UNIVERSITY What’s in the shed
Infinicut 34” mowers with floating heads, scarifying reels and brushes x 2
Dennis R34 rotary mower Allett 34” rotary mower
John Deere 2653B ride-on mowers x 2
Jacobsen fairway mower Toro Reelmaster 5500 ride-on mower Shibaura tractors x 2 Toro ProCore 648
Wiedenmann Terra Spike x 2 - 2.5m and 3m Campey Uni-Rake Amazone Profihopper SISIS Quadraplay SISIS TruLevel roller Koro Recycler Dresser Koro Field Top Maker
Charterhouse rink spreaders x 3
Martin Lishman 125l pedestrian sprayer
Martin Lishman 500l boom sprayer Blec Disc Seeder Blec Multi-Seeder Shelton gravel bander John Deere tractors x 4 New Holland tractor KRM 700l fertiliser spreader Allett stand-on fertiliser spreader
Every six months, Kris will have soil samples taken from the stadium pitch to help him determine the levels of fertiliser he needs to apply. “At the minute, we are doing a four-week start-up plan (provided by AGS) which, if I’m honest seems like a lot of product, but this is all new to me and I’m still learning about the fertiliser inputs for a very hungry pitch. It can be done every six days with liquids and fertilisers, but obviously, this is a balanced nutritional programme. I’m picking things up pretty fast and if I think something has worked and see some good results, I will report that back.”
The University likes to buy all machinery outright. “We are always looking to improve our machinery to help us improve the quality of the pitches. When we are looking to invest in a new machine, where possible, we will have on-site demos to help us choose the best machine for the job.”
“The University are keen on health and safety and the environment. We
have already invested in the Infinicut battery-powered hand mowers to help reduce hand held arm vibration and noise alike. Further down the line, I can see us moving towards more battery-powered machinery as the technology becomes more widely available. Using battery power over diesel and petrol is better for our health and those around us.”
Kris brought up the subject of attracting younger people into the industry, so I was interested on hearing his thoughts on the matter. “The salaries don’t help; I have just lost two of my lads to the Premier League; they were offered more money than they were getting here. Over the whole industry, the money situation puts a lot of people off. I hear from people at league clubs who have to struggle with very limited budgets and fight against people at the top - which is no fun. As an industry, we must try to prove to people that the right thing has got to be done and it takes certain things to happen to get the results. The worrying part is the amount of people who do not want to be in groundsmanship anymore.”
We have always talked about having something to help aid this particular pitch. I
couldn’t believe it when we got the call to say we had
won and we started the trial last December
74 PC August/September 2020
“
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
