Blog Elements - Turf Matters

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

No boundaries for Baroness

July 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Barrie Hedges

No boundaries for Baroness: It’s a recognised fact in cricket that a good groundsman wins matches and is as much a part of the side as a pacy seam bowler or a gifted spinner. After more than 20 years in the game and winning a good few awards along the way, Simon Lee, for the […]

Three of a kind for Reesink

July 14, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Three of a kind for Reesink: Continuing with its firm focus on sales, servicing, training and parts for all brands with a locally-focused team, Reesink UK has opened its third branch in Burwell, Cambridgeshire. The branch which serves the areas of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, joins Reesink Scotland and Reesink South East […]

No boundaries for Baroness

July 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Barrie Hedges

Three of a kind for Reesink

July 14, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

No boundaries for Baroness

July 15, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Barrie Hedges

No boundaries for Baroness: It’s a recognised fact in cricket that a good groundsman wins matches and is as much a part of the side as a pacy seam bowler or a gifted spinner. After more than 20 years in the game and winning a good few awards along the way, Simon Lee, for the past two years Head Groundsman at the Ageas Bowl home of Hampshire CC, knows his craft supremely well.

He also knows a thing or two about the equipment he needs to keep his wickets and wider grounds up to international standard. The arrival of Baroness mowers in the Ageas fleet on the outskirts of Southampton is, therefore, a significant accolade for a brand that has become a favourite on many golf courses across the UK.

No boundaries for Baroness

Now regarded as one of the best cricket grounds in the country, the Ageas Bowl has taken delivery of three Baroness machines from Lister Wilder in recent months. Simon and his team have a five-unit mid-weight LM551B for outfields and an LM56GC pedestrian cylinder mower for pitch preparation. Meanwhile, the Boundary Lakes golf course that is another key element of the wider Ageas leisure offering has a three-unit LM315 greens mower.

The decision to opt for Baroness against other big-name competition was one that Simon did not take lightly. “I spoke to other top-level groundsmen and it came highly recommended by others who have had experience of using them,” he says. “You can read all you like about grass cutting machinery but when the verdict comes from someone you trust then you know you are making a good decision.

“When we demoed the machines, we found the Baroness mowers were cutting tighter and neater than the competition and giving us better presentation at the same level of cut.”

The reality of living with the new machines has matched up to the promise from the demo. “It isn’t just the quality of the cut that everyone talks about and how long the cut lasts,” says Simon. “I really like the way the Baroness machines are engineered – the fact that they are very user-friendly puts a big tick in the box for me given that they are being operated and maintained by staff at different skill levels. That makes life a lot easier for me in managing the whole process.”

Common to all the Baroness machines is the approach to the cutting cylinders, which are individually balanced before being installed and with a heat treatment process ensuring that the cutting edges of both cutting cylinders and bed-knives stay sharp and true.

The LM551B with its 45hp Kubota engine is equipped with a 22-inch standard reel along with optional mower units and accessories, allowing users to create the best configuration to meet their own turf conditions. The forward and backward slide function of the rear cutting units increase contour following whilst minimising uncut turf.

The pedestrian LM56GC is amongst the lightest in its class, but is very solidly built, with high manoeuvrability and a solid 5-year warranty as standard. Like other Baroness mowers, it is completely gear-driven and hence much easer to maintain and more durable than competitors driven by belts or chains. Equipped with bi-directional front grooming reel, de-thatching reel or brush (all of which are changeable in five minutes), you effectively get a complete turf maintenance system for the price of one mower.

The LM315GC is available in 7, 9 or 11-blade reel options, with bed-knives from 1.5mm to 5mm thickness. Cable drive to the cutting units eliminates potential hydraulic oil leaks where they are most likely to occur.

Particularly important to Simon is the back-up he gets to ensure that each of his machines performs at is best and that any problems are quickly dealt with. He has been very impressed by the support he has received to date from Lister Wilder’s Area Sales Manager Graham Merritt and from his Baroness Area Manager Luke Collins.

“They have been fantastic and have helped us every step of the way,” says Simon. “If you call them with the very tiniest issue they are there straight away. It’s the first thing you want with a dealer that is new to you because it means you can build a relationship that works.”

To view the complete Baroness range and to find your local dealer please visit www.baronessuk.com

#lessstresswithbaroness

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Three of a kind for Reesink

July 14, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Three of a kind for Reesink: Continuing with its firm focus on sales, servicing, training and parts for all brands with a locally-focused team, Reesink UK has opened its third branch in Burwell, Cambridgeshire.

The branch which serves the areas of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, joins Reesink Scotland and Reesink South East and opens up direct access to local turf machinery specialists in an extensive new area.

Three of a kind for Reesink

The brief for branch manager, Trevor Chard, was to set up a dealership that builds relationships on a local level, deals directly with customers and responds to specific customer needs for the area. Not only has that been achieved but surpassed, as he explains: “The pleasure of managing a branch is that the autonomy to make decisions in terms of what we stock, distribute and deliver is, to a degree, for us to determine based on the specific needs of customers in the area.”

Customers will be familiar with the brands Reesink UK distributes: Toro fine turf and groundscare machinery, STAR EV utility vehicles and golf buggies, Farmtrac tractors and TYM tractors which are all available through the branch, about which Trevor comments: “These brands, in particular STAR EV, are doing very well in this area, but breaking it down even further customers are particularly interested in the sustainable options offered by each brand. The all-electric Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 riding greens mower, Workman GTX Lithium Ion utility vehicle and the Reelmaster 5010-H hybrid from Toro, and the FT25G all-electric compact tractor from Farmtrac for example.

“As a result, we’ve been able to fine-tune the range we offer our customers, we’ve taken on board new brands specific to what the market here is responding to and that’s proving to be a winning formula.”

The wide-spread interest in reducing CO2 emissions by businesses in the area led to Reesink Burwell widening its offering since opening to include Cramer, the biggest amperage available for battery-driven power tools, and Biocircle for sustainable cleaning of turfcare machinery.

Alongside the brands it offers its customers, a large part of the branch’s business is servicing maintenance contracts. The ReeAssure scheme has three plans available for machines and what particularly appeals to customers is that you can put certain machines on different plans.

Trevor continues: “This is a key part of the business – we have 77 ReeAssure Maintenance contracts of which 21 percent are Gold. As the customer puts individual machines on a plan and not necessarily the whole fleet, we have many customers with machines in all three plans. That takes some managing and it’s why we’ve staffed the division up with three really experienced mobile technicians. These guys can do everything from routine maintenance to scheduled servicing on mowers, sprayers, aerators, you name it. Our customers need to know that with their machines on plan with us, downtime becomes a thing of the past, especially with our parts distribution running as the head office’s does, on 24 hours delivery.”

Completing the offering available through the branch is training, with space on site to accommodate practical training in the workshops and forecourt and theory in meeting rooms. Trevors explains: “Again, we have the autonomy to produce and provide training specific to what our customers want and need, stepping away from the general plans available through head office. We can design our own packages, making training even easier for customers.”

What is next for the branch, which thanks to remodelling an office in COVID restricted times, is a little later than planned? Trevor says: “We just want people to know we’re here. That through us they can get access to the best international brands available on the UK market, but with the benefit of working with local turf machinery specialists. We’re independent, we don’t funnel into a system, we can respond instantly to local market changes and design our business to offer the right products for the local industry as it moves forward in new directions.”

To speak to Reesink Burwell about what brands, services and expertise it can offer, call 01638 594 340.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

No boundaries for Baroness

Three of a kind for Reesink

No boundaries for Baroness

Three of a kind for Reesink

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

No boundaries for Baroness

Three of a kind for Reesink

Three of a kind for Reesink: Continuing with its firm focus on sales, servicing, training and parts for all brands with a locally-focused team, Reesink UK has opened its third branch in Burwell, Cambridgeshire.

RESOURCES

CONTACT

CONNECT