The Groundsman Test Drive

Huge thanks to Michel Guirgus from the GYC Mower Depot in Sydney Australia for coming out to demonstrate a great machine from Toro.

Model ?

Toro Reelmaster 5010 Hybrid

Price range ?

From $86000 AUD depending on the selected accessories.

Purpose ?

Cylinder mower for large area sporting surfaces and fine turf.

Specifications ?

The Reelmaster 5010-H is the industry’s first and only fairway mower with a true hybrid drive system. The Reelmaster 5010-H utilises a Kubota 24.8 hp diesel engine in concert with an in-line motor generator and a self-recharging 48-volt battery pack to provide seamless power to the machine and cutting units. The combination of these two power sources comprises Toro’s patented hybrid power delivery system called Power Match. Power Match enables the Reelmaster 5010-H to match the power generated to the power required for all cutting conditions. The result is the availability of over 40 horsepower, but only when cutting conditions require it.

Fuel Type ?

This is a Hybrid Mower that runs on Diesel Fuel but also has a 48V battery back that drives the electric motors on the reels.

Height of Cut range ?

8 blade reels range is 13 mm to 25 mm

11 blade reels range is 6mm to 19 mm

The high height of cut kit (HOC) which is optional increase the range from 25 mm to 38 mm if required

What makes it different from the rest ?

• QR code System enabling the operator or a technician to scan it and login directly to online material related to the machine (operators manual, spare parts, hydraulic, electric and wiring schematics, etc).
• 96 less potential Hydraulic line leaks.
• New and improved DPA (dual point adjustment) Edge series reels. The new reels offer less reel to bedknife adjustments, less griding, and longer edge retention. Because of the modified reel geometry, it provides a cleaner cut and better grass collection. They come standard with low-drag seals and low-friction bearings which reduces the power required to run reels which will also increase available power for the traction system.
• You can control the reel speed and clip rate using the onboard InfoCenter.
• On-board backlapping through the InfoCenter.
• The 48 Volt battery system provides supplemental power, matching power output to the actual requirements of your application.
• Less hydraulic maintenance by eliminating more than 96 potential leak points.
• Fuel efficient; 20% to 35% fuel savings.
• 30% longer usage without grinding.
• Electrical components are sealed for protection from elements – can be washed.
• The machine is much quieter during both, transport and mowing than any other competitor.
• Significant reduction in the machine’s carbon footprint.

How long do the batteries last for and what happens to them if you don’t use them for long periods of time ?

There are four 12V Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) sealed and maintenance-free lead carbon batteries, they last at least 3000 hours

The AGM batteries will hold charge for extended periods of time and also automatically recharge (if needed) as soon as you start the engine.

How much does it cost to replace the batteries ?

Approx $1500 AUD

How much fuel do you save being a hybrid ?

20-35% less fuel consumption

How do you adjust the Height of cut and Quality of Cut ?

There are two simple adjusters for the height of cut, dual adjustments on the front of the reel, then spacers on the rear roller to adjust how aggressive the cut is if needed, which helps produce darker stripes but if the cut is too aggressive, could potentially wear out the blades quicker. If the cut becomes ‘too aggressive’, there is more risk of over stressing the grass, especially at lower height of cuts.

To adjust the quality of cut there is a new and improved DPA (dual point adjustment) Edge series reels. The new reels offer less reel to bedknife adjustments, less griding, and longer edge retention.

Alex Gill, the Assistant Head Groundsman from Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness test drove the beast and here are his comments.

How does it perform ?

Performed really well. Machine was quiet and quality of cut was amazing.

Is it comfortable and easy to use ?

Very comfy. Felt very smooth going over the turf. Pretty straight forward to use. Didn’t love the way you control revs but other than that was fine.

Score out of 10 from Alex Gill ?

8.5/10

Continue reading …

Another great article by Wendy Morris from Turf Wicket Maintenance.

Glyphosate will kill you!

Upon learning I’m a greenkeeper, many people become very concerned that glyphosate will kill me.  Now, notwithstanding that we use limited amounts of the chemical, it always surprises me how entrenched the fear is and how quick they are to warn me of the dangers.

I ask them ‘why not worry about the sun?’

I’m exposed to the sun nearly every day of my life.  It is a proven carcinogenic.  Australia has the highest melanoma rate in the world and by the age of seventy, two thirds of us will have been diagnosed with some type of skin cancer.  Ask your GP how they feel about you foregoing the long and long, the sunscreen and the hat, and they will quickly counsel you to not doing anything so stupid if you want to live.

But for whatever reason, many people don’t trust the APVMA, an organisation filled with people whose education on chemical safety far obliterates any layperson’s knowledge, when they tell us Glyphosate doesn’t pose a carcinogenic risk to humans.  Nor do these people trust the European Food safety Authority or the US Food and Drug Administration, who also found that Glyphosate is unlikely to be a carcinogen.

‘But there was that court case in America!’  Well, yes, there were court cases in the US, where civil juries agreed with plaintiffs that RoundUp caused cancer.

To understand why a jury may have reached this conclusion, we need to understand how the legal system works.  In many countries, including Australia and the USA, to prove someone is guilty of a criminal case the prosecution needs to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, whereas for a civil case (such as Johnson v. Monsanto Co) the plaintiff (person initiating the lawsuit) only needs to prove there is a higher than 50% chance that they are right.

Now imagine you are selected to sit on a jury.  The plaintiff is arguing that an imported species knowns as Bobble Lizardkills dogs, and the plaintiff wants a million bucks in compensation because his Bobble Lizard killed his dog.  The defendant denies this and asserts the plaintiff’s dog died of natural causes.

Lawyers from both sides argue their case.  They are presented equal opportunities to present evidence which may or may not be independent.  You yourself may not understand what ‘peer reviewed’ evidence is, and you can’t do any research on Bobble Lizard during the trial, because the rules of the game forbid it.  In short, you have two parties arguing their case and you are inherently led to believe that both sides are of equal merit.

In 2015, Dr Stefaaan Blancke, an Assistant Professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, published an article titled ‘Why do people oppose GMO’s even though science says they are safe’.   While the article relates to attitudes towards Genetically Modified Organisms, I believe a lot of the feelings that people have towards GMO’s have the same basis as their outlook on Glyphosate.

Glyphosate is unnatural, and therefore goes against the will of nature.  As humans, we are nervous about anything unnatural.  We like to believe that natural design isn’t nearly as flawed as it actually is.  Look at organic products for instance – they are generally well received by the public, despite organic chemicals being just as toxic as synthetic ones **

As you sit on a jury, half the time you’re hearing that Bobble lizard kill dogs, and the other half you’re hearing the Bobble Lizard don’t.  You are suspicious of Bobble Lizard because you know nothing about them, and the plaintiff’s lawyer seemed very convincing.  Your intuition is saying unfamiliar = unsafe.  Plus, the defendant’s lawyer failed to adequately explain why the dog lost a tooth two weeks after the Bobble Lizard moved into the defendant’s home.   You figure that all things being equal, you’re going to side with the plaintiff, who is also doing a great job at showing their distress over the loss of their dog.  The defendant, meanwhile, wears a suit and at one point rolled their eyes at the plaintiff’s testimony.

I’m not surprised Monsanto lost the case.

Now you might have finished reading this article and figured I love spraying.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We’re contractors, and spraying is time consuming and expensive.  We need to lug chemicals and equipment to site, we need to find suitable areas to measure and mix.  Spraying often constitutes a separate visit to site, which puts us behind our usual program, and costs us money in fuel and tolls.  Spraying is a pain, and we’d far rather improve our cultural practices to avoid doing any in the first place.  I don’t doubt the overwhelming majority of greenkeepers feel the same way.

However, sometimes the only way to get on top of a problem is to spray.  And frankly, as an industry we deserve to use inexpensive, effective chemicals that the experts deem safe, rather than being forced into using less safe, less effective and more expensive products because of a layperson’s ‘intuition’.

*ghttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-people-oppose-gmos-even-though-science-says-they-are-safe/

**https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/natural-vs-synthetic-chemicals-is-a-gray-matter/

You stumble upon a bar.

By Wendy Morris

Operations Manager at Turf Wicket Maintenance.

You stumble upon a bar and enter.  Everyone inside is female and Taiwanese.  Most ladies are between thirty-five and fifty-five and you can tell by the way they look at you that they’re surprised you’re there.  One of them may ask you your favourite Taiwanese beer, and if you fail to answer, she and several others scoff at you. It’s not an auspicious or enjoyable start to your evening.

Next door is a bar that friends and family have recommended.  Inside, everyone else is the same demographic as you.  You know the beer, you know all of the ‘rules’ and you won’t stand out.  You know you will feel safe and welcome and if you don’t fit in, you won’t take it personally – you already know of a similar bar down the street, where other friends go, where you know the rules, and where everyone is the same demographic as you.

Where are you going to go?  Probably the second bar. The first bar wasn’t welcoming, you didn’t feel at home and in reality, if you hadn’t accidentally stumbled upon it, you wouldn’t have even known it existed.   If you consider the first bar is a sports field complex and the second a supermarket, it should give you some insight as to why greenkeepers are overwhelmingly white and male (government statistics show that only 3% of greenkeepers are female*).  

Now let’s say you’re the owner of the first bar, and you want to expand your business.  You want some white blokes to come along, spend their money and drink your beer.  Running an ad in the paper isn’t going to help.  You need to go out there and make your bar inviting.

That, in a nutshell, is why there aren’t more women in greenkeeping, and what you need to do to if you want to attract a broader range of employees.

There are certainly those in greenkeeping who prefer male workforces.  Men can, as a rule, lift heavier stuff, and if every employee is male, there is no need to worry about ordering in a uniform that fits a woman.  On the flip side, women have a better reputation for maintaining machinery and paying attention to detail, and if you’re not gender specific, your pool of potential employees is a lot higher – which benefits an industry that struggles to attract applicants.  

Frankly, I think more women should look at greenkeeping.  Sure, it isn’t always a fun job.  Sometimes it’s hot, sometimes it’s frigid, sometimes the traffic is bad and machinery breaks down and you have clients breathing down your neck, interfering and putting you further behind.  But it is also a field where almost every day you get to see the sun, and move around, and use not only your hands, but your mind.  Your uniforms are supplied, there is no expectation to wear heels or make-up, and most greenkeepers can go on holidays without being obligated to check emails or answer phone calls.  The industry is growing and work is more likely to be full time than in other industries.  

Further, while we all know the pay isn’t terrific, it’s an industry where equal pay for equal work isn’t a pipe dream – it seems to be reality.  While there is little statistically valid information available, what data there is suggests that women don’t seem to suffer the irritatingly common fate of being paid less than their male colleagues for doing the same work with the same qualifications.

So if you’re an employer looking to attract more talent, or a woman looking to enter the field, all I can say is ‘go for it’.

*https://joboutlook.gov.au/occupations/greenkeepers?occupationCode=3623

Here is a great article from one of our team members at International Greenkeepers, Damien Curtis is spearheading a team of people in our industry working on the frontline in a lockdown zone in Sydney’s worst affected areas by this Delta Strain of Covid19 risking their lives to help make the community safe.

International Greenkeepers would like to personally thank every person in the Turf Industry around the world putting themselves in the front line to make sure the world can have somewhere to go outside their house during this pandemic.

Damien Curtis -Acting City Works Manager Liverpool City Council

With all work scrutinized during a hard lock down due to Covid 19 work in Local government areas get broken down into 2 groups -Essential / and non essential .
Most of us would expect Garbage collection and the repair of roads as essential but we also define Parks and open space areas as essential also .
In open space areas we have a duty of care to provide a safe and clean areas for the public to exercise in which in our areas include walking tracks in native bush land ,open space sporting fields ,playgrounds ,play gyms, dog parks and general passive open space areas .
Sports have been cancelled but our sports fields are probably getting more wear and tear now due to the sheer number using them to exercise .
Without eyes checking that these above areas are safe we leave ourselves exposed to residents and guests injuring themselves especially when exercise is there only form of outside entertainment in a hard lock down scenario.
This is why in our local government areas grounds staff are a critic part of our work force .
The first item to consider in any lock down is what are the latest public health orders and how will they affect the safe delivery of service to our open space areas.
We like all industries will be given perimeters to work within then we must apply for essential work permits which come with many restrictions that are necessary for us to work in .
The fines for businesses and individuals are quiet large and the other side to this is we do not want to have staff or the public put in danger if we are not abiding by strict legislation put in place by multiple Government agencies .
Some of the provisions this time round are collecting data on staff living in hot zones that require Covid testing every 3 days .
The use of extensive PPE and hiring additional vehicles to service areas due to distance regulations in trucks and work vehicles.
Recording all entry and exits into depots by staff with bar codes and manual recording and restricting visitors if possible.
In house Covid Testing for staff to minimize the distribution to there already busy lifestyle of working and living in hard lock down areas .

Creating work schedules where sanitizing hard stand amenities such as playgrounds and seating become more important than mowing or gardening.
Staggered start and finish times to avoid congestion in our depots .
Creating satellite depots to spread the work force out in case a close contact takes out a whole section for 14 days and we can continue with the delivery of critical work from other depots.
In regards to our sporting fields and high profile areas we are continuing with our spraying programs for Pests /Weeds and Disease  especially targeting weeds such as Burr Medic and Bindii as these weeds pose considerable a safety risk to our users if they flower so it’s important for us to reduce this risk .
This is still deemed essential as is auditing and fixing irrigation issues as again water leeks and breaks are a danger to the users of our open space areas.
Last lock down we completed many renovations processes as the sports were cancelled but this lock down all construction and non critical work has been fagged so we cannot use this window to complete small capital works on our fields .
Providing the best PPE and making sure our staff use this and are updated on the latest public health orders which are changing daily .
We still continue to maintain our open spaces to a standard but with a focus on sanitizing and litter removal combined with more stringent inspection on assets to identify safety concerns in a more efficient time frame.
One of the difficult issues is a large amount of our residents are out of work or stood down temporarily due to the hard stage 4 lock down which has greatly affected our local government area which is 310 square kilometers in a high density area with lots of blue collar trade employees in our local government area .
We actually get busier now with the only form of normality for residents is to go into our open space areas and exercise the body and mind .
We also get more vandalism and theft and lots of our staff can be subjected to abuse from frustrated open space users who feel the need to take out life’s frustrations on them .
This issue gets tool boxed and talked about so we can give our staff strategies to deal with these issues as it is a very challenging time when residents cannot feed there families or service there debts due to no income coming in.
We must also manage our staff mental and physical well being implementing guidelines to identify risks ,allow different leave patterns to be authorized and effectively communicate from the high levels down to the field staff with clear messaging.
In terms of maintenance most Local Government staff are the last line of call outs and we call this the phone a friend scenario due to being called out to electrical issues with our tree teams cutting fallen trees over power lines,our civil teams spreading sand on major and minor roads after an accidents and stopping pollutions going into water ways with spill kits and bundling .
Our traffic control teams are always utilized in storm events in conjunction with other state organizations to block roads and put in detours to reduce risk and make people safe from hazards .
Like all emergency management the layers only work when tryouts have clear and concise information communicated to all staff .
We are very lucky to have very experienced staff who have worked all over the world in critical situations and there calm demeanor and ability to mentor the less experienced staff has seen us adapt to the ever changing world we all now live in .
In times of crisis the great staff rise to occasion and i am very lucky to work with a fantastic team continuing to maintain our open space areas so our residents .
Stay safe and reach out to your industry friends and associates to help in times of need as no person has all the tools in there kit to solve all the problems or issues that come our way especially dealing with living organisms.

From a management prospective we need to record daily the below information.

-Staff leave -at present due to working in a hot spot we have many staff using up there accrued leave .
We have not forced this but are happy for staff to take leave as many look after there elderly family or kids who at the moment must be home schooled .

-We have staff redeployed from other areas of council who have been stood down in there substantive roles.
For this at the moment council pays a 4 week full time wage then our union is in negotiations to get some form of payment as local government workers are not covered by the old job keeper payment .

-Daily meetings with emergency management which includes NSW Health / Police/ RMS /Office of Local government .

We have set up many Covid Testing clinics in our open space parks and these change quiet often depending on the areas needing more resourcing.
The last week has seen us working to set up much needed vaccination hubs which are critical for the community .

The management team also look at our own hot spot congregation areas a and work with the authorities to close areas off .
Last year we closed sporting fields and play grounds but so far we on the direction from NSW Health have kept these facilities open so we dedicate more resources to clean and inspect above what we normally do outside of lockdown.

Kind Regards

Damien Curtis

SISIS Flexibrush gets results at Greetham

After the withdrawal of certain chemicals, Adi Porter, Course Manager at Greetham Valley Golf Club, has found the SISIS Flexibrush to be an ideal solution for dispersing worm casts.

Adi has been working at the East Midlands club for nearly thirty years and throughout that time he has seen it become one of the finest golf, hotel, leisure and conference venues in the area.

“We made a conscious effort to really push the standards,” said Adi. “It enabled us to significantly improve the presentation and we went from strength to strength. We soon found our membership at full capacity and had to put a waiting list in place – which was unheard of for clubs in this area.”

Under his remit, Adi is responsible for the maintenance of two 18-hole courses and a 9-hole course, a driving range, and a bowling green. Standards to Adi are everything, and he leaves no stone unturned when it comes to presenting ‘picture perfect’ facilities. It is for this reason, that he admits to being frustrated by an all-too-common issue.

“Worms are becoming more and more of a problem on every sports surface because we lost the chemical control a few years ago,” he said. “Here at Greetham, the worm population has undoubtedly increased and the worm casts can be a nuisance. If they are not kept on top of then they just get smeared into the grass with the golf that is played and foot traffic, trolleys and buggies.”

In looking for a non-chemical solution, Adi, who has been a long-term user of SISIS machinery, decided to investigate the SISIS Flexibrush.

The Flexibrush is a tractor mounted brush which is equally effective to disperse top dressing and remove excess material on natural turf and on synthetic surfaces. The versatile Flexibrush can also be used for dew dispersal and striping for improved presentation. It has a 5.35 metre working width, its brush sections float to follow ground contours and the outer sections fold for transport and storage.

A demonstration was arranged at the start of 2020 and Adi has not looked back since.

“It is a fantastic, quick and cost-effective way of removing or dispersing worm casts,” said Adi. “What really sold it to me is the size of it – some of the other brushes on the market for outfields and fairways are a lot narrower and I don’t think there is one wider than the Flexibrush.

“It is very productive, and we can easily do 36 holes in a day. I also like the fact that it folds up quicky – you can easily move it about the course, through trees and from fairway to fairway.

“Another main reason for purchasing it was so that we can use it for presentation,” he continued. “We will use it forbrushing before mowing to stand the grass up because it provides a better cut. Also, in the autumn and winter months when we are not actually cutting the grass, we can still present a fairway nicely by striping with the Flexibrush.

“It’s been a great purchase for us and as always we get a great service and back-up from SISIS,” Adi concluded.

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter or Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery