First established in 1921, and with a current membership of 100 club members, Littleport Bowls Club is unusually situated in the centre of a large housing estate, so any new equipment must tick three key boxes according to groundsman Barry Greatbatch.
Barry, who works alongside head groundsman David Page, has been helping to maintain the club’s 2,025m² green for 12 years and feels the club is now in a good position again following a
difficult couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been a challenging time for the club and its members and, given that we’re quite a small club and the staff here are all unpaid volunteers, the purchase of any ground-care equipment is generally done with three things in mind – efficiency, affordability and noise levels.
“The estate has literally grown up around us over the years so it’s important we get on well with our neighbours and that means being considerate and using low decibel emitting machines wherever possible.
“In 2019, our previous 30-year-old sprayer was coming to the end of its working life, so we approached local manufacturer Techneat Engineering for ideas on a replacement. Our call proved timely as the company had begun work on a new design for the Acuspray Solo, a lightweight pedestrian sprayer for turf-care that offered accurate spray coverage.
“Allowing the company to trial their prototype at our club, we eventually purchased the first Acuspray Solo off the production line, and it’s certainly been a good investment.
“Powered by a 12 volt battery, it has a two metre boom and a 35 litre tank enabling it to cover up to 875m² before refilling is required. Most of the controls, including a pressure gauge that monitors the machines output, are conveniently located on the sprayer’s tank and the boom folds neatly for easy storage.
“The very low decibel emissions are a big plus, meaning we can use the machine early in the morning before members arrive and even in the evening, if required.
“We’ve made two modifications since purchase, lowering the boom by 15cms to reduce spray drift on windy days and mounting a new plug-in charging point at the rear of the sprayer tank which saves time removing the battery from the machine when recharging.
“There’ve been no maintenance issues since purchase, it has a high level of build quality, it’s accurate, quiet, simple to operate and for a club like ours, it’s the perfect pedestrian sprayer,”
confirms Barry.
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