JHowe – posted 04 October 2004 09:29
Our groundscrew at the university I work at are woefully inept when it comes to painting our fields (football in particular). I have been at some other insititutions where this wasn’t an issue and have seen equipment that is different than what we have here. As far as spraying goes, what should our guys be using?
They use the industrial sprayers, but I don’t know what pressure or tips they use. Any ideas on what is a minimum requirement or best available? The paint seems to soak the ground instead of painting the blades of grass.
We have Bermuda Tiffway 419 grass FYI and have a major problem with grass growing through the paint after it is down. It has to be operator error in my opinion, but maybe it can be helped with better equipment.
The paint we have used this season is made by SunTec Paint out of Gainesville. It’s actually turf paint. In the past they used a latex-based house paint from Sherwin-Williams (don’t get me started on that).
I want them to keep using the turf paint, but this past weekend they ran out of paint and dod not finish one endzone (don’t even ask how bad that looked). We have another game in 4 weeks and I need to get them using the right paint and equipment.
Also, is there a good book out there that I could get them that would explain how to cut an athletic field. They use rotary mowers, not reel mowers and I know it’s bad for the field, but have nothing but my past experiences to back me up.
Thanks for any help you may give.
Jonathan Howejhowe@mcneese.edu
patton999 – posted 09 February 2005 20:41
Sorry, this reply is late but it still may help ya out. We used two different machines that I know of. One is a push striper-CO2 tank and Paint Container-4-inch box on side-1 tip in box-gun at tank. Less paint use. Easier coverage control with walking speed.The other is basically a golf cart that was retrofitted for use as a paint machine. Uses a pneumatic arm at front containing wheeled box-2 tips from different directions-3 large tanks on rear. This machine was one of around 12 prototypes. Looks cool but it needs much more refining. Great for serving mixed drinks on the golfcourse though. Uses more paint and it’s a pain to use. Constant problems and it’s much much easier to make mistakes. Pushstriper needs more refills but works better in my opinion.We use Pioneer BriteStripe turf pain. Seems to work quite well. Says to mix 1to1-this isn’t really necessary-great coverage and it’s good for day games though. Go 2to1 first stay there or pull down to around 3to1 once base is down. Don’t use Latex-besides the cleaning-it’ll kill your grass. Stops any oxygen,water or sun. Aeresols-even many turfpaint aeresols will quickly kill your grass wherever it’s applied.The grass growing through may be some operator error-they may be using too much pressure, the paint may be thinned too much, it may be getting too much grow time in between, could be watering after the paint is applied, the grass could be too wet when paint is applied or it could be a combination. With good paint coverage the grass tips won’t grow out much-they’ll be coated and it usually stays covered as it grows. Doesn’t really need to be done in 1 day. I’ll use two with one-maybe two days before game. If your coverage is good you should be OK. Really wet grass causes problems but I’ve found that some moisture in the grass does help. With thick enough paint, especially the first striping-some moisture seems to give better coverage down the grass blade. Too much will puddle at bottom of grass blades.I use a 3000 Toro rotary for most of the sports fields. Looks OK at a taller height but it didn’t burn when pulling down to 1.5″ I think 1″ is the recommended-never tried-no idea about burns. Your paint will stick better at 1.5 and lower. Cutting it lower also greened up the field. I’m not positive-seems like the playing area is mainly fescue with a bit of bermuda mixed in.I can get you some specifics on the equipment we use including tipsizes and Striper brand. If you need any specifics on equip. just give me a reply.This is long-must have started yapping.
greenergrass – posted 25 October 2008 22:50
We’re new to the this business. Could you please give us the “tipsizes and the striper band that you use.
quote:Originally posted by patton999:Sorry, this reply is late but it still may help ya out. We used two different machines that I know of. One is a push striper-CO2 tank and Paint Container-4-inch box on side-1 tip in box-gun at tank. Less paint use. Easier coverage control with walking speed.The other is basically a golf cart that was retrofitted for use as a paint machine. Uses a pneumatic arm at front containing wheeled box-2 tips from different directions-3 large tanks on rear. This machine was one of around 12 prototypes. Looks cool but it needs much more refining. Great for serving mixed drinks on the golfcourse though. Uses more paint and it’s a pain to use. Constant problems and it’s much much easier to make mistakes. Pushstriper needs more refills but works better in my opinion.We use Pioneer BriteStripe turf pain. Seems to work quite well. Says to mix 1to1-this isn’t really necessary-great coverage and it’s good for day games though. Go 2to1 first stay there or pull down to around 3to1 once base is down. Don’t use Latex-besides the cleaning-it’ll kill your grass. Stops any oxygen,water or sun. Aeresols-even many turfpaint aeresols will quickly kill your grass wherever it’s applied.The grass growing through may be some operator error-they may be using too much pressure, the paint may be thinned too much, it may be getting too much grow time in between, could be watering after the paint is applied, the grass could be too wet when paint is applied or it could be a combination. With good paint coverage the grass tips won’t grow out much-they’ll be coated and it usually stays covered as it grows. Doesn’t really need to be done in 1 day. I’ll use two with one-maybe two days before game. If your coverage is good you should be OK. Really wet grass causes problems but I’ve found that some moisture in the grass does help. With thick enough paint, especially the first striping-some moisture seems to give better coverage down the grass blade. Too much will puddle at bottom of grass blades.I use a 3000 Toro rotary for most of the sports fields. Looks OK at a taller height but it didn’t burn when pulling down to 1.5″ I think 1″ is the recommended-never tried-no idea about burns. Your paint will stick better at 1.5 and lower. Cutting it lower also greened up the field. I’m not positive-seems like the playing area is mainly fescue with a bit of bermuda mixed in.I can get you some specifics on the equipment we use including tipsizes and Striper brand. If you need any specifics on equip. just give me a reply.This is long-must have started yapping.