The OxyShot from
Charterhouse Turf Machinery recently came to the rescue of waterlogged
surfaces at Ipswich Town Football Club’s Training Ground.
Despite having a
thorough aeration programme in place, Grounds Manager Ben Connell called on the
air-injection unit, to treat deep-level compaction and improve drainage.
“In the lead up to the
winter period, we had been aerating regularly with solid tines to best prepare
ourselves for the wetter conditions” explains Ben, who oversees 13 surfaces at
the club’s training facility, together with the stadium pitch.
“When we started to
find waterlogging on one of our academy pitches, I called Peter Knight of Bury
Turfcare, who deduced that there was a pan layer roughly 400mm down causing
these areas to hold water. As the OxyShot can work down to a depth of 500mm, he
brought the unit in to shatter the pan layer and since then, this area has been
free-draining.”
Using a single 25mm
probe, the OxyShot injects air into the soil in four directions, at a pressure
of up to 110psi. Perfect for ‘on the spot’ treatments, the highly manoeuvrable
unit can be easily transported for use in a variety of situations – from golf
course walkways to goal mouths, tennis baselines and sports pitch touchlines.
Impressed with the
results achieved, Ben had the Oxyshot back a few weeks later to carry out
further spot treatments on another problem area. “We worked on an area roughly
10m2 and the results were fantastic.
We had some really significant rainfall in the few weeks that followed and
while some surrounding areas were very wet, the test patch was free-draining
and clear of any puddling. Months later and we’re still seeing the benefits of
the work, with no compaction to report.”
