SportsTurf

September 2016

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.

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38 SportsTurf | September 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com STMA IN ACTION News from the Sports Turf Managers Association TOOLS & EQUIPMENT STMA COMMERCIAL MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: TURFCO MANUFACTURING Editor's note: Another installment in our occasional series highlighting Sports Turf Managers Association commercial members. This month we hear from Scott Kinkead, executive vice president of Turfco Manufacturing, Blaine, MN. SportsTurf: How do you develop relationships with turf managers? Kinkead: Fundamentally it comes down to having quality products and answering turf managers' needs. For us, it's a lot about spending time out in the field with our customers, getting their feedback on equipment and new development, and listening to their concerns or issues. They know they're investing in quality products, too, because we offer our 3-year warranty. We do a lot of work with the STMA both nationally and in our home state of Minnesota, so we get to meet a lot of managers that way. It also helps that we can talk with managers about anything; we've been living and breathing turf care since the beginning. A lot of our employees have experience in turf care. SportsTurf: Do you have any recommendations for customers on how to get the most out of their supplier relationships? Kinkead: Being a part of the STMA has been great in helping us stay in contact with customers and their needs. Being a part of the association gives you access to a network of industry professionals for questions or for feedback on product M E M B E R S P O T L I G H T development. It's important for us as suppliers to hear from customers when they have recommendations for improvements on a product. Continuous product development and improvement is what we commit to each and every day, and a lot of the innovations we have come directly from customers. SportsTurf: How do you typically research and develop new products? Kinkead: We work with turf managers on a daily basis and listen to their issues and challenges, or if we see an area where changing something on a machine could make their job more efficient and faster. We'll say, "This is an issue and we can solve this issue." A great example of this is the Torrent 2 debris blower, where we heard from golf course superintendents that they couldn't get enough control over air speed and air direction with existing blowers. We developed the patent-pending MagnaPoint technology so that getting optimal blower angle is as easy as sliding the MagnaPoint's magnetic stops to the setting for specific debris, whether it's fallen leaves on a cart path or grass clippings in an end zone. With each product, too, we run them through customer focus groups and bring prototypes out for their input. SportsTurf: Are there any new technologies/machines you are developing that you can share with us, or any new products that will soon be available? Kinkead: We released the TriWave 45-inch overseeder this year, a great development on our existing WaveBlade technology, which creates clean, square slits for the best germination with minimal turf disruption. The TriWave 45 has a 50% higher capacity hopper for longer use and more ground coverage, and it's easy for turf managers to use because it attaches to most turf vehicles instead of tractors. The Torrent 2 debris blower is also a recent addition to our product lineup, and has an adjustable hitch for different turf vehicles. The development of both these products came directly from customer input, too. SportsTurf: Are there any new markets that you are entering; or what other markets are you in now? Kinkead: We've been in the golf course, commercial landscaping and sports turf markets for a while, but what we're seeing now is that products developed for one market can benefit another. Specifically, the Mete-R-Matic topdressers that we debuted on the market back in 1961 are now becoming widely used for sports fields because of the versatility of the patented Chevron belt. It's still the industry standard for providing uniform application of all types of materials with varying moisture content. The T3100 spreader/sprayer applicator is another product that has crossed between markets. We developed it for commercial landscaping use, but it's also applicable for sports turf because it can cover up to 72,000 square feet per fill, operate on uneven terrain and utilizes a steering wheel for operator ease. technologies/machines you are developing that you can share with us, or any new products that will soon be available? We released the TriWave 45-inch overseeder this year, a great development on our existing WaveBlade technology, which germination with minimal turf disruption. uneven terrain and utilizes a steering wheel for operator ease. Scott Kinkead, executive vice president, Turfco Manufacturing

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