In action

Controlling the flow at Fulham FC

Sportsturf Irrigation has been using Rain Bird products at Fulham FC’s grounds for four years, saving time and money and giving great results

Sportsturf Irrigation, under Andy Burbridge, has been managing Fulham FC’s irrigation requirements for over four years. During this time Andy has not only supplied the Rain Bird irrigation system for Craven Cottage, but also for the club’s Motspur Park training facilities. Here, five pitches are irrigated by pitchside and on-pitch sprinklers, all controlled by two ESP-LXD controllers. “Sportsturf Irrigation’s technical knowledge and professionalism coupled with excellent response times have been vital to us and key to our longstanding working relationship,” says Dave Tatnell, head groundsman.

Sportsturf Irrigation was originally called in to examine specific leakage problems with existing irrigation mains and unacceptable levels of water wastage at Motspur Park. The company’s ability to provide a solution, including installation of a new pump set, resulted in Fulham FC seeking advice on how to improve the existing irrigation at the training ground to make it more effective, more controllable and able to meet the needs of modern football training regimes. Water conservation and reducing expenditure on water were also very important requirements.

“Our approach with any project of this type is to look at the site as a whole. We used our experience to provide seamless integration of irrigation across the whole facility rather than on just a pitch-by-pitch basis,” says Andy.

The first Rain Bird ESP-LXD controller was specified to control the irrigation for three training pitches constructed from sand and soil, and sand and fibre. A second unit controls the more demanding irrigation requirements of two hybrid SISGrass pitches. Eagle 950 pitchside and 8005 on-pitch turf top sprinklers provide uniform and highly

reliable irrigation and two 150m 3 water tanks were also installed next to the pump house where the controllers were located.

The Rain Bird IQ Cloud desktop management system is located in the Sportsturf Irrigation’s Andy Burbridge (right) Motspur Park pitchside with Fulham’s office. Its flexible Dave Tatnell programming allows grounds staff to carry out many different functions including comprehensive coverage to the pitch stopping and starting irrigation for pitch preparation and to “slick up” programs and stations, using event logs the new hybrid pitch in just four minutes to check on activity, and increasing at half time on match days. Irrigation or decreasing watering schedules in is all securely controlled using another accordance with predicted weather Rain Bird EXP-LXD decoder-based conditions. Water can be saved by controller which allows PC, smart reducing sprinkler usage by as much phone or manual operation pitchside by as 50% in wet spells and if necessary the grounds staff. increasing it during dry weather. This All of Sportsturf Irrigation’s level of control, combined with the current 12 Rain Bird installations impact of the new irrigation system can be closely managed using the right across Motspur Park, is estimated IQ Cloud management system. to bring in financial savings on water Andy runs both desktop and mobile usage by as much as £15,000 per annum. versions of the program, allowing him

It was also important for the via a communication cartridge to grounds team to change irrigation interrogate at his convenience all of his regimes and override pre-programmed customers’ Rain Bird ESP-LXD irrigation schedules as quickly as possible during controllers under his management, training sessions. “We can be asked to including Fulham’s. ‘slick up’ just certain parts of the pitch “IQ Cloud is very versatile and for certain periods of time or even allows me to change programming just for training sessions with certain schedules on behalf of clients, players. Through GSM modules mounted run diagnostics and fault-finding in the controller, we do this easily programs, identify emerging problems pitchside with our customised mobile before the customer does and make Rain Bird app that we can use from our recommendations for improvements. smart phones,” says Dave. This more often than not means not

Sportsturf Irrigation has worked having to go on site, saving my clients’ alongside contractor Kestrel Contracts time and money and in the football at Motspur Park since summer 2016 and world especially, where reaction times with Clive Richardson Limited sports are paramount, this helps to ensure the ground design and construction at best possible service,” says Andy. Craven Cottage. In 2017, a new Rain Bird irrigation system was installed For more information visit there and was required to provide www.rainbird.eu

Level playing fields

Two very different soil types presented problems for Dauntsey’s School in Devizes, which enlisted the help of Headland Amenity

Multigreen has improved the appearance and health of Dauntsey’s School’s pitches

The 14 hectares of natural sports surfaces at Dauntsey’s School in Devizes are a tale of two halves. The main playing fields are located on a natural greensand belt, creating an acidic soil profile with a pH level below six. The remainder of the site is on a relatively heavy clay loam with pH levels above seven. Head groundsman Dale Gleed has been working with Headland Amenity to optimise plant health across both areas.

Headland Amenity conducted soil analysis at the site and created a programme to raise pH levels on the greensand areas. As a result, Dale has been applying CalciComplex organic soil amendment in the spring and again in the autumn. Through the inclusion of dolomitic limestone, CalciComplex can gently raise soil pH and provide additional nutrients in acidic profiles. Dale says this has increased the viability of ryegrass on the field, which helps it cope with the wear demands of the school’s winter sports.

“On the other areas we’ve been using Multigreen, either the 15-0- 22 or 28-3-15 formulations,” says Dale. “The great thing with this is, because it has a ‘temperatureonly’ controlled release, we can apply it as early as the February half term and not have to be restricted to tight application windows around school fixtures when the conditions allow.

Having played bowls from the age of 10, in 2012 Dean Gibbons combined his passion for the sport with his interest in turf maintenance, becoming greenkeeper at Wantage Bowling Club. Dean, 28, brings youthful enthusiasm to improve standards whilst exploring new, greener alternatives for the club. On his recommendation, the club purchased a 22in Infinicut FX and a selection of TMSystem cassettes last year, meaning he can now mow, aerate and verti-cut the green, all with one battery-powered unit.

Over the last few years Dean has gradually taken on all of the maintenance work at the club, meaning it no longer requires the service of external contractors – the savings from which went towards purchasing the Infinicut in July 2019.

“I’d had my eye on the Infinicut for a few years. The fact it is battery powered makes it greener and quieter to operate and the range of cassettes available meant we only needed to fund, and subsequently store, a single machine.”

Dean is pleased with the multifunctional performance of the Infinicut FX

All-in-one solution

The dedication of a greenkeeper and his volunteers meant Wantage Bowling Club could invest in an Infinicut FX and TMSystem cassettes

“This has delivered fantastic improvements in the plant strength, sward density and overall appearance of some of the pitches – particularly our cricket outfields.”

Dale concludes: “It’s unlikely that we’ll ever get the pH levels to balance but with Headland’s support, the right products and regular analysis we know we’re going in the right direction.”

For more information visit www.headlandamenity.com

During a regular season, Dean and his team of volunteers mow the green up to four times a week, and say the “simplicity of use and manoeuvrability of the Infinicut has taken the strain off the maintenance.” Their TMSystem cassettes – the SarelRoller and UltraGroomer – are passed over the green on a bi-weekly basis. The SarelRoller helps to improve filtration rates and gaseous exchange into the upper rootzone, while the tungsten carbide-tipped blades of the UltraGroomer minimise ‘puffiness’ and remove thatch.

“The flexibility I have to conduct those three tasks, exactly when we need to, means our green is now in better shape than ever,” says Dean. He remains a keen player and hopes that the quality of the bowling surface may encourage new, and perhaps younger, players.

For more information visit www.infinicut.com

Crystal Palace maintains trust in Toro

Crystal Palace Football Club is pushing to improve its facilities and has invested in more Toro and TYM machinery to help

Crystal Palace Football Club’s

investment in the development of its stadium and academy training ground facilities includes the purchase of more Toro machines to add to its fleet.

Bruce Elliot, head of grounds and estates, explains: “There’s a big push for category 1 status and a huge part of that is investment in the training grounds. If we get planning permission, there will be a new full-sized pitch and nine new pitches at the academy.

“We’ve had Toro machines at the club performing well for the last four years and while we did look into other brands, there was really no comparison.”

With TYM tractors also included in the deal, it’s also an investment in distributor Reesink Turfcare, says Bruce: “We first added Toro and TYM machines to our fleet in 2016 and have always been impressed by the work and results they’ve helped produce.”

It’s a significant investment which will benefit the Selhurst Park stadium, academy grounds and training grounds. There’s a ProCore 648 pedestrian aerator and TYM T293 tractor for the stadium, a Reelmaster 3575-D light-weight ride-on cylinder mower and Workman MDX utility vehicle for the academy grounds, and two Greensmaster TriFlex Hybrid 3420 mowers and a ProCore 864 tractormounted aerator with a 39hp TYM T393 tractor for the main training ground. These join the ProCore SR70 deep-tine aerator, Workman MDX-D and TYM T353 compact tractor purchased in 2016 for the training ground.

Bruce continues: “We started to see the benefits of Toro and TYM very quickly four years ago and it’s important we maintain those standards now. We’re

The Toro ProCore 864 aerator and

TYM T393 tractor are part of the new set of machines

Looking sharp with the Foley Company

Starnes Engineering has benefited from time saving and reliable grinding using the 633 Accu-Pro from the Foley Company

Jamie Starnes, grounds care and agricultural engineer, set up Starnes Engineering in East Sussex four years ago and offers grinding as a key service. “Relief grinding makes such a difference to the quality of cut and the general wear of the machine, units and grass itself. It’s a vital thing to do

confident that if the redevelopment goes ahead, we’ll be able to rely on Toro and TYM to provide the excellent standard of turf care maintenance we need.”

For more information visit www.reesinkturfcare.co.uk

Starnes Engineering is making good use of the 633 Accu-Pro

for anybody, but it is time-consuming,” says Jamie.

He has found that using the Foley Company 633 Accu-Pro, an automatic relief grinder, enables time savings while maintaining quality of results.

“It’s just so user-friendly compared to anything else that I’ve used,” Jamie explains. “It’s easy to use and set up, and it’s accurate. And the fact it’s automated means you can leave it to it, so you’re gaining productivity time.

“I was looking for something that was fully automated that would speed up the whole process. When I’ve used other grinders to relief grind, I’ve had to stand there and manually push and pull the machine through each individual blade whereas once the Foley is set up, it can be left alone.”

The 633 Accu-Pro features the Accu-Touch 3 Control system, which provides a step-by-step tutorial for new technicians, while more experienced operators can use the system to tell the machine what they’re working on and it’ll do the rest. Automatic placement features, the Accu-Reel Selector and Cylinder Height Stop, automatically locate the reel for a fast and easy spin and relief grind in one set-up, and work with the pre-set relief angles to provide handsfree relief.

For more information contact ProSport UK at prosportukltd@gmail.com