INNOVATIVE INFIELD MAINTENANCE ® GUIDE TO INFIELD CARE ABI SPORTS TURF • INFIELD MAINTENANCE GUIDE • POWERED BY DURAEDGE 1 LEARN • CARE • IMPROVE WELCOME! Our Goal Is Safety And Playability. Parents, Coaches, Volunteers, Athletic Directors, Parks Managers, Groundskeepers and Sports Turf Managers alike are entrusted to care for the game, and keep their athletes safe and baseball and softball fields, safe and playable. The ABI Sports Turf lineup was purpose-built to care for the game. Operators get real work done, more efficiently, effectively and with more control. Each tool in the lineup is specifically engineered with attention to detail and insures users see immediate results on their fields. We design tools that help you best utilize the resources you have to care for the game. Our goal in this guide is beyond maintenance: we aim to impact how you LEARN about, CARE for, and IMPROVE your ballfields. Our Partnership with DuraEdge Unlike other infield grooming equipment companies, ABI has the world’s leading expert on infield design and maintenance working directly with our engineers to provide the very best infield equipment in the world. DuraEdge has installed two thirds of major league infields, as well as thousands of Division I, II and III colleges, high schools, and parks and recreation complexes throughout the United States. The knowledge and expertise that DuraEdge and Grant McKnight bring to ABI Sports Turf is reflected in the design of our equipment. This knowledge and expertise is exclusive to ABI Sports Turf and our customers. What’s Inside the Guide: I: LEARN • Infield Mix, Conditioners, and Mound Clay • The Scouting Report on Your Infield • Gearing up with Proper Equipment II: CARE • Preparing for the Season • Preparing for Games • Preparing for the Offseason • Preparing for Rain III: IMPROVE • What’s your “model”? • ABI Equipment • Cover all your Bases with DuraEdge & ABI ABI SPORTS TURF • INFIELD MAINTENANCE GUIDE • POWERED BY DURAEDGE 2 SECTION I: LEARN The Foundation of Safety and Playability Infield Mix: The Foundation ALL SOIL CONSISTS OF SAND, SILT AND CLAY. An infield mix is a combination of these components, plus any topical layer of conditioner or topdressing. When moisture is added, silt and clay bind together and act as the glue which holds the components together. It is very important to know the profile thickness of the infield, prior to performing any maintenance on the skin. According to DuraEdge, the world’s leading producer and installer of premium infield mix, the infield skin surface should be comprised of a base material, a minimum 3-4 inches of infield mix/soil, followed by a topical layer of topdressing (also known as conditioner). DuraEdge has engineered the proper ratio of sand, silt and clay to ensure your infield mix is manageable specific to your level of maintenance and moisture, in order to attain a safe and playable infield. Just as these 3 components are necessary to make a good infield mix, proper grading for positive surface drainage, maintenance and grooming practices, and moisture management are all critical on any infield surface. Top Dressings & Mound Clay CALCINED CLAY TOP DRESSING is a montmorillonite clay that is fired to 1400°F in a rotary kiln which turns the clay into a porous ceramic. This porous ceramic acts like a tiny sponge and is very absorbent which is why this material is used for drying a wet infield. EXPANDED SHALE TOP DRESSING is a shale/clay that is fired to 2000°F in a rotary kiln creating larger pore space which in turn absorbs less moisture and allows more moisture to remain in the infield skin surface. This product is lightweight but typically slightly heavier (more dense) and more durable than calcined clay products. These products tend to migrate less and help shed water allowing more moisture to remain in the infield skin profile. MOUND CLAY: High Traffic areas require a different mix for stability. Mound clays are made of a high clay content mix and when combined with moisture, adhere to a scarified surface. Repairing the mound and batter’s boxes is an everyday task. Sometimes other high-traffic areas around your infield skin can be scarified and packed with mound clay for a short term fix. DuraEdge offers a few different blends of mound clay for every level of play. Speak with your local field consultant for the best mix for your needs! ABI SPORTS TURF • INFIELD MAINTENANCE GUIDE • POWERED BY DURAEDGE 3 LEARN Understanding YOUR Infield Surface Your infield surface will tell you what it needs if you’re willing to observe and record the clues it’s giving. Observing how your infield reacts to regular use and abuse, weather, and changing seasons is the first step to understanding how to improve and maintain its safety and playability. F What’s the Scouting Report on Your Infield? 1. Is your infield surface “beachy”? Does it quickly dry out? You may have a high sand content in your infield. 2. Is your infield surface dusty when dry and mucky when wet? You may have a high silt content in your infield. 3. Is your infield surface very hard? Does it crack when dry? You may have high clay content in your infield. 4. Does your infield surface migrate very easily to the edges or lips? Do you have dished out areas by home plate or where fielders typically play? You may have a high silt and sand content. Consider a professional consultation about adding or amending the infield mix, especially on your pitcher’s mound and around home plate. F What’s Your Game Plan? 1. What’s your access to water? 2. Who maintains your fields? How often are they available? 3. What level of play does your field accommodate? 4. What are my resources and what’s my budget? Answering these questions help you formulate your game plan for a maintenance routine and improvement process. Then, consultation by an infield expert, an infield surface amendment or new infield mix installation process, and/or choosing professional grooming equipment may all be in order. However, the first step to any successful maintenance and improvement process is understanding where you stand and what your goals are. The experts at DuraEdge have years of experience and have installed and amended hundreds of professional, collegiate, semi-pro, and youth infields, and have consulted hundreds more on how to get the most out of what they’ve already got. ABI Sports Turf knows grooming inside and out, and together with DuraEdge, has developed the most advanced, purpose-built infield grooming equipment available today. ABI SPORTS TURF • INFIELD MAINTENANCE GUIDE • POWERED BY DURAEDGE 4 LEARN Gearing Up for the Maintenance Game DuraEdge’s Recommended Hand Tool List ɀ 6 or more 36” Double Play Rakes or Lute Rakes ɀ 1 Toolite Sifting Scoop ɀ 1-2 Sweet Spot Hand Tamps ɀ 1 2-Way Loop Action Hula Hoe ɀ 2 24” General Purpose Brooms ɀ 1-3 Cleat & Spike Cleaners ɀ 1 2 Gallon Hand Sprayer ɀ 1 1” Ultralite Hoses (100’) ɀ 1 1” Kocheck Multi-Mist Hose Nozzle ɀ 1 1” Quick Coupler Key Swivel Hose Adapter ɀ 1 1” Quick Coupler Key ɀ 3-4 6’ x 18’ Rigid Drag Mat ɀ 3-4 Garden Fan Leaf Rake Motorized & Pull-behind tools (learn more on pgs 17-18) ABI Force - Self-Propelled Infield Rascals - for ATV/UTV ABI Infield Grader - for mower ABI Water Trailer - for ATV & larger ABI SPORTS TURF • INFIELD MAINTENANCE GUIDE • POWERED BY DURAEDGE 5 SECTION II: CARE Ensuring the Safety and Playability of your Ballfield What’s your Conditioning Plan? Much like a professional ball player, keeping your ballfield in shape requires a executable plan. It must be specific to the level of play your ballfield accommodates and its unique characteristics such as soil composition, water availability, climate, maintenance frequency and amount of use. Just as pros do, it’s far better to have and maintain a year-round plan than it is to “let it lie” until the beginning of the season. It’s helpful to compare a seasonal ballfield maintenance routine to a professional ball-player’s fitness routine. There’s spring training (heavy conditioning to ensure peak performance and avoid injury), in-season batting practice (maintaining form without disrupting performance), and off-season maintenance (necessary rest while ensuring an easy return to form). For instance, it’s best to perform big changes to your field’s composition or grade in the offseason, critical to ensure your drainage moisture management program is in place in time for opening day, and not worth your time to perform daily maintenance (grooming, watering, etc.) when there’s not daily activity. For fields that see play on a more year-round schedule, some of the larger maintenance tasks (amending infield mix, grading, major lip and edge work, rebuilding the mound, or patching low spots) must be scheduled carefully to not disrupt the safety and playability of the field. ABI SPORTS TURF • INFIELD MAINTENANCE GUIDE • POWERED BY DURAEDGE 6 CARE Preparing Your Ballfield for the Season The best preparation for a season is properly putting your field to bed at the end of the previous season. It’s much easier to get back in shape if you don’t fall out of shape in the off-season! At the beginning of every season, it is important to evaluate the safety and playability of your infield. Do not wait until the day before the season starts to evaluate your infield. Give yourself time to complete work prior to the start of the season. Inspect the infield skin surface. Ask yourself, Is the field too wet or dry? Are there weeds in the infield? Are there any lips that need to be addressed? Are there low areas or undulations that could result in standing water? When the field is dry enough, the maintenance process can begin.