Limerick business owner, Darragh McCormack, Director of DMC Sales & Plant Hire, has purchased a Wiedenmann Maredo STrac 700 system with four interchangeable heads
Based in Ardagh, in the south west, his recently launched business has gone from strength to strength also including a ground care division which carries out turf projects.
“Initially, I discovered the kit online and watched You Tube footage. Then I found out Michael Weldon at local Wiedenmann dealer, Seamus Weldon in Kerry was able to supply and it all took off from there,” commented Darragh.
The new Wiedenmann Maredo STrac 700 system is ideal for turf renovations to bowling greens, sports pitches, landscaped areas and, especially, to turf surfaces where tractors cannot access.
Brought to you via your local Wiedenmann UK dealer, the pedestrian Maredo unit has a powerful guiding handle and a set of inter-changeable heads which all come with a working width of 65 cm. A noticeably short turning radius means the rear wheels can adopt a variety of operating positions, while the tools connect effortlessly, cassette style.
Darragh chose four of the six cassettes that make up the system; the Flex- Verticutter which scarifies to 25 mm; a Vibe-Spike aerator which relieves compaction down to 60 mm; the FlexFrase Mower which strips the top layer to 20 mm, which also removes bumps and undulations on goal mouths; the VibeDisc-Seeder, a slit seeder which can dose seed from 0 to -15 mm at as low as 2 g/m ² to 15 g / m²
At delivery, Darragh received full installation training from Andy Kerr, Wiedenmann’ s lead demonstrator and started putting it use on his own grounds.
“It’s really impressive,” commented Darragh. “The seeder in particular reaches 10-15 mm below the surface and is very precise. The scarifier and aerator cassettes will contribute hugely towards plant health removing thatch and organic matter. It‘s a really great solution when a tractor just can’t get access.
“The versatility of the STrac will be enormously helpful for our projects. The heads are easy to change and the way the wheels configure on the pull along unit means it can work close to hedges, walls etc and gives access to areas you would have previously considered unreachable. I can see enormous potential, too, for golf courses and those who have transitions and levels to manage.
“We’ve got lots of uses for it locally, but it will be available for hire across Ireland very shortly. Anyone interested can contact me at DMC on 086 360 6420.
Michael Weldon, Director at Seamus Weldon said: “The clever engineering where you can just add another cartridge to the guiding unit is genius. I know that a new HighSpeed-Corer head is about to be launched, bringing the choice of cassettes to six. For some turf professionals and landscapers, the STrac might be the only system they ever need for surface conditioning.”
