OxyShot successfully shatters compaction at Ipswich Town FC

By Alistair December 19, 2019 08:45 Updated

The OxyShot, from Charterhouse Turf Machinery, recently came to the rescue of waterlogged surfaces at Ipswich Town Football Club’s training ground. Despite having a thorough aeration programme in place, grounds manager Ben Connell called on the air-injection unit, to treat deep-level compaction and improve drainage.

“In the lead up to the winter period, we had been aerating regularly with solid tines to best prepare ourselves for the wetter conditions” explains Ben, who oversees 13 surfaces at the club’s training facility, together with the stadium pitch. “When we started to find waterlogging on one of our academy pitches, I called Peter Knight of Bury Turfcare, who deduced that there was a pan layer roughly 400mm down causing these areas to hold water. As the OxyShot can work down to a depth of 500mm, he brought the unit in to shatter the pan layer and since then, this area has been free-draining.”

Using a single 25mm probe, the OxyShot injects air into the soil in four directions, at a pressure of up to 110psi. Perfect for ‘on the spot’ treatments, the highly manoeuvrable unit can be easily transported for use in a variety of situations – from golf course walkways to goal mouths, tennis baselines and sports pitch touchlines.

Impressed with the results achieved, Ben had the Oxyshot back a few weeks later to carry out further spot treatments on another problem area. “We worked on an area roughly 10m² and the results were fantastic. We had some really significant rainfall in the few weeks that followed and while some surrounding areas were very wet, the test patch was free-draining and clear of any puddling. Months later and we’re still seeing the benefits of the work, with no compaction to report.”