Toro says the acquisition brings a high-quality product into its full range of turf maintenance machinery and greatly enhances it aeration range with equipment that has an immediate appeal to its own customers.

Peter Mansfield, Toro general manger at Lely UK said, "These are proven products with a high reputation and we are delighted to have them join our stable. They shall continue to be made in Britain, and with immediate effect all sales, spares, repairs and service are now through our Lely operation."

All three large units in the Multi-Core range are mounted to a compact tractor by way of a three-point linkage for fast, optimum core aeration. They are lightweight for use on sensitive turf areas such as fairways, greens and tees, as well as sports pitches and come in working widths of 101, 152 and 203 cm.

Toro says that changes will be made during the summer to the aeration tine holders so that all tines supplied both by Toro and Multi-Core are interchangeable. Completing the Toro aeration range are its existing Fairway Aerator, which is a towed PTO-driven heavy-duty machine for high quality aeration of large areas which can cover up to 1.5 acres an hour; the productive and durable walk-behind Green Aerator covering up to 1,208 sq m an hour; and the trailed or mounted Turf Aerators, which can be fitted with open or closed tines or slicing blades and operate at speeds up to 10 mph.