Page 6 - OPE Mar-Jun 22

CLIPPINGS
Local and International News
OPE TECHNOLOGY
Battery buys are tops in international news
PANDEMIC PLAYS HAVOC WITH EVENT SCHEDULES
THE THREAT OF widespread
infection from the Omicron strain of the Corona virus in January propelled New Zealand into the red setting of the Government’s Traffic Light System.
Red brought with it serious restrictions on the number of people attending events, so many events were either postponed or cancelled altogether,
like Northland Field Days (originally 3-5 March), and the Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games (originally 11-13 March, now 2023).
Postponements included the Waikato Home & Garden Show (now 6-9 October), and the Auckland Home Show (now 7-11 September) and National Fieldays (which has moved from June to 30 November-3 December).
Chief Executive of the New Zealand National Fieldays Society, Peter Nation, says the decision to postpone did not come lightly, but will ensure the Fieldays event can operate to its full potential: “We believe this decision will give all attendees, exhibitors, and stakeholders involved some breathing room and confidence during these uncertain times.
“While we could assume or hope an orange traffic light system will have arrived by June, many don’t realise that the build of Fieldays commences in April. Around 13,000 contractors come and go in the lead up to the event, building the small city that is Fieldays, which is just not possible under the red traffic light setting.”
Also moved due to the pandemic, the 2021 NZ Arb Husqvarna National Championship is finally now on track
to take place in Risingholme Park, Christchurch, over 27-29 May.
Originally planned for mid-March NZ Arb expects an impressive field of top climbers coming together to battle it out for some much-anticipated 2021 titles.
The winners of the Treetech Men’s Masters and Levin Sawmakers Yale Cordage Timbersaws Women’s
Masters will represent New Zealand in Copenhagen, Denmark, later this year at the 2022 ISA International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC).
Here is a list of relevant dates for the rest of the year and into 2023:
2022
May 27-29: 2021 NZ Arb Husqvarna National Championship, Christchurch, NZ. www.nzarb.org.nz
August 4-5: Hire Industry Association (HIANZ) Conference, Christchurch, NZ. www.hianz.net.nz
September 7-11: Auckland Home Show, Auckland, NZ. www.aaucklandhomeshow. co.nz
October 6-9: Waikato Home & Garden Show, Hamilton, NZ. www. waikatohomeshow.co.nz
October 14-16: Canterbury Home Show, Christchurch, NZ. www. canterburyhomeshow.co.nz
November 3-4: NZ Arb 2021 Conference, Palmerston North, NZ. www. nzarb.org.nz
November 30-3 Dec: National Fieldays, Hamilton, NZ. www.fieldays.co.nz
2023
March 10-12: Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games, Palmerston North, NZ. https://ruralgames.co.nz/
TWO MAJOR PLAYERS in the outdoor power and related industries have been buying into
battery platform and electrification technology leaders.
And with good reason: research from Freedonia for example has it that the adoption of battery power in professional- grade lawn and garden equipment is the next big growth sector in outdoor power – with the caveat that equivalence with petrol-driven products’ performance
and run time will make or break battery progress.
Hence Kohler’s Power Group for example, which has signed an agreement to acquire multinational Curtis Instruments.
Citing its core expertise as “Instrumentation, motor speed controllers, inverters, integrated systems, drive systems and engineering support for electric vehicledesigners”,CurtisInstrumentsis
a leading electrification partner to OEMs across a broad range of markets including material handling, golf and recreational vehicles, mobile elevated work platforms, construction, agriculture, turf care, marine
and select on-road segments. Meanwhile, Deere & Co (John Deere)
has also been looking at buying in battery expertise having now received regulatory approval to acquire majority ownership in Austria’s Kreisel Electric.
Battery technology provider Kreisel is
a leading developer of high-density, high- durability electric battery modules and packs and has also developed a charging infrastructure platform (CHIMERO) that utilises this patented battery technology.
John Deere sees growing demand growing for batteries as a sole- or hybrid-propulsion system for off-highway vehicles such as turf equipment, compact utility tractors, small tractors, compact construction, and some road building equipment.
The majority investment in Kreisel Electric will allow John Deere to integrate vehicle and powertrain designs around high-densitybatterypackswhileleveraging Kreisel’s charging technology to build out the infrastructure required for customer adoption.
http://kohlerpower.com/ www.deere.com
Lawn of the Year rocks a Toro
THE CHRISTCHURCH SWARD of Simon Slade,
self-confessed “lawn addict”, has been adjudged the year’s best lawn by NZ Gardener.
With his hard work also recognised by being the only residential turf to appear in PGG’s 2021 calendar, so chuffed was he with his pristine Mt Pleasant lawn that Simon set up an Instagram account (@thatlawnonthehill) to show it off.
Having used an elite perennial ryegrass cultivar, for its “outstanding” green colour retention, as well as fineness and density, Simon Slade finesses his lawn with a pro-level Toro ProStripe 560.
This compact and manoeuvrable mower is packed with features “designed to leave a precise cut and crisp stripe every time.”
Toro says the ProStripe 560 is “ideal for sports fields, landscape contractors and other fine turf applications.”
Fine turf indeed.
www.instagram.com/thatlawnonthehill
06 NZOUTDOORPOWEREQUIPMENT MARCH-JUNE2022
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