Pacific Sports Turf has added the Koro Field ‘Topmaker’ (Fraze Mower) to its fleet of equipment and we are excited to offer a new way to combat some issues that used to be costly, stressful, messy, and labor intensive.
Ko Rodenberg developed the original machine while maintaining soccer pitches for the city of Rotterdam to help control/combat poa annua on fields without chemical use. The machine was refined over the years by Canpy Inmants with input from Jerad Minnick and Jock Eddington to be the impressive piece of machinery that is now in our fleet. It is relatively new in the United States with refined use beginning in 2012.
Below are some of the known uses:
Natural Turf Athletic Field
Fraze mowing – This process has proved to be an effective way to combat Poa infestation on athletic fields across the globe without the use of chemicals.
Thatching – Removes the organic layer on sand capped and soil surfaces.
Leveling – The Topmaker will carve off high spots and smooths playing surfaces.
Sod preparation – Cuts and removes the precise amount of material leaving clean edges for installation of sod.
Vegetation removal – The Topmaker will remove vegetation prior to grading.
The Topmaker is used to control thatch on aggressive warm season grasses, so this machine will also help remove excessive thatch on our cool season creeping varieties of turf as well.
Baseball/Softball Skinned Areas
Lip removal – The Topmaker is a very clean and precise machine for the removal of baseball and softball lips.
Soil Removal – We can remove a very exacting layer of infield soil to make room for soil importation or remove a poor surface layer caused from years of topdressing conditioners.
Vegetation Removal – We can skim vegetation from the surface to help prepare infested surfaces (this will not completely remove weeds as roots and seeds will continue to come back).
Golf Course
See article in Golf Course Industry Magazine
- Smoothing range tee boxes.
- Dethatching/ removing organic layer.
- Open surface to fairway drain lines.
- Aggressive core harvesting after aeration.
- Sod preparation for larger areas.
- Smooth landing areas on fairways
This machine has many uses so if there is something you’d like to try that isn’t listed above we are willing to put it to the test for you.
