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American Football Hits Ireland and UK Visit


Peter Braun

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Ransomes Jacobsen, Bernhard Grinders, and Croke Park Classic made for a great trip. The trip came together with some help from Mike O'Keeffe, Jon Kiger, Jonathan Templar, and Gina Putnam. In February at GIS in Orlando Mike and Jon made some contacts at Bernhard that said a visit is a must see and that Ransomes Jacobsen is close enough to see on the same trip. It was decided to schedule the trip around the MP Series test day at Ransomes. This also worked out to be the time of the Croke Park Classic. Perfect timing. There is a ton of information from my three day journey. 

 

I arrived in Birmingham on Wednesday evening and had a great meal with Jonathan in Rugby, the home of the sport Rugby. I even ate Pigeon and it was not bad. On Thursday we drove to Ipswich to tour Ransomes Jacobsen and test the new MP Series mowers. Gina Putnam had set up the day for us to visit around. Ransomes Jacobsen (RJ) has a large factory and is keen on bringing visitors to the plant to see new equipment, demo equipment, and to train people on the use of the machines. The factory sets visitor goals at 1000 visitors and has already reached that this year. Pretty good job so far. The day started out with a presentation on the new MP Series and the history behind it. As most people in agricultural industries know there are new standard emissions that have to be met by new equipment. This started in large tractors and has worked its way down to the large area mowers used in the turf industry. RJ had to comply with the laws to have high horsepower machines. Therefore the new MP Series, which stands for Medium Platform, meets stage 3A and 3B emissions. So RJ started from the ground up to create a lighter and more efficient mower.

 

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There are 2 new mowers out. The MP493 and MP653. The first 2 numbers stand for the hp, 49 hp or 65 hp, and the 3 is for 3 decks. Both come with 3.0 or 3.3 meter (9.8 ft or 10.8 ft) mow widths, but the 653 can have 3.5m (11.4ft) decks. One new make to the mowers is that the decks fold up and back so the operator can see behind him while transporting. The folding wings make the mower only 1.65m (5.4ft) wide in transport. Much slimmer models. The MP653 also has three different drive modes: Manual, Auto, and Creep. Manual is operator controlled speeds and drive. Auto will throttle up and down automatically to control engine speed and keep the mower at the optimal power for mowing. Creep helps with climbing hills so the mower will automatically slow down as you go up a hill helping keep the mower and operator safe and cool. Each mower has onboard engine and electronic diagnostics and controls. When I tested the MP493 the grass field was over grown but the mower went right through it. I had to slow down the mower speed at times to allow the mower to get through, but the MP653 would do that for you in the Auto mode. Very powerful mowers without the weight of the older models. 

 

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Like Kids in a Candy Store

 

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Templar, Bernhard

 

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Templar, Bernhard

 

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Templar, Bernhard

 

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Templar, Bernhard

 

Touring the factory at RJ was amazing. Too bad I was not allowed to take any pictures. At the factory all parts are made there, some are brought in as pre-made pieces of steel, but they still need to be shaped. They have a laser cutter to cut pieces of steel from 1-25mm. In addition there is a large steel cutter that can cut through 50mm pieces of steel with ease. All mowers are assembled on site and one line can make three different machines at once. In an eight-hour shift 2 full mowers can be finished per line. So sometimes the plant is working 24-hours a day. The spare parts warehouse is unbelievable. Rows and Rows of parts and large bins reaching well above us make RJ be able to supply part on the double. The bins have an automated system that brings the bins around to level ground. To fill the orders a computer system makes directions making the workers more efficient. On any given day 90,000 pounds of orders can be filled. An amazing tour and factory.

 

After the tour we strolled around the 3-hole par 3 course outside the factory. With a full time greenkeeper on site the course gets looked over intensely. Each green/tee has different grasses. The tees are different varieties of fescues and ryegrass. The greens are different types of fescues and browntop bents. This makes for an interesting management approach. The course had water and bunker hazards making for a tough course. The best score is an 11 by a young girl who pared the first two holes before hitting water on the third. A neat course on an old waste area. That evening we stopped in Bury St. Edmunds for a meal with Jonathan and Gina. Bury has lots of old buildings and history. A great end to the evening. Then off to Haverhill for the Bernhard plant tour in the morning. 

 

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Hole 1

 

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Hole 2

 

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Hole 3 with Ongoing Bunker Renovation 

 

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Templar, Bernhard

 

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Templar, Bernhard

 

The Bernhard Factory is located in Haverhill, Suffolk and is a brand new, state-of-the-art facility. An upgrade from the old existing plant just down the road, it's different compared to RJ's facility, but no less impressive. In 1889 Atterton & Ellis was granted the first grinder patent and 125 years on the same principles are used in modern grinding technology today. In the 1980s Stephen Bernhard took controlling interest of the company and rebranded it as Bernhard. We met with Carl Nurse, Research & Development Manager for Bernhard for a tour of the factory and training facility. All Bernhard grinders are manufactured on-site by a group of dedicated engineers. Some have been there for decades and to give you an idea of how dedicated the team of engineers are; the company employed one engineer for his entire career. He started at the factory in his early teens after his mother sent him across the road to find a job and he stayed with the company until he retired, a testament to the success of the business and the quality of machines that are produced. The factory makes the machines to order, so the team of engineers know who each machine is being made for. This creates a unique bond between the factory and the users of the grinders. The factory also provides training at the facility and customers come from all over the world to receive training at the dedicated Training Centre. This training facility allows Bernhard to ensure that their customers get the very best out of their machines. Carl showed me how the Express Dual and Anglemaster sharpening system works. I'll need a little more practice using them at a golf course, but I have the basics and the understanding of how the machines work. 

 

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Back to Ireland for some American Football. I had a great time in England and look forward to going back in the future. I stayed the night in the prestigious Trinity College. It felt weird to be back in college, but can I say I went to Trinity (for one night). I arrived at Croke Park at 11:30 for the start of a long day. Since Croke Park is home to GAA sports American Football is a different set up for the grounds crew. Field goal posts had to be put in and the field laid out prior to Saturday. We did not have to do much before the game to get ready and the field looked great. I did not realize how small the American Football pitch is compared to hurling or gaelic football. Being 120 yards long (100 for field + 10 each end zone) and 53 1/3 yards wide the field could have been played sideways on the hurling pitch. To offset the field farther away from the edge of the stands, the bottom 15 or so rows were not used. This helps with visibility over the players standing on the sidelines.

 

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The Teams Arriving

 

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My job was to fix pitch marks on the field from players cutting and turning. We tried to fix the pitch as fast as possible, but there was not much time to do it. We fixed the marks after warm-ups, each quarter and half time. Many times we were disrupted and had to stop. These included; a parachute coming in, hurling match at half time, and the pre game national anthem. I was cool to have ESPN stop me and my friend Paul and ask what we were doing to the pitch. Then they interviewed Stuart Wilson for the tv audience to see what we were doing and I got on tv. Thanks to Alan Fitzgerald and Jon Kiger they got a clip up on YouTube that can be seen here. 

  After the game the field had to be put in back for the gaelic football being played the next day. We helped to remove the goal posts and side line tarps. Not a bad day finishing at 7:30 and I got to see a college football game from the field. I was neutral on the game, but being an Ohio State fan I was not in too much favor for Penn State, but I'm glad the Big Ten team came out on top. This trip was incredible and much harder to put into words than I though.  

 

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