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Development Of The New RANGER XP 1000

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Development Of The New RANGER XP 1000: Two decades since the introduction of the very first Polaris RANGER®, the historic legacy continues with the launch of the new RANGER XP® 1000.

The RANGER XP® 1000 is the latest addition to our strong utility vehicle line-up, and sets a new industry standard with over one hundred user-inspired improvements. It features class-leading power (82hp) and torque (61lb-ft), industry-leading towing (over 1100kg) and ground clearance (330mm) – which make it is the hardest working, smoothest riding SXS built.

Development Of The New RANGER XP 1000

So what does it take to design the new RANGER XP 1000?

Steve Wilcox, Senior Industrial Designer at Polaris Industries commented on development:“The process of getting a new product ready for production involves research, sketching, clay modeling and then a full-size hard model is created. This is followed by A-side Computer Aided Design (CAD) data for tooling. During the early phases of sketches and clay development, a new model can take between 24-32 months to complete a ground up design, with several team members contributing up to 65 hours per week.”

Steve was the Senior Designer of the RANGER XP® 1000, and responsible for the creation of the 2D exterior styling concept that was chosen to go into production and also overseeing the development of the design in clay, Computer Aided Design (CAD) and production.

“I love the RANGER line-up and I’d say that the new XP® 1000 is my favourite as it’s a product of my own blood, sweat and tears – and it turned out great.”

The Industrial Design department can often have five to six major programs running simultaneously, each having their own designer assigned. Very often, Senior Designers like Steve can often work on more than one project at once.

“Typically I have direct involvement between three and five major programs at any given time and frequently have a few smaller programs sprinkled in as well.”

Customer insight was used for the developments made to the RANGER XP® 1000 with 100 customer inspired updates being incorporated into the product.

Tiger Bracy, Manager of the Industrial Design team, said: “The “Voice of Our Customer” is always present and taken into consideration in the development of our products. We use online studies, dealer research, ride clinics, and focus groups to gather as much feedback as possible. This way we can make sure we’re delivering on what the consumer wants.”

Steve agrees: “Without the consumer, we have no product. As a designer, I am provided with lots of research by the product team but on top of this I always try to collect my own data by having informal and personal interviews with real people and asking very specific questions.”

While customer demand is an important driving force for constant innovation, so is the desire to remain a global powersports leader.

“We update models because our customers demand improvement and they deserve them, but awe also do it so that we stay ahead of our very aggressive competitors. We aim to refine our models with new features, and push the limits of design to maintain our position as industry leaders,” explains Steve.

With so much valuable feedback and data from owners as well as years of experience and knowledge, how does the team decide which improvements and changes are the most important?

“It’s a balancing act between functionality, performance and style,” admits Tiger. “We rank the attributes that are most important to customer’s needs, and we turn them into characteristics that the vehicle must deliver on.”

Steve concurs: “It’s also a case of balancing what is feasible within the scope of the program. We use our own experience and creativity to solve problems and enhance the user experience. Sometimes the consumers don’t realise there are areas to be improved. We’re enthusiasts ourselves and scrutinise the experience – perhaps sometimes more than our users – this is where we have the opportunities to innovate.” 

Both agree that working on a product, and then seeing it being used by customers is an extremely rewarding experience.

“I love seeing the products that we’ve worked on being used by customers. For me, the RANGER DNA is ‘Hardest working, smoothest riding’ and it applies to all the RANGER’s I’ve worked on. I’d say the biggest challenge is always having to prioritise the most important styling features because during the engineering process, compromises will always be made. It’s hard to let some of the key elements go, but you must in order to balance other features. My favourite parts of the latest RANGER are the stance and the styling,” said Steve.

Tiger concludes: “For me, RANGER must have a powerful motor, large cargo capacity, smooth suspension, industry leading towing ability, and a comfortable yet functional interior. All these elements we have built into the RANGER XP® 1000.”

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GKB North of the Border

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GKB North of the Border: When your heritage as a machinery manufacturer and dealer dates back to 1816 you expect nothing less than the best. The Groundcare Division of Thomas Sherriff, which began in 1986, is based in East Lothian and with a further six branches provides comprehensive sales, parts and service support for commercial, agricultural and consumer equipment. The company has now become an official GKB Machines dealer, taking delivery of the first three machines, a Combiseeder, Sandfilller and SP100 Sandspreader.

Sherriff’s had seen GKB products at a number of events and were impressed with the build quality but needed to see how they performed. “When we met GKB they came across as a forward-thinking company,” says Thomas Sherriff’s Groundcare Manager, Richard Scott, “and with a background in contracting and maintenance they have an exceptional insight into what groundsmen and greenkeepers need from products for maintaining sports turf and golf courses.” Thomas Sherriff arranged with GKB’s Operations Manager, Tom Shinkins, a series of product demonstrations for customers locally where the three machines were put through their paces.

GKB North of the Border

The GKB Combiseeder was developed to meet market demand for a fast, efficient way of seeding and surface aerating with virtually no surface disturbance. The Sandfiller provides a fast solution to drainage with economic and environmentally friendly intensive aeration and sand filling in a one-pass action. The SP100 Sandspreader is a top dresser that conveniently mounts onto a turf truck such as the ProGator, Truckster or Workman.

“Seeing these machines in action the results were obvious and the quality exceptional,” says Richard, “from the day Tom came and met us we have all got on well and he’s always there with support should we need it. We’re very pleased to be selling the product as GKB dealers.”

For more information, visit: www.gkbmachines.com

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire: In order to satisfy the members needs at Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club, course manager James Bonfield is using a range of Limagrain UK’s MM grass seed mixtures in order to produce the best possible playing surfaces.

Designed by Jack Niklaus II, the 6,266 yard course winds through ancient parkland, blending beautiful contours with trees and water to present an enticing challenge to golfers of all abilities. The club is under the Crown Golf umbrella, which boasts 23 prestigious venues around the UK.

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James has been in his current role as course manager for eight years and claims that he has assembled the best team he has ever seen in all his years of greenkeeping. The team all play regularly on the stunning course in Hertfordshire, which James believes is essential as they need to understand the course from a player’s perspective: “As a team, we are all very passionate about this place and are always striving to make improvements where we can,” he says.

So, when James was not achieving his desired results from a previous grass seed he used, he decided to look for an alternative, as he explains.

“I had been using a different seed for a couple of years and it hadn’t really worked out, so I met Richard Sheppard (amenity seed specialist for Limagrain UK) at BTME in Harrogate and we arranged an appointment for him to come in and see me.

“We walked around the 18 holes and looked at what I needed from a seed on various parts of the course. In particular we focussed on the fairways because at that time they were suffering after a season of very little rain and a lot of play. Richard suggested MM22 and MM25 – which was dependant on the position of the fairway as well as other factors such as acidity levels.”

Limagrain’s MM25 is an ideal mixture for the construction and renovation of sports pitches, whereas MM22 is great for divotting, repairing, overseeding and construction of tees, fairways and outfield areas that are subjected to high levels of wear. The course in Hertfordshire is divided by a road, of which, one half is old farmland so the soil is very rich and the other side being parkland tends to grow more efficiently. With both MM22 and MM25 at his disposal, James had the flexibility to apply the two mixtures where he felt most appropriate.

“The results have been most dramatic on the fairways because normally they don’t do very well in the summer,” he said. “We have limited irrigation which doesn’t allow me to water fairways as often as I would like and we have an evaporation rate of about 30mm at the height of the summer – which has always been an issue. This year, however, the fescues came through incredibly fast on the 17th, the 3rd and the 5th which was amazing. It’s provided me with really good results and they just look much healthier. They are better to present and the members have noticed a massive difference – they are really pleased.”

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James also relies on MM22 for his tees and uses a slightly higher application rate due to the complexity of them.

“We are trying to get as much seed as possible on the tees so we go as high as we can possibly go, maybe 20g per square metre depending on the location. For example, on our par 3’s we have seed coming through to replenish what is going out. Our tees here are tiny (under a hectare of tees) and part of the Niklaus design is that they are all round, so you lose a bit of teeing space there as well. It can be a hindrance because you are up against it when you are trying to keep things looking as best they can. You don’t want to stand on the tee and see divots everywhere. Therefore, we go quite high when overseeding with the MM22 and, again, we have seen great results.”

Where it is difficult to maintain fescue in the sward or where levels of wear are greater, many greenkeepers and course managers choose MM9 – a three way browntop bent mixture, which James applies to his greens shortly after renovations in late September in order to get more bents into the surface.

Completing his range of MM products, he applies the all ryegrass mixture MM50 to his walk off areas “just to give them a bit of love towards the end of the season.”

In reflecting on his use of the Limagrain products, James said: “From the MM seed mixtures 9, 22, 25 and 50 I have had the results that I wanted from each one of them – which is all I want. As a course manager you want to know that what you use is going to work because you don’t want to waste money. I want to make sure that I get value for money and good results and with the MM range I feel that I am.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm

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Dennis Razor Top Of The List

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Dennis Razor Top Of The List: After Richard Ayling, grounds manager at Merchant Taylors’ School, compiled a shortlist of new potential machinery to purchase, the Dennis Razor fine turf mower beat the competition to receive a unanimous vote from himself and his team.

The illustrious Merchant Taylors’ School in Hertfordshire has a glowing reputation for good reason. It boasts first-class results both in the classroom and outside on the magnificent playing fields.

Dennis Razor Top Of The List

The site in total including the prep school is approximately 280 acres and that comprises of 80 acres of sports fields on the main school site, 20 acres on the prep school site while the rest of it is made up of buildings, lakes, lawns and woodland.

In managing the maintenance and upkeep of this vast area, it is safe to say that Richard, who has been working at the school for nearly 23 years, certainly has his work cut out. He heads up a team of ten which consists of groundsmen and gardeners – all of whom play a vital role. Therefore, when it comes to purchasing new machinery, Richard insists that it must be a team decision.

“We were looking for something that was fairly simple to use, had easy height adjustment and a nice balance,” he says. “I took my staff to SALTEX in November last year and had a good look round the show to see what was on the market. We looked at various machines and drew up a shortlist. After a couple of demonstrations we were all in favour of the Razor.”

Superbly balanced and ideal for cricket pitches and other fine turf surfaces, the Razor features a 560mm (22in), 11 blade cutting cylinder for a perfect finish. An ultra-short wheelbase ensures easy manoeuvrability and excellent performance, even on undulating surfaces. The Dennis Razor encompasses the simple ‘no tools required’ click height adjusters for quick and easy operation, a feature which particularly struck a chord with Richard and his team.

Dennis Razor Top Of The List

“Its ease of use is the best feature and I particularly like the click system on the height adjustment setting. The Razor was exactly the machine we were looking for.”

Richard purchased four Dennis Razors – one for the school’s lawn areas and three for cricket pitch preparations. The team normally start using the Razor 8-10 days prior to a game taking place and Richard was quick to praise the machine’s quality of cut.

“For cricket preparation we use the Razor to cut down to 3-4mm but they are superb for trimming off the squares as well and they cut nicely at 15mm too. Ultimately they produce a fantastic finish on every occasion.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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Hortech – championing the SCAG SWZ

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Hortech – championing the SCAG SWZ: The SWZ is the model name for the SCAG pedestrian mower, which is supplied in the UK and parts of Europe by STM Co Ltd – and few people know these machines better than the grounds maintenance company Hortech Ltd. They’ve used SCAGs for 25 years; these are machines that work hard for their living, and this has led Hortech to select SCAG as the machine of choice for their work.

We spoke to their Commercial Director Duncan Jones, who has just taken delivery of four SCAG SWZs and he explained about several aspects of the range that keep SCAG so high on their specification list for their work for sites such as industrial, gas and water utility sites.

Hortech – championing the SCAG SWZ

Water utility sites are a good example of SWZs being ideal – the steeply angled sides on domestic reservoirs always present a challenge, and the SWZ with the twin-wheel option is a very well established and respected solution. This option effectively lowers the centre of gravity of the machine to keep it well placed on angles.

Duncan explained also about a brand-new contract they have recently been awarded that involves a very large number of sites – and to help with this work the new machines have been supplied with spark limiters because of the working environment involved.

Their whole fleet amounts to over forty SCAGs, and another example of keeping these useful machines in operation over the whole year is winter use of their use of their machines fitted with the STM snow blades.

Quotes from a large water utilities customer featuring reservoir work come from the operators themselves, “Happy to use the machines all day long”, and “We like SCAG best”.

STM are very proud to have someone say that of their products – and proud to have Hortech Ltd as a customer.

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