An IRISH connection
Core and collect in one pass
DESIGNING, manufacturing and retailing a range of competitive aerators and top dressers came together for a group of young men (well they were when they first started!) from Northern Ireland. Billy Warke, founder of Groundsman Industries, manufactures a range of aerators (tractor mounted and pedestrian) and more recently a range of turf cutters. Kevin Gates, founder of Ultra Spreader International, designs and manufactures a range of top dressers (both drop dressers and spinners), high lift trailers and the most recent multi- functional material handlers. And then there’s Synergy Products run by David Meharg. He was the link that brought both companies into the home market. Each company has combined to offer
the professional greenkeeper and groundsman a range of proven, strong, locally manufactured equipment with a knowledgeable back up.
DESIGNING products for the professional user which allow them to achieve their goals of accuracy, speed and with the minimum labour is a challenge. An example of how this was achieved was the development of the Groundsman tractor mounted 8120 aerator and core collector. This 48” -120cm working width unit can be powered by a compact tractor of 17-24HP. It has aeration depths to 5” - 130mm with a wide range of quick change holders (twin, triple, quadra, quint and a series of cluster heads) giving spaces from 3” - 75mm square at worst to a fine pattern of 1” - 25mm. Tines range from jumbo to micro hollows and the same for solids and chisels. To core and collect in one operation a hollow core tine and holder are selected and loaded on to the 8120 (takes about 2 minutes) attach the Flexblade core collector using the four mounting pins. This Flexblade collector has a series of 7 interlinked blades which move across the surface collecting the cores and
smoothing it. The collector has no extra power requirement, no drives to break down and operates as one i.e. no other machines or men needed.
On a typical golf course using this unit 18 greens and tees can be aerated in one working day. The operator can bring cores to the edge of the green on each pass and then turn at right angles and collect these cores into one large pile before leaving the green clear of cores and ready for top dressing.
This is were the spinner top
dresser from Ultra Spreader International has proven a hit. Many golf courses are using a fine micro hollow tine (6-8mm) on a quadra holder giving a hole pattern of 30-35mm in each direction down to a depth of 75-100mm These cores are collected using the Flexblade system in a clean fast one man operation. Following on behind the coreing is the UB30S Mk2 spinner top dresser, this can be either mounted (Toro or John Deere work trucks) or tractor towed. The spinning width is 5-7mts and the whole top dressing operation can be as short as 2/3 hours for 18 greens. The same operation can be carried out on cricket and bowls areas using this combination or the Ultra Spreader drop dresser if heavier dressing are required. The Groundsman range of aerators gives the user the same rugged proven mechanism in both the small units as well as the larger tractor mounted. Access is often a problem at bowls greens and gardens. The overall width of 31” - 78cms means you can get these units into these difficult areas. Once in you have the same power and performance, which is not found on other competitor units!
Over the years cricket squares have suffered from root break. The problem has been cured by the use of vertical action aerators
Steve Birks, Head Groundsman at Trent Bridge
41 Top dress 18 greens in 2 hours
This power and performance is most evident on cricket squares and outfields. Over the years cricket squares suffered in particular from root break (between 1 - 2”/25 -50mm) as a result of using shallow roll-over type aerators. The problem has been solved by the use of robust vertical action aerators with suitable tine combinations. The Groundsman range of pedestrian aerators was the choice of the ECB on their trailers along with many test venues, first class and county grounds. Providing a range of competitive efficient machines which can complete the tasks in a timely manner is what these two companies are about. Synergy Products gives the link to the customer and a channel for information exchange. Synergy Products Ltd 01380 828337.
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