Message Board - Natural Turf: Impact line marker/paint

Does anyone have any thoughts on the above, both together and using the paint through a Kombi?

I am looking at one on Monday and was wondering how people that have used it have found it.

Hi Leeboy

ive got one of the impact markers. having only had a transfer wheel marker prior to this system the comparison for me is beyond belief. having said that there are still some things i dont like about it.

so my pros and cons


gives a very good bold line (that will last longer than the mix yourself stuff ive had in the past)
easy to use in all conditions
easy width (line) adjustment
easy to clean after use
variety of nozzles to give you the best line possible from initial marking to over marking (different nozzles give different flow rates so you dont use as much fluid when over marking


I find it cumbersome when marking the quadrangles.(spraying head and guide wheels lift of the ground when doing the quads as you have to lift the back end to be able to guide the machine arouund)
the width adjusters come loose from time to time when done up hand tight.
with the bag in a box fluid, the probe doesnt always suck up all the fluid. ( i transfer the fluid into a 10 tub, this then seems to work well)

dont forget to clean out the system with clean water after every use and to charge up after every use.

I use the Impact Marker to Over mark all the Lines which I have "BeamRidered"

We have had good quality Marks from the Impact Paint but found that the if you get the boxes wet its a real mission.

The cost of the Impact Liquid is also and issue.

This year we go in a Bulk tank of Blinder and we are very impressd with the way its working - even in all the rain.

We found that the Kombi's are heavier to push - you know all about it after marking out 9 miles of lines a week

lmao

cheers sip

Cheers guys,

Regarding marking the corners etc, we do ours with a 4" radiator roller so we wouldnt use it for that purpose.

Pricewise, from what I have been told it will work out cheaper to mark a pitch than the paint we currently use, which is the only one I have found not to ghost in our stadium environment.

Obviously I will have the chance to see it first hand on Monday afternoon, so I will see for myself.

We are currently looking into the possibilty of a new linemarker. The Impact marker has been recommended to us, but we wouldn't be using the Impact paint due to the cost.

Although I haven't actually seen or used the Impact, I seem to be erring towards the kombi as I like the versatility that the attatchments give.

top tip Lee,
i will have to try the roller

cost isnt an issue for me as we (the council) get it in bulk, plus we got the 1 machine free when we orders x number of pallets of the marker fluid

Lee always has top tips. We use 4inch standard brush does the same job.
Kombi is a good marker super c is good i use blinder on big games gives a great line with the wheeled knib.
We got the proto type line marker on demo soon from kombi the buggy which was seen on the fleet stand at iog saltex

Can someone give me the web page for the impact line marker please.

Here you are, GCH:

http://www.rigbytaylor.com/turf/products/LineMarkings/Impact/Impact.html

Hope this doesn't contravene the T&Cs

Lee surely your not still marking out your own pitches thought by now you'd have a gang of middle eastern workers and you would be supervising from the comfort of your roller.

When you're marking the corner quadrants is the 1m radius to the inside of the quadrant line or the outside?
I know, I know, but I'm a cricket groundsman really!

"The lines form part of the boundary they enclose"

Therefore it is to the outside.

Cheers Aladdin - I thought it was, but I like to be sure when referees question our expertise!

No worries, digger, I like to help where I can. Though, usually, 'tis I seeking help!!

Maybe I'll pay you a visit some time. I have relatives in Morecambe.

Cheers, mate - but I'm nearer to Southport.

Come and see me Aladdin, if you like to be shocked. I work in morecambe at the end of Woodhill Lane and me tether.lol
By the way a bloke I used to work with just put a line straight across to form a TRIANGLE!!!!
"F 'em" he said," Good enough for these .......!!!"
I used to try and get there before him and try to make some sort of Quadrant!!
Oh and by the way, there's something on telly!!!!!
Chris

That's partly why I was asking about dimensions. We sometimes end up with "Dairylea triangle" quadrants, so after I read Lee's tip about the radiator roller I was thinking of making a template out of a bit of plywood and wanted to get the size right. Obviously I'm a cricket groundsman first and foremost, but I often get asked to help at the local football club during the winter.

BTW Chris, is that your new roller? LOL

Lee
how did the demo go and what are your considered opinion

i must admit i tryed the impact couple of months ago at mu full time job. It was a good simple easy to use the machine no mixing etc but i wasnt over keen on the quality of line it produced.
We have 2 pitchs side by side 1 was marked with impact the other with a kombi and the kombi line was alot bolder sharper and lasted longer than the impact.
Obv this is my own opinion guys every 1has there different thoughts but since kombi have brought the wheeled knib to there production in my opinion there really is not much in it.

We have had the machine and some paint left with us, so I will mark out for our game against Robinho's second choice (Chelsea!!!) on Saturday with it and see how it goes, especially with it being live on Sultana so we can also see how it looks on tv. In fairness the marker is secondary, its mainly the paint I am looking at but if the marker does the job then I might have that as well.

Can the impact be used with other paints?

They tell me so, but I am yet to try. Others may have done this?

Lee RT may not be too pleased about it but the impact machine and impact paint is assembled and manufactured right here in Rawtenstall by Linemark UK. You will probably get a better deal by dealing direct with them, plus a good back up service etc etc.

Hi Tony, RT are now Linemarks distributors, which I think means RT do all the sales on their behalf. Not sure this is 100% though.

I have found the Impact marker to be both a wonderful line and a cost effective marker. Although there are less expensive paints availiable they are dilutable concentrates and do not offer the ease of use of the Impact system i.e. they require messy mixing and the carrying of large amounts of water. When a decision is to be made about any product there is more to think about than the initial cost. using the appropriate nozzles i can achive a very satisfactory line and mark 3 full size football pitches from a 10 ltr container of Impact Paint.
Rigby Taylor are are exclusive distributors for all Linemark pitch marking paints so you would have to buy through a RT rep

I have recently made the jump from using two fleet kombi's to using to new impact markers and the impact paint. My Kombi's were a little worn out and in need of replacing so we decided to have a look at the impact. I was very impressed with the machine which they have improved over the last two years and was pleased with how easy it was to use and to push as it is lightweight aluminium and you are only carrying 10ltrs of paint if thats all you need. The fact that no mixing is required saves alot of time and effort and ensures you have a good quality line time after time. The use of the different nozzles is a good idea and controls how much paint you use. You can overmark a football pitch on 3-4 litres at a good walking pace. For initial marking using the orange nozzle i used a box to do one rugby pitch. But by using the cone nozzle instead of the flat fan nozzle you are coating both sides of the leaf which to me removes the need to double mark your lines as they are visible from both directions. The paint also seems to last well as in this exceptionally wet weather we are having. Another plus is less packaging to dispose of and the cardboard is 100% recyclable. Any paint left in the bags can be easily poured into the next bag that you use. There is a small problem as someone mentioned above if the boxes get wet they turn to mush and fall apart easily so if this does happen i remove the bag and put it in a plastic drum. Let me know what you think lee would be interested to see what someone at the top level thinks of the line. Cheers from wet wales Iestyn

I've recently bought the newer Glider machine from RT, its just about the same but the boxes of paint fit onto it rather than decanting into the machine itself. It works for us and saves so much time and mess without all the mixing.

I marked the pitch out for the game against Chelsea yesterday with both the Impact paint and marker, well I only actually maked half with it before reverting back to the Kombi and Supastadia AF paint. I am not going to make judgement on the paint properly until I mark out for next weeks game againt Portsmouth using the Impact paint through the Kombi.

The marker I was given took a second or two to stop spraying when the switch was turned off, as opposed to straight away with the Kombi.

I didnt like the fact that the same filter is used for cleaning out the pipes, meaning at best you are flushing the system through with white water due to cross contamination between the paint and water tubs. Cleaning out the pipes took a good minute or so compared to around 5 seconds with the Kombi.

The worst part of it by far were the discs each side of the nozzle. Due to the bolts holding them on being quite low down, they kept catching in the string we were marking out with, on a couple of occasions a line was maked only to look back and find a quite wobbly line in places as at the time of marking it appeared that I was marking alongside the string, not pushing it (these were straightened by overmarking with the Kombi). I was thinking of purchasing the disc option for the Kombi, I wont bother now as I much prefer the side paddles that come as standard on the Kombi.

A (possible) plus was the lightness of the machine, however you need to take into account that you are carrying only half the liquid compared to the Kombi.

The lines we did mark with the Impact paint and marker werent as bright as I thought they would be by marking just the once, but doing it in both directions did give a very strong white line, so the Portsmouth game next week with the Impact paint going through the Kombi next week should be interesting.

Whilst I didnt expect miracles of the machine, after all a white line is a white line, this machine isnt for me personally but I know there are a lot of satisfied people out there using the marker at levels, so maybe it is down the preference of the operator, however I didnt have the confidence in the machine to do the whole pitch.

I have found after 2 years using the Glider that the Machines dont last - no matter how you look after them. The Switch issue caused me great embarrasment last year. I was driving back from one of the Fields - when i went over the speed bump the glider switched on unbeknownst to me.
This left me with a long white impact line right past the old school. This was the eve before the First Day of term. I was washing the roads long past my bed time. !!

Lee have you used Blinder. I find that it is more superior to the impact and it does not ghost nearly as much.

WRT the weight of the kombi its hard to get used to it when you have been using the glider. Feels like you are pushing a Tank around.

Re Strings - DR has bought us a beam rider dont know where we would be with out it for the start of this term
Great Bit of kit

Cheers

Sip

Sipho blinder is great stuff we use blinder for big games double mark on a warm dry day you get great results.

Hope DR is ok will have to catch up with him sometime

Well, we were looking at a glider, but given the above feedback I think we will have to have a closer look at the Kombi.

I would have liked to have demo'd both machines but this isn't possible over here. Can any Kombi users tell me if you have had any problems with the pump failing?

Mike, dont go off my word as I wouldnt want to influence people, I was just passing on my observations, you would be as well getting one in on demo yourself to see it first hand if its at all remotely possible to do so. Never had a problem with the pump failing on our Kombi as yet.

I have used Blinder, Super C, Duramark, and various others, and the only one I have found so far that doesnt ghost is our current one, Supastadia AF from Vitax. That said, we cut twice today and didnt get any ghosting from the lines done with the impact paint either. One thing I am also looking at is the cost of marking. We bought 25 x 12.5 litres of Supastadia AF in July 2007 @£23 per tub, and we still have 8 tubs left. Last season we marked out for almost 50 games spread over both our stadium pitches and have had 6 games so far this season on both pitches. We mix it 1 part paint to 5 parts water usually so it has been very cost effective, and whilst it isnt the brightest line you will see it certainly isnt the dullest either and never ghosts. I did try a sample tub of Bowcom paint that was dropped off at the start of the season and that performed just as good as our current choice as well.

Thanks for the input Lee. As much as i would like to demo both machines it's just not an option as i'm on the Isle of Man. Getting any demo machines over here is very difficult. The feedback that I get off this forum is usually spot on, and is very valuable to me.

It was a rep of a different manufacturers machine that suggested that the pump on the Kombi caused a lot of problems; this is why I ask for opinions on here, at least I get unbiased feeback.

The only other option is for me to travel to the mainland to see machines first hand. I have suggested this to my employer and whilst it's not totally out of the question, we tend to reserve this for more expensive machines.

Cheers

I know a couple of people who have had problems with the pumps on the Kombi, both outside the warranty, and Fleet have replaced them FOC on both cases though I dont know if this is standard practice from them.

I must add that it wasnt all doom and gloom with the machine and the match result-I did meet Luke from Big Brother just before half time!

I had a problem with my kombi earlier this year. Turned out that a diaphragm (is that how you spell it?) had worn. It was under warranty an so it was changed FOC.

Fleet's service was first class.

Our pump went in 2 of ours chucky aswell but we used round up to burn our lines and also pre line that was with the council kombi . It turned out after tests that the chemical in round up and pre line ruined the pump. If you burn in lines use finale that is the better product which is reco by fleet its self

I dont burn lines in t st neots think it looks crap but local authority is dfferent.

I don't see how that can make sense as the Kombi is also supposed to double up as a sprayer. Does that mean you can't put chemicals through the sprayer as it will burn out the pump??

Andy.

i honestly dont know the answer to that there was a certain chemical in the pre line that was knackering our pumps. i was onlt advised from kombi there selves

I would suggest that as pre line is sold by RT, Kombi wouldnt recomend it.
Lee do the nozzle discs adjust up? they are only there to stop the breeze affecting the line.

Regards

Steve

Not looked at that Steve, good point though. However despite us having a 'wraparound' stadium it is very breezy usually due to the louvres in the corners which circulate the air to the pitch, so might get a bit messy with very wide lines! Dont think I will give it a go though!

Steve, the wheels on the impact marker are there to determine the width of the line (and to a small degree to stop drift). if you were to lift them you would get a line about 6-8 inches wide, plus any drift

sorry Dave but the width of line is dependant on how high the nozzle is set, I had the pants bored off me yesterday by an RT rep and now know far more than I ever wanted to about linemarking, (from RT perspective)

(Just kidding Steve)

Lee I suggested to the RT rep to have a glance at the thread and he may discuss with your rep, one part of our council uses Impact and my part doesnt, it just gets a bit political and so I keep my nose out mostly cos pitch marking doesnt come my way at the moment, give it time!

Best Regards

Steve

Steve,

looks like the reps need to get their acts together and their stories straight, when i had my demo last year our rep made a point of showing me how you get the line at all different thickness's by altering the the wheels.

I'll have a word with the above next time he's round flogging some Fungicide!
I have very little practicle experience to be fair and so as an end user you will have more knowledge than me, I am currently just a "Theorist" in this field.

Best Regards

Steve

IMO the aim of using the disc on a marker is so that you can get a defined edgeon the line. With the RT Glider and the Kombi (disk knib) you are able to adjust the width of the line by moving the disks apart.

By adjusting the height of the nozzel I aim the spray to the bottom of the disks, this reduces drift and drips from the disks when you pick the marker up.


Hope this makes sense.

Sip

purfick sense sip.

Whats the difference between the Impact and the Glider

Glider is the Machine that put the impact paint down.


sip