SALTEX powers up practical skills

SALTEX powers up practical skills: SALTEX 2025 is set to power up the skills of grounds professionals with ‘The Workshop’ – a brand-new feature delivering live, hands-on machinery guidance for professionals and volunteers. Designed to help you get the very best from your kit and machinery, it’s practical learning you can put to work straight away.

Sessions will be led by Tom Stidder, one of the industry’s most respected turf machinery experts. With more than 27 years’ experience in turf care, Tom’s career has taken him from a workshop technician to senior technical training and consulting positions with major turf machinery manufacturers.

Now an independent trainer and advisor, he works with high-profile organisations such as The Football Association (FA), the All England Club, The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and football clubs worldwide, including involvement in preparations for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The sessions are tailored to both community-level and professional grounds teams, covering mowers, sprayers, compact tractors and more. And each session will demonstrate best practice in action, giving you the tools to boost machine performance and extend equipment life which, in turn, will deliver better results on the ground.

Community sessions are designed for volunteers and operatives who want to build confidence and competence when working with core machinery. They will give you the essential knowledge to operate equipment safely and keep it performing at its best, and will cover:

• Pre- and post-use safety checks to keep equipment running smoothly
• Safe, simple techniques for attaching and detaching implements
• Basic servicing routines for rotary and cylinder mowers
• Practical sprayer use, including pressure, coverage and calibration basics

Professional sessions are aimed at turf managers and experienced grounds staff responsible for delivering high standards on larger or more specialist sites. These sessions go deeper into optimising machinery for performance and turf health, helping you refine your approach and get more from your equipment. They’ll focus on:

• Advanced mower set-up to improve cut quality, definition and reduce wear
• Cutting unit configuration, mower sharpening, and extending service intervals
• Sprayer set-up and calibration for greater precision and efficiency
• Nozzle selection and application techniques to optimise results and meet compliance standards

Visitors can bring their real-world challenges to open Q&A clinics and leave armed with actionable insights they can apply straight away. No theory overload, just real, practical advice.

Sarah Hunter, Head of Events at the Grounds Management Association, said: “We’re thrilled to introduce ‘The Workshop’ at SALTEX 2025. It’s a hands-on, no-nonsense masterclass in turf machinery that’s as practical as it is powerful. It’s exactly the kind of skill-boosting training that makes SALTEX the can’t-miss event of the year.”

On the new show feature, Tom Stidder says: “I’m really excited to bring this brand-new workshop to SALTEX. It’s all about helping grounds teams get the most out of their kit in a simple, hands-on way. SALTEX is such an important event for the industry – it’s where people come together to share ideas, and now they’ll be able to pick up practical tips for their machinery that they can use straight away. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and hopefully making life a bit easier for those working hard out on the ground.”

For more details, please visit saltex.org.uk/workshop.

Join us at the NEC Birmingham, on 12-13 November 2025.

For more information or to register, visit www.saltex.org.uk and be in with a chance of winning a Cramer Tools All Terrain Lawn Mower ATM53A, complete with charger and battery, worth £2,240!

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