Quick and precise seeding is essential at Stone Dominoes Football Club with the vast Staffordshire site in constant use, and Campey Turf Care Systems has provided a Vredo DZ 214 Compact Seeder to help them meet their aims.
34 teams have played on the ten pitch site this season meaning in excess of 1000 matches, with the number of teams set to go up to 40 for the 2016/17 season. Games include those from the Stone Dominoes F.C teams, tournaments, local cup finals and fixtures for Stoke City Football Club youth teams.
Having such a congested fixture list means site manager, Dave Rhodes, is only afforded four weeks between the last ball being kicked and activity returning, all with the added challenge of having no on-site irrigation.
With this in mind, Dave needed a seeder that could cater to his working conditions whilst providing precision passes and a high germination rate to give excellent return value for the investment, and after seeing the Vredo in action he looked no further.
“I first came across the Vredo Compact Seeder during a demonstration that Campey were doing,” he began.
“The accuracy really impressed me, and its ability to plant the seed directly into the soil is also something that really stood out for me. Those qualities combined with the high germination rate made it an ideal fit for the club.
“There is quite a bit of pressure to get our renovations completed quickly because we only get a four-week gap between finishing and starting up again, so we needed a quick and accurate machine.
The precision nature of the machine comes from the V-shaped disks that place the seed directly in the ground at a pre-set depth, which can be adjusted between 5mm and 25mm deep.
Once the seed is in direct contact with the soil the slit is closed by the compaction roller, re-establishing a level surface and providing the conditions for maximum germination, as Dave has found on the various contracting jobs he’s used the seeder on.
“I’ve used the machine at a number of small grassroots clubs in the Potteries, like Eccleshall F.C, Stafford Rangers F.C, Abbey Hulton F.C, Stanton F.C, and also on a golf course, and it’s worked really well on all of them,” he said.
“The first lot of pitches we did just over two weeks ago have started to come up really well with a great germination rate, so it’s doing exactly what we wanted from it.
“I’ve been really pleased with the machine since we’ve started using it, and have no doubt that we’ll get the same great results on our own site in time for the start of a really busy season.”
