\u201cIn that time frame, Wiedenmann\u2019s fleet and I have evolved similarly,\u201d quipped Calum. \u201cWe\u2019re both quicker, more productive and have a higher tolerance!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis summer Calum took delivery of his first Terra Spike purchase, a GXi8 HD alongside an ISEKI TG6507 compact tractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a team of five with no capacity to spare. All processes need to focus on time efficiencies, yet still be thorough and neat. Unusually, for somewhere not close to the sea, we are built on a sand belt, apart from two holes which are on clay. Fortunately, we are relatively quick draining but as every greenkeeper will tell you, aeration is that one essential task, you can\u2019t ignore. The brief was for something sufficiently versatile for tees, greens, walkways and fairways, so the GXi8 picked itself. Everyone enjoyed the ISEKI far better than others we evaluated, so ultimately as both machines were access-all-areas, the pairing was an easy decision.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Already the new Terra Spike and the ISEKI with its spacious cabin and driver comfort have brought the Midas touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using 20 mm tines, the GXi8 was given its maiden run across Elgin\u2019s walkways down to a depth of 150 mm -175 mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were out and back astonishingly fast, much faster than before. Subsequently we have put on 10\u00b0-15\u00b0 degrees of heave to get the air pickets opened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, Calum and team took full advantage to change up their coring routine for their greens, choreographing new moves to improve both productivity and results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDuring the previous nine months we had specifically targeted the top 20 mm of the greens\u2019 surface. In total we\u2019d spread between 65-70 tonnes of sand, varying it at 10 mm, 15 mm and 20 mm depths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe day prior we lifted the GXi8\u2019s back roller and set up with mini hollow tines and side ejectors to go to 50 mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI came in at 04.00 am to make a start, with the lads not far behind at 05.00 am. Removing entire cores meant losing that effort and material, so we opted to break the cores with our verticutting units. Using blowers, the thatch was blown off to the side, collected and taken away. Then we simply returned the sand to the surface. We managed to crack out all 18 greens by 2.00 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was quicker, more efficient and a lot easier on the team as we weren\u2019t lifting cores. We\u2019ve noticed we\u2019ve had a good hit with that; the greens are draining well since, especially when you consider how much water has fallen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only going to get better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll wait awhile longer to do tees and approaches; best to get recovery coming into the year, and in time, we\u2019ll get to the fairways, and they\u2019ll get 10\u00b0-15\u00b0 degrees of heave, too. For our greens, I\u2019ve chosen 10 mm tines. We\u2019ve got what we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Morton, Fairways GM\u2019s Sales & Business Manager at Inverness, said: \u201cCalum\u2019s was the ideal scenario, ordering his tractor and Terra Spike together. The GXi8 HD pairs naturally to the ISEKI, ensuring perfect compatibility; its 1.8 m width covers the back tyres of the tractor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elgin Golf Club\u2019s, head greenkeeper, Calum Forsyth, is a proud second-generation greenkeeper. Appointed to his role at the Moray club a year ago, he brings a wealth of experience from spells at Penrith GC, Nairn GC and nearby Carrbridge GC, as well as a season working in Australia. One of Calum\u2019s earliest connections was Mike […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74,432,433,274,429,436,430,47,440,140,146,182,318,400,439,87,86,435,434,151,73,437,438,120,431],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions\/837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}