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/433388
40 SportsTurf | December 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com Tools & Equipment For more information on these and other products, please visit www.greenmediaonline.com/productportal. Protecting your curb appeal this winter Editor's note: This article was written by Richard Behan, the president of Nordic Auto Plow. First impressions are made at the curb— are the buildings modern, full of achitecture, are they stately with centuries of history, how are the grounds, landscaping and vistas? Lets not forget the stadium, the center of weekend life and college pride; the grandure of its en- trance, the field, the stands and facilities are as important to them as the record of the teams playing there. A common trend among universities in- cludes raising funds by selling paver brick en- gravings. Students, alumni and corporations will pay $100-150 for special mentions en- graved onto special bricks. The facility man- agement has a stewardship responsibility of keeping them in pristine condition. The task of maintaining miles of paths, walkways, en- try ways and roads on the campus is a monu- mental task, especially if you live in the Snow Belt region. As last winter showed many in the Midwest and Northeast, snow is not a thing of the past. Most colleges have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on these paver bricks, stones and ornamental ground coverings and spend more each spring trying to repair them after the brutal winter takes their toll on them. The same challenges exist for the walk ways surrounding the stadium and the field turf, whether natural or artificial, and the surrounding tracks. Snow, ice, and slush can be harsh on the turf and interfere with sta- dium events held year round. Many stadium fields are covered with synthetic tarps dur- ing the winter that costs tens of thousands of dollars and removing snow and water from them without ripping or tearing the tarp is a tricky task. Furthermore, while drainage sys- tems have been installed in most stadiums, standing water can still occur which must be removed to hold events. There are significant challenges of main- taining these beautiful, image creating sur- faces described above. The traditional meth- ods of clearing snow from the ground surface are steel, sharp edged plow blades pushed by utility vehicles and trucks. These are great for concrete and blacktop surfaces which are smooth and crack free; however, they are not surface friendly. Pot holes are a major prob- lem for municipalities and universities alike; the steel edges of the blades rips up the raised ground caused by the ice formed under the surface. Paver bricks are not immune to the scraping, scratching and lifting caused by the elements and the steel plow blades. There has been a steady acceptance in the industry of at- taching rubber or polyurethane cutting edges to their plows. Polyurethane cutting edges are very quiet in operation and exhibit bet- ter abrasion characteristics than rubber and most metals, but it comes at a higher costs. They are perfect for streets made of paver brick and work quite well when attached to smaller vehicle plow blades, but don't try them on your turf! Good old fashion manpower is another method: getting a team of workers out there with snow shovels has always been an option. Traditional shoveling has dwindled as a viable alternative to plowing except in the tightest of areas. Budget cuts, worker compensation claims, and employees missing work are rea- sons for this. Anyone who has ever shoveled a sidewalk knows how frustrating it is to get the shovel blade caught on cracks. The stan- dard shovel requires bending, twisting, and strenuous lifting which makes this task the least desirable of all methods. Shovel types have improved recently as companies have introduced snow pushers that are easy on the back and some even come with wheels. Most of these shovel blades are short in height and thus can only be used under limited snow fall conditions. One must be careful when clear- ing the turf, however, since the sharp edge can tear the tarp or snag on the grass. Snow blowers are an efficient method of clearing sidewalks and paths, but they are not paver brick friendly. Like the steel blades attached to ATVs, they can leave rust marks and scratches on the expensive ground cov- ering. Power brushes are a welcomed ad- vance in technology and are great to clear light snow from paver bricks and even sta- dium turf. There are units which are pushed like snow blowers or they can be attached directly to utility vehicles. They can be quite expensive though, ranging from $3,000 to $9,000 per unit. While they don't harm the bricks and stone, they can cause problems when used on turf. They have a tendency of ripping the grass or removing the lower rub- ber base of the synthetic turf. I am aware of certain innovative souls who have attempted to modify their plows' cutting edges to get a rounded edge. Some have welded rounded steel pipes to the bot- tom of their plows or cut a slice into large PVC tubing and bolted it to the blade. These modified plow edges work great for a limited time but must be used with extreme caution. The PVC can crack and dislodged itself from the plow resulting in sharp edges once again making ground contact when least expected. If it's not clear by now, facility managers have a very important role to play in attracting students to their campuses. Their task is not easy; they must keep the grounds in pristine condition and safe for foot and vehicle travel and must do so while dealing with brutal winters conditions. Special attention must be taken when dealing with paver bricks, etched stones and stadium turf in order to keep the curb appeal beautiful and long lasting. ■ Richard Behan, President of Nordic Auto Plow, is co-inventor of a lightweight, rounded edge plow blade for UTV's, ATV's, Z-Turns, passenger cars and has patents pending for a 2' & 3' wide adjustable, rounded edge snow push- ers and rounded cutting edges for steel blades. www.nordicplow.com W e all know that you should not judge a book by its cover, but let's face it, the "cover" displayed by most universities is a big reason why students choose where they plan to live for the next 4 years of their lives (some- times 6 years or longer!). Unless a student receives a scholarship from just one col- lege, incoming freshmen's traditional fall routine is for the family to drive and check out various campuses. They will do advance prep work by Googling which are the most beautiful campuses in addition to checking academic standards and costs.