Message Board: Football: [CLOSED] Mole Plough was only option
7th Jul 2009 by Maesglas Football Club.
Hi Folks
been on here few times for advice on water logged pitch and clay in abundance, but after some excellent advice the problem still existed, council turned their noses up so we had only one option due to lack of finance Mole Plough the pitch...... as you can see from the pic the plough has done a cracking job without to much disturbance, but the weather has turned very hot and the grooves cut are not closing up... do I need to panic or will they close once the wet weather comes in. My question is do I roll or wait, look forward to your help again folks
cheers
7th Jul 2009 by Maesglas Football Club.
Oh yes by the way this was the pitch in February 2009 !!
7th Jul 2009 by bath
I would not roll and yes they will close up when the wet weather arrives.
However, will you be wanting to play on the pitches before the rain comes ? if yes, you may wish to fill the cracks with a proper sports sand, others on here will advise the spec of that.
You may then have created perfect little drainage channels to funnel this winters rain away.
7th Jul 2009 by Aladdin
Don't roll!!! Aerate!
That's the mistake we used to make.
Only aerate, however, when the ground is suitably moist. Moist not wet!! Given an abundance of clay you will only succeed in compacting the ground by rolling thus adding to your problems.
Loammeister is your best bet for a suitable sand but a soil analysis would seem to be in order.
Where in the country are you, Mr. Hope?
From the posh end of the room!!
7th Jul 2009 by bath
I thought enough aeration was taking place already Aladdin with those mole plough cracks.
Ground probably to hard to aerate at the moment anyway.
Do agree though, as soil softens, thenaerate whenever you can.
7th Jul 2009 by Maesglas Football Club.
Hi Aladdin
from Cardigan west wales mate, we tried aerating some time ago but because of the amount of clay it just made things worse, the holes the areator made would just fill up with the rain water and not drain away, this pitch has been a long term saga, if you check previous posts you will find out more on the history of this pitch or go to
http://www.freewebs.com/maesglasfc/apps/photos/album?albumid=3513459
copy and paste.
8th Jul 2009 by Aladdin
Mr. bath,
Agree with what you say but I was talking general maintenance. When Mr. Hope said "......do I roll or wait?" then alarm bells started ringing.
Looking at the Maesglas F.C. website there are a couple of pictures of Steffan Davies pulling a large-ish roller with a ride-on mower. This I believe to be a mistake which will only compound your problems.
In one of the photos some sand has been applied to a wet area. Was this a suitable sand?
Regarding your comment about aeration. This will happen if aeration is carried out in unsuitable conditions. Aeration, however, is key.
You appear, Mr. Hope, to be doing exactly what we used to do before I became clued up. Rolling the pitch was, at one time, seen as the answer to virtually everything. Then we wondered why we had problems. I know better now.
From the posh end of the room!!
8th Jul 2009 by Aladdin Last edited 8th Jul 2009
For the sake of comparison.
A different time of year, I appreciate, and, in all fairness a considerable amount of money has been invested in our pitch. Nonetheless I believe you will see an improvement over time if you change your apparent practices.
Edit: I don't think you'll be doing your ride-on a lot of good either.
From the posh end of the room!!
8th Jul 2009 by Maesglas Football Club. Last edited 8th Jul 2009
Hi Aladdin
I hear where you are coming from and thanks for that, answer to your question, the sand was the correct type and the roller used was not as heavy as it looks, when Steffan rolled the pitch it was back at end of April this year the 1st time we atually played on the pitch since the end of October, because the pitch had been so wet it was unplayable.so it needed a roll of somesort, we have mole ploughed it now so will wait till weather gets easier on the ground, but how do we get parts of the pitch suitably level as the divots and tractor tyre marks torn up by the plough are and will be a hindrance, what part of the country you from Aladdin
8th Jul 2009 by HG
Hi
why dont you try using a Blec airavator very underated tool
ideal for removing ruts by shaking the soil laterally will remove a suprising amount of divots and wheelings without
uprooting existing grass as well as keeping the soil open,
and it works in wet or dry conditions
8th Jul 2009 by Aladdin
Can't comment on Blec aeravator(?) but I remember being advised by both bath and jlawrence (I think) to get rid of the roller and use a chain harrow.
I don't have a chain harrow unfortunately but I try to avoid rolling if possible. If I have to then it's a light roll.
I still get asked if/when I'm going to roll the pitch to remove divots but, ideally, this should be done with a fork after a match. Type "Spring renovations" into the search facility and you'll see some articles from the mag which should explain it better.
Did the tractor concerned have turf tyres fitted or agri tyres?
I/we are in Ashton-in-Makerfield near Wigan:
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/ashtontown/
From the posh end of the room!!
10th Jul 2009 by Aladdin
You may find this article of interest, Mr. Hope:
Wear today.....gone tomorrow
From the posh end of the room!!
10th Jul 2009 by Maesglas Football Club.
Hi Mal
article is a good one if only there was top soil of any decent quality, read this link below it will give you an insight of what our pitch consists of :
http://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/search/3953487.Cardigan_Sports_Pitches_Flood_Disgrace/
you may need to copy and paste.
Like I said in previous messages its an ongoin saga and we challenge anybody to come and have a look, the mole plough is the only thing we can do without breaking the bank.
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