ZERO TURNS AND ELECTRIC DOMINATE AT SALTEX

The GMA's SALTEX show took place at the NEC this week, with good attendance and some quality displays put on by exhibitors.

The teams from Service Dealer and our sister title for professional end-users TurfPro, were out in force on the showfloor, speaking to the great and the good.

L-R: Service Dealer & TurfPro owner Duncan Murray-Clarke; TurfPro environmental feature writer, Professor John Moverley; TurfPro editor Laurence Gale; GMA CEO, Geoff Webb

Keith Christian who was reporting for our magazine said, "I thought the show had a good atmosphere, with some great stands. A great effort that deserves to be applauded, was made by many exhibitors."

This sentiment was echoed by Service Dealer owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke, who said, "Once again there was a very positive feel at SALTEX, which spread across both days.”

Keith continued, "I thought the footprint of the exhibition might have been smaller than previous years, so it was difficult to speculate on the levels of visitors. Perhaps day one saw slightly fewer through the doors than day two - which is surprising considering that Storm Ciaran hit overnight. I certainly saw plenty of turf professionals in attendance on Thursday - although perhaps not as many dealers as some years."

In terms of trends at the show, Keith said, "For me there seemed to be a lot of ride-on and stand-on zero turn mowers around the show - and fewer lawn and garden tractors. Also, as you would expect, a great emphasis on electric machines. In fact it felt like everyone had an electric version of everything - including the much larger machines."

Kubota's Tim Yates and David Hart, with Service Dealer's Duncan Murray-Clarke and Keith Christian

One major unveiling for example was Kubota's Ze electric zero-turn models. Powered by a 48V / 10kW battery which is located at the rear of the machine, the company said these machines had capacity for over 15 000m² of mowing operation.

Also catching Keith's eye was Cramer's new 76cm heavy duty walk behind rotary. All electric, it was an 82volt model.

Keith said that plenty of chat around the halls focussed on SALTEX's place in this newly shaped trade show landscape. He said that whilst he heard lots of positive praise for GroundsFest, most people he spoke to were also pleased with how this year's SALTEX how played out. "Many stand-holders remarked to me in fact," said Keith, "that they had seen plenty of good enquires and picked up solid leads. Some even described having their best first day at the show ever."

Keith said it appeared the decision that many exhibitors will now be making is where should they spend their exhibition budget next year? "It will be a choice between GroundsFest and SALTEX," explained Keith. "But certainly for some, it will not be both".

There will be more from Keith and further new product information from releases seen at the show, in the next edition of Service Dealer magazine.

#TeamTAP L-R: Duncan Murray-Clarke, Nikki Harrison, David Comiskey and Alina Bovtenko