Dennis Mowers: “A Pedigree No-One Can Argue With”

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Dennis Mowers: “A pedigree no-one Can argue with” – Glenn Davies, grounds manager at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire has claimed that he chooses Dennis because of the “strength, history, quality and durability” of the mowers.

Dennis Mowers: “A pedigree no-one Can argue with”

Set in the beautiful countryside of Oxfordshire, Bloxham School is an independent co-educational day and boarding school for students aged 11-18. Although the school is best known for its academic success, Bloxham also boasts a superb sporting programme which is complimented by first-class facilities.

Glenn oversees the maintenance of around 40 acres of sports fields which includes seven rugby pitches, four cricket squares, one football pitch, one hockey pitch and two grass tennis courts. With over 400 pupils attending the school and playing sport on a regular basis, as well as the facilities being used by local and county sporting teams – it is safe to say that the pitches have a high amount of usage.

Helping Glenn and his team keep on-top of such heavy usage is the Dennis G860 cylinder mower, which they use on a variety of different sports surfaces.

“The Dennis G860 is a great bit of kit,” says Glenn. “We use it for cutting the cricket squares, for cutting the grass hockey pitches, both rugby and football pitches, and when we have county fixtures or cup games we will box off the cricket outfields because this gives it a much faster, truer surface so the ball will carry quicker.”

“In my opinion the G860 is one of the best machines you can get and with the interchangeable cassette system, it is extremely versatile.”

As Glenn says, the Dennis G860 features an interchangeable cassette system, and with a simple one minute changeover, users have the option of fitting eleven different types of heads including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, and slitters as well as six or eight bladed cutting cylinders.

“In terms of the cassettes, we are particularly impressed with the scarifier, and we will use it lightly through the season so we can make sure we keep the thatch down to a minimum and the grass stood upright.”

“The brush is also a very useful cassette to have. We’ll use this throughout the season to keep the squares nice and clean, but we will also put the brush in after we’ve done a deep scarify in the autumn and the spring. This drags up all the grass the machines haven’t been able to pick up and it will also pick up all the debris and take it away. So when you put your top dressing down, you have got a clean, flat base to start with.”

“You just can’t beat the Dennis machines,” says Glenn. “There are other machines on the market but Dennis has got a pedigree that nobody can argue with – for me, it speaks of strength, history and durability. They’ve been around for a long time, they always deliver, and most groundsmen you talk to will favour a Dennis above anything else.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

Evo-Stik NPL unveils GreenFields as official Pitch Partner

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Evo-Stik Northern Premier League unveils GreenFields as official Pitch Partner – Sports turf specialist GreenFields was today unveiled as the new official pitch partner to the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League (NPL).

Evo-Stik NPL unveils GreenFields as official Pitch Partner

The deal, initially for the 2017/18 football season, was announced at a meeting of the league’s 68 clubs, with an introductory presentation from GreenFields.

GreenFields will provide NPL clubs with surface solutions to meet the growing demand for 3G and hybrid turf pitches, as well as advice on maintaining grass surfaces. As a result, the league hopes to reduce the number of fixture postponements, especially during the winter months.

NPL club Hyde United have already been working with GreenFields for a year having laid a 3G woven pitch. The club is delighted with their choice of surface as Pete Ainger, General Manager, explains. “The feedback has been excellent. Players and officials alike have commented that it is amongst the best surfaces they have experienced. The technology is massively different from other 3Gs, it performs like a grass pitch with increased durability. The woven technology enables the grass to stay upright and it’s an obvious difference to standard 3G pitches.”

Mark Harris, Chairman of the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League is delighted to have GreenFields on-board. “We’ve been looking for a pitch partner for some time to meet the information needs and growing demand from clubs looking to artificial turf pitches to generate additional revenues as well as providing a surface to play good football on. GreenFields’ philosophy matches our own so this agreement makes total sense for the league.”

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Over the coming season the Evo-Stik NPL will be working with GreenFields to provide clubs with exclusive pitch installation and maintenance information and advice with a presence from the company at NPL events including the launch of a new ‘Pitch of the Year Award’ selected and presented by GreenFields at the annual awards event next June.

Paul Milton, Director of GreenFields commented: “We are excited by this new partnership and look forward to supporting and advising member clubs on their current and potential sports pitches. With over a decade’s experience, we have the expertise in house to be able to provide clubs with the best possible solution to meet their requirements.”

More information on GreenFields can be found at www.greenfieldsturf.co.uk

Council Sees Efficiency Soar Thanks To New Toro Mower

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Council Sees Efficiency Soar Thanks To New Toro Mower – Uttlesford District Council’s decision to opt for Toro’s LT-F3000 flail when the need arose for a new grounds mower to tackle the area’s parks and open spaces is one that has made a significant difference to productivity and efficiency.

Council Sees Efficiency Soar Thanks To New Toro Mower

The LT-F3000 is expected to maintain 760,000 square metres of parkland and open spaces per month and Steve King, Uttlesford’s street services supervisor, says it was evident that the LT-F3000 was “more than up to the task” straight away as it began having “a notable impact on the efficiency of the workforce” within just two weeks.

Steve continues: “We’ve been using the flail for two weeks now and it’s already having a notable impact on efficiency. We’re finding the LT-F3000 is capable of achieving the same amount of work that we would otherwise have to bring three dedicated mowers in for. This level of versatility in one mower has significantly improved the team’s productivity rate.

“Our previous machine’s cutting width was 1.7m, but the new mower boasts a 2.12m cutting width, which has enabled us to cut down on operating times. We’ve also found that the flail’s three cutting units follow the contours of the ground better than our former single unit machine, resulting in a superb after-cut appearance.”

This high quality finish is achieved no matter what the length of the grass is to start with, says Steve: “Long, short, wet, coarse, the result is always great. The LT-F3000 can easily cut meadows, the height of cut just needs to be adjusted, and it’s very good with small bank work as it’s solid and stable.

“It’s easy to transport too; the front units can be tucked up out of the way and secured by good, sturdy fixing points so towing is safe and fast. With this feature, the machine can be moved from site to site hassle-free and we can now access trickier sites which were previously impossible. We are looking to get the machine road registered, so it could be even more productive!”

Uttlesford District Council’s grounds maintenance division prides itself on delivering a high level of service to its residents and every machinery choice is made with a great deal of care. Steve says: “We considered a variety of different machines, but the Toro shone through by promising to deliver everything our sites demand. It’s great to see this translate to our working day and the results we are producing.”

If that weren’t enough, “the professional manner of Reesink Turfcare’s representative Danny Lake cemented our decision,” says Steve. “He was very personable and really cared about helping us choose the best investment for our needs. Reesink’s customer service has been absolutely fantastic throughout, with any queries handled quickly and efficiently.”

Uttlesford District Council’s grounds team of nine replaces its machines every seven years and welcomes this as an opportunity to consider new technology to improve the already high level of service it provides to the residents of Uttlesford. In choosing machines like the Toro LT-F3000, which the council has found has the capability to do the work of three machines, it seems fair to say Uttlesford District Council is making all the right choices.