Extra wide 4.6m Wiedenmann Terra Rake boosts Tillers Turf, Newark

Production Manager, Alan Whiteley, leads a team of 20 and oversees all operations in the turf growing cycle including cultivation, sowing, spraying, fertilising and irrigation.

"We'd tried rakes in the past," he said, "but until this one there wasn't anything to take on our 500 hectares with any degree of success. If you go into a 20 hectare field with something two metres wide it can be a pain staking exercise so the width requirement was essential. Good build quality was also on our list."

Tillers match it to their John Deere 5620 tractor and the combination of tractor and rake is sufficiently light to suit all turf growing projects. "We start out at about 18 km / hour. Then the quicker you go the better as the spring tines agitate faster and are better able to tease and spring the material out from among the grass. Mostly we're looking to pull out thatch, but if the weather has broken and rain has washed clippings into the turf, the rake can bring the clippings to the surface then we vacuum them up."

Wiedenmann, until this summer, had marketed the Terra Rake only in 1.6m and 2.1m widths, but the introduction of a new folding frame led to the development of 3.4m and 4.6m versions. A 1.7m electric trailed version was also introduced.

"We're very pleased. It does an all-round good job. It's easy to use and to assemble and then straight forward to pack up for transit, "said Alan Whiteley.