Leeds United with GKB machines

Tony Hawkinsin Football

GKB Machines have supplied Leeds United Football Club with two new sports ground renovation and maintenance machines. The first of these is the GKB Combinator, which the club is using for fraze mowing on the training ground surfaces, with the whole of four First Team and Academy pitches being treated in April 2017 and four more in May.

"We had seen the Combinator working before and it was an easy choice to make," says Elland Road Head Groundsman, Kiel Barrett. "They are straightforward machines with easy blade changes from fraze mowing to scarifying and ideal for our natural, non-reinforced surfaces. It's lighter and well suited to our 50hp tractor, with a good, wide working width."

The Combinator combines frase mowing and verticutting in one machine, with the easy removal of the complete upper layer of unwanted turf. With the ground prepared Kiel and his team can seed the areas, returning the natural grass surfaces over eight to ten weeks to normal growth.

Kiel had also been looking for some time at sand spreaders and saw the GKB Sandspreader as the ideal machine for sand top dressing of the pitches all year round. GKB produce several versions of sand spreader, trailed and mounted, with hopper capacity from 1m3 to 4m3. They suit a variety of purposes, evenly distributing materials, such as sand and mulch on sports pitches, with variable spread widths and depths. Both the GKB Combinator and Sandspreader were supplied to Leeds United FC by Russell's Groundcare.

www.gkbmachines.com 07495 883617.