Spurs boys with toys

Boys with toys and when you are Tottenham Hotspur Grounds Manager in charge of the upkeep of the training facilities you get to choose the toys you want to play with.

Darren Baldwin is our Grounds Manager and he has been choosing new equipment to use. He has settled upon a SISIS tractor mounted brush combination of a Zig Zag brush and Flexicomb, fitted to a Twinplay frame.

Did you get that chaps, no nor did I, let's have a look at a picture instead.

Spurs boys with toys


That explains it better doesn't it, a picture speaks a thousand words, a tractor with big wheels and a brush thingy (it's a technical term) on the back. Apparently this device can be used on artificial and real grass of which we have both at our new state of the art training facility.

Baldwin manages 20 groundcare professionals (groundsmen) to you and I, who no doubt will all want a play with the new toy, sorry groundcare equipment.

Daily they maintain one and a half outdoor pitches and a 70 x 50 metre indoor synthetic pitch which are used every day. Plenty of time for joy riding then, sorry essential maintenance.

Darren Baldwin explained dealing with supplier and using the right machinery was a key part of his role at Tottenham.

"An important part of my job is to work with key suppliers within the industry. 
"Here at Tottenham Hotspur we have a number of key suppliers that we work with from fertilisers and chemicals and in my view, most importantly, machinery, where we will use two or three key suppliers to make sure that we get all of the equipment that we need for the specific jobs we are required to do. 
"An integral part of our synthetic surface maintenance equipment is the SISIS Flexicomb and Zig Zag brushes, which we use on a regular basis throughout the week."

OK the technical bits for all you lawn mower boffins, must be thousands of you reading this.

The SISIS Flexicomb boasts 52 sets of polyproylene bristles which can be stiffened or softened by a simple adjustment. On synthetic surfaces, the Flexicomb grooms the pitch, stands up the carpet fibres and returns the playing surface to a perfect condition, ensuring an even distribution of infill material.

Contain yourselves gentlemen there is more.

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The Flexicomb can be used on natural turf as either a brush or a rake, showing the versatility which Baldwin reveals made it the ideal choice for him.

"The main reason for our use of the Flexicomb is its versatility - not only do we use it on the synthetic pitches but also our natural pitches. 
"We find it useful to use after training sessions where we will go over the area with the brushes which stands the grass up ready for us to hoover up any debris. 
"The SISIS brushes are so simple to use. There are times when we need to de-compact the synthetic surface which requires a stiffer setting and there are other times where we are just looking for a light brush over of the surface, but it only takes minutes to adjust. The system is very quick and keeps presentation of the surface very high. 
"The best feature on the SISIS synthetic equipment is its flexibility. The Zig Zag brush is very important at the front to even out the rubber crumb before the Flexicomb comes behind and is brilliant at standing up the fibres and evenly distributing the rubber infill.  
"We’ve had outstanding success with the Flexicomb and would fully recommend it to be used on any synthetic surface."

Quotes from the groundsman, sorry Grounds Manager, and technical wizardry about lawn mowers with a tractor and big wheels thrown in, I bet you guys can't believe your luck today.