The head
groundsman for De Montfort University at Beaumont Park in Leicester believes
that most of his maintenance programme can be achieved by using just two key
SISIS machines – the Multitiner and the Quadraplay.
Head
groundsman Cameron Flitten has a number of strings to his bow when it comes to
sports turf maintenance. After starting in the industry with an apprenticeship
at a golf course, he went on to specialise in the maintenance of cricket
squares, football pitches and rugby pitches in his previous position at
Loughborough University.
Cameron has
now been in his current employment with De Montfort University for three years
but revealed that it was in his former position where he first became
acquainted with SISIS machinery.
“I used
SISIS machinery at Loughborough so I already knew that they were brilliant
pieces of kit. We never used to have any problems with the equipment; they were
reliable, simple to use and did an excellent job every time. I tend to always
go with what I know works so I was keen to get some SISIS equipment in here.”
In particular, Cameron uses the SISIS Multitiner 1.8m and the SISIS
Quadraplay 1.8m at the impressive Beaumont Park which plays host to the
university’s men’s and women’s football teams. The facilities are also used by
the local community and with a high amount of recorded usage, regular pitch
maintenance is essential.
One of today's most useful pieces of kit in any groundsman's
armoury, the SISIS Quadraplay significantly speeds up maintenance tasks by
carrying out more than one operation simultaneously – making it ideal for
groundsmen like Cameron who have several sports pitches to maintain.
This single-pass maintenance system incorporates a mounted frame for
up to four implements such as grooming rakes, slitters, rollers and brushes.
The implements can be fitted to the mainframe in any order and can be
independently adjusted to achieve the desired effect.
“Quite simply, the Quadraplay is essential for us. We’ve got the
slitter, the rake wires, the brush and a roller for it and we tend to use it
regularly throughout the year. I like the fact that you can carry out a number
of tasks in just one sweep which saves so much time. It provides the pitch with
aeration, removes organic matter, gives the surface a good clean and then
leaves an excellent finish,” Cameron explains.
The SISIS Multitiner is a tractor mounted drum-type aerator which is
ideally suited to a range of applications from sports field maintenance, lawns
and amenities. It has three drums with independent rotation and its
interchangeable tines with a maximum depth of 100mm ensure excellent turf care
when the time comes to aerate.
“At this time of year, we tend to use the chisel tines on the
Multitiner because it ‘cracks’ the soil incredibly well and we find that it
gives us a bit more depth. It’s great to be able to open the surface up
especially when it is cold and wet.
“We rely on
the Multitiner for drainage and aeration – to ensure that air gets into the
surface and to keep the pitches draining freely. I would say that we try and
use the Multitiner every couple of weeks and when the weather gets warmer, we
switch to the solid tines. It only takes an hour to go over the whole pitch, so
it’s incredibly quick compared to other machines on the market.”
“For me,
these two machines help me carry out a huge part of our maintenance programme
and we use them in tandem. They are well built, reliable and are key pieces of
turf maintenance machinery for us here.”
