Tag Archive for: Why

Why SAGE is not to be missed

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Why SAGE is not to be missed: The Sports & Grounds Expo (SAGE) has been designed to provide an outdoor opportunity for the sports and grounds maintenance industry to showcase their kit and solutions. Many within the industry have a large amount of big kit which does not fit well into indoor environments easily.

The main aim for SAGE is to give exhibitors the space they need with very few limitations, at unbeatable prices. SAGE is the only totally OUTDOOR event for the industry in the UK, and it aims to be inclusive of everyone who shares an interest in the sports and grounds maintenance industry.

Why SAGE is not to be missed

Why SAGE is not to be missed

SAGE gives a vital opportunity for visitors to be able to get “hands on”, each exhibitor has the opportunity to have a demo area located beside their stand totally free of charge, providing an abundance of space. The target is to deliver a resourceful and action-packed experience for both our visitors and exhibitors alike.

The team at SAGE is determined to tackle key issues for the industry head-on. With this in mind, SAGE is proud to be hosting the First Sustainability Summit, which will take place on Wednesday 6th in partnership with Bio-Circle, it will also return on Thursday 7th July for a live Q&A. The summit will be led by experts across the industry and will provide guidance and support on how sustainable solutions can be achieved by businesses across the sports and grounds maintenance industry. The panel and their colleagues will be on hand to deliver tailored options for those looking to adopt processes that are more environmentally friendly.

SAGE is proud to have announced this Spring that it has been named the home event for GRASS; Ground care Resources & Sustainability Solutions. The NEW networking & support forum, which is a FREE to join group that supports all groundscare and other sporting industry sustainability projects, providing free advice and knowledge of sustainable pitch care. To find out more join us as founder of GRASS, Mark Tomlinson, heads up the Sustainability Summit on Wednesday 6th July.

Free Courses & Sessions

On Wednesday 6th July Grounds, we are delighted to announce that Training Grounds Ltd, will be joining SAGE to deliver tailor made courses and sessions to our delegates.

Established in 2006, Grounds Training is a Lantra Approved Training Provider, who provides professional, independently-accredited training to groups of operatives in the workplace. Clients include sports clubs and associations, commercial and non-profit organisations, schools, universities, local authorities, contractors and private estates.

Managing Director Martin Sampson said; “As a training partner we offer clients a complete service, from initial enquiry to certification and beyond, helping Grounds, Course and Estate Managers, HR staff in local authorities and companies of all sizes plan training and competency programmes for their staff teams. We work with a fantastic group of instructors and assessors with an incredibly diverse skillset, enabling us to deliver a broad range of training courses and qualifications.

It’s vital we address the skills shortage in our industry in order to ensure that the nation’s sports and leisure facilities, parks and green spaces have skilled people to maintain them, and that those personnel are able to work confidently, competently and safely.”

Speakers

We have a fantastic host of experts on site, all are well-known in the industry, and we are delighted that they will be joining us over the two days to provide key insights for the future of the industry, as well as practices currently in place.

Scheduled Demonstrations

This year our exhibitors have the opportunity to a timed session within the larger demonstration zones. The session times are scheduled in the visitor programme. See all the latest kit live, and where it belongs, OUTDOORS!

Facilities

  • Onsite Catering Serving Hot Food & Snacks, As Well As A Selection Of Drinks
  • Onsite Shop, For Everything From Sandwiches, Drinks To Essentials Such As Newspapers
  • Restroom Facilities Located Across Site
  • Seating Areas
  • Networking Event With Live Music And Sponsored Bar
  • Free Parking, with hard surface parking designated for motor bikes
  • Disabled Access

Have you registered yet?

If you have not already registered, click here. We do advise pre-registration, however if you prefer just turn up and we will help you register at the main entrance.

Click Here to register for SAGE 2022 today, and be in with your chance to win the Sustainability Starter Kit. On top of this, your ticket entitles you to a free Sustainability Audit in partnership with Bio-Circle, and a huge 10% discount with our show sponsors Fleet Line Markers Ltd.

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The “Why” of Trimax Genuine Parts

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The “Why” of Trimax Genuine Parts: When it comes to maintenance or repair, choosing genuine parts is the only way to guarantee the performance and life of your mower, explains Robert Todd, European Service Manager for Trimax Mowing Systems.

At a glance, genuine parts and pirate parts may appear to be similar; but scratch the surface and the issue becomes clear.

The “Why” of Trimax Genuine Parts

The “Why” of Trimax Genuine Parts

The Case for Genuine Parts

Genuine parts are exactly the same parts used to build the original machines. Years of research, development and testing have gone into them. They are made from high quality materials and in some instances individual parts perform more than one function.

Take the blades on a Trimax mower as an example. Primarily meant to cut grass in diverse types of terrain, they also direct airflow ensuring the cutting chamber remains unobstructed and clippings are well distributed.

Beyond this, Trimax quality control ensures the blades are flawless – they can encounter obstacles like small logs and rocks without shattering and exiting the mower as a deadly piece of shrapnel. Safety and quality are integral parts of the Trimax design, ensuring the whole machine meets or exceeds all regional safety standards.

Ongoing Improvement

Continuous improvement is the cornerstone of companies like Trimax. Ensuring the pedigree means always having the latest technology and where possible new advances are designed to fit older models. Customers choosing genuine parts will have the safest, most efficient machines, and access to expert advice from the people who designed and manufactured the parts.

The Pirate Way

Pirate part vendors profess to make parts that are “just as good” as the real thing but cost significantly less. Really?

It is impossible for pirate parts to out-perform the original items and cost less because pirate parts are produced as a separate, profit-making exercise.

To maintain profit margins, pirates cut corners, lower specs and alter or delete pesky design details (remember the blades and flails), which might complicate manufacture.

For manufacturers like Trimax, parts are integral to their primary business – producing high quality machines. Parts are not produced as a stand-alone enterprise.

Other Factors For Consideration

Aside from the physical design and cost, there are some other important elements to consider before deciding between genuine or pirate parts.

  • Safety – genuine parts have been tested to comply with safety regulations for maximum protection of machine and operator. Lower risk, greater peace of mind.
  • Warranty – using non-genuine parts often voids manufacturer warranties, particularly if they go on to cause issues with the rest of the machine.
  • Downtime – genuine parts are guaranteed to fit your machine first time, every time. Maximum uptime and performance.
  • Expertise – only with genuine parts will you get expert advice from the people who designed, tested and manufactured the machine.

Where do You Stand?

It’s worth noting that genuine parts often aren’t as expensive as you might expect. Most manufacturers will price their parts competitively, meaning you can still get a good price: and in some cases, genuine parts can even be cheaper than pirate elements! It’s definitely worth checking with the original manufacturer before even considering going for a non-genuine part, as you may be surprised by how little real replacements actually cost, explains Robert Todd.

For more information or to find out more about genuine parts, give us a call on 01933 652246 or parts@trimaxmowers.co.uk. Alternatively, please visit www.trimaxmowers.co.uk 

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

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Lawn Care Legends – Who, What and Why

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Lawn Care Legends – Who, What and Why: John Ryan, Founder of Lawn Care Legends, gives Turf Matters an insight to the thinking behind one of the fastest growing groups in the industry.

I’m John Ryan and I am a self-employed lawn care contractor based in Bangor, Northern Ireland and the founder of Lawn Care Legends, who grew from an idea formed back in July, 2017.

Lawn Care Legends - Who, What and Why

Lawn Care Legends – Who, What and Why

My thinking was that the lawn care community has expanded on social media across the world from YouTube to Facebook and Instagram particularly.

However, an unfortunate aspect of social media in this day and age, is that it creates a platform often with little accountability and, depending on an individual’s position, perhaps anonymity. This makes it easy for those who would choose to belittle or criticise anyone wanting to learn more about their trade, craft or industry to do so without any consequences.

This can typically be seen in Facebook groups across a range of industries. Where someone will ask a question, in the hope that someone with experience and knowledge would be willing to share their knowledge to help a peer achieve better results either in their current project or self-development, but be met with mocking and abuse. (Sometimes as banter, but mostly in criticism).

These prevalent negative attitudes see people holding back from asking questions, or not feeling comfortable to share their views perspectives or to ask questions for fear of being ridiculed.

Lawn Care Legends - Who, What and Why

Lawn Care Legends – Who, What and Why

This prompted me to create Lawn Care Legends, the Facebook group.

Our aims are simple. To create a Facebook group where we try to operate on the basis of respect, encouragement and passion for what we do in a professional environment on social media. An international collective.

One aspect of the lawn care community online is the difference that can be seen across the globe with varying styles and approaches to our respective trades.

Although each country has its own standards for operation in our industry, I felt Lawn Care Legends could benefit from the various perspectives that people from different countries could add as valuable content. In an industry that has a lot of service providers, it can be difficult to stand out and so with the ability to access information shared by people from other countries as well as our own we can gain inspiration and drive for our businesses.

So, Lawn Care Legends allowed the development of a new addition to the community we are all a part of in one way or another. We enjoy members contributions mainly from the UK, Ireland but we have members who contribute from the USA, Norway, France, Australia, Canada, Serbia and more which makes for a lot of variety.

To run a Facebook group is not an easy task and the people behind the scenes that make this possible are the admin team of LCL. A friendly bunch with a wide variety of skills, qualifications and knowledge in all aspects of the lawn care industry.

From the basics of grass cutting, shrub/tree cutting, to treatments, landscaping, pond installations and maintenance, and also insight from the dealers side of the industry.

The admin team is currently made up of: Alan Adams from (NI); Paul McGill (Scot); Ryan Powala Higgins (Eng); Richard Jones (Eng); Kaz Dunsmore (Scot); Robert Ross (Scot); Tom Duchesne (Eng); Jay Chillingworth (Eng); Danny Clegg (Eng); Ben Morrison (Scot), and Di Dodds (Aus).

Lawn Care Legends - Who, What and Why

Lawn Care Legends – Who, What and Why

There have been many people who have contributed to the success of LCL during their time on the admin team before moving onto other projects or priorities. One key individual who really helped LCL become more connected with manufacturers and reps, is Ashley Bevan, from Weston Garden Machinery. His amazing support really played a huge role in get the industry to support the LCL Awards.

As we encountered more and more people on-line, I think we’ll agree that we still enjoy a good meet up with people in the real world. It is hard to replace the benefits of shaking someone’s hand and getting to know others better without giving your thumbs or fingers an ache from typing.

So, one thing that we have tried to do is organise LCL meet ups where possible. We started doing this in early 2018, with our first meet up at Rochford’s Garden Machinery, in Wincanton, and we have gone on to host meet ups in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with the intention to organise and host more events in the future.

We hope to organise an LCL business training event in 2021 as well as an LCL demo day, then we will combine those events into one event in 2022 for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. If it proves successful we will look to more locations, with the aim of helping more people.

The purpose is simple really. Everyone loves a good meet up and it is a great way to network, training and education. It allows people, who otherwise wouldn’t get the chance, to demo machinery and get a feel for different brands and their equipment.

Back in January of 2020 we had organised a factory tour and LCL meet up at the Ariens factory, in Oxford, where we were greeted with amazing hospitality and open arms by another manufacturer that wanted to support our community and the desire to connect people better. We had demos of Ariens zero turns as these are now made at the facility.

We also took part in a zero turn challenge with prizes awarded, while Ariens collaborated with Kawasaki Engines Europe to conduct a workshop class on engine maintenance on xero turns. We even had our own pizza van on the day and topped off with a swag bag with gifts and discount vouchers to buy some products.

It took around five months from the time Lawn Care Legends was created, to start gaining traction and membership started to increase. From that point it has grown to over 5,000 members representing.

To make the group stand out and to try and bring value to the members, the idea of LCL awards was floated, with the aim of creating our own event within the industry to celebrate the small business owner.

And so the Lawn Care Legends Awards were created. Of course, they would be operated online, in the spirit that this new digital age that has benefited so many in different ways. However, there is still a lot to be said for face-to-face contact and discussions with people.

I then set out to see if it was possible to collaborate with an industry event that would allow us to host our Awards’ presentation.

An obvious choice was to reach out to the IOG, so named at the time, and Saltex. I pitched the idea of a little Awards’ event, that would celebrate the average business owner in our trade. I believe if you don’t ask, you are guaranteed the answer is “No”.

Lawn Care Legends - Who, What and Why

Lawn Care Legends – Who, What and Why

Well, I got an amazing reply that displayed a real desire to work with us.

From originally asking if it was possible to use a little corner of the show, we were being allocated the use of a large private room. Fusion Media also produced a press release about our awards, which got our name out to industry magazines and online media platforms.

In addition, we were featured in the opening letter by the IOG CEO Geoff Webb. So, in 2018, we held our first LCL Saltex Awards. We had an amazing turn out of over 100 members. We had started with a little vision and pitched the idea to just a few companies to gain support on which we could build.

The first company to see the potential of a positive contribution to our community, came from Weibang Ireland. They were so excited about the idea and wanted to be a part of it and offered a lawn mower as the first prize.

Those first Awards began with just three sponsors: The IOG, Weibang Ireland and Blinc NI. By the time we came back a year later we had grown our sponsors to 12: Weibang Ireland and Weibang UK, ECHO, EGO, Hendon Ladders, Kawasaki Engines Europe, Ferris Mowers UK, Wright Mowers UK, Cub Cadet, Jobber, Green Touch Industries and the IOG.

Despite so many things having been disrupted in 2020, we already have over 20 sponsors lined up for the LCL Saltex Awards 2021, with around £10,000 worth of prizes.

We just want to be able to give the average guy in our industry the opportunity to have his picture taken, be praised for his high standard of work, be presented with a trophy and win awesome equipment which will contribute to his business and service for the better.

It is all part of our dream, and with the support and recognition from industry manufacturers, to spur our community on to do better and take pride, we can come together in a positive manner… and that includes everyone from the end user; landscapers; greenkeepers; groundsmen; gardeners; business owners/operators; dealers; distributors and manufacturers.

Some might think that we are just a little Facebook group, but we are determined to be so much more, and have already come a long way.

Perhaps we might see you guys around some day, either in our group or at one of our events – something positive for us all to look forward to.