Hybrid mowers prove their worth

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Hybrid mowers prove their worth: Founded in 1889, Royal County Down is one of the oldest golf clubs in Ireland and features two 18-hole links, the Championship Course and the Annesley Links.

Located in the beautiful surroundings of the Murlough Nature Reserve in Northern Ireland and set against the magnificent backdrop of the Mountains of Mourne, the links stretch along the shores of Newcastle’s Dundrum Bay and provide a different view from virtually every hole.

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Eamonn Crawford has been links manager at Royal County Down for 10 years but has worked here for 45, maintaining not just his beloved links to the highest standards but also a consistent approach to the purchase of new course equipment.

“Every golf course is different, but I like to have a mixture of machinery and if it’s good enough I’ll use it,” he says. “My approach is very much horses for courses, and I aim to buy the right make for the jobs that need doing, to get them done properly.”

As a result, one of the club’s most recent investments has been in a fleet of four new John Deere 7500A E-Cut hybrid electric fairway mowers, delivered by local dealer Ricky Neill of Johnston Gilpin & Co at Lisburn. These have joined seven of the company’s TH 6×4 Gator utility vehicles as well as two vintage 1200A bunker rakes, which are approaching 15 years old and still doing a good job.

“I’ve dealt with the dealership for nearly 20 years,” says Eamonn. “Service and back-up are very important to us, and Johnston Gilpin have always proved their worth on that score, particularly with loan equipment. Generally, we need demo machines for more than just one or two days, preferably three or four weeks so we can test them properly in all conditions, and that’s what happened last year with the 7500AE mower.

“We get a lot of rain here and cutting in the wet is just the worst job. Fairway mowers in particular can leave a lot of mess, but the collection on these new machines is very good, the grass gets thrown right to the back of the boxes. We box off all the cuttings on the Annesley Links, which we’ve never done before, and people have been commenting how good the fairways are playing there now.”

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Hybrid mowers prove their worth

Six of Royal County Down’s 17 full-time greenkeeping staff are dedicated 7500AE operators. All four mowers are set to cut the fairways at 9mm on both 18-hole courses every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus all the pathways. Nets have been added to the mowers’ roll-bars for protection, as there are a lot of blind tee shots around the courses.

“One of our greenkeepers, Mark Kennedy, is very mechanically minded and has done a lot of product training with Johnston Gilpin learning about the machines and how to set them up, so he looks after them all,” says Eamonn. “All the operators know their machines well too and are very good at their job.

“They’ve got to be comfortable using the mowers, given how much time they spend in the seat all day, and they always report back, good or bad! The 7500AEs hold their cut very well, especially down to the bottom of the contours and hollows. Golfers like a tight lie, and the new mowers give us the consistent quality of cut that our members and visitors appreciate.

“The E-Cut hybrid electric system also saves fuel and produces very low emissions, so it all adds up so far. We’re very pleased with these new John Deere fairway mowers, and I’m very confident that they will be with us for a long time, particularly with Mark looking after them so well.”

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SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman

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SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman: Lawrence Brown may have only just embarked on a career in groundsmanship (2 months in fact) but he’s already chosen the perfect partner to help him at Ilford Rugby Club in the form of a SISIS Quadraplay.

Ilford Wanderers Rugby Football Club has been established since 1896. The club has a sense of belonging and community, with families getting together to support players of all different ages. “We play together, we win together; we lose together, we stay together,” is the club’s motto.

SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman

SISIS Quadraplay helps new groundsman

It is easy to see why Lawrence wanted to work for a club such as Ilford Wanderers.

“This is my first job in groundsmanship and I love it,” he said. “The club is fantastic; I always liked the idea of working outside – especially on pitches; I like using machinery and I really enjoy driving tractors. The groundsman job came up, I really wanted it and fortunately I got it.”

Lawrence was straight to work and is slowly but surely developing the skills required to maintain sports pitches. He admits that it will take time but claims that equipment such as the SISIS Quadraplay is certainly making his first taste of groundsmanship enjoyable.

“It’s such a joy to use and it does everything we need,” said Lawrence.

The SISIS Quadraplay has now progressed into one of today’s most useful pieces of kit in the groundsman’s armoury. One SISIS customer once even compared the Quadraplay to a Swiss army knife – compact, versatile, and utterly useful.

It is a multiple-purpose, single-pass maintenance system which incorporates a mounted frame for up to four implements such as grooming rakes, spikers, slitters, rollers and brushes. The implements can be fitted to the mainframe in any order and can be independently adjusted to achieve the desired effect. Compact, robust, versatile and with the ability to carry out up to four operations simultaneously – the Quadraplay makes life a lot easier for many groundsmen as Lawrence explains.

“I use the slitter regularly because it really helps with surface drainage and with aeration,” he said. “On the pitch we do get quite a bit of surface water, especially when it rains, so I run the slitter over it, and it makes a huge difference.

“The brush I tend to use after a cut. Just recently, for example, the grass had got long before I Joined so I used the brush to sweep all the cuttings to the side of the pitch, which made it easier to clear. The brush also massively helps with presentation.

“The roller is also very beneficial. Naturally, the turf gets torn from the players so I use the roller to level out any divots. Also, when it comes to presentation then you cannot beat the roller.

“The players have commented that the pitch looks great,” concluded Lawrence. “At the end of the day my job is to make the pitch better for them and the Quadraplay is helping me to achieve this.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter and Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

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TYM apiece for Palace

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TYM apiece for Palace: In its biggest deal with distributor Reesink Turfcare yet, Crystal Palace Football Club has chosen TYM tractors for grounds maintenance at both its Selhurst Park stadium and training grounds in Bromley, South East London.

The deal, which includes Toro machinery, comes as the club works toward becoming one of the country’s leading academies. As part of this, the club has invested in its Academy site, expanding its football facilities to include a full-sized pitch and nine additional pitches of varying sizes.

TYM apiece for Palace

TYM apiece for Palace

Bruce Elliot, head of grounds and estates, explains: “The club is investing a lot in its facilities at the moment, with a new stand being built at the stadium and the academy training ground expanding. It made sense, therefore, that with this development and improvement of the facilities, we would upgrade and expand our turfcare machinery, too.

“We first added Toro and TYM to our fleet in 2016 and have been consistently impressed by the work they’ve done, so we decided to make our biggest purchase yet at the end of last year,” continues Bruce. “We needed to replace some older machines at the academy and we also wanted to expand the fleet at our main training ground and stadium.”

And it’s certainly a large investment, with the club having purchased a TYM T293 tractor and the Toro ProCore 648 for the stadium and TYM T393 tractor, alongside two Greensmaster TriFlex Hybrid 3420 mowers and a tractor-mounted ProCore 864 which will be used on the T393 for aeration at the main training ground. A Toro Reelmaster 3575-D mower and Workman MDX utility vehicle for the academy grounds are included in the deal.

Having seen TYM and Toro in action at the club for several years already, the combination of the two was the first choice for Bruce when looking to expand the fleet: “We’ve always found TYM tractors to be reliable and adaptable, with a definite bonus being that they have such an extensive range. The fact that they work so well in conjunction with Toro for things like aeration is a winning combination.”

With the new machines in use across the grounds, now, Bruce is looking to the future: “We’re confident that we’ll be able to rely on TYM and Toro to provide the excellent standard of turfcare maintenance we need and it’s highly likely we will be investing in more Toro and TYM as the club’s facilities expand.”

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Etesia Buffalo – Power in Paradise

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Etesia Buffalo – Power in Paradise: After two unsuccessful mowers, landowner Dr Ueli Zellweger has finally found the ride-on mower he was looking for to help maintain the ‘most beautiful spot on earth.’

Dr Ueli Zellweger, a retired veterinary physician, found his slice of paradise in 1995 when he and his wife moved from Switzerland to a beautiful location in Exeter. Their magnificent house is surrounded by 15 acres of land which includes paddocks, a horse riding arena and a huge man-made lake, which were created by Ueli and his wife.

Etesia Buffalo – Power in Paradise

Etesia Buffalo – Power in Paradise

With so many acres of green space, it is vital that Ueli has only the finest turf maintenance machinery. However, finding a mower efficient enough to deal with the slopes, verges and tough terrain has not been straightforward – that was until he came across the Etesia Buffalo 124 HVHPX 4WD machine.

“I had two previous ride-on mowers before the Buffalo and unfortunately they just were not good enough,” said Ueli. “The first one would always clog up with grass cuttings and I would have to stop every so often to clear it. The second one did not cope too well with slopes and I kept getting stuck.

“I asked my local garden machinery dealer, Tom Williams, to give me the best and most powerful machine he had. He was quick to recommend the Etesia Buffalo 124 and after I saw it demonstrated, it didn’t take me long to make a decision.”

If it was power that Ueli was looking for then Tom Williams certainly gave him the correct advice. Fitted with a 124-cm overlapping cutting deck and a powerful 23-hp two-cylinder Briggs and Stratton engine with catalytic converter as standard, the Etesia Buffalo has a high hourly mowing output of up to 15,000 sq m. per hour, and an unequalled weight-to-power ratio.

The efficiency of the cutting system allows the operator to work faster (up to 12 km/h) and to improve productivity and output – the Buffalo excels even in wet conditions. Furthermore, this unique ride-on mower is fitted with a built-in grass collector with a capacity of 600 litres, and the hydraulic emptying system is controlled from the driver’s seat up to 1.8 metres.

Ueli believes he has finally found a mower he can rely on.

“We have the most beautiful spot on earth here and my wife has designed all of the gardens, so we are deeply passionate about our land. We spend a lot of time in the gardens and therefore it is essential to have the correct equipment in place to help keep it maintained. This Etesia Buffalo is the one.

Etesia Buffalo – Power in Paradise

Etesia Buffalo – Power in Paradise

“It is incredibly powerful, the most powerful machine I have ever had – it glides over uneven ground and slopes effortlessly. There is one area on the estate – a field next to the house – and it consists of very dense, coarse grass. The Buffalo cuts it brilliantly. Every other mower I have used in the past had failed. Whether it is short grass, long grass, rough grass, wet grass – it cuts absolutely everything, and the quality of cut is always fantastic. It is also good to have the peace of mind that I am no longer going to get stuck on a slope.

“I like the versatility of being able to change the height of cut depending on the situation and the operator controls are very user friendly. There are two levers on the right-hand side – one is for emptying the grass box and one is for raising it. Everything on this machine is so easy to operate.

“It is just a joy to use,” continued Ueli. “I put my earphones in and listen to my music while I cut with the Buffalo – I don’t see it as work because it is so enjoyable.”

To complement Ueli’s Buffalo, he and his wife also rely on the Etesia Duocut Battery NACTS pedestrian mower. This battery-powered walk-behind mower is environmentally responsible, compact, rugged and efficient. It can easily handle collection, mulching and mowing without the need of any additional attachments.

“There are smaller areas that you can’t get to with the ride-on mower and this is where the Duocut comes in – it is fantastic at doing the tight edges or small pathways. It is powerful and light, smooth and silent,” said Ueli.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk.

You can also follow Etesia on Twitter @EtesiaUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views

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Razor Ultra ‘too good not to have’

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Razor Ultra ‘too good not to have’: After Ian Fraser, head greenkeeper at Pitmedden Bowls Club in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, trialled the Dennis Razor Ultra 560 for just a weekend – he quickly decided he couldn’t be without it.

Ian has long been associated with his beloved Pitmedden Bowls Club. He’s been a player, and still is, a member of the committee and now he is the head greenkeeper. Therefore, he smiles more than most when people lavish praise on the outstanding playing surface at Pitmedden.

Razor Ultra 'too good not to have'

Razor Ultra ‘too good not to have’

Ian has transformed the greens over recent years. Determination, the willingness to learn and his love for the club have all been vital ingredients in his success. However, the modest greenkeeper also claims that the upgrade of various turf maintenance equipment has also been key – perhaps none more so than the new Dennis Razor Ultra 560 mower.

“I trialled a Razor Ultra for a weekend, said Ian. “From that moment I could tell just how good it was. It was easier to handle, it was wider, which meant that I didn’t have to do as many passes and the roller did a better job.

“My previous mower had a 9-blade cutting cylinder but the Razor Ultra has an 11-blade cylinder and I could tell the difference in the quality of cut straight away.”

Superbly balanced and ideal for bowls greens and other fine turf surfaces, the Razor Ultra has an operating width of 560mm (22in) and an 11-blade cutting cylinder for a perfect finish. An ultra-short wheelbase ensures easy manoeuvrability and excellent performance, even on undulating surfaces.

The Dennis Razor Ultra also encompasses the simple ‘no tools required’ click height adjusters for quick and easy operation, a feature which Ian is particularly impressed with.

“It is just so simple, especially if you cut at different heights like I do”, said Ian. “I normally cut at 5mm but when it’s competition time I cut it down to 4mm, and then maybe 3mm in the height of summer when the grass is quite sturdy and growing thicker. Even if you cut at 7mm with this mower, you can still play a good game of bowls on it.

“It’s an operator’s dream,” continued Ian. “It’s comfortable to use and I really like the round handlebars – it makes it so easy for turning and manoeuvring around the green.

“The finish is second to none and I find it hard to believe that there is another mower out there that cuts as well.”

Ian likes the fact that Dennis is a prominent British manufacturer with a great long-standing history and he also claims that he feels like he is in safe hands with the company.

“I’ve had a lot of equipment from Dennis and SISIS over the years and it is always a pleasure dealing with them – they look after their customers, that’s for sure. Ewen Wilson (Dennis and SISIS northern area sales manager) is always very attentive when he is here and is always available if I need him.

“It is a first-class service all round from the company.”

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

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK.You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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