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Building a natural grass pitch is a major investment, but the return depends on the maintenance programme. Weekly mowing, seasonal aeration, top dressing and overseeding either cannot be done without suitable machines or are done in a way that damages the grass. This guide summarises a pitch maintenance team's core fleet and the role of each machine.
Mowing is the most frequent task. Football grass is usually kept at 20–30 mm, needing several cuts a week in the growing season. Sports pitches favour cylinder (reel) mowers, whose scissor action gives a clean cut without bruising leaf tips and creates the striped pattern. Rotary mowers can be used on rough areas.
Golden rule: never remove more than one third of the leaf height in a single cut. Product: mower.
Player and maintenance traffic compacts the soil; roots run short of oxygen and water sits on the surface. Aerators make holes to let air, water and nutrients through. Hollow-tine (coring) and solid-tine models and deep aeration equipment serve different purposes. See our turf aeration guide. Product: aerator.
After aeration a thin layer of sand fills the holes, smooths the surface and protects the drainage capacity of the rootzone. The top dresser spreads sand evenly at a controlled rate. Product: sand spreader.
Goalmouths, centre circle and touchline areas wear heavily and are overseeded during and at the end of the season. Overseeders place seed into the soil, greatly improving germination compared with broadcasting. Product: seeder.
Colour, density and recovery after wear depend on balanced nutrition. A fertiliser spreader distributes granular fertiliser evenly and avoids the scorch and striping caused by hand spreading. Product: fertiliser spreader.
Preventive and curative treatments are applied against fungal disease, weeds and pests. A sprayer with the right nozzles, pressure and rate control improves effectiveness and reduces unnecessary chemical use. Product: sprayer.
Before a match, lines must be sharp, straight and of the correct width. Line markers apply paint at a constant width and reduce waste. For line dimensions see our football pitch dimensions article. Product: line marking machine.
Most aerators, top dressers and trailers are towed by a tractor or driven from its PTO. Sports pitches use compact tractors with turf tyres and low ground pressure. Products: Kubota B2650 and Kubota L1361.
SFS Engineering supplies turf maintenance equipment and also offers natural grass football pitch construction and maintenance consultancy. For seasonal steps read our natural grass pitch maintenance article.
Professional pitches use cylinder (reel) mowers for a clean cut. Rotary mowers are sufficient for rough and surrounding green areas.
It depends on use and soil; heavily used pitches need regular surface aeration through the season and deep aeration a few times a year.
To fill aeration holes, smooth the surface, reduce thatch and maintain rootzone drainage.
A mower, line marker and fertiliser spreader are the basics. Aeration and top dressing can be contracted out, but owning the equipment makes timing easier.
Get technical support for your project: SFS Engineering handles site survey, design, material selection and installation as a single contractor. Send us your dimensions and site details through our contact page and we will work out the right solution together.