The Sun Shines On The Turf Industry
Sam Smart reports from this year’s IOG SALTEX Show
Another year has passed in the turf industry and the 2013 incarnation of SALTEX has come to its conclusion. Blessed with three days of glorious sunshine at Windsor Racecourse, the crowds were out in force and it is confirmed that attendance is up on the previous year.
Feedback from the exhibitors of the show has also been very positive with the industry heavyweights fully utilising the SALTEX platform to make key announcements and showcase exciting new products.
Schiller kicked off the event with various announcements in relation to their Mantis, Little Wonder, Classen and Steiner lines, with Mantis enhancing on their cordless range with new hedge trimmers and pruners, Little Wonder debuting their new Advanced Performance Vacuum, the introduction of the RA21 walk behind reciprocating aerater from Classen and finally the launch of the Steiner 440 4-wheel drive tractor.
The Grass Group in conjunction with Advanced Turf Technology spoke of the Smart VertiCut, a vertucutting tool that promises less stress on the grass plant. They also announced an exciting partnership with Ceres Turf Inc. to provide Phoenix Technology tines to the UK market, a product that should work well with The Grass Group’s new on-line TineShop.
Charterhouse used SALTEX to debut their new website and announced an 8% year on year increase in business largely due to increased awareness and education on synthetic turf maintenance.
The new iGO mini spray making machine was introduced by Rigby Taylor to be targeted specifically at ‘grass roots’ pitches, including schools, lower league and private clubs.
Dennis and SISIS joined forces to make a series of announcements. Dennis showcased their range of turf maintenance equipment and revealed they have been considering past prototypes and designs, acquired through their buyout of SISIS, for a relaunch into the current market. Sisis launched the new Rotorake 600HD Scarifier that has been developed after close consultation with groundsmen and also used their press conference to highlight the importance and success of just in time production for their firm.
Over at Trimax the new UK manufactured hydraulically-powered version of its FlailDek FX flail mower was launched for out-front tractors. Trimax also stressed the importance to them of the expertise of the UK engineering sector to their operation.
Complete Weed Control announced their plans to market Weed-IT to councils and contractors for the first time, as well as an interesting collaboration with Swansea University alumni. Daniel Jones of Swansea is conducting a study into the use of herbicides on Japanese knot-weed in conjunction with CWC and will be posting a blog online to allow the industry to follow the project.
Look out on Ideas4Groundsmen for further coverage and product launches from the show.
