determined by selecting from a range of hole-making tools, including stars and cone-shaped ones, from just 5 mm in diameter. The tools are inserted into a heavy-duty floating 3-part spike roller which effortlessly follows contours.  It loosens and aerates the soil down to 30 mm, creating uniform ‘seed pots. Electric-drive technology is used for all aspects of seed delivery; the seed-dosing sleeves and fan are both electric powered. Seeds are delivered pneumatically down a series of eight pipes onto deflector plates, which direct the seed into the ‘pots.’ An in-cab computer stores data from previous runs and allows amendment to the application rate at any point. After the seeds are in the ground, a double layer sweeping brush follows on and it, too, has floating properties. A further three-part roller gives an optimal brush and roller combination to incorporate top dressing materials to the ground, before smoothing the surface.

“For a site like this, very little surface disruption is critical,” continued Stewart. “We anticipate five applications a year to the greens and aprons. We’ll go in with bent four times and fescue once, but regardless of which one, we want no impact to the golfer.”

Already the maiden run has taken place. Using Aitkens bent grass seed at 5 g per m², the Ardfin team targeted a handful of greens.

“It was a dream to use,” said Stewart, “Very versatile and easy to calibrate. Further down the line, it is likely we will over-seed more fescue into the greens and rye into pathways using the 8mm tines.”

Mike James, Wiedenmann UK’s Sales Manager, said:

“Stewart chose two separate seed delivery sleeves for bent and for fescue, along with the smallest sized tools for bent (5 mm) and the longer (8 mm) cone tines for fescue and rye. Seed-specific sleeves and tools are one of the standout features of the Air.  Combining them appropriately gives extreme accuracy.”

Wiedenmann UK’s dealer in Scotland, Fairways GM, led by Regional Manager, Rob Hogarth will provide ongoing sales support.

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration: Playing ‘catch up’ is a necessary evil for many turf professionals. Whether juggling weather windows, staff availability or extended playing schedules, quite often something falls behind.

Happily for the team at Woolley Park Golf Club, Wakefield, the delivery of a new Terra Spike in November, and four months of constant hole punching, has them ahead of the curve with their advanced aeration programme.

Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration

Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration

The West Yorkshire club is a family run business which features a challenging 18-hole course, and a measured Par 3 course, in the spacious and peaceful setting of an old deer park. The site is beautifully landscaped and ringed by trees.

This season, John Rowbottom and his team of four greenkeepers and apprentice, retired their long-standing greens aerator and separate fairways machine selecting the Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD to replace both.

John Rowbottom, head greenkeeper, said:

“Over the last 8 months aeration across both our courses was taking too long to complete. Being a 27-hole golf centre, we need speed on the greens. Previously to get around them all could take 3-4 days; and it was a job no one wanted.

“In seasons past, we tried a shallow aerator, which was quick, but didn’t give sufficient depth. Last year with Balmers GM, Wakefield, we looked at what was on the market, favouring the ’two birds with one stone’ option and happened upon the GXi8 HD, with its access all areas credentials.

“We knew it was fast and incredibly smooth and were excited for its great results and minimal disruption, so reducing the impact of maintenance work on our golfers.

“All in we have 22 hectares of fairways and 3 hectares of greens.  Since November, we have achieved an aeration pass on the greens in each of the four winter months, varying depths as we’ve gone. We’ve also covered the fairways twice. During the last week of November, we hired an additional GXi8 from our dealers, Balmers to take best advantage of a weather window: completing one full rotation. We’ve been out with Our Terra Spike pretty much every day since, and have now two full circuits across booth courses.

“Our whole ethos is investment into the golf course. Our greenkeeping team are resourced with the machines they need for task.  Through sheer volume of work we’ve got through ten sets of tines, but the upside is we’ve an exceptional volume of holes in the ground. We’ve literally hammered holes in every square inch of this place but we are better for it. It’s helped no end to get that little bit of extra depth.

“The Wiedenmann has revolutionised the way we aerate. If we set our minds to it, with an early start and a late finish we can get all 27 greens done in a day, rather than the three to four days it took previously.

“Covering fairways used to be a two-to-three-week job and if you got bad weather in and amongst then heaven help you!

“Now the job is much less frustrating and takes less than a week. The team feel they are making real progress rather than plodding at a slow speed.

“On the fairways ideally, we only want to work the soil up to 15 cm. Ninety-five per cent of our land is built upon coal measures sandstone so we are just hoping to prick through the top soil and then let the stone layer do its thing. We have the off fairway where we know we have a clay pocket. On those we’ve been able to drill down to full depth; getting as deep as we can to help mother nature.

“In our part of Yorkshire we’re the last golf course to shut for rain and the first one to reopen after it.

“Aeration really is essential. With wetter winters and golfers wanting to play longer into the season, the GXi8 just brought us straight back up to speed. Keeping the surface open and, keeping it free draining in combination with managing footfall really helps.  The Wiedenmann is a real eye opener and fantastic piece of equipment.”

Darren Barker, Sales Director, Balmers GM said:

Thank you to John, Philip & Jane Rowbottom and the team at Woolley Park Golf Club for their purchase and positive feedback. We knew this machine would work hard and be put through its paces. The Wiedenmann is all about speed, reliability and increasing aeration productivity.”

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds: Myreside Stadium in Edinburgh is home to George Watson’s College and Watsonian rugby club. Regular fixtures held there include Tennent’s National League Division 1, FOSROC Super Six Championship and Tennent’s Women’s Premier League matches.

Beside the main pitch, Head of Grounds, Craig Eccleston, and his team of five, have eight other full size rugby pitches, two large training areas and three cricket squares to maintain, as well as the school’s estate.

Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

In September, they took delivery of a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD deep aerator from Wiedenmann UK’s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM.

Craig Eccleston said: “Aeration is a massive part of pitch playability and it’s important that we give all our surfaces best care. In summer I went to a demo at Dollar Academy, where the Wiedenmann team answered my questions. I thought the GXi 8 pricewise would be out my range, and we’d go for a smaller one, but I was pleasantly surprised when it came in under my budget.

“The long life of the Wiedenmann was a big consideration. The school plays so much rugby, and if you factor the FPs’ activity too, all pitches are busy right through until the summer term, when focus switches to athletics and cricket.

“We’ve relied on contractors to come in on a pre-booked day which can bring limitations. Sometimes the conditions don’t suit, or fixtures change, and it doesn’t get done. I made a financial case that if we owned our own machine, we could go out as often as necessary, making use of any windows of opportunity, especially as a full pitch can be done in just over 2.5 hrs. Having as many pitches, the numbers stacked up.

Craig, who took up his position almost three years ago had previous experience of working with Terra Spikes when he was head groundsman at Giggleswick School, North Yorkshire.

“This is a newer model to what I had before and I like that there are minimal grease points, so it is easy to maintain. This one is so quick and so smooth. When we look at the weather forecast for the week ahead, I say to the team, ’let’s get the machine on and we’ll pick a couple of pitches off each day and get around everything’. It makes such a difference.

“As soon as the GXi8 arrived in September we did all, rugby pitches with 20 mm tines at once. A few had a second aeration in November. During January or February, we will go again once, leaving them until renovations time, which for us is the end of July.

“Our cricket wickets only need to be done annually so ours were aerated at the end of October with 8 mm tines.

“I’m happy with its progress. Ultimately, we invested in the machine to improve the overall playability of the pitches to enhance their durability and performance. This enhances the enjoyment for the pupils, letting them play fast expansive rugby. The school has been particularly good investing in what we need.”

George Watson’s College is a single campus co-educational independent day school in the heart of Edinburgh, for young people from 3-18 years.

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Terra Rake makes fairways on point

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Terra Rake makes fairways on point: Ponteland Golf Club, just north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has purchased a Wiedenmann Terra Rake to add even more quality to their surfaces.

The picturesque parkland club already has a deserved reputation for first rate greens but sought a Terra Rake to bring their tees, aprons and fairways to the next level.

Terra Rake makes fairways on point

Terra Rake makes fairways on point

It also happened to be the first purchase of new Course Manager, Craig Kilgour, who took up the post in March, after spending over 30 of his 35-year greenkeeping career at the Northumberland club.

“Across the pandemic we couldn’t be everywhere, and our fairways suffered in particular,” said Craig.  “Too much moss, some bare patches; they needed some attention.

“Aeration was first on my list, so I organised for contractors, Turf Care of Consett, to come in with their two new Wiedenmann Terra Spikes XD8s, and tined them down to about 7 inches (18 cm).  After that they got sprayed a couple of times with a really good feed.

“Next, was a demo with a Wiedenmann Terra Rake Luckily for me, my local dealer, Thomas Sherriff, had a 2.3 m ex-demo model for sale, and within half an hour of its arrival, we had decided to buy it.”

Craig and his team, which returned to a full complement of six in May, have tackled several renovations this Spring, with the new rake adding benefit to each of their projects.

“In the six weeks we’ve had it, we’ve been around all our fairways three times on its most aggressive setting. It rips out thatch and so much organic matter. Now the fairways are looking the healthiest they’ve ever been.

“Our tee boxes and aprons which had been hollow cored, sanded and fed, have also had the Terra Rake treatment.  The aprons have had two passes already. It’s scarifying tines have pulled out dead grass from everywhere. Genuinely, it hasn’t stopped and its starting to bring the quality we were looking for… The Chairman is delighted, the members are over the moon and so win, win.

” Going forward through the season, we’ll probably try to use it monthly; it helps to stand up the grass before we cut and it also helps stripe the turf to keep it well presented. Because of time, our concentration has been limited to the finer areas, but we can’t wait to see the job it will do to help with rough management.”

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