Mike Powles and his team of six volunteer grounds staff at Walsham Le Willows Sports Club have a clear mission – to optimise playing surfaces year round.
A GKB Deep Tine Aerator (DTA) and Combislit now allow the club to maintain consistently high-quality pitches, without relying on external contractors.
The Suffolk club runs 24 football and eight cricket teams and while the volunteers can keep on top of regular grass cutting and general site maintenance, historically, they relied on contractors to aerate the pitches twice a year.
This approach came with challenges, however. “Contractor availability rarely aligned with our schedule or the ideal ground conditions which meant that costs quickly mounted,” said Mike, “but the results weren’t always as we would have hoped.”
Seeking a more flexible, cost-effective solution, Mike spotted the DTA at Saltex. “It looked solid and strong. You could tell it was built to last.” Despite torrential rain on demo day, the results led to the purchase of a 1.6 m model via Ernest Doe close to two years ago.
“We now have full control over where and when we aerate. If conditions are good, we get it on the back of the tractor and away we go,” he says. “It’s straightforward to operate, which is important for us as a volunteer team and means we’ve been able to get the DTA out more often – paying dividends in terms of surface quality.”
The club returned to Ernest Doe earlier in 2025 to add a GKB Combislit to the fleet. “We attended a GMA event where the pitch advisor suggested we look at a slitter and, because the DTA has worked so well, we only looked at GKB.”
Together, the DTA and Combislit give Walsham Le Willows year-round options for aeration, whether the upper surface needs opening or when deeper penetration is required. Mike adds.
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