History of the Verti-Drain

The inventor of the Verti-Drain, Arien DeRidder, came upon the idea originally while attending a local amateur sporting event. A recent rainfall had left standing water on much of the playing field. The groundskeeper proceeded to send men armed with pitchforks onto the field to attack the problem. Multiple groups of men worked their way around the compacted areas using the pitchforks to penetrate a deep layer of compaction thus allowing the standing water to drain. They found that the next day the field was back to a mostly playable condition. Mr. DeRidder realized that deep compaction was a major problem to all sports turf and he set out to develop the first mechanical pitchfork. “The Verti-Drain” was born in the late 1970s.

Mr. DeRidder took his idea to a boyhood friend, Cees DeBre, the President of a large railroad manufacturing company, Redexim, bv.  Together they built and sold the aerators around their homeland, The Netherlands (Holland). With the help of an engineer, Josef Reincke, they received a patent for the machine, continued to improve the product and began to set their sites on the rest of the world. Soon knowledge of the Verti-Drain spread throughout all of Northern Europe, North America, Australia and Asia.

In the early 1980s Redexim began a relationship with a distributor in the UK, Charterhouse Turf Machinery. Charterhouse was also a manufacture of specialized turf equipment such as the “Rapidcore”, “Turf Tidy”, “Easy Spread”, “Overseeder” and “Level Spike” and a few others. They distributed these products through Northern Europe & the UK under the Charterhouse label. (They also distributed this product in North America through the Bunton Company until 1996). Redexim and Charterhouse merged in the late 1990s as the result of a major recession in the UK.

As the company grew they decided to expand their original North American importer, Emerex, opening Redexim Charterhouse, Inc., in Pennsylvania in 1997. The company still operates their North American headquarters there and continues to be a leader in developing

specialized turf machinery.

However, an interesting twist to the story remains. Mr. DeRidder and Mr. DeBre as child hood friends had made a promise to each other. If either one of two reached their lofty dreams that they would help the other in an odd way. Before the Verti-Drain had reached worldwide fame and success, Mr. DeRidder passed away. Mr. DeBre inherited the rights to the machine. On this boyhood promise and handshake, he has vowed to never sell the company and to see that the company stands as a tribute to his old friend.

Mr. DeBre has interests in several manufacturing companies, a large accounting firm, several resort properties throughout Europe, and is involved in Dutch and American investing and banking firms. However, Redexim Charterhouse will remain to be a sentimental favorite.

Redexim Charterhouse recently purchased the UK company “Pro-Seed” a maker of overseeding and core collecting machinery. The products will be incorporated into the Redexim line and will be improved and enhanced over the next while.

The future looks very bright for Redexim-Charterhouse as we continue to see new products and on going product improvements each year.

The first Verti-Drains were sold in British Columbia in 1988 and were the larger Sports Ground series. Today there are over 40 machines working on Golf Courses and Sports Fields throughout the province.

For more information of the VERTI-DRAIN and all of the Redexim-Charterhouse products, please contact us.