Here’s something you haven’t seen before

If you’re wandering the trade show floor looking for things you haven’t seen before, stop by the Aqua-Aid booth (3066) and take a gander at the Vredo Seeder, being shown at GIS for the first time.

Aqua-Aid and Vredo formed a partnership a couple of years ago, which is allowing the Netherlands-based Vredo to introduce its seeder to the U.S. golf market.

The machine is a lighter, more agile inter-seeder, according to Vredo Export Manager Pieter-Teunis Hoogland, that places grass seed in direct contact with the soil and results in about a 96-percent germination rate.

Hoogland says there’s no ploughing, cultivating, leveling or rolling out with the Vredo. Two discs in the shape of a “V” make a narrow slit in the turf. The support wheel provides the propulsion of the cam wheel, giving a nearly perfect seed application. The seed is guided between the V shape of the discs and is then dispersed into the slit at the correct, adjustable depth. The inter-seeder is equipped with skids to preserve the structure of the existing turf. The compaction roller seals the slit and presses the turf back into place.

Vredo calls the machine an “inter-seeder” as opposed to an “overseeder” because it puts the seed directly in the ground. Overseeding, the company says, puts the majority of the seed on the surface, creating a “Golden Corral for birds.” Their motto is, ‘Inter-seeder, not bird feeder.’

The company offers three models, with the compact series featuring a working width of 39 inches to 87 inches and an inter-row distance of 3 inches. The line also includes a super compact machine and a sports turf offering.