Just bought a charterhouse slitter to add to our grouncare contracting business and was looking for a little advice. Is there a prefered direction to work in, length ways or with a slope? How often woul you slit a pitch and is there any risk of the surface becoming unstable? Any other advice is more than welcome.
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Ticky supports British farmers...!!
How many clubs are prepared to pay for a weekly slit Ticky, i struggle to get any to slit once or twice a season. Without giving to much away, roughly how much do you have to charge ?
We do our rugby pitches every other week in the winter and do it length ways and we work on a slope with no problems. We stop in febuary as the slits can open up if we get a dry summer as we did this year. WD
Can you just is the longest sentence in the world !!!!!!!
20 Nov 2009 by Gateshead Cleveland Hall
We have a Sisis Maxi-slit coupled with a John Deere 955 and slit if we can in opposite directions about once a fortnight. At the moment we are managing to penetrate in places about 7" max. as the ground is soft BUT the 955 weight distrubution is not very good and we tend to leave a lot of rear tyre tracks which apart from making the ground unsightly does tend to leave it uneven even though we have a roller fitted to the maxi-slit.
We have removed the mid mounted mower off the tractor but it still leaves marks.
Will we ever win.????
Bob
Gateshead Cleveland Hall FC
Bob: Have you got the front weight kit fitted?
GOGGA
21 Nov 2009 by Gateshead Cleveland Hall
Yes I have front weights fitted when using the Maxi.
Hmmm. May need to add some more weights? 
What tyres are you on?
GOGGA
You say the ground is soft, should you be on it at all ?
Ok i dont really expect anyone to answer this as i know from my long experience as an agricultural contractor that your prices are for you customers ears only, but if anyone wants to give a (ball park figure excuse the pun) for slitting a football pitch it would be appreciated.
i slit my footbal pitches every other week sept - feb. (weather premitting). i will also do it in alternate directions. what would i charge to do this if i were a contractor. hourly rate (what you think your time is worth) x3 (1x your wages, 2x cost to do the job((fuel and machinery running costs)) x3 tax man
im now an ex groundsman but hey old habits die hard
22 Nov 2009 by Mal
If you were going for a progam of slitting then I would recommend as a rule of thumb it should be completed as soon as possible as part of a post match routine, assuming that your divoting is out of the way. The surface will then be open for the longest period possible helping it to dry and ensuring plenty gasous exchange down at root level, before getting back on it as part of your pre-match routine of cutting, or brushing to colour up the surface and marking out etc. This is a weekly routine and one that should alternated between deep, medium and surface slitting.
Geography is everywhere
22 Nov 2009 by aturnbull Last edited 22 Nov 2009
Hi All
I wonder if any have considered the following research carried out by the STRI:
The effect of the frequency of slit tine aeration on the quality of soccer and rugby pitches Baker, S. W. 1994. Journal of the Sports Turf Research Institute. June. 70: p. 44-54.
The Summary states:
The effects of slit tine aeration at weekly, fortnightly and four week intervals were studied and compared with areas receiving no aeration on two soccer pitches and one Rugby Union pitch. On two of the pitches there was strong evidence that ground cover in the second half of the playing season declined as aeration frequency increased. Aeration frequency had little influence on playing quality, but there was some evidence that water infiltration rates were decreased by frequent aeration. Possible strategies for pitch aeration are discussed.
The complete paper can be found on the STRI site and if you become a member of the SUB Club (Free) you can access all the back issues of the Journal.
I found it interesting that the more frequent the treatment the more the surface declined and infiltration decreased, most likely due to the weight and action of the tractor plus the smearing of the tine as it entered and exited the soil.
Something to think about when considering what is actually being achieved versus what you want the treatment to do.
Best regards
Andy Turnbull
22 Nov 2009 by Mal Last edited 22 Nov 2009
A very interesting article Andy and for those wishing a direct link to the article:
http://stri.lib.msu.edu/vol70-1994/pdf/sptri94070044.pdf
I have to admit that I have only as yet scanned the article but will read it through in detail later but one thing that I did not notice was any mention of how deep the slit tine operations were carried out and also what the condition of the soil was in at the time the operations were carried out. ie what the soil moisture content was during each operation. Academicaly I would expect this to be considered and perhapes be tested for, though in the field it would be down to the jdgement of the groundsman who will in time have a good understanding of the soil he is working with. if in the case there is a high risk of the soil smearing then you would not slit tine but wait for the right conditions so that someone on a sandy loam will more than likely be able to slit tine at a greater freqency than some one on a clay loam. Some have practiced in the past slit tine spiking straight after lightly topdressing with sand to lessen the smearing of the hole (not to be confussed of the tactic of topdressing before solid tining to introduce drainage chanels through the top layer of soil). Well done Andy for the introduction of this thought provoking paper.
Geography is everywhere
22 Nov 2009 by aturnbull Last edited 22 Nov 2009
Hi Mal
Thanks for your kind reply. It was Martyn Jones who drummed into us, when I was a Head Greenkeeper and part-time HND student, that "For aeration to be achieved compaction must be relieved".
The message is that for true aeration there must be an adequate amount of pore space for air to first enter the soil surface and then circulate. Slitting may not create the right conditions, though is useful when punching through a compacted surface into an underlying uncompacted rootzone. To create pore space, one has to look at operations such as hollow coring, verti-draining or shattering, ie machinery than lifts compacted ground or cause soil particles to fall into a space created by removal of material. Slitting pushes soil particles sideways and that is why too much slitting can cause further compaction if carried out in the wrong soil conditions.
Hope that this makes people think. Anyone who wants a further chat about this subject please ring me on 07900 692052 as I am away carrying out training this week in the South West.
Best regards
Andy Turnbull
22 Nov 2009 by Gateshead Cleveland Hall
Hi Sumomosr
I am on grass tyres at all times with the 955.
Are you suggesting that I add more weight to the front tyres????. Surely that would increase the marking by the front tyres and yes I suppose decrease the markings by the rear.
Reply to Bath.
If I waited until I made no marks at all I would only be slitting for about 3 months during the summer and would acheive no penetration.
As the 3 point lift on the 955 has no mechanical means of pushing the Maxi-slit into the groung I only have to rely on ther weight of the machine and the "softness" of the ground.
I have read part of the article in the journal and have decided to "ease" back on the amount of spiking we are doing and have done over the past 5 years due to possible damage by the tractor.
My only problem now is, I,m 62, healthy,retired, with a wife who allows me all the freedom I want. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO????
Go on holiday!! Fine turf operations are only successful when carried out on the right ground conditions. No benefit by playing the numbers game i'm afraid. Once in the right conditions is far more favourable than twenty times at anytime with the belief that it just has to be done.
We all have the same operations available to us, how and WHEN we use them can be the thing that sets us apart, timing is everything, and that is not just what the date on the calender says.
A diary is an interesting thing to keep but just because you fed or aerated on the 7th September last year, doesnt mean that you should this year.
Regards
Steve
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
Quite agree Steve when i say every other week its always if conditions allow this summer was so dry down here that we couldn't start spiking until the end of october and now we've had so much rain we would make a complete mess if we spiked so will have to wait. WD
Can you just is the longest sentence in the world !!!!!!!
Hi Gateshead CH.
Yes, the 955 has no down-pressure so you are relying on the weight of the implement. I would expect you to have the draft control in float to let the implement sink to it's own level. Then there should be no excess weight on the rear tyres. You could push it down with a hydraulic top-link.
The grass tyres are not a load-distributing tyre such as a Galaxy or Flotation tyre. They are more for non-marking traction on grass as such. So, if there is a weight bias toward the rear you can alleviate this by adding weight to the front.
In 'float' you can add weight to the actual implement to aid it's penetration.
Good luck.
GOGGA
i have a JD 955 running on standard turfs too. and when i put my 8ft quadraplay on it, she tended to leave a footprint too especially if its wet like GCH says...so what i did was to turn my wheels inside out, it widened the footprint, and made it more stable on slopes... also i think im only running tyre pressure on the rears at 5 or 6 psi...
Ticky supports British farmers...!!
25 Nov 2009 by vid
Too many people think that aeration is just putting holes in the ground and this will give the water somewhere to go. WRONG!! The comments above are spot on but put shortly, if the ground is wet and the tine is smearing in the ground no aeration will be achieved with a slitter at all, the weight of implement and tractor will cause the ground to compact further and the action of the 2 together especially after more than 1 pass will destabilise the entire profile causing the opposite effect of what you are attempting to achieve.
Its very easy sometimes to get in to a warm cab switch on the radio and assume that by doing the job you will be improving the surface!! Be aware of what the limitations of the machinery and the conditions are.
CONDITIONS, CONDITIONS, CONDITIONS............
Plastic.... it's The End I tell you... THE END!!!!
28 Nov 2009 by panch
hydraulic top link will just sit the machine back and bring the link arms up. would only work if you could lock the link arms but then you would have a problem turning.
'Most' people lift the implement when turning. Especially a 'below-ground-level' implement.
GOGGA
I t does not really matter in which direction you slit, when the conditions are right, but it is very important to always slit that same way. Slit at 90 degrees to the original direction can cause the ground to crack inyo cubes in dry spells and can make whole surface instable.
Chris
You will never see a statue in honour of a committee.
30 Nov 2009 by panch
yes sumo the problem would be you wouldn't be able to turn. the point i was trying to make was a hydraulic top link would make no difference to the depth of penetration on its own, although thinking about it if you locked the link arms the hydraulic link would act as a press if the tines cleared the ground when at it shortest to allow you to turn.
....and the point Chris makes about directions is very important. I have seen the after-effects of the cross-slitting. 
GOGGA
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