Bills replacing grass at Highmark starting Monday

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

I’ll go back and finish reading the article, but if George Toma says there were problems, there were problems, in spite of what all the groundskeeping savants we have in our midst at TBD have to say on the matter. 

Edited September 5 by AlCowlingsTaxiService

[Wacka]

Great googly moogly!

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

I can see it now: “Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announces an additional 3% surcharge on all stadium purchases for turf maintenance” 

[Jukester]

 

[Scott7975]

1 hour ago, Jukester said:

 

 

Amazing how they can now put an entire field down in 44 seconds. Maybe if they took their time to install it then it wouldn't fall apart though.

[Royale with Cheese]

8 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

 

Amazing how they can now put an entire field down in 44 seconds. Maybe if they took their time to install it then it wouldn't fall apart though.

Do they not know it needs more direct sunlight??  
Get those clouds out of the way!  Get Einstein to yell at them, could make them go away.

[Just Jack]

4 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

Toma is 95 YO so he obviously has old school habits and some of his comments were along the line of, don't try to help the grass so much, just let it work to grow.  Maybe that's the problem here, they made it like landing a rocket on the moon when that much wasn't needed.

 

Reminds me of the old antidote about NASA spending thousands of dollars to create a pen the astronauts could use in space/zero gravity. The Russians/Soviets used a pencil. 

[ColoradoBills]

It's  a shame what happened but I'm going to bet that it will take some time for the staff to figure out the new technology correctly.

Once they do it should be a great NFL field.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Maybe lay down Astroturf ©️™️ over the sod for the first few seasons? 🤔

*
Aug. 30, 2029:

"Hey, boss...we took up the Astroturf, and all the grass underneath is dead!" 🙁

[Breakout Squad]

3 hours ago, Jukester said:

 

The inspirational music makes me feel much better now. 

[Captain_Quint]

On 9/5/2026 at 10:33 AM, Jukester said:

 

There will be a seam where they had to leave it overnight. These guys suck! 

 

 

[Jukester]

 

[RobbRiddick]

On 9/7/2026 at 1:34 PM, Captain_Quint said:

There will be a seam where they had to leave it overnight. These guys suck! 

 

 

haha I was thinking "lazy bas*ards, couldn't just put the lights on and put in a double shift to finish it." 

 

Would have been funny if after the crew left for the evening some pranksters came in and took out everything they'd put down

[without a drought]

My Highmark sod is ready.

[rusty shackleford]

3 hours ago, RobbRiddick said:

haha I was thinking "lazy bas*ards, couldn't just put the lights on and put in a double shift to finish it." 

 

Would have been funny if after the crew left for the evening some pranksters came in and took out everything they'd put down

Pegula is cheap, won’t paid the shift differential. 

[Jukester]

We'll see how the new turf holds up, but this leads me question why they didn't go with the hybrid grass system like in Lambeau. It's made up of 95% natural grass reinforced with 5% SIS Grass polyethylene synthetic fibers, seamlessly stitched 7 inches deep and spaced 3/4 inch apart to stabilize the sand and protect the root system.  The synthetic fibers are intended to provide a safe stabilization for the sand underneath the field, preventing the ground from getting pushed around and becoming uneven over the course of a long season.

 

Reportedly, this system has been very successful, both there and at Lincoln Financial in Philly.  

 

https://www.sispitches.com/us/case-study/touchdown-with-the-latest-sis-grass-hybrid-technology-at-green-bay-packers/

https://www.sispitches.com/us/surface/hybrid-grass/

 

 

Edited September 14 by Jukester

[UConn James]

31 minutes ago, Jukester said:

We'll see how the new turf holds up, but this leads me question why they didn't go with the hybrid grass system like in Lambeau. It's made up of 95% natural grass reinforced with 5% SIS Grass polyethylene synthetic fibers, seamlessly stitched 7 inches deep and spaced 3/4 inch apart to stabilize the sand and protect the root system.  The synthetic fibers are intended to provide a safe stabilization for the sand underneath the field, preventing the ground from getting pushed around and becoming uneven over the course of a long season.

 

Reportedly, this system has been very successful, both there and at Lincoln Financial in Philly.  

 

https://www.sispitches.com/us/case-study/touchdown-with-the-latest-sis-grass-hybrid-technology-at-green-bay-packers/

https://www.sispitches.com/us/surface/hybrid-grass/

 

 

Awesome. Wish the Bills had done this, whether they looked into it, and if they still can at some point. If it can hold up the Lambeau field.... I just have concerns how our turf will handle situations like where OP has had 6 feet of snow in 48 hours. There's no field heating elements buried 1'+ deep that could melt that much. And as seasons go deeper into January and February now....
 

Question... I'm imagining a stitch with heavy thread every 3/4" would make replacing the grass more difficult tho? Or since it's 7" does it just rip out pretty easily with the machines? 

[Mike in Horseheads]

1 hour ago, Jukester said:

why they didn't go with the hybrid grass system like in Lambeau

For some reason I thought thats what they going to use. Then the grass was put down last fall and they needed a growing season for it to get rooted good. Then they play three games and decide they are going to rip it up and put down new grass that will hold up in two weeks.   

 

I think they are smoking grass there 

[Jukester]

2 hours ago, UConn James said:

Awesome. Wish the Bills had done this, whether they looked into it, and if they still can at some point. If it can hold up the Lambeau field.... I just have concerns how our turf will handle situations like where OP has had 6 feet of snow in 48 hours. There's no field heating elements buried 1'+ deep that could melt that much. And as seasons go deeper into January and February now....
 

Question... I'm imagining a stitch with heavy thread every 3/4" would make replacing the grass more difficult tho? Or since it's 7" does it just rip out pretty easily with the machines? 

It can still be done, probably makes most sense over an offseason. Both the initial stitching and annual maintenance "renovation" are done by specialized machinery. Have no idea what the cost is, but i'd think it would be competitive to replacing the sod multiple times in a season.

 

Hybrid field maintenance – How to renovate a stitched hybrid grass field

Without doubt the most important operation carried out on the field will be the annual renovation. Once every 12 months the sward must be cleaned out to allow the SIS Grass Hybrid fibers to be recovered and the organic build up to be removed. The first action in any field renovation will be to remove the existing herbage. This is completed by using a machine known as a field top maker fitted with a UNIVERSE Rotor. This is the only machine which should be used for this operation. This process can be carried out by clubs in house if the equipment is available or by employing specialist sports field contractors. The aim of the process is to remove the herbage/organic layer, leaving only the clean rootzone beneath, ready for re-seeding.

 

Sward - yes I learned a new word today lol - an area of land covered with grass and the surface layer of soil held together by its roots

 

1 hour ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

For some reason I thought thats what they going to use. Then the grass was put down last fall and they needed a growing season for it to get rooted good. Then they play three games and decide they are going to rip it up and put down new grass that will hold up in two weeks.   

 

I think they are smoking grass there 

 

I'm with you. Basic common sense would dictate that you look at the most successful cold weather fields in the NFL first. I learned all of the above with just a 10 minute internet search/read. But I'm no expert and maybe they did consider it and passed for whatever reason.  

[Mike in Horseheads]

Just now, Jukester said:

 

Sward - yes I learned a new word today lol - an area of land covered with grass and the surface layer of soil held together by its roots

I wonder if that word will work on Wordle