TOOLS , PLANT & EQUIPMENT
Making a strong first impression overing hundreds of acres every year , life for
C machinery on Congleton Lawn Turf Farm is tough ! For the last ten years , equipment from BLEC has been fundamental in their operation so , after a bumper busy year in 2020 , the time was right for Owner Matthew Worth to upgrade to a duo of new units . Delivered on Good Friday , a Blecavator 300HD and Turf Seeder 3000 from Redexim were swiftly put to work and were quick to make a strong first impression .
Matthew , along with his brother Roger , have been looking after the 140-acre family turf farm in Cheshire since 2003 . “ We ’ re taking a turf crop off roughly every 12-15 months , and then a lot of work goes into preparing the bed ready for new seed to go in ” he explains . “ Once we ’ ve broken up compaction , ploughed the area and cultivated it a couple of times , we ’ ll then go on with the Blecavator to bury all the stones deep enough to be safely clear of the blades when it comes to harvesting the turf . It also levels the ground and provides a nice tilth for the seed to go in .”
“ Having used a few different BLEC stone buriers over the years , we ’ ve seen a couple of major improvements in our new BV300HD model . Firstly , it deals with larger stones better - the bigger spaces between the rotors and the cover , and the new blade configuration reduces issues with clogging and jamming up . It also has a three-speed gearbox which is ideal for us as we ’ ve got three different soil types on our site – peat , sand and clay . With the Blecavator in top gear , it loosens the soil on even our firmest and driest clay areas , leaving a nicely conditioned bed .”
With the ground prepared , the Turf-Seeder 3000 is then utilised to deliver the seed in two different directions . The Turf-Seeder features front notched ring rollers that create small pockets , ready to accept the seeds evenly into the top 12mm of the soil , before the rear roller splits the shallow ridges formed by the front roller and safely covers the seed . “ Again , we ’ ve noticed the improvements in this machine compared to the previous model – particularly in the ease of adjustment and seed calibration system which gives us the required accuracy in delivery .”
Following the delivery of the brace of BLEC units in April 2021 , the new Blecavator was in use for the first time less than an hour later ! “ Demand for turf is so high currently that our investment in new equipment was made at just the right time . We ’ ve already used the Blecavator and Turf-Seeder on over 65 acres and have been seriously impressed with the results .”
www . blecmachinery . com
40 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | June / July 2021