An extremely viable and valuable disregarded method for boosting sport turf health is the verticutter. A verticutter has many vertical blades, which are normally arranged .025 and 1.5 inches from each other on a dredging disc to dredge up thatch of the turf.

1. Verticutting:WhatIsItAndWhyDoYouNeedIt?
cwsportsturf.com/blog/verticutting-what-is-it-and-why-do-you-need-it/
KeithKitchen
WhatIsVericutting?
Anextremelyviableandvaluabledisregardedmethodforboostingsportturfhealthistheverticutter.A
verticutterhasmanyverticalblades,whicharenormallyarranged.025and1.5inchesfromeach
otheronadredgingdisctodredgeupthatchoftheturf.Theprocedureopensthecanopyinorderto
allowturftobreathewell.Theprocessdoesnotstopatremovinganyexcessthatchbutalsoremoves
theorganicmaterialatorbelowtheplant’scrownarea.Themachinecanbeconfusedwiththe
commonaerator,butprovidedifferentbenefitsentirely.Verticuttersdigdeeperintotheturfastheyare
severingstemswhichmaneuveriscreatingveryvisibleresults.Afteraverticutter,itisimportantto
passovertheareawithamowertoremoveallresidualdebrispossiblydamagingtheturfsurface.
Caringforsportsturfcanbeaverydifficultjob,notonlyduetowear-and-tearfromconstantuseby
athletesandracinghorses,butbecausethoseemployeesresponsiblefortheturfmaynothave
sufficientexpertiseorknowledgenecessarytokeepturfhealthyandattractive.Sportsturfisalltoo
oftenmanagedbysmalltowns,schooldistrictsorlocalparkservicesthathaveneverhadextensive
traininginmaintenanceofturfusedforathleticsandactivesports.Itisimportanttounderstandthe
differencesbetweenthemanyproceduresandprogramsforpreparingandmaintainingsportsturf.
HowItWorks
Verticalcuttingdevices,called“verticutters”arewellknown.Anexampleofaverticuttingturfdeviceis
setforthinU.S.Pat.No.6,393,814toGorey.Verticuttingdeviceshaveanumberofbladesconnected
toadriveshaft.Asthedriveshaftturns,bladesmakeverticalcutsintheground,cuttingrunnersinthe
turfandremovingdeadthatchandotherdeadfoliagefromtheturf.Whenattachedtomowers,a
verticutteronlypenetratesthegroundatsmalldepthsbecauseitisunderpoweredtocutdeeper
depths.
Dependingontheturfcondition,aerationispreferredoververticuttingandviceversa.Also,thereare
situationswhentheneedexiststouseverticuttingtoprocesscoresremovedbytheaerator.Thereisno
devicethatlinksanaeratorandaverticutterintoasingleusefulbeneficialunit.Onemustswitchback
andforthbetweenanaeratorandverticuttingmachine.Asaresulttheindustryisinneedforadevice
whichcanperformbothaerationandverticutting.Stilloneadditionalobjectofthisnecessaryand
essentialtimeandmoneysavinginventionistoprovideaverticuttingturfservicedevicethatcanbe
adaptedbyworkersforuseinconjunctionwithexistingaeratordevices.
WhatIsNeededForEfficiency
Boththeaerator12andtheverticutter14could
beoperatedatthesametimeeitherbydriveshaft
16orbyindividualseparatedriveshafts.The
verticutter14cuttingdepthistherebyableto
beraisedviaadjustingtheheightwheels33toa
positionslightlyoffthegroundastheaerator12
pullsplugsorcoresdirectlyfromthe
ground.Thesecoresthenwouldengagethe
blades34oftheverticutter14.Thedevicewould
nowperformthefunctionsofaerationandcore

2. processing.
Summary
Bytheuseofaverticuttingdeviceconnectedtoaconventionalaerator,thisinventioncouldsave
moneyandlaborwithboththeaerationanduseofverticuttingofsoilbyasingledevice.
KeithKitchen
OwneratCommonwealthSportsTurfServices
GrowinguponaworkingfarmthatfeedsyourfamilygaveKeithanappreciationforthe
importanceofplanningforgrowth.Itwascornandpeanutsthen,nowitsportsturf.
AftergraduatingfromVirginiaTechwithaBachelorsofScienceinAgricultural
Economicsandspending5yearswithSouthernStates,Keithpartneredintoanewbusinessventure
overseeingnaturalturfmaintenanceforLuxuryLawns,astartupmaintenancecompany.Continued
growthover20yearshasplacedLuxuryLawns,acompanyKeithnowowns,inthetopsmall
businessesintheMidlothianareaspecializinginresidentialturfmanagement,landscapedesignand
installation,andhardscapeapplications.Aftersuccessintheresidentialturfmarket,Keithlaunched
CommonwealthSportsTurfandnowmanagesthedaytodayoperationsofthebusiness.
LatestpostsbyKeithKitchen(seeall)
Verticutting:WhatIsItAndWhyDoYouNeedIt?-June22,2014
EnhanceTheBeautyOfYourSportsTurf-May24,2014
Overseeding?Verticutter?Slit-Seeding?SliceSeeder?Whattodo!?-May19,
2014