College Day 02/03/2026

 Today we were introduced to two new pieces of machinery which Maydencroft do not own, to my knowledge, but are still very common across industry: an Auger and Scarifier.

Auger:


This is essentially a rotating shaft on the end of a motor which you attach to a 'Helical screw blade' in order to drill holes in various materials and surfaces. Here you can see an annotated diagram of the operating/ motor end, very similar to a strimmer or a hedgecutter in its design. There are also some safety features left unannotated such as the hip pad attached to the handlebar and the brake's quick stop feature. 

The brake engages as it is pushed away from the operator, so if the operative gets the screw head stuck, the anti-clockwise motion will cause the handle to swing into the operator's thigh - automatically applying it.

Scarifier:
A Scarifier RL 540 - the same model as Shuttleworth's





Scarifiers are used to remove debris from grass such as moss, dead grass, roots etc. This allows the grass to be aerated and have less competition when growing, it does this with a row of rotating crescent-shaped blades in place of where a cylinder would be on a regular push mower. These can be adjusted to a lower/ greater depth once the the blades are disengaged by the lever. There are 6 depths on this model with 1 being the highest and 6 being the lowest, which will leave a greater set of grooves going along the ground.


Soil Triangle:


We were also properly introduced to the Soil Triangle today, which I had some prior knowledge on already because of my brother's background in agriculture. It can be used to identify a soil type more thoroughly than just a cursory glance.

The steps are as follows:

  • Collect a 100g sample of soil (This is because 100g requires the least mathematical adjustment to find a percentage)
  • Sieve, wet sieve or filter the soil in such a way that the soil separates into layers of different densities
  • Measure how many grammes each layer of silt/ sand/ clay is and that should represent the material's abundance in the soil as a percentage
  • Find where the three lines intersect and that will categorise that type of soil that you have sampled.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

College Day 16/03/2026

Image
 Today I was introduced to Rotavators and got to practice with a Grillo GZ2. Rotavators can be used for a multitude of reasons on soil. They can be used to aerate soil, prepare/ level soil for planting, uproot weeds, mix fertiliser etc. In terms of operation and architecture it feels very similar to a push-mower, so getting to grips with it only took seconds as I've used push-mowers at Maydencroft many times before. Before operating, we did a quick visual Risk Assessment and discussed safety precautions one must take before partaking in the use of such equipment.  Essential PPE would be: Ear Defenders - the GZ2 produces 96db while the engine is running, anything above 85db requires ear protection Gloves - A thicker pair of gloves would reduce the strength of the vibration caused by the machine on hands. Foot Protection - Steel-toe cap Boots or other appropriate protective footwear would be required due to wear the tiller operates Eye Protection - Although there is a guard abov...
Read more

Scorecard Review

Image
As it has been around two months since my last scorecard review, I decided that another one was due as I have obviously learnt a lot more since mid-January.  The following criteria below are ones that I have increased my score in since the previous review: K2 - Ecology - I bumped up my score in this criteria because of what I learned recently while researching the soil triangle, pond habitats, pond weed and how flora that have rhizomes can rapidly overspread K5 - Common farming practices - I recently was introduced to the aforementioned soil triangle, I also did a blog on the farming calendar K8 - Countryside legislation - I increased my score on this criteria because of what I learn form the countryside pollution course that I did, which covered some of COSHH regarding how and where fuels, oils and chemicals can be stored as well as the penalties regarding harm/ disruption to invasive species such as newts, badgers and bats K12 - Map reading - I recently refreshed myself on taking...
Read more

Maydencroft Weekly Summary 18/11 - 21/11

Image
This Week (18/11 - 21/11) was set on two separate sites. One day on Terlings Estate - Which has a Veteran Cedar Tree (This one - HERE ) and is covered by all the protections/ maintenance that comes with it. This site was in Harlow and the other outside Potter's Bar by the M25. At Terlings I got practice in using a Pedestrian Mower, Leafblowing and changing Dog Litter bins. On the Potter's Bar site I learned about the sapling tree planting process, how to heel trees into the ground etc. We had a production line on the site: One man with a pointed spade going up the field left to right, opening holes One or two placing trees into holes and heeling them One or two placing in wooden post One knocking posts (who must always be wearing a hard hat) One or two placing on and attaching guards. I tended to jump between roles just so nobody catches up too close or falls too far behind of another step. Mulching the trees was also another step but it was done separately as getting the tree...
Read more