Ventrac – It’s the greenkeeper’s Swiss army knife

By Alistair May 9, 2020 07:43

The course manager who owns a Ventrac 4500 compact tractor really does possess the industry’s equivalent of the Swiss army knife as this robust and deceptively powerful 24.9hp machine is so versatile.

With its articulating frame, which also pivots in the centre to maintain excellent traction; its low centre of gravity; its optional wheel extensions allowing operation up to 25° or its dual wheel configuration that can tackle 30° slopes, it’s the perfect machine for multiple golf course operations.

As a mower, there’s a choice of five different mowing attachments allowing the greenkeeper to cut most areas of the golf course, from fine turf to irregularly maintained areas with the same machine. And with over 25 other attachments including aerators, blowers, collectors, stump grinders, path renovators and trenchers, this machine will work 365 days a year. All of the front-mounted attachments feature Ventrac’s unique mounting system enabling the experienced operator to switch between any piece of equipment in less than a minute.

The mowing units include the MU rotary mowing deck, both designed to provide highly efficient grass discharge. With the removal of two pins the decks can be easily tilted to a near vertical position for maintenance and storage.

The Contour Mower has three rear discharge decks that float independently with up to 40 degrees of motion on each side deck. Full length rear rollers facilitate even cutting and striping and the flip-up deck design allows easy maintenance.

The Triplex Reel Mower is designed to be the ultimate trim and surround mower. With a 1.88 metre (74 inch) width of cut, variable speed hydraulics, standard back lapping valves, and offset capability, it includes many features to ensure superior, low-maintenance performance.

The final mowing option is the Tough Cut deck, specifically designed for mowing long grass, thick weeds and heavy brush. Three heavy-duty blades counter rotate to cut and deposit waste evenly without windrowing. Capable of tackling saplings up to 2.54 mm (1 inch) in diameter, the Tough Cut makes short work of overgrown thickets.

However, the Ventrac is not just a versatile mower, it’s also a multi-purpose machine for year-round course maintenance and it’s especially suited for working in wet conditions. In its dual-wheel configuration, it has a total of eight wheels which generate just 6 psi, allowing it to access wet areas when other machines are confined to the maintenance shed.

It excels when used for autumn and winter renovation work. The Tough Cut deck is excellent for knocking down those areas that are only maintained a couple of times a year or for clearing overgrown areas in woodland.

Peter Pattenden, Golf Courses and Estates Manager at Carden Park is an advocate of Ventrac and says: “It’s no secret that I favour Toro equipment, so it has to be a special piece of kit to sway me away from the brand and that’s why I purchased the Ventrac. It’s an extremely versatile machine and one that no other major manufacturer produces. It was delivered with a selection of accessories including Contour deck, Tough Cut deck, Stump Grinder, Edger, Blower and Power Broom.

“The Contour deck is great out on the golf courses, especially on sloping tee banks, the Tough Cut deck is superb for land management as it can cut through saplings, bracken and gorse, helping to maintain the areas that consume man-hours. The Edger has saved hours of labour. We can keep our mile-long drive leading up to the hotel looking pristine all year long, at a fraction of the time and cost we previously incurred. In some areas, we’ve reduced the time maintaining banks with brushcutters from one and half hours to just 10 minutes using the Ventrac.

“We invested over £400,000 in new cart paths over the past few years and since then we have had a series of storms that have taken down trees, some close by the paths. We can’t send in an excavator to remove the stumps and roots for fear of damaging the paths and that’s where the Stump Grinder has come into its own.

“The Ventrac and the attachments we purchased has uplifted the presentation of the estate in the time that we’ve had it; it’s simply a no-brainer purchase for any golf course or estate manager.”

For installing or upgrading irrigation, the Trencher attachment can create a channel one metre deep and leave a clean spoil furrow for backfilling later. The Aera-vator is a unique attachment, designed to vibrate and loosen the soil beneath the grass without destroying the surface. It creates a clean hole without a core, leaving the turf ready for use immediately following aeration and can be fitted with an overseeder component to complete two jobs in one pass.

The Stump Grinder is ideal for woodland management projects and there’s a choice of two powerful blowers for autumnal leaf clearance. Two interesting attachments are the Power Rake and Power Broom, both of which were purchased as part of a package by Cameron McMillan, who owns Djuke, the specialist sports turf maintenance company.

“The Power Rake is very impressive,” he said. “We had a demonstration on a foul day and it renovated the surfaces of machinery pathways and golf car paths with ease. The Power Brush is typical of Ventrac’s attachments, easy to connect to the tractor and highly efficient in use. I can’t believe how compact, powerful and manoeuvrable the Ventrac is, whichever attachment is connected. Without doubt this addition to our fleet will enable us to improve the non-playing surfaces for our clients and provide business opportunities that were not previously open to us.”

Glenn Kirby was the Course Manager at Hockley Golf Club, situated on the rolling South Downs just outside Winchester. A sceptic when he first saw the machine, he explains the reasons for purchasing his Ventrac back in 2017.

“The first attachment demonstrated was the Contour deck and I quickly went from sceptic to fan; the way it followed the undulations was very impressive and it ticked a box straight away. We then tried the Tough Cut deck and I was amazed at how quickly changing from one to the other was accomplished. The coupling system is ingenious and makes the change-over very efficient. Again, the deck worked much better than I anticipated and with eight tyres spreading the weight of the tractor, it can tackle quite severe slopes. Another box ticked!

“The Contour deck performed excellently around our bunkers. It’s a time-consuming job strimming bunker surrounds; it normally takes two men a day to complete the task. We now do this, and the tee banks, in just four hours. That frees up the guys to do other vital tasks around the course.

“However, what really sold it was the Aera-vator attachment; this a vibrating aerating head that will enable us to punch holes on slopes and that’s a game-changer. We’ll be able use it on all green surrounds, tees and fairways. I’m very excited about the possibilities of this machine; it’s so versatile and does everything I want it to.”

Every course manager knows that a standard compact tractor can quickly become a one-trick pony due to the complexity of changing over attachments. In most cases third-party attachments haven’t been designed specifically for that brand of tractor and how often has a loader or aerator been left on the machine because it’s too time consuming to remove them? With Ventrac, every attachment has been designed specifically for the machine and features their patented mounting system, which enables a tool-free and effortless change-over. The experienced operator will do this in less than a minute and, because it’s this easy, the Ventrac becomes the most versatile machine in any course manager’s fleet.