Debris Clearance Equipment

Turfmech clears up at the Worcestershire
Golf Club

Above: The TM1 clearing scarified material from the 16 th green at The Worcestershire Golf Club.

One of the first Turfmech TM1 walk-behind vacuum collectors to be supplied in the UK is helping reduce by more than 50 per cent the time and staff needed to de-thatch the greens at the Worcestershire Golf Club.

Working in the wake of a walk-behind Graden scarifier/aerator, the TM1 uses a combination of rotating brush and powerful vacuum to collect and deposit the resulting surface debris into its 0.65 cu metre hydraulically-tipped hopper.

After a swift mowing, the greens can be returned immediately to play, helping minimise the use of temporary greens while producing a steady improvement in the condition of all putting surfaces.

Nestling peacefully in the lee of the Malvern Hills, the Worcestershire Golf Club was founded in 1879, making it the oldest club in the county and one of the five oldest in England .

Although a number of the greens on the parkland course have been rebuilt over the past 50 years, six date back to the early years of the last century and owe their shape and layout to Dr Alister Mackenzie.

Known world-wide for designing golf courses that mimic the natural features of seaside links courses, Dr Mackenzie's name will be forever associated with the large, two-tiered greens with undulating surfaces that encouraged the retention of natural rain water long before the days of pop-up irrigation systems made watering a doddle.

While offering a challenging finish to their respective holes, the Mackenzie greens at the Worcestershire Golf Club have no underlying drainage system, resulting in the build-up over the years of compaction and thatch which is now being actively tackled by head greenkeeper Graeme Clarkson and his staff.

Although it is the oldest greens that demand the greatest attention, on-going remedial work is deemed necessary also on the other greens around a golf course that hosts close to 60,000 rounds a year.

Hydraulically-tipped high dump hopper allows collected material to be offloaded conveniently into the body of a work truck.	Head greenkeeper, Graeme Clarkson, says that the TM1 has cut clear-up times by at least 50 per cent.

“We've had the Graden since spring 2003 and have used it twice a year at depths of 32 to 38mm, depending on the green and its condition,” explained Graeme. “Previously, it took five men around five days to complete the work across all 19 greens. There was one man on the Graden, two with back-pack blowers and two picking up and disposing of the removed thatch. Following the arrival this spring of the new TM1, we are able to finish the job in two days using just two men.”

Graeme pointed out that regular spring and autumn de-thatching treatments form part of an annual greens maintenance programme involving monthly slitting, bi-monthly deep tine aeration and “little, but often” top dressings (70% sand, 30% soil), applied by a Turfmech ProPass 180 top dresser supplied, like the TM1, through local dealer, Parks and Grounds of Bidford on Avon.

The result has produced firmer, faster, freer-draining greens with improved grass growth and resistance to wear.

“Like any vacuum, the TM1 works best in dry conditions when it is capable of removing around a cubic metre of scarified thatch very thoroughly from each green,” commented Graeme. “We like the fact that the TM1 is British-designed and built, it is easy to use and saves us a great deal of time and effort on a routine but very necessary job. Its abilities will be put to good use also clearing debris from the car park and collecting fallen leaves from awkward areas.”

For further information on the TM1 pedestrian vacuum collector or a demonstration, please e-mail sales@turfmech.co.uk or phone 01889 271503 and ask for the sales department.

Leaving no leaf unturned
V800 debris clearance response unit

Wiltshire-based contract maintenance firm, Bawden Landscape Contractor, has built a sound reputation for the high standard of work undertaken at some of the most demanding sites in southern England.

Based at Amesbury, near Salisbury, the company carries out grounds maintenance contracts for a number of prominent Ministry of Defence establishments, as well as for local authorities and large business and industrial parks.

One of the biggest of these is at Harwell, near Oxford, where support is provided by the company to main contractor, Johnson Controls, across a 300 acre (120ha) mixed site of buildings surrounded by formal and longer grass, trees and borders. In addition to carrying out landscaping work such as tree and shrub planting, the Bawden team at Harwell Business Park is engaged on seasonal grass cutting, year-round maintenance of trees and borders, land reinstatement and drainage.

One job occupying the best part of three months of the year is leaf clearance, a task which has been eased significantly since the arrival of a Turfmech V800 debris clearance response unit.

“Company owner, Richard Bawden, asked Turfmech for a demonstration of the V800 in the autumn of 1999,” recalls Bawden’s site foreman at Harwell, Colin Toomer. “We’d looked at other machines but the Turfmech did an excellent job. We were so impressed that we bought the demo unit. Since then, the V800 has been used for all of the main leaf collection around the site, cutting clear-up time by half with a lot less effort.”

The V800 is a self-contained trailed unit with its own 25hp engine driving a vacuum impeller. In work, the operator directs a 200mm (8in) diameter flexible hose over the ground, picking up fallen leaves and other debris which is drawn into the hose by the vacuum. All material passes through the impeller before being fired through a spout into a trailer or other container. As a result, the size of the leaves is greatly reduced enabling a greater density of material to be packed into the trailer.

“Overall, we are very pleased with the machine’s reliability and performance,” concluded Colin Toomer. “It obviously produces its highest output in dry conditions, but is still able to pick up wet leaves successfully, even from amongst long matted grass.”