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The Turf Tank UK Roadshow

The Turf Tank UK Roadshow: Turf Tank is taking robotic line marking on the road with five dates across England, starting at Manchester University on 7th July.

The roadshow will also visit Bournemouth and Leeds universities on 12th and 19th July, Liverpool Football Club’s LFC Academy on the 20th, and finish at Surrey University on the 26th.

The Turf Tank UK Roadshow

The Turf Tank UK Roadshow

Live demonstrations will take place, including the Turf Tank One’s set-up, programming and operation along with the base station. Any questions can be answered during every stage, and lunch and refreshments will be provided during the demonstration, with games and prizes also on offer.

Having already completed two dates in Belfast during May, Turf Tank UK Country Manager, Matt Murray, is looking forward to welcoming people to the roadshows in England.

“Over two days in Belfast, meeting people and showing them what the robot can do was fantastic,” Matt explains “I think the real benefit of people coming to a location similar to their own is they can see how the robot can work for them, how it can handle their conditions and ultimately, how seamless the process is.

“It’s also an excellent opportunity to ask any questions they might already have about robotic line marking, how the GPS side of things works or anything that comes up during the day.

“We like to keep it fairly informal, and everything is based outside on the turf, so it’s a solid four-hour session that people get a lot from.”

Free online registration is now open for every venue, and alex@turftank.co.uk or matt@turftank.co.uk can answer any questions regarding the events.

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Sponsor Torquay United’s pitch

Sponsor Torquay United’s pitch: Torquay United are so proud of their much-praised Plainmoor pitch that they’re offering fans the chance to sponsor it.

Read the full article from Torbay Weekly here

Sponsor Torquay United's pitch

Sponsor Torquay United’s pitch

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Hartpury maximises efficiency

Hartpury maximises efficiency: Embracing electric and improving efficiency were two of the standout reasons why Hartpury College and University turned to John Deere when it needed a new fleet of machines to help maintain a varied and challenging site.

Located in Gloucestershire, the 360-hectare campus is home to both Hartpury College and Hartpury University. Traditionally, the latter has been best known for its agricultural and land-based subjects, but in recent years the site has developed cutting-edge sports facilities, alongside the world’s largest equine educational facility.

Hartpury maximises efficiency

Hartpury maximises efficiency

The grounds team made the decision to switch providers when the challenge of maintaining the site proved too much for their existing kit.

“The machines were fine but we thought they would save us time, when in reality they were costing us more time and the efficiency wasn’t there,” Matthew Newman, Grounds and Sports Turf Manager at Hartpury says.

And both saving time and maximising efficiency are essential on a site with so many different demands.

With eight grass pitches for football and rugby, two synthetic pitches, a nine-hole pitch and putt, a golf range, a short game practice area and a multitude of amenity grounds, the challenge of maintaining the site calls for the very best equipment.

“Organising personnel to cover the site is a challenge as it’s so big,” Matthew says.

“It’s not easy because we’re dealing with nature. But we need to provide an excellent service so that our students’ experience is exactly what it should be.

“They need top quality pitches to play on. And we want the grounds to look the very best they can, because that’s how we advertise the college – when people drive down the main drive, we want them to think to themselves ‘I want to come here’.”

Tied into a deal with another machinery manufacturer, Matthew didn’t think they would be able to change the fleet until he consulted Phil Taylor, Turf & Commercial Area Sales Manager for the Tallis Amos Group, the local John Deere dealer.

Phil already had a close relationship with the team at Hartpury so, when they approached him to demo a John Deere TE Gator, he was able to explain how he could help them leave their current finance package and purchase new kit on a five-year lease, all while providing them with the backup from a dealership they desperately needed.

“We have improved the quality of the pitches and saved the operators a huge amount of time by mulching and not collecting,” Phil says.

“We went to Tallis Amos and the relationship blossomed – we have a really good association with them,” echoes Matthew. “I know that if we are really up against it and a machine is down, that I can ring Tallis and if they can lend us another machine they will.

“This is by far the best relationship I’ve had with a manufacturer or supplier over the past 10 years and hopefully it will continue.”

Matthew is also as enthusiastic about the new kit they’re now using on site.

“We’ve got mulching mowers now so the efficiency is better than it’s ever been,” he explains. “The 8800 is by far the best mower we’ve ever had.

“We’ve changed from diesel gators to electric gators; we started moving to electric for our smaller kit about six years ago when we changed to electric strimmers, followed by our blowers and hedge cutters.”

In total, Hartpury has purchased six TE Gators, one 8800A surrounds mower, one 4066R tractor on galaxy turf tyres and a second 4066R on standard tyres with a 440R Loader, two Z994R with a 60” cutting deck and one 220SL greens mower.

Tallis Amos also supplied two robotic mowers, a tine aerator, four cylinder mowers, slitter and rotary deck roller mower.

“The choice of kit was based on covering what both the sports and grounds teams need because the machines do need to interchange,” Matthew explains. “And we based it on how we could support both the environment and maximise efficiencies.”

Reducing carbon footprint will play a considerable role going forwards, determining both the kit selected and the way it is used.

“Hartpury stages five international horse events – the issue we had with our diesel Gators in the past was that they were quite noisy,” Matthew says.” This year we will be using electric – it will be interesting to see how noise-free vehicles are welcomed by the competitors and spectators.”

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Horticulture specialist pledges armed forces support

Horticulture specialist pledges armed forces support: The Nurture Group signs Armed Forces Covenant as part of the nation’s promise to support current and former service personnel and their families. 

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise from the nation to those who serve. It says we will do all we can to ensure they are treated fairly and not disadvantaged in their day-to-day lives. This includes offering injured servicemen and women and bereaved families extra support where appropriate.

Horticulture specialist pledges armed forces support

Horticulture specialist pledges armed forces support

Gavin Jones, part of The Nurture Group, has a longstanding history of maintaining a wide variety of MOD sites and recently commenced a seven-year working relationship with the VIVO Defence partnership at the start of the year.

Consequently, the Group has cemented its commitment to its ongoing support of veterans and their loved ones, alongside existing team members who give their time voluntary to cadet operations as part of the Reserve Forces, and actively championing awareness activities such as Remembrance Day and Armed Forces Day.

Already a Real Living Wage Employer, The Nurture Group is now eligible for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Bronze Award, recognising employers that are aligned with the Covenant’s own core values. The ERS also encourages employers to support defence and inspire other organisations to do the same.

Simon Harrison, Head of People at Nurture Group, commented: “As an ex-serviceman, signing the Armed Forces Covenant is something I personally am very passionate about, and I am delighted and proud to be driving initiatives and pledging our wider support to those who give so much to our country. We are currently planning activities to further our work with the armed forces community, with ex- service personnel within our organisation keen to take a leading role and support.”

Further information about Gavin Jones and The Nurture Group can be accessed at www.nurture-group.co.uk.

For more about the Armed Forces Covenant, visit www.gov.uk/government/policies/armed-forces-covenant.

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STIHL’s new state-of-the-art HQ

STIHL’s new state-of-the-art HQ: STIHL GB held a groundbreaking ceremony this week to mark the first official day of construction of its new 11,500m2 purpose-designed headquarters and state-of-the-art warehouse facility in Camberley, Surrey.

Chairman of the Executive Board at STIHL AG, Michael Traub, STIHL GB Managing Director, Kay Green, Mayor of Surrey Heath, Councillor Helen Whitcroft, and Managing Director London and South at Glencar Construction, Roy Jones, attended the ceremony to turn the first soil and announce the official commencement of works on the site.

STIHL's new state-of-the-art HQ

STIHL’s new state-of-the-art HQ

Due for completion in 2023, the site will be home to nearly 100 employees and will boast dedicated dealer training facilities, an on-site restaurant, flexible collaborative workspaces and a technical workshop.

The new 9,000m2 warehouse space will utilise the latest picking and storage system technology to maximise productivity, efficiency and the use of space. All logistics will now be consolidated onto one site, meaning a speedier and more efficient delivery service to the 700 strong STIHL dealer network.

Kay Green, Managing Director of STIHL GB, commented: “The groundbreaking ceremony is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for STIHL GB and the result of a sustained period of growth in recent years. Our new purpose-built headquarters represents a significant capital investment and is a commitment to the future for our dealers and end user customers.”

The new HQ boasts first class environmental credentials including BREEAM Certification, the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for building projects. In addition, it is proposed that two-thirds of the total roof area (1600m2) will be covered with photovoltaic solar panels to provide power to the new facility, as well as the installation of EV charging points.

The new headquarters will be connected to Blackwater railway station by a dedicated cycle path and will feature landscaped gardens with native shrubs and trees and a wildflower meadow, which forms part of an integrated flood risk mitigation zone on the former Thames Water Utilities site.

Furthermore, three biodiversity offset planting schemes will be implemented in the local area, which will replace the greenery that has been removed during construction, as well as adding an additional 10% planting provision. All the planting has been carefully selected so that only native species are planted.

For more information, please visit www.stihl.co.uk.

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Gleneagles enhances the King’s course

Gleneagles enhances the King’s course: Gleneagles, the iconic Scottish hotel and global luxury destination, has completed important enhancements to its world-renowned King’s Course, in preparation for welcoming icons of the game to compete in the Senior Open Presented by Rolex, July 21-24.

The 103-year-old James Braid-designed inland links style course, a regular feature of many Top 100 rankings lists, is critically acclaimed as one of his architectural masterpieces.

Gleneagles enhances the King's course

Gleneagles enhances the King’s course

In 1921 it was also the venue of the first ever match between Britain and USA Professionals, in what has been widely accepted today as a precursor to The Ryder Cup.

The course also famously hosted a match between the ‘Big Three’ of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player in 1966, as well as the popular Bell’s Scottish Open from 1987-1994, the largest spectator event after The Open at the time.

Next month’s Senior Open Presented by Rolex will welcome a host of golfing legends to ‘The Glorious Playground’, including two-time Open Champion and 2022 US Senior Open Champion, Padraig Harrington (playing in his first Senior Open), his fellow double Open Champion Ernie Els, as well as Darren Clarke, Tom Lehman and Scotland’s Sandy Lyle.

The King’s Course underwent extensive restoration in 2016, which included taking the fairway cut lines back to the original James Braid design, alongside a comprehensive bunker refurbishment programme, to further enhance the aesthetic design of all 18 holes.

To coincide with the staging of the Senior Open Presented by Rolex, the following key changes have been made to five holes on The King’s Course:

Hole 7 – Kittle Kink

A new tee has been built at the back of the 6th green that significantly increases the length of the hole. Not only does the length add difficulty but, more importantly, it changes the angle from the tee so that it plays as a more severe dog-leg. It’s now much harder to ‘cut the corner’ off the tee shot, which results in adding length to the approach shot and ultimately making this one the most challenging holes on the course. The hole will change from 444 yards to 468 yards – an increase in length of 24 yards.

Hole 8 – Whaup’s Nest

The existing Championship tee has been extended back and to the left to help open up sight of the right side of the green, allowing a greater variety of teeing positions. Club selection will be key for this narrow green.

Hole 12 – Tappit Hen

A new tee has been built and positioned approximately 30 yards back into an existing copse of trees that provides a wonderfully framed ‘shoot’ for a challenging tee shot that now requires a solid carry over the bunkers that guard the saddle. The hole will change from 442 yards to 475 yards – an increase in length of 33 yards (see attached video flyover).

Hole 14 – Dent Den
A new tee has been built that adds 40 yards to the tee shot, allowing the hole to retain the risk and reward element of a reachable par-4. The added challenge is in the need for a more robust tee shot to carry the ridge of bunkers. The hole will change from 309 yards to 341 yards – an increase in length of 32 yards.

Hole 16 – Wee Bogle
The existing Championship tee has been lowered slightly, extended back and to the left to help open up sight of the entirety of the green, particularly to allow for a back right pin position.

Other notable changes from past championships will be a greater emphasis on tightly mown surfaces around greens complexes and fairway bunkers, to fully embrace the natural contours of the course.

Conor O’Leary, Managing Director of Gleneagles, commented: “Gleneagles’ reputation as a sporting estate has flourished for a century, with golf and The King’s Course at the very heart of that rich history. While our modern classic, The PGA Centenary Course designed by Jack Nicklaus, has hosted iconic Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup matches, we are so proud to welcome legends of the game back to The King’s, where golf started at Gleneagles all those years ago.

“The sympathetic course changes we have made recognise the way the modern game has evolved, but still retain The King’s Course’s numerous strategic challenges that have made this timeless classic so revered the world over.”

Gleneagles remains the only venue in Europe to have staged both The Ryder Cup (2014) and The Solheim Cup (2019). The 850-acre Perthshire estate is also currently ranked #2 in the Top 100

World Golf Resorts ranking, published by Golf World.

Tickets for the 2022 Senior Open Presented by Rolex can be purchased, HERE

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Measuring up to knapsack calibration

Measuring up to knapsack calibration: Correctly calibrating liquid spray applications is a keystone of effective spraying.

Doing it right, whether weeding or feeding, is critical to ensure operators deliver concentrations appropriate for the task in hand.

Measuring up to knapsack calibration

Measuring up to knapsack calibration

Giving SAGE delegates the benefit of his considerable experience and knowledge will be training company boss Martin Sampson, who will reveal the secrets of correct calibration at his 6 July presentation, from 12 noon to 12.45.

Approved by SAGE exhibitor and leading industry awarding body Lantra, Martin heads up Grounds Training at a time of soaring demand for spraying qualifications.

“Local authorities, schools, colleges and companies are more aware of the importance of training now,” he says. “If you are spraying, qualifications such as PA1 and PA6 are legal requirements but increasingly we’re seeing organisations wanting to upskill staff to give them the flexibility to spray in house, instead of using contractors.”

Martin’s 45-minute fast-track presentation is “a slice through how to calibrate, why we need it, what can go wrong if we don’t calibrate regularly and the importance of well-maintained kit”.

Jointly presenting with colleague Geraint Jenkins, Martin also covers correct choice of sprayer nozzles and reveals his own method of turning calibration from a maths puzzle to 20 minutes’ work.

Grounds Training delivers a full suite of Lantra-approved grounds and sportsturf management qualifications as well as Lantra customised provision courses that cover line marking, natural and synthetic turf maintenance and maintenance and management of wildflower meadows, ponds and wetlands.

On knapsack training modules, Martin also focuses on ergonomic aspects of spraying to reduce operator body stresses and strains – using a Berthoud Vermorel Pro Comfort 2000 demo unit.

“From a training aspect, it is simple to use and to explain various points about spraying, which include operator comfort. The Vermorel’s back frame and straps distribute the weight of the knapsack and contents in a way that balances the forces on the body. The extendable lance is also helpful for illustrating how to spray safely near water, an increasingly popular course.”

www.lantra.co.uk

www.groundstraining.com

www.berthoud.fr/en/  

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SISIS is marvellous for Merthyr Town

SISIS is marvellous for Merthyr Town: A range of SISIS synthetic turf maintenance equipment is helping to keep the ‘Wembley of South Wales’ in excellent condition.

Merthyr Town FC is a non-league team from South Wales. It is a 100% fan owned community club that play in the Southern League Premier Division at its historical home of The MET Coaches Stadium at Penydarren Park, right in the heart of the Merthyr Tydfil Community.

SISIS is marvellous for Merthyr Town

SISIS is marvellous for Merthyr Town

The club has had its ups and downs over the years, but the installation of a synthetic pitch has helped turn fortunes around, as Merthyr man Julian Axhorn explains.

“Part of the improvement plan was to have a new synthetic pitch,” he said. “Previously, in winter the grass would disappear, and we couldn’t use the pitch. Now we can use it all year round and it also creates a vital revenue stream. We wanted to make it a community asset, and now everyone uses it – they love it, and I love it. I call it the Wembley of South Wales.”

Julian is known as the Merthyr man for good reason – not only does he maintain the pitch, but he is on the board as the Treasurer, works on the turnstiles, and helps with numerous other tasks on a matchday. Therefore, when it comes to his own little slice of Wembley – he wants only the best.

“The pitch was replaced with a new surface a year ago and I thought the time was right to invest in new equipment,” he said. “We had a very old tractor with a little brush on the back and it was very slow and antiquated. We wanted an improvement and after doing some research we identified the SISIS Brush-Pro and the SISIS SSS1000 as the ideal equipment.”

Specially designed for synthetic surfaces, the Brush-Pro is a ride-on brushing system consisting of a pair of mid mounted oscillating brush units and three rear mounted brushes. The oscillating brushes are ideal for periodic aggressive brushing to keep infill mobile, prevent algae accumulation, surface compaction and loss of porosity.

Equally impressive is the SISIS SSS1000 – a tractor mounted sweeper that can be pulled by any machine. The rotary brush has been designed for use on synthetic surfaces to remove surface debris, lift the carpet pile and redistribute sand or rubber crumb infill giving the surface maximum performance and extended life.

Julian explained how the two SISIS machines play a part in his maintenance programme.

“After every twenty hours of use we carry out one hour of maintenance, and this pitch is always in use,” he said. “Typically, we try and stick to a cycle, so one week we will do the brushing; the following week we will use the oscillating brushes, and then the next week we will do the sweeping with the SSS1000.

SISIS is marvellous for Merthyr Town

SISIS is marvellous for Merthyr Town

“These two machines keep the pitch in great condition, they help to move the crumb around the surface and the sweeper picks up all the debris.

“I’m not very technically minded but the Brush-Pro is easy to operate, it is comfortable to sit on and easy to maintain, it is easy to set-up, and it does the job that it is there to do. I just can’t fault the equipment. They also fit nicely in the garage and save space which is an added benefit.”

Julian revealed that some funding issues initially delayed the purchase of the equipment, however he thanked the SISIS team for their understanding.

“The funding wasn’t quite in place, so SISIS kindly supplied us with a demonstration model to use until it was all sorted. I knew I had made the right decision because you can’t beat that for customer service.

“You really do get the full package from SISIS.”

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

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter or 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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ICL integral to rebuild at Wychwood

ICL integral to rebuild at Wychwood: Ashley Oakes, Course Manager at Wychwood Golf Club, has explained how an integrated turf management programme from ICL helped him to rebuild the course after an extreme summer drought.

In the summer of 2018 golf clubs faced an unprecedented two-plus months of extremely hot and dry weather. Many courses were left brown, damaged, and susceptible to disease – Wychwood Golf Course, in Weston, Crewe, was no exception.

ICL integral to rebuild at Wychwood

ICL integral to rebuild at Wychwood

“We had so many weeks without any rain, and it is safe to say we got fried,” said Ashley.

“We lost a substantial amount of grass, and it gave us a chance to reassess everything. It was time to hit the default button and restart.”

It was at this point that Ashley got in touch with ICL and he admitted to being instantly impressed by the company’s ‘work ethic and policies.’

Phil Collinson, Technical Area Sales Manager for ICL, visited Ashley shortly after the drought and it wasn’t long before a plan was devised.

“I listened to the challenges that Ashley faced and then put together a bespoke plan to solve those issues,” said Phil. “We identified the correct products and together we sat down to look at all the trial data behind them. When the stakes are so high, Course Managers haven’t got time to gamble. That was certainly the case at Wychwood.”

Ashley claims that it would be difficult to highlight every product in the integrated turf management programme but provided an overview on how some of them have made a difference.

As a wetting agent, he relies on ICL’s H2Pro TriSmart, which he aims to apply at a rate of 10 L/ha once a month from March onwards. It is formulated with three water management surfactant technologies to provide great water penetration, even water spread through the rootzone and to improve the water holding capacity of sandy rootzones.

“We’ve got USGA sand-based greens here and we needed something that would deal with that level of construction,” he said. “TriSmart gives us that consistency throughout the rootzone, it gets rid of that dry patch, and it gives us the required effect for what we want both visually and for the grass. It has also meant that we have irrigated less.

“With such big undulating greens, to get consistency across such large areas I think speaks volumes for the TriSmart technology.”

Once Ashley knew there was a wetting agent in place that would perform, his next focus was to ensure there was a product in the programme that would help to negate any stresses. For this reason, Phil recommended Vitalnova Links – a unique formulation consisting of Vitalnova Blade and Vitalnova SMX.

“We brought Vitalnova Links in to improve the heavily stressed situation on the greens and it helped them to recover,” said Ashley. “We needed the plant to be healthier but not receive the kick that a conventional fertiliser would do. Instead, it helps to reduce stress on the plant and get that health in a natural way. It has worked so well, and we even incorporate this product into our Primo Maxx II growth regulator programme on the greens.”

In terms of a granular fertiliser, Ashley knew exactly what he was looking for during the cooler months of the year.

“I wanted health, vitality, and presentation through the whole year including winter, and this is why we use Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator 4-0-8,” he said.

“Using this product has improved turf quality and performance through the challenging autumn months and helps to drive that recovery growth before we switch to liquids in the summer.

“One thing I have noticed is that in challenging conditions, ICL’s granular fertilisers still work whereas other brands will scorch and cause discolouration. You will never get that with an ICL product.

“Modern greenkeeping puts us in a position where we need to rely on quality products and that is why we continue to use ICL.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Kubota RTV supports community forest

Kubota RTV supports community forest: Kubota has formed a partnership with the Forest of Marston Vale, part of England’s Community Forests which together form the country’s largest environmental initiative.

For over 25 years the Forest of Marston Vale Trust has been working with local communities, businesses and partners to plant trees and create new woodland across 61 square miles between Bedford and Milton Keynes; transforming a landscape once dominated by brick making, mineral extraction and landfill while growing tree cover from just 3.6% to well over 15%. The 12 new Community Woodlands are an extraordinary local resource bringing significant environmental, economic and social benefits to the area. The newest, Queens Wood near Houghton Conquest, also has the honour of being Bedfordshire’s Jubilee Wood, part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative to mark the Platinum Jubilee.

Kubota RTV supports community forest

Kubota RTV supports community forest

A core target for creating the Forest is increasing tree cover to 30%, a tenfold increase,

as a means to transform the social, economic and environmental prospects of the area. The Forest of Marston Vale Trust, working with local communities, businesses and partners, has already increased tree cover to over 15%.

At the heart of the forest is the Millennium Country Park, 225ha of woodland, wetland, lakes and meadows. The Park, a fifteen-time winner of the prestigious Green Flag Award welcomes up to half a million people each year, and offers local people and visitors to the area the opportunity to get outdoors and connect with nature

It is cared for by a team of five forest rangers who need to travel around 8km of hardened path, 4km of horse trail and numerous tracks to plant and care for trees and maintain wetlands. Kubota has supplied the team with a new RTV X-1140 utility vehicle to help make their work more efficient, safer and more convenient.

The RTV X-1140 is powered by the renowned Kubota engine delivering 24.8hp, and can carry up to four people in comfort plus their cargo, or quickly switch to a two-seater with even more space for tools and equipment.

Senior ranger Nicola Ceconi comments: “We have to be able to travel on grassland and to work on the wetlands outside the season for ground nesting birds; some of the site can only be accessed by this type of vehicle, on foot or bicycle. It’s often muddy and we certainly need off-road capability, yet many of our paths are narrow and we can encounter cyclists or walkers so the compact size of the RTV is an advantage. We rarely need to use four-wheel drive and the Kubota’s low ground pressure is appreciated for the more sensitive landscapes.”

The full-size cargo bed offers plenty of room for tools and equipment, but the team often need to switch back to four-seater mode for jobs requiring more labour.

“It’s a quick and easy swap – when we had our training on this new machine it was good to see how simple it was to convert,” says ranger Lottie Scoltock. “The bed also has a useful hydraulic tipping function for jobs such as mulching flowerbeds.”

Nicola adds that the RTV is driven by all of the members of the team who appreciate its straightforward KVT automatic transmission and is spacious and comfortable to drive.

“It has an open sided cab which is easy to get in and out of and much cooler in summer. We really enjoy having the RTV and it makes our job so much easier.”

Forest of Marston Vale commercial director Grant Sorrell comments: “The loan of the RTV X-1140 by Kubota makes a huge difference to our work. It’s a small team with a significant task so anything that makes us more efficient is a godsend.”

It’s part of a programme of community support by Kubota, which is based nearby at Thame in Oxfordshire.

“The Forest of Marston Vale was identified by our employees as a deserving community organisation to support, and it’s clear to see the tremendous social and environmental benefits it offers for current and future generations,” comments Kubota Tractor Business Unit marketing manager Rob Edwards.  “It is an excellent fit with Kubota’s ‘For Earth, For Life’ ethos. We are delighted to support the team with the loan of the RTV X-1140 which is perfectly at home in this type of application.”

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