The Perfect pitch
Our purpose built rollers have been designed to provide your groundsmen with a comfortable, user-friendly experience.
The weight of the both of our cricket pitch rollers can be adjusted by the simple addition or removal of water from the roll drums. Adjusting the ballast allows the groundsman to increase the roller’s weight as the pitch becomes firmer.
This means you get two rollers in one: a light pre-season roller and a heavy roller for in-season use.
To date we have manufactured 173 rollers.
Tried and tested
While the shape and weight of the Roller have remained the same since the first machine the drive mechanisms and operator comfort have improved considerably.
The improvements have largely been achieved through the introduction of hydraulics which has reduced maintenance, and therefore long term costs, while improving maneuverability through power steering. The double drum ride on roller is also supplied with a canopy as well as a custom made PVC cover for when the roller is not in use.
It became apparent to us that there was a need for more cost effective alternative. Our team applied their knowledge and skills to develop the single drum walk behind roller which was launched in a demonstration to CSA late 2019. It has been extensively tested and is available to order.
Our rollers are manufactured to order. They are painted and branded according to client specifications.
The rollers
So why not just use a tarmac roller?
Many Clubs are tempted to purchase hydraulically powered ex-road rollers. These can appear to offer good value for money as the initial investment is less than a dedicated pitch roller. The critical differences between a purpose built pitch roller and a tarmac roller are set out below.
Tarmac rollers…
- are designed to utilize hydraulic wheel motors built into the centre of the rolls, and generally have complex hydraulic systems when compared to Protea Rollers Cricket Pitch rollers.
- can be extremely expensive to repair as replacement parts, as well as specialized labour, are expensive and can render the machine uneconomic to repair.
- have small drums and this damages the pitch over time as the force exerted is not vertical as with larger diameter drums:
The effect of diameter on direction of rolling forces. As roller diameter increases from 0.2 to 0.6 to 1.0 m, the direction of force becomes increasingly more vertical. This is because the contact angle between the roller and the pitch (a) decreases with roller diameter.
- do not have a variable ballast facility to enable experimentation to establish the best requirements for your specific club or school ground. Every ground is unique, and our rollers can be ballasted to vary the machines weight depending on the specific conditions.
- have not been designed to displace equal weight on both rollers. They rely on one axle to produce the desired compaction, negating the advantage of the tandem roller configuration. They can also damage the pitch through slippage.
- manufacturers recommend that the hydraulic pipes should be replaced every 2 years. This is due to the high fluid pressures that these machines operate at. A burst pipe on these machines can result in a considerable amount of hydraulic oil dumped onto the wicket.
- usually have a square edged roll that can leave ridges along the ground especially early in the rolling season when the ground is less firm and the machine possibly too heavy for the conditions.