Athletic Field Painting – Need help

JHowe – posted 04 October 2004 08:51

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 sainting the blades of grass.

We have Bermuda Tiffway 419 grass FYI and have a major problem with grass growing through the pain 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

Ho*******@mc*****.edu

tahoekid – posted 01 December 2004 22:09

the grass grows fast and the painted blades are cut when mowed. Bermuda lawn blades are not always at the same length. Paint the grass at around 1pm when grass is completly free of dew. Mow the lawn a day before the first game and paint the grass the same day.

tahoekid – posted 01 December 2004 22:14

ammendment to my message. Cut grass and paint the grass one day before the game. Do not use paint unless it is made for turf, unless you want to pay to have somebody clean those uniforms with paint thinner.