SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/30215
Irrigation&Drainage as the conditions of the each event occur; in other words we don’t always water the field before a game. We can apply water to our new syn- thetic baseball surface, and I tend to think of it as a tool to assist in achieving a clean field surface from the players that spit (whatever they have in their mouth at the time) like most baseball players do. I have a philosophy that you will rarely find a baseball player that doesn’t spit something. This is just one tool that we use to help keep the surface clean from that biohazard. I am certain that there will be re- quests to use the system to help in “cooling” the field surface temperature during camp sessions this summer. I am anticipating some education on how we can achieve a lower surface temperature with the use of our irrigation system knowing that it has its limits to accom- plish the cooling effect. Irrigating synthetic fields is a learn- ing curve to all; to the coaching staff and users along with the turf manger it’s a tool that some have and then it’s up the turf manager to asses the situation and determine the best use (or not use) of the system. Just like with most tools, all have their time to be useful in certain situations. BRIAN GIMBEL, Athletic Grounds Supervisor, The Ohio State University We do not water our synthetic fields to reduce heat. We have tried it and it does work for a little while, but not long enough to be useful. There is no in-ground irrigation system, so we use a Kifco water reel to irrigate the fields. These units do a great job of covering the area, but it takes a long time to ac- complish it. By the time the irrigation has been completed, the temperatures where we started are typically rising again. At this point all we have done is add moisture to the air, which increases the relative humidity. We do irrigate the field as part of our maintenance program, however. The mono-filament systems are espe- cially prone to displacement of the in- fill. This decreases over time, but when 34 SportsTurf | May 2011 they are new, this is a big concern. To ensure our athletes are competing on a smooth surface, we will groom these fields regularly to redistribute the rub- ber and sand evenly. This leaves the field a little fluffy afterwards so we will irrigate it once or twice to help settle the infill down. This helps us to pro- vide the team with a consistent playing surface that feels the same every time they are out on it. The irrigation also removes some of the static electric charge that is generated during the grooming process and also helps keep the field clean. This process has worked very well for us and has gener- ated good feedback from the team. KYLE CALHOON, Groundskeeper, New Mead- owlands Stadium Company I do not irrigate our Field Turf for a couple of reasons. The majority of our big ticket events played directly on the FieldTurf are played later in the year when temperatures are mild. I under- stand people like to irrigate to lower temperatures in the heat of summer with temperatures rising above 160 de- grees F; but for the most part we have been lucky come September when in- ternational soccer and concerts make up the majority of our events; soccer is played on natural grass while concerts are on top of protective flooring. We do not have a quick method to get the coverage and amount of water we need. There are two 2-inch hose lines at field level. From those lines it would require hundreds of feet hose to reach two water cannons placed on the field. These water cannons can only cover 1/8 of the field. With the water coming out and the amount of moves we would need to make to get proper coverage, it would be an effort in futility. The only time I irrigate the field is after international soccer events when we put place natural grass on top of the FieldTurf. The FieldTurf sits on top of geo-textile filter fabric, but does not catch everything. We end up with a lot of dust that needs to be washed away. ■ Tools&Equipment | Products Toro Reelmaster 5210 The Toro Reelmaster 5210 features Dual Precision Ad- justment cutting units to deliver an exceptional quality of cut and aftercut appearance. Powered by a 28-hp, 3-cylin- der Kubota diesel engine, this unit offers a nimble and ma- neuverable design for mowing in a wide range of conditions. The Reelmaster 5210 is lightweight and pro- ductive with a 100-inch width of cut. It is available in stan- dard 2 wheel drive or add on the CrossTrax® all-wheel drive system. The Toro Company Versatile Turf Tidy from Redexim The Turf Tidy from Redexim North America is one of the most versatile machines built today. It incorporates verti-cutting, flail mowing, core collection and debris clean up applications into one machine. The Turf Tidy’s fully floating cutting head fol- lows the ground’s contours, ensuring accurate cutting and pick-up. The unique turbo fan makes a clean sweep of leaves, pine nee- dles, paper, aeration cores and grass clippings. The large hopper means less time emptying and its high lift al- lows greater clearance when tipping; it will easily dump into a utility vehicle or dumpster. The large turf tires mean less ground pressure even with a full hopper. Redexim North America Terra Clean by Wiedenmann The Terra Clean M by Wiedenmann is a self-con- tained artificial turf sweeper that efficiently collects debris on the sur- face and can also be ad- justed to reach the top layer of infill. The infill is then separated from the debris with a vibrating sifter and is redistributed back onto the field. The debris is collected in an easily removable hop- per. The Terra Clean M is powered by a Honda GX 240 gasoline engine and can be pulled by most vehicles. Wiedenmann North America www.sportsturfonline.com