” Can I really clean the leaves, litter, other wind borne debris, bird poo!! from my tennis court in 10 minutes?”
Simply put the answer is certainly yes you can, and a 2 metre wide Cleansweep from Sweepfast is all you’ll need. These amazingly simple but effective tools have been around for years and still customers are finding out just how good they are. Initially they were intended to collect litter from asphalt tennis courts, which they do equally well, but it soon became apparent that they were perfect for sand filled artificial grass courts too, and now they’re finding a use on the old clay courts but also on the new generation of artificial clay courts to clean up the artificial clay and re-distribute it evenly.
As with all Aerosweep products they work so simply, you provide the forward motion and everything on the surface of the tennis court is lifted up by the fingers and dropped onto the grid. From here the sand will fall through and be worked back into the court, whilst the larger debris is trapped on the top and stays there until emptied.
In fact because it’s 2 Metres wide it will only take 8 or 9 passes to cover the entire court once, and as it only weighs around 6kg, and you pull it not push it, it really is very easy to use.
The Cleansweep Artificial Grass Cleaning Tool
To empty you simply shake it off onto a sheet or in the gateway and 10 mins later when you’re completely finished, shovel it up into a wheelbarrow and that’s it done!!
All the teams at Sweepfast use these tools in the regular day to day maintenance of tennis courts, and always carry one in the van, but they also find them useful when putting new sand back in after a refurb.
But there is only one way to see just how good these tools are, and that is try it for yourself, visit www.sweepfast.com and type cleansweep in the search bar, or email us on sales@sweepfast.com, or if in doubt call 0121 747 9255 and a technician will talk through whether it’s suitable for you tennis court.
But hurry up, the leaves are starting to fall………………………
Here at Sweepfast I get asked that many times, and while I can understand the reasoning that “no money spent on maintenance and deep cleaning is money saved, and the pitch still looks ok” even after 6 or 7 years, but one look at the dust, dirt and broken fibres removed , then another at the now revitalised pitch swiftly changes their opinion.
A 3g pitch will still look green after many years because of the nature of them, with only a small amount of sand in the base and half filled with rubber granules the fibres are left to fold over with foot fall. However underneath this green surface compaction and contamination still go on unseen. Add to this the fact that over time the rubber infill gets moved about creating dangerous high and low spots, you can begin to understand how uneconomic and unsafe it is to leave an artificial grass football pitch untouched for years.
I was recently with Sean Campbell Sports Ground Specialists in Northern Ireland at Mid Ulster Sports Arena, where they have a variety of pitches some of which are 3G and some have been down for up to 9 years with only drag brushing as their maintenance program. And to be fair the pitches looked reasonable except for the wear especially at the seams. And Sean wants to put into place a proper maintenance plan using the SKU machines from Hoerger that we would provide. Our brief was to prove the benefits of a deep clean service to all involved in the Mid Ulster Sports Arena.
We used the Hoerger SKU 1500 mounted on a Massey Ferguson 15/47 tractor and spent the day deep cleaning the main pitch with excellent results, as always. The contamination and broken fibre removed will assist with water drainage after heavy rain, the fine dust removed is airborne contamination, moss spores, dead algae and dead skin etc etc will have the benefit of cleansing the pitch, the rubber crumb will have now been de compacted giving a much better feel to the surface under foot for the players and it will also have been leveled out creating a more even surface, finally all the fibres will have been set upright again as at the original installation, the benefits of this are that there will now have been an increase in the depth of the pitch thus extending its life span.
To sum up the pitch now has an extended life, especially if this process is set in place as a regular service, it is also clean and free of broken fibre, dust, dead skin, dead moss and algae, and has regained the original feel as it had when installed.
Quality Machines From The German Manufacturer Hoerger
Horger Machinery
Why Choose Horger?
Horger manufacture artificial turf equipment for the maintenance of synthetic sports surfaces. This synthetic turf maintenance machinery is hand built by German engineers in their factory near Hamburg, but unlike other manufacturers they are purpose built to do a specific job and are not just modified industrial sweepers or grass mowers.
The KBR System for the deep cleaning of porous and non porous rubber running tracks.
Hoerger started by manufacturing athletic track cleaning machinery (the KBR) in the 1980’s then started work on designing the SKU machines for deep cleaning artificial grass surfaces in early 2000.
The SKR System for deep cleaning water based synthetic grass surfaces
In 2001 Hoerger developed the SKR head water based hockey pitch cleaner to run in conjunction with the existing rear tank on the KBR for deep cleaning water based synthetic grass surfaces
The SKU system for deep cleaning of sand filled, sand dressed and 3G synthetic grass sports surfaces
The first Hoerger SKU machine to clean artificial turf was introduced in 2004 with sales starting in 2005. By the end of 2007 100 of these machines were working across Europe.
In 2008 the SKU Trac (pictured left) was introduced with a custom built 24hp hydrostatic tractor unit powering it.
A new SKU1200 rear mount and front mounted unit was introduced and then front mounted unit to fit Avant loaders was introduced (pictured right) .
There is now a 1500 Basic machine (left) added to this range with electric fan dust extraction to introduce an economical variant to the range.
Hoerger surface brushes.
At the end of 2010 the BS2000 range of brushes was introduced with the first one ready for the IOG Saltex show in September, and this has been augmented by the addition of de-compacting tines with depth wheels and a squeegee blade for levelling out the infill especially when re-filling a pitch with new sand and or rubber.
The most up to date pitch marking system is the Pitchline 3G System and it is now available from Sweepfast and means once in place you won’t have to mark your pitch out for several years to come, yet you will have a full set of vibrant lines that will last.
Pitchline3G is the most up-to-date pitch lining system available anywhere in the world. First launched in 2002, this innovative pitch-marking system has been constantly refined and improved and in the latest Pitchline3G version, the results are literally outstanding in their fields.
The system installs a set of synthetic line marking material into the surface and presses the ground surrounding the lines back around them to secure. Once in and the root system has gained a hold the lines are nearly impossible to remove, and simple ground maintenance is all that’s needed to maintain a highly visible line.
The system is laser guided for accuracy and provides a smooth and fluid insertion of white line material, only leaving a small amount of manual digging in at the start and end of a line insertion.
To see a demonstration of this amazing system call Sweepfast on 0121 747 9255 or email info@sweepfast.com.
Maintaining an artificial grass tennis court is no easy feat, and it’s so easy to ignore the leaves etc etc until they decay and can’t be seen any more. But do this at your peril because this WILL BE the kiss of death for your artificial grass pitch or tennis court. If left to decay on the surface the leaf and tree litter will cause the infill material to become clogged, causing more problems as the water refuses to drain through. Black sludge patches rapidly begin to appear as the water which by now is lying on the surface brings this decaying matter to the top, and suddenly you will notice the results of your neglect. When this begins to happen there is only one way forward and that is a full refurbishment, where the sand infill is completely removed and replaced with new. This produces great results and you’re left with a virtually new surface that drains and plays as good as the day it was first installed.
But take this back a step, if the surface was maintained in the first instance this procedure would probably not be needed for many years, instead of after just a few. Brushing with a stiff broom was the traditional way to keep an artificial grass surface looking good, but brushing dead leaves across a synthetic grass tennis court is not good practice and will simply grind in the debris and push it into the sand infill. So what is needed is something light, easy to use but still collects the leaves as it goes.
Enter the Cleansweep synthetic grass cleaning mat.
The Cleansweep Artificial Grass Maintenance Machine
This device with a little forward motion provided by a reasonable walking pace will sift through the sand infill and separate it from the debris, working it back in as it goes. The debris can be shaken off every few passes and the court will be swept clean in about 10 mins. If done every time before play then the risk of walking the leaf litter into the surface will be almost completely removed, and with no noise created or additional cost input from fuel it rapidly becomes an economical piece of equipment despite its initially high purchase cost. There’s simply nothing else on the market that does what this device can and they are always in stock in the Sweepfast Midlands Depot.
Cleaning a tennis court to keep it safe for play has never been easy, and 550 sq m of AstroTurf to brush by hand is even harder. It does give the heart a good work out though and if you’re a fitness fiend it may be for you. But brushing a synthetic grass tennis court doesn’t do much for it except make it look prettier for a while anyway until the debris gets so bad that it starts to turn black and has moss growing everywhere. You can use a powered sweeper such as the Texas Handysweep, but if used incorrectly it will remove some of the infill material each time it’s used and this can be detrimental to the life of the carpet if left unchecked.
Since 2004 when Sweepfast was formed, the Cleansweep from Aerosweep has been the best selling synthetic grass maintenance machine available. It is simple, effective, light and easy to use, maintenance free and it doesn’t remove the sand from the surface, in fact quite the reverse, because as it’s used it works it back in separating the sand from the debris keeping it on the top of the Cleansweep where it lies until it’s emptied. All this can be done by hand with no powered input needed keeping cost and noise down!!
The Cleansweep will collect leaf litter, bird droppings, seeds, blossom, small stones etc etc from sand filled synthetic grass surfaces, and if it’s used on a larger surface say a hockey pitch it can be towed by a small tractor or quad bike to speed things up at speeds of up to 6mph.
By hand a typical tennis court can be cleaned by hand in about 10 mins, and a sand filled pitch cleaned behind a quad bike takes about half an hour. The Cleansweep doesn’t wear out and it’s made from weatherproof material making it the perfect choice to leave on site for everyone to use and keep the playing surface clean and safe.
Call 0121 747 9255 to arrange a free demonstration, or to make a purchase.
Buy RBT 247 moss and algae killer now and get spraying!!
As long as it’s not raining or frozen solid with RBT 247 there’s no bad time to kill off moss and algae infestations on any outdoor surface. You can treat one full sized tennis court once, for example for as little as £30.00 + delivery and VAT. In the more serious cases a second or third application is going to be necessary to complete the treatment, then regular follow ups every few months is all that’s needed.
Simply mix 1 Litre of RBT 247 into 10 Litres of clean water and apply to 110 sq m of outdoor surface. Leave for a couple of days and marvel at the results, then several months later the surface will still be free from infestations, and no scrubbing, scraping, brushing or power washing has been involved!!
It’s not everyday a new product comes into this market that customers have been crying out for, but that’s just what’s happened with the introduction, by Sweepfast, of the ATC1400.
ATC 1400
Interim cleans or Powersweeps on full sized 3G pitches are effectively done with the ATC2000 machine, and a full sized pitch takes about 2 hours with one man and a small tractor or quad bike to complete. But the problem comes when you try and get this service into 5 aside 3G pitches, with their smaller area and tighter access the width of a standard ATC2000 makes it difficult to manouver between pitches and getting into the corners is nigh on impossible. However with the introduction of the ATC1400 the reduced width and lighter chassis makes 5 aside pitch regular maintenance a breeze.
This new machine like its bigger variant will de-compact, clean and level up the infill on a 3G pitch all in one pass, the only input needed is a small tractor or quad bike to pull it at a reasonable pace (10-20 km/hr).
ATC1400
The rubber infill granules are lifted onto the reciprocating sieve by the forward motion provided by a tractor or quad, large particles of debris and fibre are retained and the cleaned rubber falls back onto the pitch.
48 x 3mm infinitely adjustable spring tines set behind the sieve relieve the compaction at every pass, these can be set to penetrate the upper most layer where the compaction occurs (10-18mm) and an adjustable specially designed brush is set behind that to leave the infill level and even, making for a safer cleaner playing surface.
The machine complete only weighs in at 46 kg so moving it around isn’t such a back breaking job, yet it’s still heavy enough to be solidly built. It’s constructed from powder coated aluminium, stainless steel and bright aluminium. It measures up at:
With winter here and all that pretty white stuff transforming our world into a winter wonderland (SHUDDER) and England grinds to a halt. Well the solution is here right now on your doorstep. From just a few pounds to a few hundred pounds you can be the proud owner of a Snow Thrower / Blower.
What is a snow blower? They’ve been around for years on the continent and in the USA and Canada where they’re used to this problem and tackle it head on. And now here in the UK with a relatively small investment no more than buying a lawnmower, you can now purchase a machine to blow the snow from the drive, or footpath or even a tennis court. These machines are called snow blowers or snow throwers and come in a wide range of sizes from small domestic snow throwers to large professional snow blowers and finishing off with the largest most powerful snow blowers.
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The smallest can set you back a measley £95.00 whilst the large professional self propelled type ends up at still under £1,000.00 value for money or what? Power comes from a simple mains electric extension cable through to easy start petrol and diesel engines which can also be electric start.
Winter can have the habit of making normal life more difficult so why not take the opportunity to turn this round, harness technology and make snow clearing easy!
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