Technical
Ian Mitchell
Ian Mitchell, until recently a Senior Training Technician at Cutting Edge Training, has a vast knowledge of the turfcare industry. He has now formed his own training company and, in this article for his former employers, he discusses the importance of cutting unit accessories, in particular turf groomers and brushes
Turf Groomers & Brushes Well groomed T
which sits in front of the cutting cylinder to stand up the grass leaf
A front roller assembly showing the brush
Several manufacturers now offer a brush option to their turf groomer accessories, with a selection of bristle stiffness, and the option to reverse the brush direction
140 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
he use of brushes and grooming tools is certainly nothing new to the professional turf manager. Brush and comb sets have been an accessory to the Ransomes Certes mowers since the
1930s, and this somewhat basic groomer and static brush continue to be sold today. What has changed is the variety of accessories available to the modern professional and the turf management opportunities they provide.
Turf Groomers
Turf groomers were developed in the USA during the 1980s to meet the demand for a daily management tool for their fast growing turf species. The turf groomer is an accessory, fitted to a standard cutting unit and powered by a shaft with vertical cutting blades, usually set at either ¼” or ½” spacings across the width of cut. (Greens mowers use a ¼” spacing, whilst tees and fairways use the wider ½” spacing). The groomer blades are much smaller than the size of the cylinder, and the shaft spins at around 3000 rpm to provide a fast vertical cutting action in front of the cylinder. The working height of the groomer should be a precision adjustment, and all groomers need to have the facility to quickly raise the blades clear of the turf, when not required, and then be lowered back to the original working height without readjustment of the assembly. Groomers are
usually set lower than the mowing height, so they bring up material which would normally pass under the mower blades.
Working Height
I use the term height, instead of depth deliberately. The working height of a turf groomer should be no more than half the mowing height. So, a mower set at a 4mm height of cut, would have groomers set somewhere between 4mm and 2mm, with 2mm being the max depth achievable, not necessarily the target depth. The right depth on your turf depends on your sward mix and ground conditions. This is a grooming tool, not a renovation device!
If your turf has not been regularly groomed in the past, then set your new groomer units high to begin with and gradually lower into the sward over a period of a few weeks, until you achieve the surface results you are looking for. This not only avoids adding stress to the greens, but it also reduces undue stress to the mower as well!
The Results
This fast cutting action takes off lateral growth and removes dead material from the sward; it also raises rhizomes to the surface, so the cylinder and bottom blade can remove them. More material is removed from the surface, so a
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