Baseball field maintenance
equipment
Without all the essential baseball field
maintenance equipment, it will be difficult to maintain a nice well
groomed playing field. Below is a list of all the equipment that is
needed to keep those fields looking good.
- Rakes
– You cannot
maintain
a field without rakes. They are essential for keeping all dirt surfaces
of the field smooth and level.
|
 |
- Drag mats and brooms
–
These
serve the same function as rakes, but are more efficient in covering
more ground, such as the large dirt surfaces on the base paths between
1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. They work best when attached to the back of
a tractor or lawn mower, so the infield can be dragged more quickly.
|
 |
- Tamps – These are used
mostly on the pitching mounds and home plate areas to smash down the
dirt or clay to make the surface solid. They prevent an excessive
amount of loose dirt so that pitchers and batters aren’t slipping
during play. Tamps are only useful once the surface is moist.
|
|
- Water source – You
absolutely need a source of water with a hose to moisten down the field
when needed. This may be for when a tamp is used on the mound or home
plate, or just to moisten down the infield dirt, when it is too dry and
dusty.
|
- Irrigation system –
This
may
be out of the budget for some, but a sprinkler system is ideal for the
maintenance of the sod surface of the field. At a minimum, a quality
field should have sprinklers in the infield.
|
- Edger – An edger is
essential if you want to have clear cut boundaries between the dirt and
grass surfaces in the infield as well as throughout the rest of the
field.
|
- Loop hoe – This is a
device
that allows you to quickly remove weeds from the dirt surfaces of the
field.
|
 |
- Sod roller – These can
also
be attached to the back of a lawn mower, and are used to make designs
on the grass surfaces of the field. This is done to most big league
fields and can really make the field shine.
|
- Tarps – This is a
must.
During the season, infield tarps should be applied to the field when
not in use to prevent flooding and keep the surfaces dry. These usually
consist of a home plate tarp, pitcher’s mound tarp, and a large
rectangular tarp to cover the entire infield. There are also certain
tarps available to cover the sod area directly in front of home plate
to protect the surface during batting practice.
|
 |
- Diamond Dry – This is
a
product that is used to assist in drying the dirt surfaces once they
are too wet for play. Basically it is a powdery substance that is
spread on the field, and when mixed with the dirt, it aids in the
drying process.
|
- Lining system – This
usually
consists of a series of strings and stakes used to line the foul lines
before the game begins.
|
- Line marker/chalker –
Chalkers are devices that are filled with line chalk, then wheeled over
the base paths to drop the chalk on to the base lines.
|
|
- Batter’s box cutout –
You
will need one of these to help you line the batter’s boxes. It is a
large rectangular piece of metal in the cutout shape of a batter’s box,
precut to the correct dimensions. Some of them dispense the chalk right
onto the field, and others you must go over with the chalker.
|
|
If you are interested in shopping for more field
maintenance equipment, I recommend browsing the selection at Baseball Express.
Well there’s a list of some of the essential,
but
certainly not all of the baseball field maintenance equipment that is
needed to take care of a field.
Let's face it, ballplayers love to play on
sharp
and well manicured fields. Baseball fields were meant to look good, and
every ballplayer dreams of playing on a major league quality field.
Make sure you’ve got all the baseball field maintenance equipment to
ensure that your field is adequately cared for.
Return
from Baseball Field Maintenance Equipment to
Baseball Equipment Review Home
