John Deere has announced the expansion of John Deere Golf Irrigation into Europe for the first time. The company has been providing water management products and solutions in the USA since 2006.
From early 2008, a comprehensive line of state-of-the art John Deere golf irrigation heads, rotors, valves, internal replacement assemblies and accessories will be available through selected John Deere dealers across the EAME region (Europe, Africa and the Middle East).
“We are very pleased to offer this new product line to our golf and turf customers,” says David Thorne, John Deere’s EAME sales & marketing director. “Up to now, customers in this region of the world have been offered a limited range of competitive irrigation products and solutions.
“Coupled with John Deere’s industry leading equipment and dealer parts and service support, this announcement gives us the ability to provide truly unique and comprehensive solutions for golf and turf industry professionals. As the official golf course equipment supplier to the PGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour, John Deere can be trusted to provide greenkeepers with the tournament level quality needed on today’s golf courses.”
Initially available is a line of internal replacement assemblies, comprising high-quality stainless steel rotors that will fit into a number of competitive sprinkler heads. Interchangeable nozzles provide a range of flow and radius options, and all internal components are fully serviceable from the top of the rotor. Features include stainless steel risers, dual direction flushing and a built-in rear nozzle for improved coverage in varying conditions.
The unique X Series golf rotors offer two adjustable flow rates from the front and back nozzles of the same sprinkler head. This allows more precise and economic irrigation of transitional areas of the golf course, such as greens and aprons or fairways and roughs.
Completing this initial new John Deere golf irrigation range are the reliable Quantum Series electric and hydraulic pressure-regulated valves and electric dirty water valves, and a selection of hose end accessories. In due course John Deere plans to introduce a full irrigation package into Europe, including advanced control, sensing and communications systems.
New customer testimonials
Dromoland Castle Golf & Country Club in Co Clare, Ireland and Newark Golf Club in Nottinghamshire, England are the first two golf courses to install John Deere’s new irrigation equipment, as part of the range’s introduction to the European market.
Dromoland Castle
Dromoland’s course superintendent Paul Coleman first heard about the new range while attending John Deere’s Golf & Turf Feedback event last September. Paul was one of nearly 700 attendees from 37 different countries across five continents who were able to experience and comment on the company’s latest new products and technology, at the St Leon-Rot golf course in Germany.
The Irish course had opened a new state of the art golf academy in September 2006, featuring two USGA specification putting greens and a driving range with two 500m2 tees. “I’m always interested in trying out new kit, so when I heard John Deere were putting their name to a new irrigation range, I thought it would be a worthwhile investment,” says Paul.
“We had already put in a fully automated irrigation system for the academy tees and greens, so I decided to install some new John Deere sprinkler heads to try them out. From what I’ve seen so far, you can set the arcs easily, the droplet size, coverage and spread pattern of the water are very good, and it’s also very easy to set up the heads for spot treatments. They are very straightforward to work on too, which is another good feature.”
The Dromoland academy heads were fitted by Aquaturf Solutions of Co Meath, specialists in installing and maintaining turf irrigation systems in Ireland, who already serviced and supplied parts for the existing system at the course. “Paul Coleman called us to go down and assess what he had, and to make sure that the John Deere parts were compatible and fitted correctly. As it turned out, we were able to install on the same day, with no problem at all,” comments Stephen Daly of Aquaturf.
Newark
Newark’s head greenkeeper Graeme Macdonald fitted 10 new John Deere sprinkler heads across two greens in spring 2007 as a trial run, and says he will be replacing more heads throughout the course when the product range comes fully on line this year.
“I wanted some extra sprinklers to match my existing system, but I was having a lot of trouble getting hold of them from the previous supplier, and the fittings themselves were also causing problems,” he says.
“We were planning changes to some of the greens at the time, and our irrigation consultants (Giles Wardle and Marcus White of Irriplan Ltd in Derbyshire) happened to mention that John Deere were entering the market and could supply some replacement heads to fit. I installed the heads myself, which proved extremely easy to do, and I’ve not had any trouble with them since.”
John Deere Limited www.johndeere.co.uk