A Grounds Maintenance what he thinks of their Deep Tine
AERATION , IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE
GKB Deep Tine Aerator receives glowing review from N & E Grounds Maintenance
sk Nigel Willis of N & E
A Grounds Maintenance what he thinks of their Deep Tine
Aerator ( DTA ) from GKB Machines and he may well tell you it ’ s the best machine he ’ s ever purchased ! It ’ s certainly been put through its paces since its delivery in May 2024 as the company ramps up aeration work on a variety of fine turf and winter sports surfaces . In those few months , the DTA 210 has cemented its status as one of the strongest , quickest and most reliable maintenance machines on his fleet .
Located on the outskirts of Belfast , N & E Grounds Maintenance have been conducting the full range of nutritional and mechanical maintenance services for customers spanning both natural and artificial turf for the last 22 years . It was on his annual trip to SALTEX in 2023 that the DTA first caught Nigel ’ s eye . “ My aerator at the time was giving me a lot of bother so I was on the look out for alternatives . I was immediately impressed with the robustness of the GKB DTA and Tom Shinkins put me in touch with their dealer for Northern Ireland , Laird Grass Machinery .”
“ I didn ’ t even feel the need to have a demonstration of it , I just asked them to order me one and the rest is history !” he exclaims .
The GKB Deep Tine Aerator does exactly as the name suggests , tackling compaction down to depths of 400mm ( 16 ”). Available in working widths from 1.2m up to 2.6m , there ’ s a model in the range to suit all types of natural turf surface .
“ We opted for the 2.1m model which suits the variety of facilities we visit , and it ’ s already been well utilised on football and rugby pitches as well as work on several golf courses .” Nigel continues , “ It does a fantastic job and is much faster and smoother than our previous machine . It ’ s easy to hook up to the tractor , simple to use and the daily checks are quick with very few grease points . The hydraulic depth control is another feature I really like giving us easy and accurate control over the job at hand .”
“ As we move through the winter months , the DTA will be out near enough every other day as demand for aeration work continues to increase to cope with the increased rainfall .” He adds , “ I ’ ve been so impressed with the machine I felt compelled at SALTEX 2024 to go back to the GKB stand just to tell Tom and the team that it ’ s honestly been one of the best purchases I ’ ve ever made !”
40 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | March / April 2025