In previous years, the Superdome maintenance crew painted all field markings with household paint from the local hardware store. After each event when the field paint had to be removed, they hired 15 temporary laborers who spent up to 3 days scrubbing the field with an industrial cleaning solution—and still had problems with ghosting of the paint.
Last season though, they found a way to remove every last mark on the field in 2-3 hours by doing the work themselves with Pioneer Athletic’s Removable Field Paint System. GameLine Temporary Marking Paint is a high-gloss paint specifically formulated to be easily removed from synthetic turf once sprayed with Blitz-GameLine remover solution. This paint is chemically engineered to react to the remover solution so its resin system releases from the turf blades.
The process is simple:
Step 1. Apply GameLine Temporary Marking Paint.
Step 2. When the field temperature is below 80 degrees, use Blitz GameLine Remover Solution in a backpack sprayer to saturate the painted area.
Step 3. Agitate the area with Pioneer’s Blitz Remover machine, a lightweight, walk-behind, scrubbing machine with a 5.5-hp Honda engine and seven adjustable brush heights.
Step 4. All traces of the paint rinse away with water from a standard garden hose. If drainage is an issue, use Pioneer’s WaterClaw to remove the excess water and paint residue while leaving the infill in place.
Pioneer worked closely with the Superdome crew to develop a comprehensive system of field paints, field striping machines, and equipment that addressed their particular situation and synthetic turf surface.
Graco, Inc., www.graco.com
The majority of turf striping equipment in use today is “pressure pot” based, with either an on-board compressor or CO2 tank. These older style systems make it difficult for turf stripers to find substantial product differentiation from one manufacturer to another. This type of equipment requires that paint be “cut” with water, and then added to a tank on the striper which is very time consuming and is considered “old school” technology.
Airless striping technology is the newest manner in which sports fields are now being striped. This technology allows you to now save time and money by:
Spraying athletic paint, uncut, which keeps the field looking great for 2-3 times as long as other systems including spray cans and pressure pots.
Drawing directly from the paint container. No more mixing and dumping is needed with this technology.
Providing exact pressure control. Pressure control must be below 900 psi in order to avoid damaging the turf. You want to spray the turf, not the dirt! Make sure equipment is capable to being “dialed down” to avoid damage.
Stencil spraying, which is a must for sports turf applications; a quick change out to a 20-inch extension with proper tip allows for fast, reliable stencil jobs.
Use of adjustable spray shields to help keep the line quality the best it can be by blocking wind from blowing the paint all over the field.
Use of tall turf tires allows unit to easily roll.
Connecting a drive system to the turf striper, which allows user less fatigue and provides consistent, straight paint lines
Minimum of half gallon per minute is needed to provide the coverage field managers demand.
Paint filters on the sprayer: Include the “rock catcher,” paint manifold filter and paint gun filter. Prevents downtime due to clogs.
Piston pump technology produces the most consistent lines.
Non-clogging, reversible SwitchTips allow great lines to be sprayed every day.
One of the best ways to see what these new style airless turf-striping units can do is to arrange for a demo to see how it performs and how easy or difficult it is to use.
Transporting the unit is as important as using it so make sure it is light-weight, portable, and able to be moved from field to field with little or no hassle. Lastly, go with a proven brand from an equipment supplier who has a solid reputation in your market.
Whitlam Paint, www.whitlampaint.com
Temp-Stripe Athletic Field marking paints are necessary now, more than ever, to put temporary markings for either a different sport or for hosting an event that normally gets played elsewhere, whether it’s synthetic turf or natural.
This product makes some sports turf managers’ lives much easier for a variety of reasons: Some people use Temp-Stripe because it has a easy removal feature (just water pressure and “elbow grease”); some like it because it breaks down into the soil better than most other, more permanent, long-lasting type field paints
Most like it because it actually works and doesn’t require the purchase and use of a chemical solution for removal, nor does it require the purchase of additional equipment for that removal process.