Foley Company has exceeded UK market expectations heading into BTME 2020 after impressing greenkeepers with the speed and versatility of the Foley range of spin and relief grinders. 

Through ProSport UK Ltd, a number of turf professionals have invested in the benefits that Foley grinders offer. The most popular model in 2019 has been the 633 Accu-Pro with Accu-Touch 3 Control, which has been installed at Hankley Common Golf Club, The Wisley Golf Club, The Richmond Golf Club, Garstang Golf Club, Farol, Chris Gibson Garden Machinery and RD Mechanical Services to name just a few. 

A common factor behind investing in this machine was the desire for a quick high-quality automatic grind.  

1. The 633 Accu-Pro is an industry leader in versatility and can complete quick touch-up spin grinds or return the reel to manufacturers specifications through relief grinding. 
2. The operation is fast and straightforward with the Accu-Reel Selector, and cylinder height stop automatically locating the reel for spin and relief grinding in one set-up. 
3. Pre-set relief angles are easily identified on the relief angle adjuster, which makes it effortless to grind the correct angles and achieve proper clearances for each reel type.

Using the optional Accu-Touch 3 Control makes this even easier. You tell the machine what you’re working on and it does the rest using pre-programmed spin speeds, relief torque and in-feeds. With or without the Accu-Touch 3, once the grinder has started, operators are free to continue with other tasks while grinding is completed.  

Les Howkins, course manager at The Richmond Golf Club, has benefitted from the speed of the 633 Accu-Pro and has also experienced the machines quiet operation and units that stay on cut for longer. 

Les explained: “For us, one of the main advantages of choosing the Foley Accu-Pro 633 is that it delivers relief and spin grinding in the one machine and the changeover is very quick – approximately 20 seconds. 

“Another reason is that the Foley grinder removes what is known as coning. This is where the reel wears more at one end than the other. This occurs through general use or on some occasions over adjustment. With the built-in electronic gauging system, we can set the units up true and grind them back to parallel. 

“Our mechanic, Ian Clarke, is delighted with the quality of cut delivered by the Foley. Now that we can relief grind quickly and efficiently and the cutting units stay on cut longer, he will be able to manage our grinding programme much more effectively. As the machines are also very easy to use, we are also planning to improve this further with more of our staff using the grinders.” 

The growth of Foley in the UK has also included sales of the 673 Automatic Bedknife Grinder, the 672 Semi-Automatic Bedknife Grinder the new Accu-Pro 661 AT/MT Bedknife Grinder and the top of the range 653 Reel grinder.