I've done 10 passes with 30 inch mastiff last 3 with 2 sacks loam in box, I think 2 more tommorow and Friday then out with the Bomag Monday weather permitting, be interesting to know where other people are at including number of passes with different weights of rollers
Peter
Been cutting mine with the square mower. Might get the roller out next week. Still over a month before mine is in use so no rush here.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
9 Mar 2011 by A J Last edited 9 Mar 2011
It`s times like these how the google map would look like round about now. Weather not so good today. so got a roll in before the rain. Had poweroll un ballasted on squares for a week now 4 passes each width. Before that been cutting/light rolling with dennis ft, through february.
Grow in grace...........
I wont be rolling mine for at least 3 weeks. Ive got to go over it in to directions in 10 days time with a sisis 600 with stiff brush attachment on to brush out the moss after the spraying that was done on saturday, then go over the with the rollaspike, then put a bag of seed on, brush it in and then start psr straight after, IF its not hissing down with rain of course.
I cut it for the first time today with the 24 inch ransome square mower and will be doing that once a week until psr.
Very bumpy cos of the drying worm casts, swished them off as best I could before I cut.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
9 Mar 2011 by Mike Last edited 9 Mar 2011
Started last week with our 30" Atco, which we bought with this job in mind, late last year... looking pretty good so far.
Just a question about rolling with a mower with weights in the grassbox.. I'm thinking along the lines of the front roller, which is very small in terms of the diameter, and then adding weight over the front roller, does anyone think that this could cause a problem? Recalling the Cranfield report, and the points about roller size, footprint, speed, root shear etc, it strikes me that perhaps rolling with both rollers in contact with the surface, and a grassbox full of weight might not be the ideal thing to do?
Anyway, i'm unballasted at the moment, and raising the front roller off the ground. When I ballast the mower, i'll be fitting weights directly above the rear roller, and will continue with the front roller off the ground.
Rolled the square yesterday with a 30 year old atco, lol.
I may go for the 36" Allett tomorrow, weather permitting.
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
9 Mar 2011 by AB
I am on my first week of rolling with Dennis FT 610 with roller cassette fitted which followed on from a week of smaller cylinder mower rolling.
This is on a new square.
Am planning to move up to a pedestrian roller next week or in a fortnight if the weather holds, then its on with the S+P ideally by the start of April.
First game April 23rd.
If you have good healthy grass coverage using a heavy roller will be of benefit providing moisture levels are right.
ECB rolling report rightly states light rolling has limited use once already activated...
Always Looking For New Ideas
Its got to dry here to roll cant believe it was only last week when it was under water here. Ian
Can you just is the longest sentence in the world !!!!!!!
10 Mar 2011 by pacman75cricket
Not started yet still scarifying + brushing for stones before starting rolling hopefully will start light rolling next week.
1st game 25 April
The only variation in weight that I ever use for PSR is to roll with the heavy roller at a fast speed. Then getter slower and slower. Bit like me really !
Obviously, cutting with cylinder mower acts as a very light roll to start with.
Tony
Very similar to me Tony. Only difference now is since Ive got my Poweroller , I will be doing the intial rolling reasonably quickly with it unballasted and ballast it up a bit for the last passes down the line of play and go slower then.
Until then ,like you, its just the weight of the 24 inch square mower once a week.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
10 Mar 2011 by Brian Robinson Last edited 10 Mar 2011
cut with hayter rotary mower put on pro iron left for 2 weeks then last monday rolled with heavy roller quite fast slower on the way you play was going to roll again today but it poured down will try again at the weekend i do what the boffin from cranleigh said to do and thats roll it once all over and stop dont keep on rolling leave it come back the next day and roll again
10 Mar 2011 by AB
Interesting how e all do it slightly differently....
Cranfield also said half a mile an hour, whats all this fast?
Faster can do more harm than good. It can actually ridge your square.
10 Mar 2011 by Mike
That's also dependent on rooting, moisture content and diameter of roller, Grassman... but I agree, why fast?
Mike
I'm with Barry on this and always start quickly with a new weight of roller and slow it down with successive passes. If you think about it, rolling quicker allows less time for the roller to sink in to the soil and so should yield less bow wave not more so I disagree that it can ridge the square and indeed would state the opposite, ie that rolling too slow will be more likely to 'ridge' the square or cause corrugation or whatever you want to call it. Of course, no one should be rolling if the soil is soft enough or wet enough to mark, ridge, corrugate etc etc.
Also, with regards to what the Cranfield report said about the speed of rolling - it concluded that there wasn't much difference in the amount of compaction caused between different the different speeds tested and that certainly nothing is gained by creeping along at a snails pace so recommended that a slowish but sensible speed was used.
I have a pretty good grass coverage and would imagine that this would have an impact on the effectiveness of the rolling speed.
The denser grass sward would cushion the effects of the roller if travelling at a higher speed.
I quite like to have a good grass cover early on and use it as a method of controlling the consolidation.
Ste
Don't talk to me about Contractors Wonka, I am one myself......
Only talking about going faster when doing the initial psr.
As for rolling in season, I try and adhere to the recommended rate which I think works out to about 2 minutes for one pass up the pitch I think.
Anyway, I have a little mark on the control I've made so I go the same all the season.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
11 Mar 2011 by A J Last edited 11 Mar 2011
Steve, Nice to here the term consolidation used compared to compaction. Eye opening to here the different comparisons? Speed, weight, time factor, who's wright who's wrong. Answer? = know your ground. Eg, we have two squares. Front field square stump to stump S to N / N to S facing. North west winds today, sits in morning sun. Back field stump to stump E to W / W to E facing. In shade till mid afternoon.
First task, brush both squares first thing. After a couple of hours, front square rolled in two directions final pass down the wicket as always. 3 pm Back square in nice sunshine rolled two directions, again final pass down the wicket. What i do know is that our back square always responses quicker to maintenance, than the front square that sits in more day light early on. You can't put that in a Manuel?
Grow in grace...........
Spot on Andy, do what your gut tells you not some science book. If you want to roll for 40 hrs and have the time, do it. If you prefer only 4hrs, then do that. As long as it works, who cares?
Just down the road from you Peter, and I have cut with the rotary and given it about four passes with my 30" Atco Royale. Normally I'd hire in a small Bomag 80 at this time of year but Chilly at Westgate has kindly offered me his new Autoroller. Might be a bit wet for that after this afternoon looking at the forecast so maybe ramping up the weight in about a week. I'll use the rain to feed and deworm a bit instead.
Outfield is dreadful in terms of moss. The Crem end is like a mattress but we can't do much about it without a bigger budget. It looks flat and green but it will be terribly slow. Pull the boundary in?
I think the moss thrives because its being fed by the extacts coming out of that chimney at the crem!!!!!!!!
Science is exact, we can only use it as a guide, so we can all do as we wish. Just pointing out a few facts.
Andy, dont want an argument, we are all trying to prepare the best after all, but surely, if the roller sinks the gound is to soft and more drying time will be needed before using that weight roller.
One phrase i do use though, what ever works for you.
I just find the results of science interesting.
11 Mar 2011 by A J
?
Grow in grace...........
No need for arguments! I completely agree but movement in the soil is not neccesarily visible with the eye and even when conditions appear good for increasing weight of roller I do wonder what is going on underneath that we may not be aware of - we certainly know that there is significant forward force applied by the roller in mallable soil.
Unfortunately the Cranfield study did not examine forward pressure in relation to speed.
Grassman,
is the cranfield report based on a block with 0% thatch? Surely with a bit, or a bit more thatch, the way you roll as things dry up would have a big impact?
Yes the report is based on zero thatch but what it says is if organic material is present then you have to wait even longer than the stipulated time befopre you put the roller over. As Ian James said in his presentation a couple of years ago if thatch is present then you have to remove it!
I bet he would? was he an ECB pitch adviser with his own business?
It's all in the document and it does make interesting reading. Then come to your own conclusions. Four years research, cant really argue with that!
Four years! Blimey , nice work if you can get it.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
Where are you from Sean?
The above comments were tongue in cheek. I was in a mischeivous mood on friday, too many 'after work' beers.
No problem with pitch advisers or their methods. They have the knowledge and or machinery which benefits clubs like mine. 2 guys in Surrey really went out of their way to help me.
Similarly a guy on here has pm'd me with help. He gave me a contact which i've used to finally get the squares sprayed with carb and iron sulphate (tomorrow) at a good price.
After a good day at the ground yesterday i'm as happy as a pig in sh1T. Ends are a bit thin but the rest looks very healthy after the verticutting.
Apologies if i offended anyone
No it's no good Sean, I'm deeply hurt. 
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
Barry, you're slacking. Big club like yours beaten to an OP registration by a village club? You did come 2nd though.....
Missus's sister is moving from Putney to E.M. 1st sunday lunch i'll have to pop over for a beer.
Absolutely Sean, anytime.
OP registration, yes like to keep Virginia and David happy
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
Are Brook in your league? Popped over there today after nets to have a butchers. what do your boys think of playing there?
Er, how can I be tactfull? Hmm, best I pm you about it sometime.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
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