Comparing the Rutgers Wear Simulator, Cady Traffic Simulator, and Brinkman Traffic Simulator.

Machines have been developed to impart wear (Rutgers Wear Simulator [RWS]) or the combined stresses of wear and compaction (Cady Traffic Simulator [CTS] and Brinkman Traffic Simulator [BTS]) on turfgrass. The objective of these trials was to evaluate the effects of traffic simulators on tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb. ‘Falcon V’), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. ‘Derby XTreme’), and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L. ‘Midnight II’). Each species-trial was seeded September 2010 on a loam in North Brunswick, NJ. Treatments consisted of a control and 28 passes of the RWS, CTS, and BTS (4 passes per week) from 5 Oct. to 17 Nov. 2011. Quality, bruising, divoting and fullness of turf canopy (FTC) were visually assessed. Green cover was determined by digital image analysis. All machines reduced FTC by 8 passes compared to the control in all species-trials. On tall fescue, the RWS and CTS reduced quality and FTC more than the BTS; reductions were more rapid with the CTS. On perennial ryegrass, reductions in quality and FTC were more similar among machines. In Kentucky bluegrass, reductions in quality and FTC occurred most rapidly with the CTS and BTS but these parameters were similar among all machines by the end of the trial. Green cover at the end of the traffic period was lowest and bruising injury was more severe in RWS plots for all species-trials. Divot injury was virtually absent with the CTS and most severe with the BTS for all species-trials.