ISEKI’s fab four at Stowe School
ISEKI’s fab four at Stowe School: Grounds Manager Steve Curley has revealed why Stowe School has purchased four different ISEKI machines in just three years.
Steve has been working at Stowe, a leading public school in Buckinghamshire for an incredible twenty-nine years. Overseeing a team of fifteen members of staff, Steve is responsible for three-hundred acres of sports fields and gardens including a nine-hole golf course.
ISEKI’s fab four at Stowe School
In maintaining such a vast area of land, Steve inevitably has a wide range of equipment, but he claims his ISEKI fleet covers most bases.
It all started with the ISEKI TG6675 compact tractor, as he explains.
“We needed something with a bit more horsepower to enable us to do heavier work,” said Steve. “After a few demonstrations of various tractors from our local dealer RT Machinery, we decided to get the TG6675, with 65-horsepower, and that has allowed us to use some implements and attachments that we were not previously able to. It’s been fantastic for us.”
The ISEKI TG6675 sets the benchmark for compact tractor performance. It is built to exceptional standards of quality, starting from the front lights through to the back three-point linkage. It is available with ROPS, or a factory fitted, fully air-conditioned category 2 cabin. All instruments and gauges are easy to read and indicate driving information like engine speed, travelling speed, and PTO speed can be viewed at a glance. All levers are ergonomically located around the driving seat and there is ample space for the driver’s comfort
Based on the success of the TG6675, he then purchased an ISEKI TLE3400 shortly after.
“This mainly does all of our trailer work and helps us pick up the rubbish,” said Steve. “With it being a boarding school, it is like a small town, and we must pick up the rubbish twice a day, every day. We end up with twenty trailer loads of waste per day and we put that in compactors – so this is ideal to pull the trailers.”
The TLE3400 is ISEKI’s new premium economy tractor. This 38 horse-power tractor has a three-speed hydrostatic transmission and a lift capacity of 1000 kg. It is supplied with agricultural or turf tyres as standard. An optional front loader is also available.
“After purchasing these two machines, we decided to purchase the ISEKI TG6490 IQ compact tractor for top dressing and slitting,” continued Steve.
“This has been very successful for us and one of the main reasons for buying it was because of the IQ gearbox which enables us to go up and down the gears very easily.”
As Steve says, the ISEKI TG6490 features an IQ dual clutch transmission which offers the control of a manual with the convenience of an automatic. There are eight main gears and three ranges. Gears are changed by simply moving the gear lever through the straight shift gate.
Steve purchased his fourth ISEKI machine when he felt the time had come to upgrade the school’s ride-on mower. The ISEKI SXG323 + is the ultimate in cut and collection mowers and offers power, performance, and unsurpassed productivity. A 48” (1.22M) mower deck provides a superior quality of cut while the large capacity, high torque 1123cc diesel engine is powerful and fuel efficient. Furthermore, the SXG323+ performs exceptionally even in the wet conditions, allowing you to work without the weather restricting you.
“The capacity of cut is a lot bigger than our old mower and we can get more grass in the box,” said Steve. “It also has a high tail lift which enables us to put it on a trailer straight away if needs be, so we are not double handling the grass. The other bonus is that it is costing us a lot less to run than our old petrol mower. We use this around most of the gardens and it performs brilliantly.
“Overall, these ISEKI machines have been fantastic value for money. They are very easy to service, and we’ve not had any problems whatsoever. The whole team has enjoyed working with them.”
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