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Pellenc has the advantage at Hutchesons’

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Pellenc has the advantage at Hutchesons’: Iain Ellis, Head Groundsman at Hutchesons’ Grammar School, has highlighted the many benefits of using a range of Pellenc battery-powered equipment.

Hutchesons’ Grammar School is a co-educational, independent school in the south-side of Glasgow. Founded in 1641, the school has a long-held record of academic achievement and offers pupils a wide choice of extra-curricular activities at its primary and secondary schools.

Pellenc has the advantage at Hutchesons’

Pellenc has the advantage at Hutchesons’

Many of these activities and clubs are focussed on sustainability – a topic which the school cares deeply about.

Sustainability isn’t just limited to the pupils, as Iain revealed.

“Hutchesons’ is a very eco-friendly school, and we all have a part to play,” he said. “I have wanted to go down the battery-powered route for a long time now.”

Approximately six months ago, Ian got the go ahead from the school to purchase a range of innovative Pellenc battery-powered equipment. Organised and supplied by Allan Wright of Agrovista Amenity, Ian purchased an Airion blower, an Excelion strimmer, a Helion compact hedge-cutter as well as the Helion telescopic model, and the Rasion pedestrian mower.

“I was instantly impressed as to just how quiet the equipment was,” said Iain. “In this respect it is brilliant because we simply couldn’t use our old two-stroke machinery when classes or exams were in progress. Furthermore, the Pellenc equipment offers far more protection to operators.”

Light, odourless, noise-free, with no starting problems and enough power to enable professional users to work for a full day on a single charge, it’s no wonder more and more professional users like Ian are turning to Pellenc. It is an attractive alternative to those who have, for several years, been relying on fuel-based machinery.

Iain was quick to point out the advantages.

“The Rasion lawnmower has surpassed itself completely – especially on the huge banks we have at the school. We used to have a big mower which was a real struggle and didn’t do much good especially with the oil tipping back and forward. The Rasion is so light, and it turns on a sixpence. We no longer have to tip the mower and walk round with it to turn. I also like that there are four settings for cutting and four speed settings too.  I can’t praise this mower enough.

“Then there is the Airion blower which offers us far more control than our old two-stroke blower. We have many stone areas on site and with the low power setting we can easily blow grass off without moving the stones. This wasn’t possible with the two-stroke blower.

“We also like how light the equipment is,” continued Iain. “There are five sites we tend to, and we need to constantly move machinery from one site to another. Our old petrol machinery was so heavy compared to the Pellenc equipment. We are no longer having to transport fuel so that is good from a health and safety point of view. Plus, we are saving a lot of money on fuel – especially with prices going up all the time.

“The batteries don’t cost much to charge and the life on them is really good – we’ve never ran out of battery life.

“Overall, I can’t speak highly enough about the Pellenc equipment – it has made a huge difference to the work we do across all the sites. The other bonus is the warranty and I’m looking at purchasing more Pellenc tools this year.”

As Iain says, Pellenc UK offers an industry leading four-year commercial warranty for all batteries and a three-year warranty for all tools.

Pellenc is distributed exclusively in the UK by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

You can also follow Pellenc on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PellencUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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Overmarking accuracy makes the difference

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Overmarking accuracy makes the difference: Five minutes into a demo of the Turf Tank One, Haileybury School Grounds Manager, Andy Richards, knew he needed one.

Andy, who has been at the private school for three years, was sceptical about the overmarking ability of the robot, having looked at alternatives over a three-year period. But, the accuracy, quality of the lines and undulation capabilities sold it to him.

Overmarking accuracy makes the difference

Overmarking accuracy makes the difference

With 20 sports pitches split between football, rugby and lacrosse to mark and athletics in the summer, Andy’s primary focus was initial marking. During renovations and changeovers between sports, he found his skilled groundsmen were removed from crucial maintenance for up to two weeks.

To combat that, he had to become over reliant on using contractors. This became a costly exercise and was not as flexible as determining your own pitch line-marking schedule.  So, when Andy weighed up the costs for the initial marking against having the accuracy of the Turf Tank One all year round for consistent and regular over-marking, the robot more than justified itself.

“My main concern has always been overmarking because I never thought GPS robots were accurate enough to overmark. So, when we had the demo from Turf Tank, overmarking was the major thing.

“To be honest, because I’d seen so many other GPS markers, either push ones or robots, I was sceptical. But we within five minutes of seeing the Turf Tank in action on the demo, I said I’d buy it because I was so impressed with the quality and precision of the line.

“I’ve used laser markers in the past, and I genuinely thought we’d still use one on our first team rugby and football pitch. But it would be hard for most people to tell the difference between the two, which has been a massive eye opener for me.”

For Andy, utilising the Turf Tank One is also a direct response to the skilled labour shortage in the turf industry, and it was a primary consideration of the school when weighing up their decision.

“Skilled labour is difficult to get, and line marking is a technical job. So, in some ways, that is what got it over the line with the Bursar because we are short staffed, it’s hard to get labour, and it’s hard to get skilled labour.

“To take out one of your most skilled jobs and give it to a robot is almost a no brainer. I’ve got someone now from a different field of expertise, but very keen to learn, and we can now send him out with the robot, and within two hours, he can mark out a running track, a lacrosse pitch, discus, javelin and shotput before break time. And it’s done accurately and perfectly, and it’s just unbelievable because it would have taken one or even two skilled groundsmen until lunchtime. Now I can use their skills and time to improve other areas of our maintenance programme.”

Since receiving their robot in December 2021, Haileybury has seen the full benefit. For example, marking six rugby pitches has gone from taking three people over two days to one person in two hours. Likewise, facilitating a last-minute request for a lacrosse pitch took 15 minutes to line, whereas before, it wouldn’t have happened.

These advantages, along with the service from Turf Tank’s Alex Robinson and Liam Pindred, have led Andy to give some simple advice to anyone considering GPS line marking: “Buy a Turf Tank. I honestly can’t see a downside of it.”

For more information on the Turf Tank One or to have a demonstration contact alex@turftank.co.uk (southern UK) or matt@turftank.co.uk (northern UK).

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GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

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GKB SP100 top of the topdressers: To support their rapid and continued growth, Garsons Group Ltd have been investing in equipment to help them deliver contracting and maintenance services to the full spectrum of sports surfaces.

One machine that joined the fleet and has now become their ‘go-to’ for topdressing is the GKB Sandspreader – and while perhaps it wasn’t quite ‘love’ at first sight, Director Gareth Davies says it was definitely ‘the perfect fit’ at first sight after spotting the SP100 at BTME!

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

GKB SP100 top of the topdressers

“Straight away, I could tell that SP100 was a great size machine that would suit the variety of work we do” explains Gareth, who has spent 25 years working in the groundcare industry and established Garsons as a limited company three years ago. “We’re conducting renovations, reconstructions and ongoing maintenance for winter sports pitches, cricket and golf courses so need something with a large enough hopper capacity to be efficient, but not too big that access to certain sites may become compromised. The Sandspreader ticks all the boxes.”

Gareth opted for the mounted SP100 model and, since its delivery in the spring of 2021 from local dealer Ernest Does, he estimates they’ve applied in the region of 4000 tonnes of sand with it. “The hopper is the main benefit for us. The SP100 holds 1m3 of material at a time meaning we can apply over 100 tonnes in a day which is critical when the team are working to tight deadlines. It’s also really easy to use and adjust for lighter or heavier applications when needed. We use it primarily for football and rugby, but this year we used it on a cricket square for the first time and it did a brilliant job.”

The GKB SP100 is the smallest unit in the Sandspreader range, with larger models offering up to a 4m3 hopper capacity. The material is transported from the hopper to the adjustable metering valve via an internal conveyor belt, before being efficiently and evenly distributed via the double disc hydraulic spinners. As well as trailed and mounted formats, GKB also offer the SPM model, which features a side material handler for the convenient filling of bunkers or trenches.

“Another big thing for us, has been the support and customer service from GKB, which has been excellent throughout. Tom Shinkins is always on hand for advice and, when we needed some additional parts recently, he was able to get them to us in under 24 hours which is the kind of back-up we need as we drive our business forward.”

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Irrigation powered by the sun and cloud

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Irrigation powered by the sun and cloud: Toro’s latest irrigation technology unites with sustainability in the new Tempus Air, a solar-powered, cloud-based, battery-operated, remote-controlled, wireless control system offering flexible programming to take water automation to the next level.

Technology and sustainability form a symbiotic partnership as we see a solar panel power a nine-volt battery in a product where all its data and information are stored in the cloud. It is a perfect example of how, when the two work together, a cost-effective green solution emerges.

Irrigation powered by the sun and cloud

Irrigation powered by the sun and cloud

So, what’s the difference between traditional and air automation? Well, air is fully automated, moveable, scalable, precise and affordable, providing detailed feedback and information.

Robert Jackson, division manager for Reesink Hydro-Scapes, the UK distributor of Toro irrigation products, explains more: “Air automation removes some of the inevitable issues of traditional automation such as the expense, labour required, and time needed to install. It’s the no effort way to take control of your water. It’s an extremely stable and secure connection offering real-time connectivity, now proven in the field.

“Scalability is a key feature making this an affordable water delivery solution – Wi-Fi allows you to manage up to 30 modules and 3G manages up to 25. Field conditions can be remotely monitored, and you can programme by time, volume and rainfall. And being able to deliver water at the right time and place means there’s no water wastage.”

Tempus Air can also control the hydraulic valves, water pumps, pressure valve sensors and filters; you can link moisture levels, temperature, wind speed, so adding a lot of functionality as well as monitoring a wide set of field parameters for even more precise and efficient irrigation scheduling.

“Toro has designed a one-of-a-kind next generation system,” continues Robert. “It is entirely unique with nothing else like it on the market today. It’s fully app controlled so no control box or PC set up,” Robert continues. “The app itself is very intuitive and user friendly and Bluetooth connectivity is integrated to allow full control through the app via a smartphone, tablet or PC if you prefer – simply download and choose up to six stations, four independent programmes and three start times.”

In terms of the sprinklers that can be used, Robert explains: “As you may expect the connecting modules fit into Toro Infinity Sprinklers, the smartest, hardest-working sprinklers on the market – top accessibility to all the critical components and built for flexible expansion, it’s the perfect combination.”

Rob continues: “Combining all these features makes Tempus Air ideal for those looking for a sustainable and unique solution and where areas without electricity such as sports pitches, stadiums and training grounds keen to eliminate cables from the sidelines and professional landscaping projects. Remote management allows for control from up to 800 metres away and automated responses can be applied based on pre-set thresholds.”

To find out how the perfect combination of technology and sustainability can benefit your water regime and business’ bottom line, call Reesink Hydro-Scapes on 01480 226800 or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk for further information.

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Experience the Aspen difference

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Experience the Aspen difference: Alkylate petrol pioneers Aspen are back at APF for 2022, showcasing the benefits of their ethanol-free fuel for two and four-stroke engines.

Founded in 1988, Aspen has long been helping to improve operator working conditions, enhance engine performance and reduce the negative impact on the environment – and they’re so confident you’ll agree that visitors to stand D1A can now trial Aspen Fuel with a new money back guarantee!

Experience the Aspen difference

Experience the Aspen difference

Being free from ethanol, benzene and many of the other hazardous hydrocarbons found in traditional pump fuel, Aspen alkylate petrol has been proven to improve equipment performance and reduce the wear on engine components. The cleaner burn not only brings benefit for your equipment, but significantly reduces pollutants into the atmosphere – better for both people and the planet.

These benefits have seen Aspen become a popular choice with professionals, who also enjoy the convenience of having Aspen delivered in bulk, by the can or drum, directly to their site. For those yet to experience the difference, Aspen are introducing a new incentive at APF 2022 where, subject to a bulk purchase, operators can trial Aspen with an option to return the fuel if they change their mind.

Commenting on the offer, Business Development Manager Axel Hildebrand said, “Aspen has a tried and tested record of making a real difference to the working conditions for arb and grounds contractors of all sizes up and down the country. However, all too often, we find people are tentative to give it a try! This initiative will give people the opportunity to put Aspen to the test in their own working environments, and we’re confident that once people discover first-hand the improvements it can make to sustainable working that they’ll not look back.”

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