Ian Smith, Grounds Manager St Albans School Woollam Trust
ONLY NINETY TRACKS TO ROLL
Here at St Albans we are preparing to get ready for our pre-season work on our eight squares and two blocks of grass nets - ninety pitches in total!
All our mowers, scarifiers and rollers have been serviced. The squares are about to have their first feed of the year, then we just need the weather to improve! I will not even start to think about putting a roller on until there are some signs of new growth. This has been as early as the second week in February or well into March; it varies from year to year. I am not in a panic this year even though our first fixtures are in thefirst week of April! This is because, again, we have not had frost deep in the ground this year, so no real frost heave to put back.
As the ground starts to dry and there
are signs of new growth we start cutting the square with a 36” Allett mower. We cut every day at 12mm. This is done in different directions over the square as long as this is not causing any ridging. We will then roll with our Stothert & Pitt roller (the roller that nobody likes using!). We tend to roll across the line of play, up
and back on the same line, then move over half a roller width. The first time we roll quickly - if this is okay, we roll slower. This is then the pattern that carries on
daily, normally with the bigger rollers. We have a Poweroll and an Autoroller, but used these only if the ground is drying. As the squares firm up we may lightly scarify if the grass is too dense. This can be the case, as most of our squares are put to bed early with the school finishing its season in mid July. A couple of weeks before the season the pitch positions are all put in. We keep the corners of the squares in with Bowcom grass carrots screwed into the pitch - just check the diagonal measurements are still the same - it saves a lot of time. As long as there is moisture in the
ground, and it is drying, we will roll the squares; only four passes in one place at a time. With ninety pitches to do, whenever the conditions are right, we will always have somebody out there!
RE-POWERING
Autoguide Equipment offers a new lease of life for clubs using older Autorollers. A bolt-on Re-Power kit offers a fuel- efficient Robin Diesel engine powering hydrostatic transmission, power steering and electric starting.
The company still manufacture the well known 4ft Autoroller, along with the 3ft Autoroller Junior. Autoguide are official sponsors of the ECB Natwest Cricket force 2008, giving 10% discount for all ECB registered clubs.
Cornwall based Poweroll also offer re- powers for Stothert & Pitt and Autorollers. Where required, they are able to manufacture parts for obsolete machines at their extensive workshops. The PowerRoll range consists of five models to suit all budgets.
The C-Range
Each ‘easy-change’ cartridge becomes an integral part of the machine without loss of quality results.
Provides a wide range of professional turf maintenance needs from one machine.
Hangar 5, New Road, Hixon, Stafford, ST18 0PJ. Telephone 01889 272095, Fax 01889 271528, Email
sales@allett.co.uk, web
www.allett.co.uk
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