TURF MANAGEMENT
The GKB range
ithin 48 hours of it being added to their
W fleet , a VStrong from GKB was put straight to work by Parkway Ground Maintenance , as the team looked to complete a busy cricket renovation season . Delivered in conjunction with two other GKB machines – a Deep Tine Aerator ( DTA ) 160 and a Combiseeder 120 - Managing Director Dean McDermott estimates that their VStrong 120 scarified in the region of 300 wickets this year !
Parkway Ground Maintenance in the Midlands were formed in 2000 and look after a wide variety of sports surfaces , spanning both natural and synthetic turf . Their trio of new machines , delivered in June 2021 complements a large fleet of equipment , which already includes a number of solutions from GKB . “ We ’ ve got an EcoDresser and Sandspreader from GKB , along with their QuickClean and Brush for artificial surfaces and , for us , it ’ s the build quality that keeps us coming back ” explains Dean . “ In our opinion , it is built better and stronger than equipment from any other manufacturer and , over the years , that quality of construction has remained consistent .”
“ Another big positive about the GKB range is how simple the equipment is to use ” adds Operator Tony Besent . “ When it comes to scarifiers , over the years there aren ’ t many makes and models I haven ’ t tried , but the blade configuration of the VStrong makes it the most effective one I ’ ve used .” The GKB VStrong features a unique CombiRotor equipped with heavy duty steel blades which rotates against the direction of travel , accurately scarifying down to depths of 40mm .
With renovation season at a close , the demand now turns to the DTA . “ As we head towards the winter months , it ’ s going to be aeration on the agenda . Our DTA 160 is already on double figures since we ’ ve had it and is pretty much fully booked to conduct pre-winter work on a number of winter sports pitches in the area .” When temperatures begin to rise , Dean and his team are looking forward to utilising their brand-new CombiSeeder – the versatility set-up making it ideal for work on all types of surface .
Dean concludes , “ Because of the variety of work and tight schedules we have to work to , we need equipment that is reliable and that is backed up with fast support when required – and that ’ s exactly what we get with GKB .”
www . gkbmachines . com
GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | January 2022 59