No more punctures …ever!
No hassle. No wasted time. No repairs.
Fit Puncture Proof Tyres and you'll never have another puncture again - guaranteed.
For all the proof you need and to buy online visit our website.
www.tiredofpunctures.com or call 0844 800 6493
Puncture-Proof-Tyres.co.uk, Unit 1, Barons Court Gardens, Newhouse Lane, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B61 9ET
Mark Bailey, Deputy Head Groundsman
Further Education and Horticulture. Mark’s career has included working as a nursery manager, looking after a large private country estate and running his own garden contracting business for several years.
Whilst at Solihull School Mark was presented with a Licentiateship from City & Guilds. Mark studied under Andrew Turnbull at Warwickshire College and graduated from Harper Adams University College with an HNC in Sports Turf Management. He is currently completing his Graduateship for City & Guilds, which he hopes to gain later this year. Winter preparation is essential, says Karl. For the last few years Phil Day, a local sports turf contractor, has come in and koroed, topdressed and seeded all of the wickets in August. This
rate of 6-8 bags per strip. In the autumn a tonic of Scotts Pro-Iron, 7% fe +seaweed, is used right up until December, and again in February.
Plenty of pre season rolling is essential for good pitches, and Karl likes to start as early as he can, usually in February, while there is still plenty of moisture in the soil profile. He begins his rolling programme using the weight of the square mower, and then moves quickly onto his main roller, rolling in the traditional union jack pattern. Pitches are then prepared in the usual way bringing down the height of cut in stages, cleaning out, watering and covering if required. A Dennis Cassette mower, fitted with a tungsten tipped verticutter reel, is used to help prepare the wickets, just
• Our own sets of three or five trailed gang mowers are fitted with universal multi tow frames and high quality cutting units.
• Manufactured exclusively for RTM to our specification. • A range of quality traditional gang mowers at an affordable price.
• Supplied on a direct basis or through a network of garden machinery and grounds maintenance engineers.
• Supplied complete and ready to work with a few set up adjustments and fixings.
• Hire or buy, we have a package to suit a range of budgets and individual requirements.
• Traditional mowing with a low cost investment for long term performance and quality of cut.
RTM Machinery Ltd - Linking Value with Service Hill Farm Buildings, Nether Winchendon,Aylesbury, Bucks HP18 0DX
Tel: 01296 738197 Email:
sales@rtmachinery.co.uk Website:
www.rtmachinery.co.uk
48
has proved to be a labour saving and cost effective practice. It has also improved the quality of play on all squares. The school has recently purchased a Groundsman Spiker for aeration during the autumn and winter months. Karl believes it is essential to clean the pitches thoroughly and ensure all debris is removed from the table, leaving a key for new loam material (Kaloam) to be worked into the pitches at a
cleaning out the sward without damaging the soil profile.
The square and outfields
are kept at 13mm, enabling the triple mowers to mow straight across the squares for presentation. Pitch preparations take anything between 14-10 days to prepare depending on time available. Final cut is set between 3-6mm, depending on the fixture and time of year, using a Lloyds Paladin. Karl and Mark have a
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132