Trends and News on Sports Field Maintenance Operations and the Community. Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker
provides tips and notes on field marking equipment and operations, trends in the sports turf industry and
future trends impacting the local community.
The referenced photo album steps you through the process with some explanations of what was being performed and specific guidance to help field operations staff when doing the same operations on their fields.
They reiterated the importance of shaking the aerosol can well before using and storing them upside down to improver their overall performance.
Have a printed image of the custom on hand is helpful to eliminate mistakes before they happen.
Painting a white background will help your other colors standout.
Where possible you should consider using a plant growth regulator (PGR) to eliminate the need to repaint these custom logo as often. Read a related Tru Mark blog entry for more PGR details.
A local tarp and awning company, Norfolk Awning Co., 710 W. Norfolk Ave., Norfolk, NE 68701, (402) 371-0440, Ron Skiff, was consulted on the proper material and procedures to be used. He asked that a sample of the material be provided so he could match the patch material and the correct adhesive cement.
roller for creating a uniform pressure across the patch,
flat solid surface, and
cleaning material to include towel(s) and cleaning solution such as Simple Green.
Procedures followed to complete the tarp repair:
access the bottom of the tarp surface,
identify and clean the surface of the tarp with water (and cleaning solution),
create patch (rounded edges),ensure plenty of overlap to the damaged area,
apply adhesive cement to both the tarp and patch(rough side if available),
apply patch and then compress from center to outside edge using a roller if possible, ensure you have the solid flat surface under the tarp so the patch is applied evenly,
let adhesive cure for 15 to 30 minutes,
check workmanship.
Do not limit the amount of adhesive applied to both the tarp and patch. The rolling device will remove excess adhensive when pressure is applied from the center to the edge to the patch.
Plant Growth Regulator in Field Marking Paint Saves Time
Dr. Dave Minner, Iowa State University Turf Grass Extension Educator, shows how Syngenta's Primo MAXX, turf grass plant growth regulator (PGR), added to field marking paint can save your staff time painting sports field lines. Review more images from the turf plot trail photo album.
The turf grass trial reflected three conditions, diluted paint applied with no Primo (the control), 1/2 ounce of Primo per diluted gallon of paint, and 1 ounce of Primo per gallon of diluted paint. The turf trail started on June 7th and results witnessed June 24th by conference attendees.
The turf was mowed twice a week during the 17 day period (approximately 5-6 times).
Results indicate that sports turf managers can save time by not having to stripe sports fields as often as normal, 14-21 days versus the traditional 7-10 days.
The image shows that the center stripe area has no Primo added to the paint, while the striped line on the right has 1/2 ounce of Primo per diluted gallon of paint and the left line has 1 ounce of Primo per gallon of diluted paint.
Sports Field Layout Tools Work On BlackBerry Devices
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker desktop sports field layout tools can be used on BlackBerry mobile smartphone devices.
Tru Mark business operations recently updated to a BlackBerry Curve 8900 which is protected by an OtterBox Defender case.
So why is this so important you may ask?
Well, BlackBerry devices run an an application that supports .xls extensions, better known as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The particular application we are using is the Sheet to Go (spreadsheet) version of the Documents to Go by DataViz, Inc., www.dataviz.com/upgrade.
Again, why is this significant?
Several years ago Tru Mark developed several sports field layout tools using traditional functions implemented in a MS Excel spreadsheet. Please check out the following website pages for more details. Soccer Field Layout Tool http://www.athleticfieldmarker.com/SoccerFieldCalculator.html Lacrosse Field Layout Tool http://www.athleticfieldmarker.com/LacrosseField.html Rugby Pitch Layout Tool http://www.athleticfieldmarker.com/RugbyField.html
OK, now we can use the desktop sports field layout tools on a mobile smartphone device. You can now calculate field dimensions and their associated intersections (staking positions) right on the field of play. This is especially important if a desktop calculation needs to be changed on the fly.
Once you have down loaded the sports field layout tool template (.xls file) to your desktop filing system you are ready to download the file to your Blackberry device. Using the BlackBerry Desktop Manager application you'll select the Media Manager option [Start], then select Devices (right side of selection window) under the Connected Devices. Go through the file selection process using Add to Library option then navigating to the stored .xls file, select file and click on Add. Next select the folder under My Devices (lower portion of the application window) and copy file to the BlackBerry Device (I used the media card location and created a folder called datafiles) using the "copy without conversion" option.
After completing all your synchronization steps you are ready to access your Blackberry device and the associated data file (sports field layout tool). From you main menu locate the Sheet to Go application and start the application. After start up verification/registration you can Open a file by navigating to the .xls file name stored on the BB device.
The data input fields work similar to an MS Excel operation. Navigate to the data cell, select Menu button, then select Edit Mode and enter your field dimension for that particular cell. Once you accept this entry the calculations are automatically updated just like on the desktop.
It helps to have printed spreadsheet available to verify all the cell locations and resulting intersection calculations. What is nice is you can save each different layout dimension with a different file name to quickly recall this spreadsheet for further changes and review purposes.
Please provide us feedback on this mobile smartphone application and spreadsheet operation. We are always looking for ways to help you save time.
All Skills Day Camp - University of Nebraska Baseball Academy
Each summer the University of Nebraska Baseball Academy conducts several Day Camps in various towns throughout the state of Nebraska. Day Camps are All Skills Camps on the road. Day Camps run from 9am – 3pm. This camp is open to 7 year olds through High School seniors. If you are interested, please contact Renee Brinkmann at the Nebraska Baseball Office (402) 472-2269 or rbrinkmann@huskers.com. She would be happy to discuss the details of this summer camp in Norfolk.
Come meet some Nebraska Baseball players and coaches. Husker Baseball souvenirs are available on-site.
Camp cost is $55. Save $5 by registering on-line at http://www.bigredacademy.com Renee Brinkman, Nebraska Baseball Academy at 402-472-2269 Tammy Butterfield, Theisen Construction at 402-371-4564
Check out the field maintenance operations which include the Tru Mark provide Wind Weighted Tarps for the pitcher's mound (18 ft.) and home plate (26') area.
Coloring/Painting Lawn Grass and Fairway Turf--What is Needed and the Costs
Over the past several months we have received numerous calls from individuals trying to improve their property's landscape appeal. This may be a real estate agent trying to improve the eye appeal of a property on sale or golf course superintendent improving the tee box, fairway, or the greens on a golf course. In most cases the contact is trying to turn lawns greener due to poor grass quality or the grass is in a dormant state (brown).
Given this assumption Tru Mark's best application product is going to be a turf colorant versus a traditional bulk latex paint product.
We have recently introduced a turf colorant for both Bermuda and Blue Grass/Fescue turf grass varieties. This product is formulated so you can achieve a dilution ration of 9 gallons of water to 1 gallon of colorant, in other words for every gallon of colorant you’ll generate 10 gallons of diluted liquid. A recent test my a customer reflected that they achieved good results with a dilution ratio of 15 gallons to 1 gallon of colorant.
These turf colorants are an excellent solution for making turf grass divot mix for golf course tee boxes another high use areas. These colorants make the divot mix look similar to the surrounding turf grass versus a brown spot for several weeks prior to the grass maturing.
Each diluted gallon of colorant will cover approximately 100 square feet (Normal house paint is marketed to cover approximately 300 square feet). We are being more conservative due to the turf depth (up to 3" in length). Therefore one gallon of colorant will cover 1,000 square feet.
These colorants are not inexpensive, one gallon will cost in the neighborhood of $85.00 to $100.00 per gallon and a 5-gallon pail will cost $399.00 to $500.00 plus shipping and handling ($40 per 5-gallon pail). This colorant is very “strong” when it comes to a staining so you have be very careful about porous surfaces like concrete.
Here's is a rough price comparison on 100 square feet application without shipping and handling costs included. Turf Colorant, $85/gal covers 1000 square ft (10 gallons diluted) (9:1 ratio) or $0.085 per square/ft Latex Paint $20/gal covers 200 square ft (2 gallons diluted) or $0.100 per square/ft
For applying this colorant or bulk latex paint you have several options. For the least expensive equipment option we would recommend the Shurflo battery operated backpack sprayer.
For a three wheel battery operated walk-behind unit we would suggest the Model E-100 with the Paint Boom Accessory (or just use the spray wand accessory that come standard).
Bulk latex green paint can be purchased for around $100.00 per 5-gallon pail. You will probably have a challenge getting the “right” color green. This type of product is diluted at 1 gallon of water to one gallon of paint. Ground Boss Green Sweep turf paint is our particular product.
For golf fairways a traditional spray boom applicator can be used.
Some of the Tru Mark products we offer are used for a variety of purposes that we didn't originally foresee.
Here's an example from a customer that is responsible for marking a cricket pitch in the United Kingdom. Here's his story on how these sports field marking whiskers are being used to help save time setting up their cricket pitch.
"I help with the ground on a cricket pitch.
The "square" has 20 wickets side by side like a bowling alley surrounded by the oval outfield. Each wicket will have a set of stumps (three bits of wood sticking up) that need to be centered. When we start the new season we have to painstakingly remap these and ensure that they are all square again etc. This can take us 2-3 days, and we will also need to do it several time during the season as the paint fades etc.
We thought it would be a great idea to use the whiskers to mark the square out at the ends so that we can just find the tufts and go from there.
Each "wicket" is 66 feet long and 10 feet wide and must be lined up correctly (otherwise it looks a mess!) and as there are only two of us volunteers, anything we can find to reduce time is welcome."
We have had numerous visitors call or email requesting contact information on field marking services in their area.
Here's your opportunity to post your field marking services and as well as requests through the comment section of this blog. In addition we'll add your posting to our Links Service Providers web page.
Please add appropriate contact information to include name, address, telephone numbers, FAX, email, and web site address.
Are you considering adding field marking operations to your business operations? We can help with how to prepare for a bidding process when it comes to amount of time to stake a field, string, and then paint a sports field, as well as the equipment and paint supplies needed. Send us an email: TruMarkAthletic@gmail.com.
Also post your guidelines and tips how to save time and supplies for field marking operations.
Check out the STMA program and brochure (1.4 MB PDF file) for the 6 state STMA sponsored event. Thursday June 24th includes Five Concurrent Educational Activities as well as the Trade Show 1-6PM to include a BBQ Dinner included in the trade show area. On Friday June 25th there will be two concurrent educational session hosted in both the AM and PM.
Check out the latest equipment and supply items featured by Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker as well as other sports turf equipment firms.
Tru Mark will be feature demos of temporary field marking supplies to include aerosol chalk and bulk liquid chalk solutions that don't require any special cleaning solutions. A perfect marking solution for synthetic turf applications where cleanup must be a minimum task.
Also Tru Mark plans to display their three field marking 12 volt diaphragm pump technology solutions, RS-500F with the latest upgrade kits, E-100 with improved pump access and intake line upgrade kit and EZ-70, the most current model introduction.
We continue to receive interesting questions to problems that customers ask about that typically can be solved using our products. Here's one of the more recent questions that we answered.
"We are in need of a system to paint a circle on the ground with a diameter of approximately 20”. This could either be paint or lime or similar but must be environmentally friendly. The circle must be completely filled in and have well defined edges. They are to be used for aerial mapping targets. We would need some way of dispensing this quickly. We would need it for someone on foot who would only have one hand free, and to also use on a quad. We would be looking at creating approximately 40-50 targets each time. Would you have anything that fit’s this description, or any ideas if we had to get something custom made?"
And here is how we answered their challenge.
Here are a couple suggestions that I can offer. 1) Depending on how long you want these “targets” to last you could decide on the aerosol chalk (more temporary, yet eco-friendly) or EcoStripe water based paint (more long lasting yet environmentally friendly. 2) These products can be applied by hand in an inverted fashion after shaking. I would design a sleeve (similar to a beer can flexible insulating sleeve) and attaching a string/cable of the desired length with a spike or ballast device to mark the center of the circle. 3) A center point is fixed and then the aerosol product is applied following the stretched string in a circle. 4) While someone is scribing a new circle another team member can be filling in the previous painted circle.
The aerosol can of chalk or EcoStripe will cover close to 50 square feet. At about 2 square feet per target you should be able to cover those 50 targets with 2-4 aerosol cans.
The standard T-tip applicator provides for a nice uniform spray fan that works well for establishing a crisp boundary line.
There is a spray wand applicator which will reduce the bending over. This tool typically costs in the neighborhood of $25.00. The string arrangement would still work for this operation.
If you need a more permanent target then I would suggest the Durastripe aerosol field marking paint that can be used effectively on grass, rock, debris, etc. This is considered a permanent marking paint.
If an aerosol can not be used because of the pressurized can then you can use bulk acrylic latex paint or liquid chalk, dilute the paint at 1 gallon of water to 1 gallon of paint. You can put the diluted liquid in a manual pump-up sprayer used for herbicide or pest control. Also you could use a battery operated backpack sprayer. The liquid chalk will dissolve much quicker than the acrylic latex field marking paint.
One gallon of diluted paint/chalk should cover 100 square feet or 1-2 gallons of diluted paint/chalk.
The objective of the study was to examine the survival of S. aureus on infilled synthetic turf systems and natural turfgrass under different environmental conditions and to evaluate the effectiveness of various control agents applied to the synthetic turf in both indoor and outdoor situations.
The report concluded "Commercially available antimicrobial treatments as well as detergent significantly decreased the survival rate of S. aureus present on these natural grass and crumb rubber infilled synthetic turf indoors although every experimental unit inoculated tested positive for the presence of S. aureus for the first 4 hours and a number were still positive 9 days after inoculation."
The report stated, "It is difficult to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of various treatments in an outdoor environment because the bacteria do not appear to survive very long under these conditions whether treatments were applied or not, but both detergent and fabric softener applied to the surface around the time of bacterial inoculation seem to reduce S. aureus survival somewhat. Exposures to UV light and higher temperature seem to be the most effective disinfectant under the conditions of this experiment."
Twelve references were cited in the report besides a regime of 10 indoor and outdoor treatments to include: Untreated control, Low rate S. aureus, High rate S. aureus, antimicrobial 1 hr prior, Surfactant 1 hr prior, Antimicrobial 25 days prior, A+S 25 days prior, Kentucky bluegrass, Detergent post, and Detergent 1.5 hr prior.
The Ultimate Frisbee sport, not called Ultimate, is growing across the country, at the high school, collegiate, and community levels. A recent Ultimate Frisbee article in the New York Times reflected the growing sport for woman.
The field of play has its own field marking requirements which is published in the 11th edition of the Official Rules of Ultimate, page 16, Appendix 1. The field of play is a rectangle, 70 x 40 yards (64 x 34 meters) with a 25 yard (23 meters) end zone depth. There is a 3 meter and 5 meter boundary line for participants and coaches, and then the spectators and equipment respectively. http://www.upa.org/files/11th_ed_Final_3_6_07.pdf
To help stake out and stripe an Ultimate Frisbee field of play you can use the soccer field layout tool to establish the corners of play. I would recommend using the overall size of the boundary, specifically the 5 meter spectator boundary as the "field of play", then use the goalie box dimensions for the 3 meter boundary and the soccer penalty box for the primary field of play dimensions (70 x 40). The soccer penalty kick spot can be used for the Ultimate Field Marks.
A Blackberry Curve smartphone was used to capture about 15 seconds of video coverage. A desktop tool, Free Studio Manager, was used to convert the 3GP file format and to crop the video stream.
The equipment used included a Graco FieldLazer (3 years old) without the paint shields installed, Tru Mark SwitchBack CheapSeats field marking paint diluted 1 gallon of paint to 1 gallon of water, Tru Mark Heavy Duty String Winder with 1500' of braided twine, a 300' nylon tape measure to help mark the arcs in the pits, and several stakes.
A total of 7 gallons of diluted paint was used. There were 8 arcs striped on each of the 5 pits. The boundary lines were double striped.
It is always great to get a parts order from an existing customer. It is even greater when they add a short testimonial about your product.
Recently a customer made a replacement parts order and added in the comments section of the on-line order the following statement.
"We have had our E-100 [athletic field marker] for about 14 years and it continues to work well. Thanks!" Phil, QMFA Field Manager
As part of our customer follow-up activities we try and give the customer an opportunity to make a short response to how their equipment is performing and asking for feedback on how we can make the product perform better and increase the ease of maintenance and operations.
In many cases we'll try and post these testimonials, nothing is better than word of mouth advertising and we feel this is the next best thing to a face to face or phone call endorsement.
The Model E-100 athletic field marker was the industries first 12-volt diaphragm pump technology back in 1995. The steel construction with powder coated and zinc plated finish has made this a long duration field marking equipment item. Even after the luster has worn off customers continue to use this versatile, easy to maintain, and ergonomic designed unit through many changes in volunteers and field operation managers.
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker introduced a bulk liquid chalk temporary field lining solution for synthetic turf fields that does not require a special removal agent.
While Tru Mark offers an aerosol chalk solution customers were looking for an airless sprayer application product that was only temporary without the need for any cleaning agents.
SwitchBack Liquid Chalk field marking material is formulated without the typical acrylic latex resins and performs like traditional field marking chalk used on baseball and softball diamonds. Once the product is applied and dries it will hold up similar to marble dust or calcium carbonate on a skinned area of a diamond. The product can be easily removed with an abrasive action such as scuffing your shoes over the line and then rinsing with water to remove any shadow effects. The product will naturally dissolve over time from traffic, rain and irrigation methods.
Liquid Chalk is sold in 5-gallon pails and is diluted on a ratio of 1:1 with water, for every gallon of liquid chalk you add a gallon of water. The product can be applied without dilution but will require an airless pump that can product at least 900 psi at the pump.
The reference photo album reflects the demonstration of the the product on three different synthetic turf surfaces. The Liquid Chalk was applied after a 1:1 dilution ratio, allowed to dry for 1 hour which it was dry to the touch, then removed with a shoe scuffing operation and then rinsed with water over the scuffed area.
This product has many of the same characteristics of Tempura which is used in the art industry.
Kansas State University horticulture department increases their Sport Turf Management focus in their curriculum.
“The growing field, increasing professionalism in the sports turf industry and the number of opportunities made us feel like it was an area where students needed to be prepared,” Steve Keeley said, professor specializing in Turfgrass Science.
Read more about the background that lead this land grant college to increase their focus in this growing profession.
I've been using Twitter for about 3 months now and have found a few tools that add value to this social networking capability. One of the most convenient feature is the sharing of your Twitter tweets to your Facebook account. It is handy when I find something that I will refer to later and share with my growing list of friends that are connecting on-line.
There are several other tools that I like to use for tracking key words in tweets. This is one way to make connections with other with similar interests. The hashtag feature of Twitter is supporting the increase of more "groups".
http://www.tweetlater.com/ Productivity Tools. One is a really great tool for key word searches with the results sent as a batch report via email to read at your leisure.
The Weather Channel has become part of most golf superintendents and grounds keepers on-line tool kit. What other on-line and smartphone tools are you using to help with your turf operations?
Here's a recent article that sheds some background information on the Weather Channel. http://www.greencastonline.com/FeatureArticle.aspx?Paid=94066
Many field marking operations have to plan for "make-up" days due to rain or irrigation conditions. The Weather Channel can help with planning for the "what-if" situations.
In most cases the price increases represented a 5% or less increase.
More of the field tarps and protective covers now include shipping and handling charges in the overall price. This is also the situation on aerosol cans for natural turf paint, aerosol chalk, and aerosol removable paint for synthetic turf.
This survey was conducted by the NFLPA at team meetings during September through November 2008. A total of 1565 active NFL Players from all 32 teams voluntarily filled out survey forms.
Players put a lot of value in grass playing fields that are in good playing condition and those that keep the field in good condition. The statistics indicate that grass fields provide increase career longevity and minimize injuries.
One interesting comment provided in the survey.
~ If a cow cannot eat it, we shouldn't be playing on it.
STMA Regional Conference and Exhibition to be Held at Iowa State in June 24-25; Second Regional Conference Coming to the Northeast
STMA, in partnership with eight chapters from the Midwest, will be bringing national level education and a trade show to Ames, Iowa, June 24-25, 2009. Topics will include weather fundamentals for Sports Turf Managers, fertilizers, communicating with user groups, project management and operations management, and environmental stewardship. Attendees will be afforded an intimate look at the Iowa State University athletic facilities, as well as an in-depth view of some of Dr. Dave Minner’s sports turf specific research plots. STMA encourages attendance by Sports Turf Managers and crew alike, and will be providing education for all levels of experience.
Registration costs for the two-day Midwest Regional event will be $75 for an STMA Member (National or Chapter Only) and $95 for a non-member and will include meals. STMA has also negotiated significantly reduced hotel rates. Exhibition space will be $195 per 200 square feet for an STMA Member and $295 for a non-member and will include an 8’ table for a tabletop display and two full conference registrations. Additional space and a product demonstration area will be available for a fee.
Additionally, there will be a second STMA Regional Conference on a date and a location to be determined in the Northeastern U.S. Back by popular demand, STMA and six chapters are partnering to bring the second consecutive Regional Conference to the Northeast, after last year’s extremely successful event in Philadelphia, Penn. at Lincoln Financial Field and Citizen’s Bank Park.
According to Dr. Mike Goatley, STMA Conference Education Chairman, You will not find a better sports turf specific educational experience outside of the STMA Conference and Exposition held every January,” than these two Regional Conferences.
Put June 24-25 on your schedule and start talking to your employer about making sure that you are able to attend this incredible educational opportunity if it is in your area of the country. Also, keep checking back at STMA.org and your inbox for updates on the second Regional Conference in the Northeast. If you have any questions, please contact STMA at 1-800-323-3875 or STMAInfo@STMA.org.
Here's one technique the will catch the ground keeper's interest, a ‘logrow’ service to cut logos as big as 30m wide into turf.
I see these types of technologies applied to the entrances of sports venues and high visibility areas where there will be excellent eye appeal with the appropriate background.
At the recent annual Park & Recreation conference in Baltimore, MD there were several companies offering special etching/cutting techniques for brick applications. For example here are couple companies that may be of interest. http://giftbricks.net/ http://brickmarkers.com/ http://www.aquarius-laser.com/applications.htm http://www.aquacut.co.uk/ http://www.etch-it.co.uk/index.php
We are always looking for firms that we can refer local organizations to, especially when it comes to field layout and field striping operations.
Here's our first to make a growing list.
Frazier’s Field Repair http://www.fraziersfieldrepair.com Sports field construction, renovation, and maintenance, serving Ohio. Fine grading, infield mix dirt, and pitching mound construction, infield lip removal, and much more. Troy Frazier, located in the Ohio region.
The reports states that, "The environmental impact of synthetic turf fields is significant. It is common for grass sports fields to require a minimum of 15,000 gallons of irrigation water per week during growing season and thousands of pounds of fertilizers and pesticides annually. Assuming a 33 week growing season, the installation of over 1,000 new synthetic turf fields last year conserved an estimated 500 million gallons of water and reduced the use of fertilizers by well over 1.25 million pounds. With approximately 4,500 synthetic turf fields currently in use, the total amount of water saved in 2008 exceeded 2.2 billion gallons - enough water to supply the average home for 75 years."
Many synthetic turf customers are evaluating the cost savingw of applying permanent and removable turf paints to these synthetic turf surfaces versus having lines permanently sewn into the turf fabric. This is especially true for multi-purpose fields. Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker provides a variety of synthetic turf paints, bulk latex and aerosol, to support the customer's requirements.
If you chose to calculate it yourself, use the following two steps: Step 1. Calculating the amount of fertilizer/1000 sq ft: Desired rate in lbs N / 1000 sq ft ÷ % nutrient = Total fertilizer needed / 1000 sq ft
Step 2. Calculating the amount of fertilizer to treat the entire turf area: Total fertilizer needed / 1000 sq ft X Area to be treated in sq ft = lbs fertilizer needed to treat the area
For example, how much fertilizer do you need to apply a 16-8-8 fertilizer at 0.75 lbs N/1000 sq ft to an 8000 sq ft lawn? Step 1. Calculating the amount of 16-8-8/1000 sq ft: 0.75 lbs N / 1000 sq ft ÷ .16 N = 4.69 lbs 16-8-8 / 1000 sq ft
Step 2. Calculating the amount of 16-8-8 to treat the entire 8000 sq ft turf area: 4.69 lbs 16-8-8 / 1000 sq ft X 8000 sq ft = 37 lbs 16-8-8 needed to treat an 8000 sq ft lawn
You’ll need 37 pounds of 16-8-8 to treat the 8000 sq ft lawn at 0.75 lbs N/1000 sq ft. More information of choosing fertilizers, fertilization schedules, calibrating spreaders, and more can be found in AY-22: Fertilizing Established Lawns.
I’m looking for successful regional economic development programs. I would like to have the name, contact information, location, size, structure of program, how long in existence, and success stories. I’m particularly interested in how your regional economic development operations are meeting the strategic plans for the new emerging economies.
Our community in Northeast Nebraska (25,000) and region, 4 counties (100,000) have a economic development council. It has been in existence for over 8 years and is struggling with the changes we’re seeing in the world and local economies as well as justifying current and increasing the per head funding formula. Our City Council is considering pulling out of the regional council which provides over one third of the funding.
I would like to build the case to continue and to increase the City’s monetary support for the regional economic development structure. Our area is closely tied together, retail hub, health services hub, diverse manufacturing and service hub bringing in around 10,000 commuters each work day. Our City generates a majority of its revenue from sales tax.
Your information, contacts, and connections would be greatly appreciated.
Once again the frigid cold weather in the Midwest reminds us of spring and warmer weather and greener vistas.
Each spring and fall season Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker makes special offers that customers are sure to take advantage. This year is no different with two special offers.
When purchasing a non-wind weighted tarp for that baseball or softball field there is a special price offer on the sand bags, both the 10# and 20#. There is a 15% price reduction when purchasing a set of 8 sand bags at the time of the non-wind weight tarp purchase. These UV protected bags with a carry strap are sure to make the grounds staff and coaches happy when placing and removing a tarp.
Obtain an AED for Your School Sports Field Activities
Besides helping save school students, help provide live saving tools and training for your staff, sports event spectators, field and facility operations through the Scholastic AED Program.
The Josh Miller HEARTS Act will establish a grant program through the Department of Education that will provide schools with funds for lifesaving AEDs and AED/CPR training.
"AEDs are the single most effective treatment for those suffering a sudden cardiac arrest. By ensuring that schools have access to these lifesaving devices, we can prevent needless deaths in communities across the country."
As a recipient of the Cintas Scholastic grant program, you will receive access to the nation's most comprehensive AED program. Each grant recipient school with receive a ReviveR™ AED at no cost- a $1495 value. In addition, Cintas will also perform a free site assessment that will help you identify optimum locations for your AED, as well as provide information from which you can develop an effective Emergency Response Plan (ERP). Once you are ready to begin your program, your AED will be delivered, expertly installed and tested by a Cintas First Aid & Safety representative.
Tarps and Protective Covers--New Products & Pricing
New products and pricing are available for Aer-flo Inc. products, manufacturer of wind weighted tarps, protective covers for turf, sidelines, and track surfaces.
A 2009 addition is the non-wind weight tarps, major league style (round) which are replacing the wind weighted "standard" tarps (octagon shaped). These new tarps come in sizes 18', 20', 26', and 30' diameters. These tarps come with grommets that are spaced every 36 inches. The standard color is forest green while custom colors are priced at 10% more than the standard color pricing. Consider the Tru Mark Sand Bags for holding these tarps in place, the 10# and 20# weather protected bags with inserts and a carrying strap make for quick and safe placements.
Custom sizes are available for both the non-wind weighted and wind weight tarps.
Aer-flo does offer custom logos for their tarps and protective cover products. These logos are now printed on material (vinyl) that is then heat welded to the underlying material whether it is a tarp or protective cover. This far superior printing and attachment method will ensure long duration of bright colors and material performance.
To get a custom logo quote please send an image of the art work, JPEG preferred format(.jpg) but others are usually accepted (.bmp, .gif, .pdf) as long as there is sufficient detail. Custom logos add 10 business days to the manufacturing process. For estimating purposed these custom logos will be priced at $4.00 per square foot or less depending on size and detail. Send a price quote request to TruMarkAthletic@gmail.com.
Turf Equipment Suppliers Increasing Prices--Graco FieldLazer and LineLazer
Over the last year we've seen the price of commercial parts increase as well as raw materials used in the manufacturing of finished goods.
Graco posted new prices for their product lines effective January 1, 2009. The line striping equipments line experienced approximately a 8.5% increase from last year. Graco has published an approximate 5% discount on suggested retail prices for the first three months of the year.
Tru Mark has added several Graco FieldLazer common replacement parts and accessories to the web site. Check out the 30 inch spray tip extension for those custom turf painting operations such as custom stencils and sideline numbers. Also, the following items are being offered spray guard, intake screen, easy out filter, throat seal, and RAC 5 spray tips.
How do the pro football stadiums maintain a crisp looking set of goal posts? Well it isn't easy, however there are some steps you can take to give a vibrant splash that will last a couple seasons.
Given the advances in paint technology there are still some very fundamental steps that should be followed to paint and repaint football goal posts.
1. Clean the existing surface with a cleaner (e.g., paint thinner), removing the grime. For example an indoor facility will have oils in the air from food preparations. 2. If possible lightly sand the surface and wipe clean. 3. Add a priming coat to the goal post and allow it to adequately dry. Match the priming agent with the paint that is being used. Many of the manufacturers have formulated the primer to work specifically with the goal post paint. 4. Apply at least two coats of paint, allowing each coat to dry before the next application. One coat of paint, no matter the manufacturer, will not be sufficient to produce a good quality sustaining application.
How Do They Apply the Yellow Yard Line for Televised Football Games
Did you ever wonder what technology the broadcasting people are using to display the first down line (yellow) as well as current down marker line (blue)?
More Turf Grass and Landscaping Educational Opportunities
Over the past 5 years more community colleges and university systems as well as professional associations have increased their educational, certification, and training offerings in turf grass and landscaping management.
Sports Turf Manager Association (STMA) is offer a professional certification program to enhance their member benefits and their associated employers' value in a critical resources. The Certified Sports Field Manager (CSFM) program has a growing list of CSFM professionals. All turf managers should have the CSFM reading list available and many of these books on their shelf with many paper-clipped and marked up pages.
Additional research is being conducted to consider the amount of water being used in turf grass application around the country compared to row crop operations in the US.
Turfgrass is the single-largest irrigated crop in the United States, three-times more than corn. It’s more important to help conserve the water supply than to keep turfgrass green year round.
Youth Sports Associations Outsourcing Field Marking Operations and Supplies
With continued growth of larger sports complexes many youth associations are finding it harder to find volunteers to do the field marking. In many cases the associations may be using community owned property that is maintained except for the field striping operations.
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker is experiencing more youth sports associations, especially soccer and football, purchasing field marking equipment and supplies and then outsourcing the labor to other parties. The equipment and supplies are turned over to the outsourced service provider who in many cases is a retired or semi-retired community member with ties to the association. Some are outsourcing the complete operations with a private lawn care or landscaping firm.
Tru Mark's easily operated and maintained field striping equipment provides a great return on the investment in both time and paint supply savings. The field marking systems feature safe low-pressure low-volume 12-volt diaphragm eco-friendly pumps. Tru Mark field markers reduce the tendency to over apply paint yet ensure crisp long lasting painted lines no matter the terrain. Tru Mark has a field marking solution whether it is a walk-behind or self-propelled riding unit.
Tried of trying to square up a youth sports field. Tru Mark developed a desktop field layout tool using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Over 1,000 satisfied soccer field users have experienced the quick and accurate calculations for all the intersections on sports fields. With these figures in hand and two tape measures an individual can quickly stake out any sized field. Add the Heavy Duty String Winder with cordless drill attachment to your field tool kit and save hours getting a fields lined with fewer people.
Many youth associations are using Tru Mark field marking whiskers for easy identification of different sized fields. These colorful multi-6” strands of nylon are visible yet do not interfere with play, striping nor mowing operations (mowed off to grass height). With a 6” nail they are held in place after driving them into the ground. Marking whiskers come in packages of 25. This marking method along with the all zinc plated steel field line anchor make for quick work in locating field intersections.
Youth associations are turning to field tarps and protective covers to reduce wet field condition for tournament play and condensed game schedules. A small investment in wind weight tarps for diamonds and turf protectors are increasing the number of playing events with much better field and sideline turf conditions. The time saving wind weighted tarps reduce the need and time necessary for using sand bags and stakes.
These youth organizations are finding that custom field stencils add value to their fields for both players and spectators and in many cases are paid for by sponsors. Tru Mark will provide a no cost estimate for a custom field stencil when providing a good quality image for layout and manufacturing purposes.
How do you prepare a 12-volt diaphragm pump system to survive winter storage requirements?
Tru Mark uses a Shurflo 3.3 GPM 12-Volt pump unit. The Shurflo technical services representative suggests using RV style antifreeze liquid. That is a propylene glycol liquid. Dow Chemical manufactures DOWFROST RVR that would be suitable.
Prior to this storage step we would also recommend running a "pump protector" or "pump saver" through the system. This should be done on a routine basis. You can find this in 32 oz. plastic bottles at a good paint store that sells commercial paint sprayers. I would add 1 to 2 oz. of the pump protector to a gallon of water and run it through the system for a couple minutes. This helps keep any remaining paint in suspension and flushed during the rinse process. We suggest unhooking the hose connectors at the pump head to allow any excess water run out of the pump head.
Another option is to remove the pump valve and diaphragm kits from the motor. Remove the 6 Phillips screws from around the edge of the pump head and the diaphragm kit with valve kit will slide off the motor shaft. In the spring when you put the kits back in all you need to do is spray some water into the pump head before you attach the hose connectors.
What does it take to convert a Toro mower chassis into a self-propelled riding line striper? Well with some Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker parts and some ingenuity by Brad Foster of the Vancouver School District, Vancouver, WA a new line striper was born.
The school district purchased some Tru Mark and commercial parts to outfit a new line painter. The total cost of the parts (Tru Mark) were less than $2,000, to include two 20-gallon tanks, pumps (Shurflo 12-volt 3.3 GPM no flow control), switches, tank and pump connectors, brackets and hoses, spray assembly parts for the line striper assembly. Brian spent several hours creating and installing mounting brackets on the Toro chassis and configuring on the parts, connections, and hoses. He also added a line guide to the front of the unit to add more "guidance" for the operator. Check out more of pictures of the converted Toro mower to a field marking line striper.
We continue to receive interesting requests from current and prospective customers. We would be interested in learning about your project and how we can help.
Jeff Bruce covered some of the critical decisions in installing a new synthetic turf systems. There are four primary areas that a customer should ensure is part of the project, 1) hiring an engineer that is familiar with the soil types and synthetic turf installation in your area, 2) ensuring that an experience construction company with establishing a base for the turf carpet has been hired, 3) a reputable turf product has been selected for the environment and type of play expected, and 4) an experienced turf installer that has a reputation of not having to come back for repairs on seams.
Graham Hayes stated that because many of these fields are installed between Memorial and Labor Day the crews on site experience tremendous schedule pressures. It is imperative to have a knowledgeable inspector on site to verify compliance with specifications, e.g, soil base is laser leveled, rock base meets particle size and depth and is packed, sand infield mixture with crumb rubber, trenches are properly filled and packed, amount and type of glue used, etc.
They re-emphasized that the synthetic turf fields are not maintenance free and require activities to maintain their warranty clauses.
Many of the existing turf problems are attributed to poor base construction, in appropriate infield material application and mixture, not maintaining the appropriate infield depth (turf fiber laying over thus wearing much quicker and being exposed to UV which degrades them), allowing problem seams becoming a big maintenance issue, etc.
It was highly recommended that during budgeting for a turf system that yearly maintenance be included, possibly a maintenance contractor visiting on-site at least yearly and be done in conjunction with the general contractor's annual site visit.
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker was selected on short notice to provide a riding self-propelled field marker and technical support. Mark Hall, General Manger for Tru Mark supported the Image Associates L.L.C, Charleston, WV, filming project in production of a 30 second TV commercial for the West Virginia Lottery.
Bill Hogan, President, Image Associates L.L.C. had two weeks to get setup and execute the filming for six 30 second commercials. Tru Mark responded in a timely fashion with appropriate technical and pricing options for this unique commercial that was filmed on location at West Virginia State University football stadium.
Tru Mark delivered the model RS-500M Self-propelled Rider field marking unit on October 7th with a 2 day official notice for a commitment to perform. In additional the existing WVSU Division II Yellow Jackets football field was striped in preparation for the filming sequences. Bob Hogan was very appreciative for Tru Mark extending their stay for the filming operations due to wet weather conditions earlier in the week delaying filming operations.
Over the past 5 years several paint manufacturers have developed field paint formulations for synthetic turf application, permanent and removable. Along with the removable field marking paint these companies have developed removal agents to help with cleaning of the paint from these turf fibers. The challenge comes on the paint removal process which includes labor and tools to make this as cost effective as possible.
We've identified some equipment that is being used as well as a typical process, i.e., spray on removal agent, agitate the turf, and rinse with water, repeating this process as necessary. With more and more multipurpose turf fields being installed and users wanting to utilize these fields for different sporting events there is an increase in paint application and removing maintenance operations. Unless you operate a professional facility your resources are limited. Volunteers don't necessarily like to be out brushing the turf to remove paint.
Some customers want a very quick removal product without much cleaning activity. Right now the lowest cost product with the least manpower cleanup expenditure is aerosol chalk. You apply this material just like aerosol field marking paint using an inverted can and an aerosol striper. Once the product dries in performs like traditional field marking chalk (calcium carbonate or marble dust). Removal involves dragging the line with your feet or brushing with a short bristle brush and rinsing with water to remove the dust residue.
For turf paint removable and permanent products you have several options depending on the longevity and traffic requirements along with the cleaning agents that are developed for the particular paint manufactured.
Now to some of processes and product examples available for turf paint removal.
The challenge is to use a cost effective piece of equipment that reduces manpower and still does a good job. Most field maintenance operations already have a utility vehicle so a tow behind cleaning unit would seem to be a good solution. The product will have a sprayer to apply the removal agent with a storage tank, a turf brush that has a rotary motion, and a sprayer to apply a rinse with a storage tank, with a power unit to support these operations. What is your idea and solution?
We continue to receive a fair number of emails asking what size is a youth soccer field should be depending on the age as well as the corresponding penalty and goalie boxes.
Here's a typical question, "We have been using the Soccer Field layout Tool (not the next generation). But when we do some of the smaller fields U12 or U10, should we maintain the same size Goal Box and Penalty Box even though the field is smaller. Or should we scale back the Penalty and Goal box? If we scale it back, how do we decide how far to scale it back?"
We searched through many different references and have not found any "hard and fast" rules to help answer the question.
From my experience when the field size changes the goalie and penalty box dimensions also should change. The boxes seem to drop in size by increments of 2 yards/meters when the overall field size drops. For example if the penalty box is normally 18 yards deep x 48 yards wide, the size drop would be 16 or 14 x 42 or 36. I used a simple algebraic formula to maintain the same ratio (18/48 = 16/x). Some fields may be shorter or wider so the box dimensions should follow a similar relationship. Our website provides some of the standard dimensions for youth fields.
Sometimes the state youth soccer association my have some guidelines, but from my experience it is up to the local club, tournament director, and field restrictions.
What the "next generation" soccer field layout tool can help you do is get a better perspective of the distances between the associated intersections to see if the field dimensions are appropriate for a particular age group. By sending us an email, trumarkathletic@gmail.com, with a subject line soccer field layout tool we'll send you link to the MS Excel spreadsheet that has all the calculations automated for quick "what if" scenarios.
Once in a while we get a question concening a marking application that is not directly related to sports field marking yet may be solved by using field marking products.
Brian posted the following situation, "I am looking for a paint I can apply in a non-sports application. It is for an outdoor trail that is a combination of gravel and asphalt. The trail will be used for 6 hours. After use, I would prefer something that will wash away over time via foot traffic and weather without having to wash it off.
Also, I'd like something I can apply with a paint roller or traditional paint sprayer. We will not be painting straight lines but rather patterns.
Any suggestions?"
Here's a couple options that we offered to Brian that may help solve his requirement.
You can purchase our aerosol chalk product that is a temporary application. With the T-tip nozzle you can free hand the chalk application. Each can will cover approximately 200 linear feet of striping. This product performs like typical dry chalk that is applied to sports fields. Once it dries it can be removed by foot abrasion or water.
If you have access to a pump-up sprayer that is used for pesticide applications you can apply diluted external flat latex house paint. I would dilute the paint at least 1 gallon of paint to 1 gallon of water. You can achieve about 100 square feet per diluted gallons or about 300 linear feet.
Just ensure you mix the paint well before mixing in water. I would use a paint paddle with a cordless or electric drill to ensure good mixing. We would be glad to sell you some field marking paint however you'll get about the same performance for external flat latex house paint (Tru Mark's SwitchBack Cheat Seats) for your non-sports surface.
Even in a diluted formulation you should have good success with a paint roller. The paint will dissipate quicker due to weather and traffic when it is diluted.
We have a customer that uses well water for mixing the field marking paint. Here's his question, "One question, we dilute our current latex paint with well water (i.e. hard water). We have had some issues with the quality of the lines. Is there any additive we can use to soften the water we are using that would help the paint and water mix a little better?"
Here are a couple suggestions you might try.
We've heard people us Downey fabric softner in the paint mixture. I have not personally tried this. I doubt that this would hurt the grass at say 1-2 ounces per 5-gallons of diluted paint mixture. One thing with using a soap like mixture is it acts like a surfactant and will help with the bonding affect on the grass. Unfortunately this may have an adverse side affect of producing foam which pumps do not like. If you are using a return line then this may cause problems. I would add this as the last step in your paint mixing (after adding the water which should be poured into the mixing container versus using a hose and exposing the water stream to air).
I will use a little dishwasher soap in my weed killer (2-4-D) application to get a better bonding affect.
There is a flow-conditioner product for acrylic latex paint that may help called "Flotrol". The product is sold to provide a smoother paint texture during application. It can be found in most paint and hardware stores. I've found no foaming problems with this product in our Model E-100 field marker.
Another product that I use to help clean the pumps during the final rinse cycle is "pump protector". It is another pump lubricator and acts as means to keep any residual paint in suspension when left in the system. I've had no problems mixing this with paint (or in the next mix batch of water) and no side affects on the grass. There are two different manufacturers of this type product and you find it in most paint and hardware stores. I've found no foaming problems with this product
I would first try Downey, then the pump protector product to see if that improves your paint mixing performance.
Often times the quality of the paint will have a direct impact, the more finely ground solids in the paint will produce better quality mixing operation.
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker's home town, Norfolk, NE 68701, hosted the 2008 Nebraska American Legion Class A American Division Baseball Tournament, August 1st - 5th. A few image highlights can be found in a Snapfish Album.
Tru Mark supplied wind weight tarps for the pitcher's mound and home plate to protect these high traffic areas from nightly irrigation operations. A photo album shows images of the packaging and shipping of the tarps and their applications to the field of play.
Tru Mark's General Manager Mark Hall assisted field staff for the duration of tournament play. Duties included striping all foul lines, coaches boxes, base path, and the home plate area using the SwitchBack Ground Boss paint. The field was painted on July 31st and again for the championship series August 5th.
Additional field operation tasks included cleaning the bases with TrailBlazer Solar Wash twice for the two sets of bases and rinsing with water and cleaning with a wire brush between each game. Solar Trail did an excellent job of removing the dirt build-up and restoring the new look for the bases. The pitcher's mound, plate and bases were sprayed with aerosol white chalk between games to further enhance that professional field appearance. Six cans of aerosol chalk were used for the tournament.
Tru Mark provided and applied Diamond Pro Mound and Home Plate Clay between each game. The clay was mixed with a small amount of water between games which provided a superb packing material to speed up field turnover. Four 50 pound bags were used for the 15 games played. As the games progress fewer amounts of clay applications were needed. The mound had originally been prepared in the spring with clay bricks so there was an excellent base to work with.
During the turnover of each game the field was dragged with a motorized unit and hand dragged with brooms around the edges and along the baselines. Home plate and first base line were chalked for each game and third base ever other game. The field was briefly watered with an inground sprinkler system and by hand for the pitcher's mound, home plate and base paths.
A team of 4-5 were used to prepare the field for play in under 20 minutes, typically in under 18 minutes. A Kubota RTV 900 was provided by Dinkel Implement for the duration of the tournament which hauled all the rakes, brooms, tamp, bases, chalker, chalk, 5-gallon pails of clay, aerosol chalk, and string line. This unit was a real time saver and minimized compaction on the field.
We receive some interesting challenges over the years. Many of website visitors have thoughtful questions that we might not have considered before. This one might be a more typical question from someone not familiar with field marking operations. Here's the dialogue followed by several suggestions.
"We are a little Chamber of Commerce putting on a fund raising Pasture Putting and Picnic event featuring 9 Miniature Golf holes, each decorated by local businesses. We are going to rent a "lime spreader" machine from AA rentals that use some kind of chalk product, to mark the edges of each "hole". AA rentals has told us they don't sell the chalk or powder or whatever the product is called that goes in this walk behind spreader. I can not find anyone locally who sells the chalk, if that's what it is, or paint. Can you help me? We don't need that much, we only need it to last a day."
Our response:
We don't have any of the "chalk" (calcium carbonate or marble dust) on hand. It will normally run around 10-20 cent a pound or up to $10.00 per 50 pound bag.
Please check with a local baseball or softball program in a nearby community. You'll probably only need 1-2 50 pound bags.
Another option is using an aerosol chalk product. If you don't have a aerosol field striper then you can probably do it by hand unless you want to be really uniform. This product has the same properties as the spreader type chalk, yet it is dispensed like other aerosol paints. When figuring on how much to purchase plan on using one aerosol can per 200 to 300 linear feet.
A little longer lasting water based aerosol product is now available. More and more municipalities are concerned with soil and water contamination so this is another safe solution to consider.
The more traditional aerosol field marking paint may be an option. After the grass has been mowed 2-3 times the residual paint will be clipped off.
Ellipse and Star Formulas for Painting on Sports Fields
During annual Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) conference there are workshops to help ground maintenance staff save time and money for their organizations. One of the more recent "how to" work shops covered field marking strategies without using manufactured field stencils.
Mike Hebrand of Athletic Field Design has developed two formulas for two very common shapes that you'll likely paint on sports fields. The formulas require that you know the traditional measurements of the shapes beforehand and then have string and stakes (and a tape measure) available to layout the dimensions of the stencils before you paint them.
A recent website visitor asked the following question, "I line over 30 fields at our soccer complex in Houston,Texas area. Also can you recommend a paint. I am using a Graco field lazer liner. I am paying $25.00 for a 5 gallon bucket. That the lines are only lasting a little over a week. Is there any such paint that will last at least 3 weeks."
Here's our response with some recommendations.
You are receiving the best pricing on bulk latex paint (5-gallon pails) that I've recently encountered. It is hard to get a paint to last much longer than 10-14 days since the grass is growing and mowed at least once a week if not more often.
If you are basing your purchase primarily on price you'll probably not find another paint that will do any better. A better quality field marking paint is normally going to be priced closer to $40 to $50 range but it will still be hard to get the paint to last much more than 14-21 days. Since Graco FieldLazer only offers one spray tip applicator per pass it is less effective in covering both sides of the blade of grass when the grass blade is not standing close to vertical.
You might try and not dilute the paint as much (may already be doing this?). The better quality field marking paints will have more solids that are ground finer and titanium dioxide (whitener) in the formulation. This will allow for increased dilution ratios, however the costs are going to significantly increase to more than double what you are currently paying. If the paint is not harming the grass at all then I would just dilute the paint with less water and see how that works.
I've sprayed undiluted paint with the Graco FieldLazer without any problems other than it takes a little longer to get the pump primed first. I always start out with priming with water to help this process.
You might mow the lines before you stripe which will help reduce the mowing off of the lines when the rest of the field is mowed more often. I would not cut more than 1/2" of grass height from the standard height to avoid putting additional stress on the grass.
Another suggestion is to not irrigate for 12-24 hours after you've striped thus allowing the paint to fully dry as well as not painting until the grass blades are dry, late morning or afternoon.
You could try adding 1-2 ounces of a growth regulator to 1 gallon of diluted paint to slow down the grass growth. You normally only spray every 3rd or 4th week of the growing season. You do not want to over apply these products. If you have to overstripe your lines make sure you take your mixture ratio into consideration. There are several different types of growth regulators, for example Embark by PBI Gordan Corp. and Primo Maxx by Syngenta. You'll need to find a chemical distributor for these. You should check with your local golf course superintendent for some recommendations. Primo Maxx is typically priced at about 2-3 times that of Embark.
We've received several emails over the last six months concerning adding temporary marking lines to existing synthetic turf fields.
For example here's the question from Scott, "One question I have about synthetic fields. Say you have a football-lined synthetic field and you want to run three youth soccer fields cross-ways once a week. Is there any way to mark the field quickly (some type of tape, chalk, paint) and on a temporary basis (play football the next day)?"
I could offer several options to help him, yet he gave me some very performance oriented statements, "mark quickly", "temporary basis", and "next day".
The "next day" requirement is critical to the solution set as well as how much manpower and equipment you have on hand to do the removal process.
Here's what Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker suggests as a course of action.
Given your requirements my proposed solution would be to use aerosol chalk. It goes down line aerosol paint but after it dries it performs like traditional powdered chalk (marble dust or calcium carbonate). You can use a typical floor and sidewalk brush to remove the line. You may want to spray it down with water, especially if you are doing this every week over a season.
You can use the bulk or aerosol removable/temporary paint but this requires more manual labor and/or mechanical equipment along with a cleaning solution to remove the the painted temporary line. TrailBlazer Rally Day would be the bulk latex paint solution we would recommend. While the StripeX would be the aerosol removable paint solution along with their respective removal agents (TrailBlazer Trail Wash and StripeX Removal Agent).
Another possibility is using a temporary, reusable field lining system such as Port-a-Field by CS Platinum Sport Products and Tru Mark's Sand Bag product line for anchoring the corners.
We continue to receive positive feedback on our rugby field layout tool.
The original tool was built using the MS Excel spreadsheet formulas and focused on starting with a centerline through the center of the two goals and the center of the field.
Please send us an email at TruMarkAthletic@gmail.com and we'll gladly send a link so you can download this latest upgraded rugby field layout tool to your desktop (we will not share your email address!).
We continue to receive positive feedback on our Tru Mark lacrosse field layout tool.
The original tool was built using the MS Excel spreadsheet formulas and focused on starting with a centerline through the center of the two goals and the center of the field.
Please send us an email at TruMarkAthletic@gmail.com and we'll gladly send a link so you can download this latest upgraded lacrosse field layout tool to your desktop (we will not share your email address!).
We are using the Tiny-Tach, standard model with reset feature, TT226R-2C, by Design Technology, Inc. This easy to implement unit can be connected to an engine using existing housing bolts/screws, a standard grounding wire for a common connection point, and a RPM sensing wire that is wrapped around the spark plug wire. We use this Tiny-Tach tool to verify that we are generating sufficient RPMs for battery charging in support of our 12-volt diaphragm pump operations. This is a valuable tool for Briggs & Stratton distributors and small engine repair specialists as it is offered in their B&S distributor catalog. Here are a couple features that make this a sure bet for small engine operations:
Simple hour meter with tachomter that is just 1.5" tall by 3" wide
RPM to 9,990 (we were looking for 3,600 RPMs on the B&S engine)
Reset for the hour meter so we could transfer to other units as necessary
Updates every 2.5 seconds
Standard wire length is 6 feet for flexibility in securing the unit
Have you found yourself in a situation where you could use more light on a subject while needing your hands free to accomplish important tasks? Here's an innovative product using new LED and battery technology while incorporating a familiar spring loaded clip solution, called the Clip N Lite system by Moneke Gear.
Everyone with a tool box, glove box, vehicle trunk, fishing boat, camping gear, repair and handyman shop will find an application for this very versatile and light weight solution to putting light on your target without having to use your hands.
Every turf manager, golf superintendent, and lawn care specialist should have this tool issued to them when working in tight spaces, having limited daylight, and poor indoor lighting conditions. This product may be even more valuable than a traditional treble light when working in confined spaces.
How about for you anglers looking for night crawlers at night wishing you had both hands free to capture and safeguard that precious fishing bait.
Master craftsmen in the plumbing, carpentry, electrical, and HVAC business will find many uses for this light weight tool.
All Boy Scouts should be equipped with this very handy device for those late night bathroom breaks, land navigation skills at night, and reading your scout handbook while in the tent before the next big day's merit badge events.
What makes this product so innovative and valuable to just about everyone?
The Clip N Lite Hands Free LED 5-Ultra Bright White is Moneke Gear's most popular style offered in a black case with 5 ultra bright white LED's, 3-way switch, low beam emitting (3 LED's angled down 35 degrees) or high beam with all 5 LED's emitted.
The low beam shines as a floodlight emitting a 10-foot circle at 20 feet and the high beam shines at a 15-foot circle at 20 feet.
The well made clip provides clear line of sight when mounted below the bill of a cap, or clip the system to provide direct or indirect lighting.
Clam shell packaged product includes 2 high performance CR2032 lithium batteries, 2 spare batteries and Moneke's unique battery storage case.
48hour battery life with 10 year shelf life
10,000hour LED bulb life
Dimensions 3 3/8” Length x 2” wide / weight 1.5 oz
I found the best pricing for this time saving LED system at WalleyeFishingLure.com, home to Nebraska Custom Tackle.
We continue to receive positive feedback on our soccer field layout tool.
The original tool was built using the MS Excel spreadsheet formulas and focussed on starting with a center line through the center of the two goals and the center of the field.
Please send us an email at TruMarkAthletic@gmail.com and we'll gladly send a link so you can download this latest upgraded soccer field layout tool to your desktop (we will not share your email address!).
Soccer Facility and Field Operations Tools & Equipment
Have you ever visited another soccer facility and picked up some great operational tips?
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker recently visited the Portage Soccer Complex at 4422 Bishop Rd., Portage MI 49002. This community facility has been well designed and maintained with excellent field drainage, a central building for registrations, meetings, concessions and facility operations and maintenance, and hard surface parking with curbs. Field operations are primarily conducted by some dedicated volunteers, the ones I met were Vern Genisio and David Rice.
With delivery of a Tru Mark self-propelled Model RS-500F Vern Genisio is incorporating another time and supply saving tool to his operations. He mentioned that the complex had invested in a new tractor to handle their aeration duties as well as their new pull behind mower. They recently invested in a deep tine aeration with sand top-dressing service to help with a two fields that weren't draining as well as expected.
Storage is always a challenge at most sport facilities. The Portage Soccer Complex has some well thought out and installed tools to help with their daily operations and year around storage requirements. From soccer goal nets to tool storage the facility personnel have integrated some space and time saving features.
Review some additional images of the Portage Soccer Complex and the RS-500F Field Marking Operations. See how easy the unit is filled with field marking paint, the foot pedal operations, the floating paint shoe assembly in action, and "making a straight line in less time".
Intake Line Upgrade Kit -- Bottom for RS-500 Series
Tru Mark introduces the latest upgrade kit to the Series RS-500 self-propelled riding athletic field marker units. All units are now (2008) being delivered with this new assembly.
The RS-500 Bottom Intake Line Upgrade Kit improves the intake of field marking paint from the tank to the Shurflo 3.3 GPM 12-volt diaphragm pump. The 20-gallon (2) tanks are now outfitted with plastic PVC connectors from the tank bottom along with an easily accessible in-line filter assembly to a garden hose swivel connector before connecting to the pump assembly.
The kit integrates the existing 2-way ball valve along with connectors for changes in pipe diameters for quick and easy clean-out procedures. The in-line filter can now be easily removed through a screw on/off container with access to the stainless steel mesh screen. The assembly includes a swivel hose connector so the unit including the pump and hose lines can be flushed with a garden hose attachment.
The assembly, one for each tank, is configured to stay within the perimeter of the steel tank frame for protection yet allows for easy access by the field marking operations staff.
Comedy Festival in the Midwest -- Eddie Brill & Robert Klein
Looking for some great entertainment and seeing in person the up and coming stand-up comedians. Come help commemorate one of the greatest comedians, Johnny Carson, in his home town for a week long event, June 16-22, 2008. Norfolk, Nebraska is proud to Present: The Great American Comedy Festival!
Eliminate Spills From Drink Containers -- DrinkBib.com
Tried of cleaning up dugouts, sidelines, locker and conference rooms where the water and drink coolers and coffee maker have left their trails. Drink Bib saves time and minimize messes from drinking dispensers that drip their contents.
A very practical and easy to use tool that grounds keepers, facility managers, conference organizers, and caters are sure to find helpful with different events and drink dispensing operations. Check out some of the pictures for this clean-up saving and wet floor prevention drink bib molded plastic device.
The Drink Bib is made of a durable plastic that can be easily hand washed and will last through many uses. The Drink Bib is available in two colors, clear and black.
This innovative product could be used for fund raising activities as well as promotional and advertising opportunities.
Try out the Drink Bib and catch those messy drips.
We are offering the Model EZ-70 field marker at a reduced price of $899.00, you're saving $80.00 on this already competitive price.
Check out this square tubular welded steel frame with stainless, zinc plated, and brass parts for corrosion resistance and increased longevity. This model features the popular and economical 12 volt sealed battery (included) with a 18 amp hour rating for up to 2 hours of field marking operations. For those larger field marking operations we suggest having a second replacement battery for quick replacement in the field. This unit features the Tru Mark floating paint shoe assembly for crisp lines not matter the terrain.
What is the difference between the EZ-70 and our ever popular Model E-100? Check out this comparison table of these 12-volt diaphragm pump technology and walk-behind striping units.
So if you are tired of using aerosol cans for your field marking operations then consider the EZ-70 field marker. Save on both your field striping time and the cost of field painting supplies when using bulk latex field marking paint and our 12-volt pump field striping technology.
Multi-functional standard and heavy duty metal drag mats solve traditional challenges with new design solutions.
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker introduces the toughest Drag Mats in the sports field maintenance industry. These drag mats are an adaption from the conveyor belt manufacturing industry.
There are several unique construction designs introduced to help solve the traditional tasks of Baseball and Softball Infield Grooming, Landscaping, breaking down Turf Aerator Cores, Seed Bed Preparation, Dew Removal, and Grass Field Designs for special events. These innovative design solutions include: - One piece rivet free U-bar design allows for true reversibility - Larger diameter rods increase drag mat strength and resists distortion - Unique clinched edge design minimizes snagging and breakage, and - Galvanized steel for longevity
The metal drag mats come in standard and heavy duty options. Standard size drag mats allow for a package delivery to continental US addresses.
Do you have a special requirement, then let us know as we can build to your specifications. Just send an email to: TruMarkAFM@eSelling4u.com with a subject title of Drag Mat Custom Specifications and your special needs to include your zip code for a total cost proposal including shipping and handling.
One of the first eco-friendly aerosol paints for natural turf application was introduced by Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker. For those youth sports organizations and facility managers requiring a more environmentally friendly aerosol paint application this newest water based product will meet the challenges. Tired of seeing traditional aerosol paint burning the grass then try Eco Stripe aerosol field marking paint. Besides the traditional white, Eco Stripe comes in blue, red, and yellow.
Each 20 ounce can holds 18 ounces of product and can be dispensed through the standard T-shaped spray tip using the traditional aerosol paint striper, spray wand, and by hand. The product normally ships within 2-3 days of the order if not sooner and 12 can case orders are delivered by FedEx Ground service. Check out the Eco Stripe water based aerosol Paint Product page to download a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) (PDF format). Larger quantities can be shipped by common carrier to reduce your per case costs. Contact TruMarkAFM@eSelling4u.com for a large quantity price quote.
Do you need to upgrade your aerosol paint striper then consider the Sharp Stripe All Terrain unit with over-sized pneumatic wheels and axle bearings.
The 2008 new year brought another round of Tru Mark product introductions, the newest sand bag barrier products. The two new additions were created based on customer feedback and requirements.
The 35 pound Inter-Lock Barrier (IB) sand bag is a modified 10 pound sand bag as if two had been sewn together. This new design improves the stacking integrity of multiple sand bags. This increases the barrier affect to the ballast material from environmental contamination thus allowing for multiple uses without suffering from growing organisms. The vinyl laminated fabric is even stronger than the earlier sand bag versions. It is easy to clean up and store. The 6 inch carrying strap allows for quick and easy relocation. Because of the side by side design this sand bag is ideal for holding down a soccer goal by laying it down with the center of the bag parallel and overlapping the horizontal ground bars.
35 Pound Sand Bag, 14" wide x 25" long plus 6" nylon web carrying strap. Two separate compartments provide interlocking capability when bags are stacked. Two inner plastic bags for securing on-site material within the bag before closure. Velcro closure at carrying strap end. The fabric material consists of a yellow vinyl laminate. When filled the sand bag is 22" long by 10" wide by 3.5" thick.
The 55 pound barrier sand bag was specifically designed for protecting a standard 35 inch wide doorway from encroaching water conditions. The additional weight allows for holding heavier objects in place.
55 Pound Sand Bag, 10" wide x 38" long plus 6" nylon web carrying strap. Inner plastic bag provided for securing on-site material within the bag before closure. Grommet and Velcro closure at carrying strap end. Fabric material is red aqua marine. When filled the sand bag is 36" long by 6.5" wide by 5.5" thick.
What is one of best turf shoes on the market? My vote is for the LawnGrips product line introduced over 2 years ago.
I was able to see the product for the first time at the annual 2006 STMA conference trade show. Representatives had several shoe models on hand for show visitors to try on. Although they didn't have the model on hand I was able to verify my shoe size at the show. I ordered a pair of 2001 Pros size 9 and have used them almost non-stop for two years.
This model appears to have been replaced by the ProLite 6" model.
In our business I have the opportunity to demonstrate our field marking equipment to prospective customers. The LawnGrips are part of my tool kit when out on the turf. They are used all day whether on the grass and skinned areas of ballfields or at our warehouse and office operations.
I really appreciate the higher ankle protection, both in the turf environment as well as in the warehouse operations. There has been very little noticeable wear on the sole. The padded soles are the most comfortable shoe that I've every worn, and I really like my Saucony Shadow 6000 that I've been buying for over 20 years. The LawnGrips kept my feet dry and allowed my feet to breath sufficiently to avoid wet socks. They have suffered several coats of paint over the course of a field striping season, yet were easy to clean up with soap and water (warm) and a strong bristle brush. They basically looked new again after the cleanup process.
Since I've overused/abused these LawnGrips, see Tru Mark photo album, they have shown some breakdowns, namely the uppers started separating from the soles and the internal padding especially around the heal starting breaking down. When the uppers separated I received my first cold bath since purchasing them when going through a shallow drainage ditch. The heal area although worn has not cause any blisters.
This is the best investment I've every made on a pair of shoes, even beating out my Lucchese Ropers hand made cowboy boots that I've owned for over 20 years.
Aer-Flo Product Introductions at 2008 STMA Conference
Aer-flo continues to add new products to their sports turf cover offering. On the trade floor show of the annual 2008 Sports Turf Managers Association Conference in Phoenix, AZ, Jeff Mondor, Sales Director for the Sports Field Products introduced their latest product, Landing Zone Ballasted Pit Cover. This latest product is the integration of the wind weighted and turf protection technologies to help protect long and triple jump sand pits.
Also introduced this past year is the heat welded banners to the turf protection products to include the Bench Zone Sideline Turf Protectors.
Printing on products are now being offered by the company to help support sports programs through avenues such as advertising and team spirit.
The annual 2008 Sport Turf Managers Association conference in Phoenix, AZ continues to highlight companies introducing new products. Cambridge, Inc. introduced several different drag mats to the sport turf industry. Cambridge International, a manufacturer of industrial conveyor belts, has solved several typical problems with drag mats.
Mike Truitt, Director, Turf Mat Technology, explained how unique clinched edge design minimizes snagging and subsequent mat breakage. In addition the new one piece rivet free u-bar design is truly reversible. Also the Cambridge drag mats feature larger diameter rods which increase mat strength and resist distortion.
The drag mats can be custom built to customer requirements from the following specifications, mesh in a standard or heavy duty 1" x 1", strip size in 3/8" x .050 or 1/2" x .062, rod size 11 gauge or 6 gauge, and weight in 1.89 or 3.65 lbs/sq ft respectively. The custom mat options include standard or heavy duty, woven mesh, flexible or rigid, with or without bars, standard or heavy duty bars, 1" x 1" or 3" x 1" openings, chain or rope attachments, and widths from 6" to 200".
Refer to several of the different drag mat images from the conference trade show display.
This particular turf field used a crumb rubber infield with sewn-in football field lines and the soccer field touch lines (sidelines). This field is used by a local lacrosse club as well. The field had been previously painted several times and the paint build is significant reminding me of gum in a carpet situation. The football field hash marks were painted along with soccer goalie, penalty, and center circle and the standard lacrosse markings. The soccer field lines were painted yellow and the lacrosse field lines painted red.
The customer asked Tru Mark to over stripe the existing soccer field painted lines with the TrailBlazer Solar Trail, Bison Gold, permanent synthetic turf paint. There was no attempt to remove the paint that had been previously applied. The existing paint appeared have a very strong bonding agent, similar to rubber compound, and was concentrated at painted intersections. Also a lot of the paint had been applied to the crumb rubber infield making it just about impractical to clean the lines effectively before reapplying turf paint. During the striping operation we did not use a string to guide us, just the existing line.
Lesson Learned: Avoid overstriping at intersections when painting synthetic turf surfaces. Plan ahead when to start and stop your striping. For example, Minnesota Metro Dome uses a 4" x 4" cardboard spacer at the edge of the sideline when painting the 5-yard lines to ensure separation.
Lesson Learned: Whenever time allows and precision is needed pull a string to guide your striping operations, especially on synthetic turf surfaces.
Lesson Learned: Under application of paint on synthetic turf surfaces is preferred. Reduce the amount of pressure on your line striper to minimize over application and over spray. Practice your walking speed, stop and starting procedure, on a test strip when possible.
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker general manager, Mark Hall, along with Darrell Ervasti of D.Ervasti Sales, and TK Products representative participated in synthetic turf cleaning and painting demonstratation. The demonstration team visited Minnetonka High School in the suburban Minneapolis, MN area, home to a $2.4 million baseball and multipurpose synthetic turf sports field and grandstand area.
The demonstration included the cleaning of an existing painted baseball coaches box along the 3rd baseline using TrailBlazer Trail Wash cleaner, applying TrailBlazer Moon Daze paint as a test stripe, applying the same paint over the cleaned area as well as over stripping the coaches box along the 1st base line. Besides the physical labor for turf cleaning Tru Mark used the Graco FieldLazer as the line striping unit. The FieldLazer was outfitted with a RAC 5 SwitchTip LL5419. The Moon Daze paint is designed for multi-game application without any dilution and was applied directly from a 5-gallon pail.
Two weeks after the application several images were taken of the painted surfaces. There was not flacking of the Moon Daze paint nor any degradation due to traffice and wear activities. The customer was very pleased with the performance of this new formulated paint for synthetic turf fields.
A series of pictures were taken and are listed with captions in a on-line Picasa Web Album.
Lessons learned from the demonstration include: 1) grooming the synthetic turf fibers before painting to achieve a more vertical standing position for more uniform paint application, 2) a long handled short bristle brush for less wear and tear on the back, 3) access to running water and cleaning rags, 4) using a taut string line to help the operator achieve straight painted lines 5) backpack or hand sprayer for applying the Trail Wash cleaning solution, 6) drip rag for wiping spray tip to avoid any dripping when moving between application areas, 7) after stopping the spray gun/tip application, pull back the paint striper to avoid paint dripping on unpainted turf 8) use a cardboard sheet (old refrigerator box) for test pattern and tip height adjustment
Early in our product development as well as product upgrades we received and continue to receive questions about what athletic field marker is the best solution. To answer this question we need to ask several additional questions to help match the right field striping solution for a particular operation.
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker developed a short tutorial that may be helpful for organizations and individuals that are considering an equipment purchase, especially when deciding to convert from aerosol paint to bulk latex paint operations. For those contemplating switching from aerosol to bulk latex field striping operations you should refer to this frequently asked question response.
The tutorial "How to Select an Athletic Field Marker" is a first step in analyzing your situation and the options available. This tutorial is available through the web site and as a PDF download (48KB).
For example, here are a series of questions that will help in your field marker selection: - is this a volunteer organization, - are there dedicated volunteers or staff striping your fields, - how many people are involved with the field striping operations, - what type of maintenance staff do you have access to, - what experience level does the field marking staff have relative to the types of equipment being considered, - do you need specific equipment maintenance experience such as small engine operations, - will this equipment be used for multiple sports field striping operations, - how many fields are being striped at any given time, - do you have access to water at your field locations and other support services such as electricity or CO2 compressed gas, - where is your equipment and supplies being stored, - is transportation to multiple locations an issue, - are parts easily accessible either from vendor or local supplier, - how many common replacement parts are proprietary or can only be purchased from the vendor - what type of warranty is provided with the equipment, - is a operational manual available and does it have trouble shooting steps - what level of service should be expected on a yearly basis or even weekly, and - what does the yearly maintenance expense for the equipment generally run?
We would encourage you to list those those appropriate questions you believe are important to your field marking operations. Then ask these questions of prospective vendors.
Do you have an interesting story to share about a field marking experience?
I can remember the first time I helped volunteer to stripe a local practice football field. The spray wand and hose is attached through a separate quick disconnect. After using the spray wand and rolling it up on the hose holder I continued on with other line striping operations. Later in the day as we were cleaning up we needed to drain the spray wand and hose. You probably already know how this ends. After turning off the pump motor I failed to relieve the pressure at the spray wand and hose before disconnecting the hose from the quick disconnect. As I kneeled down to preform the disconnect the pressure from the hose was quickly released through my hand and subsequently paint was deposited on my face. This volunteer received a free face painting and just a little bit of harassment. Oh well, thank goodness for acrylic latex paint and the easy cleanup. The other good thing was we were using a low volume low pressure 12-volt diaphragm pump unit so there was low risk safety issue with my eyes. However, using eye protection is always a good preventative measure when operating equipment.
As part of a community project in Norfolk, NE, the Visioning 2026 effort recoginized the need for improved recreation and park facilities and services for a vibrant and changing culture. Another project beginning in parallel, the Norfolk River Development project, is also looking at multi-use facilities to include office, retail, recreation, lodging and living interconnected for residents and visitors, a destination site, some say the San Antonio of the North.
The following material is a collection of material generated from the Visioning 2026 effort along with other references.
10. Tourism and international travel will increase significantly, with tourists getting their travel information directly over the Internet. Category: TOURISM
1 (Low) - Nebraska is essentially a source of tourism, not a destination for tourists. Thus this trend, though strong and continuing, will have little significance for Norfolk. This could change if the area develops a theme park. In that case, the growth of tourism will become a 4 (High), both because this trend will produce new opportunities for the local economy and because long-distance vacationing will compete with regional attractions for business.
We see five primary theme-park opportunities for Norfolk: • • An “old Nebraska” theme based on the region’s history • • An EPCOT approach, with attractions and foods from exotic foreign cultures; • • A theme based on family life and, perhaps, Biblical stories, with marriage chapels as special attractions (providing not only the service itself, but such ancillaries as rental gowns and formalwear, photographs and videos, and bridal parties); • • High-tech rides; • • And attractions based on movie and video-game tie-ins, such as a park based on the Harry Potter books and movies.
Each of these offers special opportunities and challenges, which will require careful examination before a commitment is made. This is a family environment. It should be non-smoking, non-drinking, with video games and picnic tables, for parents and grandparents taking their children or grandchildren for a day’s outing.
With any organization, whether paid staff or volunteers, it is important to development a team concept for working with your customer whether that is a sports organization, city recreation staff, a vendor, or a field participant.
The Sport Turf Management Association has been developing a educational material for its members as well as visitors to their web site. One of the more recent publications is a tutorial on Fundemental of Project Management.
One of the nuggets from the material is on "Document the Progress Using Photography." The sports turf manager should document the project’s progress pictorially. The more pictures you can take during the building process the better. It is suggested that you photograph the project from the same positions daily. This will provide a historical time lapse of the project. Make sure that you communicate to the construction team that you will be photographing the project for future reference. Take pictures from more than one angle.
An often discussed topic at all the STMA annual and state chapter conferences is the subject of overuse of sports fields. Another recent document "Strategies for Dealing with Overused Athletic Fields," helps everyone supporting a sports operations to understand the tradeoffs involved. The document was published by S.T. Cockerham, University of California, Riverside, CA.
Please provide me with a list of service providers for deep tine aeration of university sports fields.
I don't know of a particular vendor in your area, however here are a couple manufacturers/distributors of deep tine aeration tools that can probably assist you.
Commercial Turf & Tractor, 800-748-7497, Chillicothe, Missouri In the past they have provided turn key solutions, bid and perform the complete aeration project. They offer the Wiedenmann deep tine aerators. I've seen one of these units during a demonstration and it was impressive, even in hard packed soil conditions. This company has been active in the Nebraska Sports Turf Managers Association and Nebraska Turfgrass Association chapters over many years.
Wiedenmann's Terra Spike XP series allows deep aeration and removal of compaction to a depth of 16 inches. Features include a central adjustment of the entry angle from 90 to 65 degrees; a three-speed gearbox that allows a high operating speed; and a tool-free depth adjustment that accurately sets working depth no matter which length of tine is fitted. A central power pack helps to protect the tines from damage in extremely stony or hard conditions. There is an integrated shock-absorbing system designed to protect the machine and absorb vibration, protecting the tractor and operator. You can outfit Terra Spike with an optional overseeding unit, core collection scraper, windrow, hydraulic brush or a hydraulic lift motor for adjusting the depth from the tractor. Optional Terra Tronic is a precise and quick electronic measuring of the working output, the hole count per square foot and the running speed of the tractor.
Toro also makes deep tine aerators. I would check for distributors in your area using their distributor locator web site address.
A customer asked recently about field marking equipment, field paint, and a custom stencil for their football program. "We are looking to paint all the regulation lines as well as a 3' border on the field, a 45 to 45 yd line stencil and to either do a checker board pattern in the end zones. We are also looking for a custom stencil price quote that would fit between the 45 yard lines."
Here's a series of comments in response their request.
We have a couple different field marking options that will do the standard line striping as well as support the wide boundary marking and end zone striping.
To prepare a custom stencil price quote we need a better quality image to work from. We suspect there may be a lot of detail in the logo and it may be difficult to replicate all this detail and still maintain a reasonable cost. We would appreciate a good quality image from the graphic art department if at all possible (.jpg, .eps, .pdf). Please send a image of your logo to mailto:turmarkafm@eselling4u.com.
Both the Model E-100 and the Graco FieldLazer allow for the use of the Paint Boom Accessory for wide boundary painting and your checker board end zone painting.
The Model E-100 is a walk-behind 12 volt diaphragm pump technology, low pressure, low volume unit, while the FieldLazer is a gasoline power high pressure, high volume striper.
For a standard field paint operation you will use on the order of 15 to 25 gallons of paint. This includes the standard boundary lines, yard lines, hash marks, and sideline numbers.
For field stencils our rule of thumb is 1 gallon of diluted paint per 100 square feet. By adding the 3 foot border you'll use on the order of another 10 gallons. For the end zone checker board paint you will typically use about 0.5 gallons of paint (on 1 to 1 dilution ratio) per 100 square feet. Each end zone has 4500 square feet (150 x 30) for a total of 9000 square feet or approximately 45 gallons required.
Adding a custom logo, say 25' x 25' will add an additional 3-5 gallons of paint.
The total diluted gallon usage based on the number of linear and square footage you'll produce 150 gallons of diluted paint.
For each full field painting operation you'll need a total of 70 gallons or 14 5-gallon pails of a SwitchBack Cheap Seats paint formulation. A Columbia Blue will be a custom paint requirement. For the field marking paint are you planning to purchase all the paint at one time?
To reduce on the cost of shipping and provide more diluted gallons of paint per gallon shipped we would suggest the SwitchBack TrailHead MVP formulation which will provide up to a 8 gallons of water to 1 gallon of paint dilution. This would be approximately 4 5-gallon pails of TrailHead MVP ($100 per pail of white + S&H ).
A very good quality product that has been well received is the SwitchBack Ground Boss formulation (4 to 1). This would be approximately 8 5-gallon pails of Ground Boss ($50 per pail of white + S&H).
For a football season with 6 home games you are looking at between 30 to 50 5-gallons pails of paint. For the custom color you'll need to add about $50 per pail to the white color pricing.
Please refer to our 4 page Field Marking Strategies tutorial (PDF format) on some tips and tricks.
As sports turf enthusiasts and field maintenance specialists we see the all to common turf "wart", the divot, caused by sports play. Unfortunately the divot repair typically produces an even more noticeable "wart" for several days.
Tom Russell, Golf Course Superintendent, Missoula Country Club, has perfected a divot mix to minimize the noticeable "wart". He has incorporated sand, water, green paint, compost, and seed using a cement mixer.
To help speed up the recovery of the existing turf and help accelerated the seed growth consider a new product by Growth Products called Repair Plus. According to Growth Products Growth Plus is a unique blend of organic nutrients, biostimulants, natural wetting agent, humic acid and growth promoting rhizobacteria< (PGPR). Growth Products states that Repair Plus should be be mixed with top dressings and seed to heal damaged turf roots and accelerate new growth. It will encourage desired grass species to fill quickly and avoid undesirable grass varieties.
Now using Growth Plus and the prescribed divot mix formula your sports fields may not suffer the noticeable turf "wart" phenomenon.
We periodically get calls about adding a growth regulator to the paint during field marking operations. This technique will slow the growth of grass so the lines will not be mowed off as quickly. Several years ago Iowa State University conducted turf trials using two of the most common grow regulators at that time, Embark and Primo Maxx. I've spoken to several turf managers who have used these products and all agree that less is better, 1/2 oz. per diluted gallon of paint seems to work the best. Just make sure you don't double stripe when using the growth regulator. Syngenta Primo MaxxPBI/Gordon Embark
Do you have a favorite receipe to improve your sports turf surfaces? We'd love to you hear your solution and the story behind it.
Field Marking Paints for All Sports Field Surfaces
Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker introduced field marking paints for natural and synthetic turf sports fields. Bulk latex and aerosol paint are now available for both sport surfaces.
Synthetic turf paint products solve all the facility manager's field marking painting requirements. Bulk latex paints are formulated for one game, multi-game, season-long, or permanent field marking. Aerosol paint for synthetic turf marking are now available. Both paint application solutions can be used for indoor and outdoor facilities.
Paint removing agents are also available to help with the removal process from synthetic turf surfaces. Water and surface agitation (short bristle brush) along with a cleaning agent have been demonstrated to effectively remove the temporary paints. The Solar Wash cleaning agent is also formulated to help remove the permanent field marking paint.
Several companies are now offering mechanized cleaning tools for removing paint from synthetic turf surfaces. You might check on the hand-held rotary brooms from Stihl KB Bristle Brush. Also verify with the synthetic turf manufacturing that the cleaning equipment will satisfy warranty requirements.
The GracoFieldLazer has been shown to be more than an adequate field striper for the bulk latex paint application on synthetic fields where the paint should not be diluted. Although the striper does not create the recommended pound per square inch pressure it does procedure sufficient paint atomization for coverage on nylon, polypropylene, and polyethylene turf surfaces. Check out our blog posting on the FargoDome North Dakota demonstration.
We would be interested in hearing your experiences with field marking paint for both natural and synthetic turf sports fields.
With more news about communities installing synthetic turf sport fields we've included a couple blog links that you may find useful.
The Florida hurricane season puts sports fields out of commission for many days and weeks after torrential rains. Many communities are now investigating and some have started the installation of these synthetic turf fields to increase the use of their sports fields. For example, Ted Hendricks Stadium, 4800 Palm Ave., Hialeah, FL33012, recently installed a multi-purpose field without sewn in lines. They decided because of the multiple sports events they would use removable field marking paint for the different sport seasons.
Weather conditions and the value of real estate in Europe is driving soccer (football) clubs to install synthetic turf fields. This is helping them use these new playing surfaces for many more activities, especially promoting soccer at the youth level. FIFA, The Federation Internationale de Football Association, has several references concerning their standards for the synthetic playing surface.
The Sports Turf Research Institute - STRI is the independent market leader in turfgrass research and agronomy. It is the UK's national centre for consultancy in Sports & Amenity Turf and a recognised world centre for research.
Recently we had the opportunity to participate in a state Futures Problem Solving competition. The state wide program is associated with Future Problem Solving Program International.
For the country and our communities to maintain and create a vibrant culture of creative and problem solving individuals and collaborative teams we need to develop these skills through our schools and support life long learning opportunities.
Here's an exerpt from a email to our children's teacher, Wendy Swenson, from Norfolk Catholic High School, who conducts the program for the 7-9th and 10-12th grade students.
"Thank you for spending time with our children and helping them to learn how to learn.
The skills that you are helping nuture will impact them for the rest of their lives.
The critical thinking skills and collaborating on problem solving are critical lifelong learning behaviors that more people need to develop. Helping our children with these creative skills will help arm themselves for our very fast paced and changing world.
It was great to see our kids get some recognition for their efforts. I see that several teams from Omaha Westside participated in the Seniors division. A 1st place Skit Competition (an excerpt, Mad Cow Bobby, recorded and modified from a potluck dinner presentation) and a 3rd for the Booklet Competition (out of 12 teams) is very impressive. Along with a 1st place finish Skit Competition in the Middle Division, WOW!!. Is this a record with 5 Norfolk Catholic school teams making it to state? Now to get to international!!!
Here's an earlier email to collegues about another creative and problem solving program.
I read a reference to Destination Imagination in the Omaha World Herald (03/17/07) and went on a search. Problem solving using creativity across several learning disciplines.
The Nebraska DI mission states, Our Mission is to nurture and encourage development of the important life skills of problem solving, teamwork, cooperation, curiosity, and self-respect with an "I can" attitude in a creative way.
As part of Visioning 2026 goals toward educating ourselves through live long learning what do you think about sponsoring Norfolk area team(s) that could consist of students from local grade schools, NPS, Catholic, Lutheran, Park Avenue, Kings Academy? Other teams could be sponsored for middle school aged kids and then high school. I suspect we could get several service groups to help support this program as well. http://www.ncaps.org/Register.html
What I like about this program is it's multi-discipline approach!!!
Who would be our best access points for the school systems, the PTAs, school administrators, teachers, school boards, etc.?
There's another national program called FIRST LEGO League. An exciting and fun international robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids ages 9 to 14. I know that NECC is involved in something very similar if not the same program. http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/22/robot.olympics/index.html
It is time for a synthetic turf face lift as the existing turf paint has faded and needs to be repainted. The short dense (no infield material) synthetic turf is about 7 years old with inlaid lines for the football field except for logos, hash marks, and outside boundary markings. The synthetic turf is one continuous cover and is rolled and stowed when not used. The field paint needs to wear well and not flack off due to the rolling operations.
Several months later the team went back to apply the first of two coats of TrailBlazer Solar Trail field marking paint. Refer to the on-line album for images.
D. Ervasti Sales provided their newest paint formulation, TrailBlazer Solar Trail, a permanent field marking paint for synthetic turf (paint application for nylon, polypropylene, and polyethylene or a combination turf fibers). The enclosed images are the paint application using a Graco FieldLazer (RAC 5 standard spray tip LL5521) without use of the paint shields. The hash marks being painted are the perimeter marks around indoor football field.
Solar Trail is a permanent synthetic turf paint and was applied with no dilution which is the recommendation of the manufacturer.
The Solar Trail Label and MSDS recommends that the paint should dry completely within 6-8 hours.
Also demonstrated was the Solar Wash cleaning agent which was used a couple of times to clean up due to a paint drip or mistake was made during application. This product can also be used to remove the paint after it has dried.
With a short dense field turf the spray tip was within inches of the surface.
Tru Mark found that the paint flowed well and application was uniform while using the Graco FieldLazer. Although not tested the RAC 5 spray tip LL5419 would be recommended since the paint was not diluted.
The world of sport turf management will be experiencing challenges with the introduction of new technologies into this ever changing environment.
Synthetic nanoparticles do not harm soil ecology, according to new experiments by researchers at Purdue University in the US. The result was obtained by adding fullerenes (or buckyballs) to samples of soil and observing any changes.
Ron Turco, a Purdue University soil and environmental microbiologist, and his research team designed its study to test how different levels of buckyballs affect soil microorganisms, including bacteria that are responsible for breaking down organic material and producing carbon dioxide and other compounds. Results of the study are published online and in the April 15 issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
How will these impact the sports turf management profession? What should we be learning about this technology to be prepared for challenges we might not yet understand?
These technologies will be introduced into players' uniforms and equipment within a couple years. Thus, we'll likely experience these technologies finding their way into sports playing surfaces and soils soon after.
I predict nanoparticles will be introduced into pest control products within 5 years, soil amendments products within 5-10 years, and paint products in less than 10 years. What will the Material Safety Data Sheets need to reflect for these products, what risk mitigation techniques will turf managers need to consider, and what training requirements will be integrated into employee training procedures? These are just a few of the questions we need to start asking ourselves.
For example, a long-lasting nanoscale gas state has been observed for the first time by engineers in Australia. William Ducker and Xuehua Zhang of the University of Melbourne have observed very thin bubbles of carbon dioxide gas measuring around 10 nm at the interface between a hydrophobic solid and water under ambient conditions. The team has also found evidence for nanobubbles of air. The results not only settle a long-standing debate over whether a stable nano-gas state phase could exist, it might also be put to good use in a diverse range of applications in industry. These include reducing the friction force when pumping liquids through pipes and stabilizing emulsions like paint or salad dressing.
“Unfortunately sudden cardiac arrest can be mistaken for other causes of collapse, which can lead to treatment delays,” said Ron Courson, ATC, task force co-chairman. “Increased training will help rescuers correctly identify SCA and prevent critical delays in beginning resuscitation. In fact, access to defibrillation within three to five minutes is essential, because each minute lost reduces the chance of survival by approximately 10 percent.”
American Heart Association scientific statement, 03/13/2007, 12-step screening may help reduce sudden death in high school and college competitive athletes. The screening includes 12 questions about personal and family medical history and a physical examination to uncover aspects of a potential athlete’s health that could signal a cardiovascular problem.
Turfgrass and Field Maintenance Guides, and Painting Strategies
A national professional sports turf grass organization is writing the encylopedia on turf management by engaging university researchers, professional grounds maintenance leaders, and commercial enterprises. Here's one of the more recent publications that is receiving a lot of interest.
Determining the right sports field for your athletes. A series of survey questions to help turf managers, facility administrators, school boards and city councils determine the benefit of natural and synthetic turf fields.
Is Your Turf Conditioned for the Season? By Dr. Gil Landry, Jr., University of Georgia, 09/28/01. Just as an athlete's conditioning doesn't show up until the second half or last quarter of a game, good soil conditions often are not apparent until late in the season. Soil aeration is as important to field performance as aerobic conditioning is to an athlete. And just like an athlete, a field can't be conditioned overnight. A field should be on a conditioning program that begins before the season and continues throughout.
Baseball Field Maintenance, A General Guide for Fields of All Levels. A 26 page guide jammed packed with a broad range of information for personal supporting field operations.
Are youth baseball sports your passion? Then check out a major league baseball's initiative to help organizations foster youth development and facility operations. Toro announced its support for the Baseball Tomorrow Fund by donating equipment and discounts for grant recipients.
Tru Mark Field Painting Strategies, learn some of the tips and tricks collected from various sources and condensed into a easy reading tutorial. Four page guide covers the customer, field marking paint, plant growth regulators, precautions, football season preparations, game week activities, field marking tools, paint mixing, field striping, and painting logos from manufactured stencils and do-it-yourself layout.
We would like to hear from you on what has worked well or reference material that has really helped your field operations and customer support.
Organic Versus Synthetic Products for Turf
Are you considering whether to use organic products versus a more traditional synthetic series of products on your natural turf lawns and sports fields? LawnandLandscape.com article provides a good introduction on what to consider
“Consumers need to recognize that to maintain healthy lawns, it is essential that organic and synthetic coexist,” adds Delaney, Tom Delaney, director of government affairs for Professional Landcare Network (PLANET). “There’s a misperception that because it’s organic, it’s safe and because it is synthetic it is not, and that misleads the public. It is about choices and what works.”
Please post your field marking services through the comment section of this blog. We will introduce your posting to our Linksweb page.
We have had numerous web site visitors call or email requesting contact information on field marking services in their area.
Please add your appropriate contact information to include name, address, telephone numbers, FAX, email, and web site address.
Are you considering adding field marking operations to your business operations? We can help with how to prepare for a bidding process when it comes to amount of time to stake a field, string, and then paint a sports field, as well as the equipment and paint supplies needed. Send us an email: trumarkafm@eselling4u.com.
Please post your guidelines and tips how to save time and supplies for field marking operations.
Although our web site has testimonials posted we are now allowing customers to add their personal comments directly to this web site.
Please keep comments respectful toward our products as well as competitors. Tru Mark is always open to constructive comments to improve our product line and your field marking operations.
We will keep this section of the blog close to the top of the posting so it can be easily located.
Tru Mark has partnered with inventors to see their creative talents generate innovative products and a revenue stream. With a very diverse group of industries in the Norfolk, NE area we have many different fabrication options.
Welcome to the first of many posts covering a wide variety of topics, primarily focussed on field marking tips, sports turf industry trends, and trends impacting the local community.
Some of these posts will be reflected in some form on the FAQ web page of www.AthleticFieldMarker.com.
We will also post items relating to a local community project, Visioning 2026, that involves future trends and their impact on Norfolk, Nebraska and Madison County.
