Only in the UK could we get the crazy situation we now find ourselves in with flooding pretty much everywhere and yet still be in an official drought!  With such a big impact for all those involved in our market it is soul destroying to know that most of the rain water is heading directly into the sea as the water companies have not addressed the issue of retaining the water they do get!

I am no climatologist but I have seen this short term pattern emerging of cold dry winters and springs along with unremarkable summers dotted with intense weather events.  I can recall watching a programme in which the climatologist involved demonstrated his theory that the effect of global warming and the icecaps melting was that the jet streams around the UK have moved allowing cold dry air in from the North during the winter – only in the UK could we get colder winters as a result of global warming! – and a blocking effect created by the same jet stream during the summer holding the high pressure and the nice weather away.  He also went on to say that increasingly that it was going to be “all or nothing” and that when it started raining it may not know when to stop as the storms will be gathering far more energy and moisture off the oceans as a result in the increase in the surface temperature of the ocean increasing by a degree or so.  He cited Texas as having had a drought year followed by the wettest year on record followed by another drought, again the worst and longest ever recorded.   On the this basis we had better get used to flooding and we, in the East at least,  had better start figuring out how to retain some of the rain when it comes instead of dumping this precious resource straight back into the sea!

On the plus side the grass is growing like crazy so mowers and grass vacuums will be the front of everybody’s minds!

The recent welcome rain has finally got the grass growing and the INFiNiCut has been out in “silent mode” demonstrating its balance and ease of operation at golf courses around the South.

The first port of call was obviously the existing TM System users as they already understand the benefits and will be able to fit their cassettes to the machine if required.

Everybody who saw it was impressed.  Its simplicity of design, floating head and flexibility with the cassettes and modular drive unit sets a new bench mark for a hybrid pedestrian mower.

RotaDairon have just launched their new SD720 Self Propelled Seeder.   The Honda driven unit uses the modular seed box which has proven to be excellent for wild flower seeds as well as all types of grass seeds.  This is thanks to the soft splines on the seed distribution rotor ensuring the varied shaped and sized wild flower seeds are not damaged as they are metered through.

The metering is controlled by a single twist adjustment on the side of the stainless steel hopper.  The accuracy not only ensures that establishment is not hampered by crowding out due to overdosing but also means that the approved seed rates are achieved and valuable/expensive seed is not wasted! The adjustment knob usefully has a dial in it so that each seed mix only needs to be metered once and then when swapping you can reset the dial to the previous time you used that mix.

The RotaDairon SD720 has 4 forward gears and one reverse gear with a max ground speed of 3mph.  The handlebar is adjustable with 3 positions including one for transport.

For those not requiring the wild flower option a cheaper SD700 is also available.

I was presenting the new INFiNiCut to a Head Greenkeeper and explained to him there is two modular power options to drive the two electric motors on the machine. One is the engine generator module and the other being the battery module and they can be changed over in a couple of minutes allowing an “on course” swap.

He caught me by surprise when he said  “at last! A TRUE hybrid!”  and that made think, he is probably right!!  As far as we are aware while everybody is claiming that their machine is a hybrid, in the true recognised sense the INFiNiCut is the only machine which can be run with engine or battery as with hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius or the Lexus which must make it the only Hybrid pedestrian mower!

The dealer days at the factory were not only used to demonstrate to the dealers the existing range of Trilo products but also to present new features and machines.  One of these is the Trilo C15.  The C15 is an updated three point linkage PTO driven flail mower/scarifier collector.

Designed for tractors of 28hp plus it is aimed to provide an economic, less than £10,000.00 + vat retail, solution as a multifunctional machine for those with smaller or access limited grounds to maintain.  Its horse power requirement is actually based on whether the tractor can lift the full container or not rather than the demands of the flail rotor itself.

The machine can be used year round, scarifying in the spring, cutting and collecting on fine grass leaving a beautifully stripped lawn as well as dealing with the rough.  It can even cut and collect heather!! In the Autumn it can be used to collect the leaves.  It is user friendly with simple controls, blades that are inter-changeable without the use of tools and height settings are adjusted using the front and rear rollers.

It will be presented for the first time at Saltex 2012 and will be a welcome addition to the Trilo range of products; but if you need to see it before then give us a call!

At the Harrogate Show Press Briefing Peter Van Mispelaar, joint owner of Vanmac, the manufacturer of Trilo products, extended an invitation to visit the factory in Holland.  That was the easy bit!  It was a re-run of our previous press trip to Dairon – Planes, Trains and Automobiles!  Though this time we didn’t have Loz from Pitchcare to look out for!!

An early start at Stansted was required, Martin Smart decided he could have some extra sleeping time – he forgot to set his alarm – but made it setting a new land speed record from Crowborough!  At Schiphol we boarded the train but there was general disappointment that it wasn’t a double decker one –  the boys wanted to sit at the top.  Tony was convinced no one was driving it as he hadn’t noticed it was the driver who had a 747 style cab!  Once at Amersfoort it was on to our coach to the factory via a hotel lunch.  Come to think about it food and drink was a reoccurring theme!!

Finally got to work in the factory and had a thorough explanation from Peter and Leo Van Loen of the history of the Company, the Trilo product range and importantly their vision for both in the future. A factory tour followed with a detailed look at how Vanmac achieve such high standards of manufacturing that is the foundation of Trilo unrivalled reputation for quality.  Then more eating and drinking!!

Up in the morning bright eyed and bushy tailed for more eating, then out in the coach to a local football club which was the site of the field demonstrations. 14 tractors all with Trilos attached plus a number of self-powered units meant there was plenty to see and talk about.  Inevitably a fully catered lunch was laid on at the club and once again everybody worked hard at doing it justice.

The organisation in Holland by Peter, Leo and his team was excellent.  The weather was fantastic.  The trip back was a straight forward as the one out, although I think there might have been some questions asked as to what everybody was smuggling back into the UK to have increased in weight that much in 2 days!!

Having survived the 10.5hr flight and several days, and nights, of “acclimatization” to the extremes that is Las Vegas I finally made it onto the “Booth” on Wednesday morning at 7am ready for action!  I was not disappointed!

The show was set over two levels and was still large in spite of the recession that had been endured and that had undoubtedly claimed some casualties.  There was a few new products on the Big Boys stands but nothing earth shattering.  Although I looked for “next big thing” there was not much innovation apparent that I could see, in fact the top Toro engineer said that he thought our INFiNiPower Hybrid was one of the best machines he had seen for a while! other than his own of course!!

Tim Demonstrating The INFiNiPower

I spent both days talking to European and Asian dealers all of whom were excited by the INFiNiPower.   Some were already familiar with the TM System and they could see the product range developing and how the SMARTCut cassette had ensured its position as the most complete system available anywhere.  One of the most interesting observations from the Asian dealers was that being made of Stainless Steel would be an enormous advantage to their users as the climatic conditions meant that deterioration by rust of other manufacturers equipment would not be a problem for the TM System!  Quality always pays in the long run!!

Tim’s Night Flight over Las Vegas

Next week the new INFiNiCut will be on show at Vegas along with the rest of the TM System cassettes.  It is going to be interesting to see if the upbeat sentiment that was evident in Orlando has been maintained or maybe even has grown.   As the prime mover in the world economy if the States shows signs of moving forward then there is a chance that we might follow out of this slump.

The Grass Group is responsible for distribution of all the ATT products outside the States and yet paradoxically the show in the States is normally the best for us!  It draws in dealers from around the world and we already have dealers from the Far East interested in the new modular “on Course” change over from battery power to hybrid/generator power for the INFiNiCut.  It makes it unique in being the most flexible multifunctional machine available anywhere! No wonder everyone is beating a path to our door!

Tony Hosking has joined the team based in Newmarket in the newly created position of Parts Manager. Coming from the automotive industry Tony brings with him a wealth of experience.

It was important as a Company which has seen consistent growth in spite of the economic down turn to maintain our reputation as being first class for all aspects of our activities.  A reliable next day parts service across the range of products we supply is a fundamental base for all sales activities. The current economic reality is that all our customers are having to push their machines further and for longer and this inevitably means more maintenance on older machines and more parts required.  Tony was brought in to ensure that the parts are there when required and are available at a realistic cost to our customers.

Going to Harrogate for the BTME is always exciting.  It offers the first opportunity of the New Year to get to talk to a large number of potential customers.  2012 did not disappoint.  Having the first stand in Hall A meant we were hit first by the tidal wave of visitors! It was clear it was going to be a busy show and Wednesday proved to be even busier than the Tuesday.

Talking to green keepers and dealers alike there was a general consensus that while we were not out of the woods yet things were looking brighter and that having got this far everyone was taking a positive approach is the jobs still needed doing.

There was a good deal of interest in the new INFiNiPower both as a hybrid and a battery powered unit.  Both were on the stand and everyone was impressed when they realised it was the same machine with different power options that were so quick and easy to change over you do it in minutes on the course. In addition to that the TM System cassettes were drawing a lot of serious interest and we have already taken some orders from visiting green keepers.

We booked quite a few demonstrations for the Trilo VCU scarifier and blower.  Both of which are priced to reflect Trilo’s drive to designed a product using the latest manufacturing techniques to deliver quality at a competitive price.

Having the Progressive Proflex 120 outside Hall A reminded everyone what a good straight forward reliable machine it is and when looking for value for money sometimes the answer is right in front of them! 

With the new season just round the corner the RotaDairon overseeder attracted many green keepers attention.  It is widely accepted that RotaDairon build top quality machines and the RGD140 is no exception delivering a superb finish with incredible precision economising seed and optimising seed establishment.

All in all a great show!

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