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/37461
Facility&Operations able to say, ‘I did what you told me to do.’” Don’t make a situation worse by “trying something.” Stick to what the manual says. “When in doubt, it is best to contact the turf ’s manufacturer before rectifying any problem you feel could potentially affect the warranty,” says Thomas Serensits, manager of Penn State’s Sports Surface Research Center at University Park, PA. Serensits emphasizes how important it is that the buyer be familiar with the terms of the warranty outlined by the manufacturer of their field. “General wear and tear is typi- cally not covered by the warranty,” he says. “When in doubt, contact the manufac- turer.” The Tennessee Center began testing some basics this summer. “We are doing traction testing,” Sorochan says. This means using live humans to execute 40-yard dashes, shut- tle runs and zig-zag exercises to look at wear patterns. Sorochan emphasizes the need for some solid data. “A common misconception is that these fields are maintenance-free.” – Serensits “Whenever there is an accident, it is al- ways the field’s fault—or the grounds staff’s fault—never the shoe’s fault or the athlete’s fault,” he says. The Center hopes to quantify the multi- ple variables that effect fiber change and wear, rubber loss, traction and similar playa- bility concerns. While the work will focus on conditions in Tennessee, it will provide a baseline for synthetic turf everywhere. WORKING IT OUT Every company in the business provides a maintenance manual with instructions on how to handle the field. Typically, it calls for weekly or bi-weekly drag brushing of the field during periods of heavy use. This will help keep the fiber from laying over, remove trash and redistribute the infill. Next, Cook says, you get into mainte- nance of specific areas like the creases on lacrosse fields, the arc on a soccer field, or the 24 SportsTurf | August 2011 areas around the bases on a baseball dia- mond—places where the infill will be dis- placed and where it needs to be brushed back and replenished regularly. “They give you a manual. Go by it,” Mc- Neal says. She notes that the manual covers everything from the ordinary to protecting the turf when it is necessary to take a bucket truck out on the field. “A sports turf manager has to use their senses about it,” she continues. “If something seems not quite right, call the manufacturer.” THE NEW BABY All hands should be on deck when the field is turned over to the municipality or college. Before that, however, Cook likes to see the person responsible for regular mainte- nance at the job site every day. “The maintenance guy should be there, watching what is done, to understand how the field was installed and how the product works,” Cook says. “It is vital to have some- one on the owner’s side involved.” All good companies offer basic training in maintenance. Yet field managers will also learn from others in the business. For exam- ple, one of the benefits of artificial turf is that it becomes playable right after snow, if the snow is removed correctly. But it is in- cumbent on the field manager to know how to remove snow and ice properly so the field and its markings do not get torn up in the process. “A common misconception is that these fields are ‘maintenance-free’,” Serensits says. Regular maintenance must be per- formed to maintain the safety and playability of a field. Common maintenance practices such as grooming, debris removal, and adding additional infill to heavy wear areas are a great start to maintaining these fields correctly, he adds. Most installers or vendors are happy to leave extra infill to assure the city has the right material handy. In addition, buyers should ask for a sec- tion of extra turf after the installation. Keep the extra piece outside (perhaps behind a maintenance building or on top of a press box). “By doing this, if a section of carpet must be replaced, the color of the carpet will match up because it is from the same batch and it has been exposed to the same amount of sunlight,” Serensits says. He also recom- mends having extra crumb rubber on site. “In areas of high wear, such as sliding areas on baseball fields or lacrosse goal mouths, infill can be moved resulting in re- duced infill depth,” Serensits says. “Reintro- ducing rubber into these areas maintains the safety and playability of these areas.” “Then, keep a log of what you do,” Cook advises. That way, you can validate the activi- ties you did to keep the warranty valid and current. MAKING A FIX “Failures can occur because of a lack of maintenance,” Serensits says. “I cannot stress enough the importance of regular mainte- nance on these surfaces.” Warranty issues never should devolve into a “did so – did not” conflict. Again, a simple log book will go a long way to validating a customer’s compliance with required mainte- nance practices. In Wake Forest’s case, the field installed in October 2010 already is showing discol- oration in the fibers around the sliding areas. Fibers are coming out in the batter’s box. “Wake Forest is adamant in getting the field we want,” McNeal says, adding that the manufacturer has been quite open about working to a mutually satisfactory resolution of the problems. The main warranty issues involve the carpet fiber, not workmanship. At the moment, McNeal says, the issue is more a visual problem than one of playabil- ity…except in the batter’s box. As soon as she saw the problem, she began to document it with photographs. “The vendor has been on site every six weeks or so. They suggested a few extra maintenance practices. They want a mutual resolution and are standing behind their product,” McNeal says. “They want to make Wake Forest happy about the field.” Daily says the only issues they have had are with fading of logo colors and some fiber breakdown and small depressions near the www.sportsturfonline.com