Tag Archive for: Allett

Allett announces lawn stripes champion

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Allett announces lawn stripes champion: Now in its 10th year, the Allett Mowers annual Creative Lawn Stripes Competition once again attracted entries from all over the world. The prize is an Allett Liberty 43 mower with all cartridges and two cartridge stands.

The past few years have been tough for everyone, say Allett, but what they have noticed is a growth in lawn-care enthusiasts spending more time in their gardens. The aim of the competition is to encourage homeowners to use their lawns to design the most creative, eye-catching designs that truly show off the craftsmanship and dedication that goes into grass maintenance. The standard of this year’s entries has again been exceptional, and it gets better year on year. This year’s judge was 2021 Champion Dennis West of Provo, Utah, USA following an internal vote done by a specialist Allett panel with the top six entries forwarded to Dennis to choose the winner.

Allett announces lawn stripes champion

Allett announces lawn stripes champion

“It was an honour to be asked to judge this year’s competition,” he says, “the top six presented some very strong entries, all of which show a love for lawn creativity Picking one winner was a tough job, but after analysing the entries I found one that, for me, embodied not only lawn striping creativity, but also a representation of the beauty of the United Kingdom.”

The top six entries came from England, Wales, Australia and Canada and the 2022 Champion is Edward Aitken, Head Gardener at Cornbury House, Oxfordshire. Cornbury Park is a private estate in the town of Charlbury, fifteen miles from Oxford, England. The estate includes 1,700 acres of the most ancient forest in Britain and is host to events such as the award-winning Wilderness Festival and charity fundraisers. Ed has entered the Allett competition three times and been placed in the top six each time. The judges’ comments praised the standard achieved.

‘The combination of radiating, straight, and angled stripes in this expansive design brings to mind the sectional features of an aerial image of the English countryside with rolling hills divided by rock walls. The strong stripes that seamlessly blend from curved forms to straight demonstrate an expertise that ensured the final design met very particular standards of perfection’ Ed describes the process that led up to the winning design. “Our lawn is a very old lawn which we have been renovating to get it up to standard. It was cut with a ride-on originally, which didn’t pick up the grass clippings, so it was a bit of a mess. Now we cut with a Hayter 56 at various heights of cut. I changed the height depending on what part of the lawn I was cutting. The circle area has to be cut higher compared to the area closest to the house just because of the thickness of the lawn and how much thatch is left in the lawn. Each different pattern is cut at a different height, which helped to show off the pattern a bit more. The inspiration for the design comes from the centre circle part of the lawn where the chequerboard is, which is actually a helicopter landing area. The idea was that it looked amazing when the family and their guests were coming in in the helicopters, which I thought was quite effective. Once I’d cut the circles, it was a case of breaking the lawn up into a couple of different sections and making sure it looked nice as you’re looking out. The family I work for have an outdoor eating area just outside the house so it looks good when they’re looking over the garden. I’d say it’s taken about a year to get it looking good. I cut it once a week with certain areas cut twice a week, so the central checkerboard area is cut twice a week in a different direction. I’m delighted to win as I’ve entered three times now. I was third the first time, second the last time. I thought I’d stand a chance this year with the circles making it an interesting lawn, so I’m very pleased to have won. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the prize. I’ll probably use it in my own garden at home as I’ve got quite a large lawn. Maybe I will start doing some patterns!” Competition judge Dennis West’s final comment was to offer congratulations to all the finalists, saying, to make it this far is quite an accomplishment. “Most of the winners in recent years entered more than once before winning the prize, so keep entering and you may be next!”

2nd Place

Paul Wigman Nottingham

Head Gardener Clumber Lodge

3rd Place

Emile Hernandez gardener

Somerville College Oxford

4th Place

Simon Rice, South Australia

5th Place 

Dan Milne Canada

6th place

Tom Frampton, Wales

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Allett announces highest Jubilee bidder

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Allett announces highest Jubilee bidder: Entries closed on the 5th June 2022 for the Allett Mowers auction celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. A special one-off Jubilee Edition Allett Stirling 51 (20”) battery cylinder mower commemorating the Queen’s 70 years on the throne was on offer to the highest bidder.

The proceeds are to be donated to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Living Legacy Fund, the DofE charity launched in the Duke’s memory with the aim of reaching a million young people by 2026. Caroline Glen, DofE Director of Fundraising, said:

Allett announces highest Jubilee bidder

Allett announces highest Jubilee bidder

“We are extremely grateful to Allett for their generous donation. As young people navigate the uncertain future left by the pandemic, the DofE is needed more than ever. Donations like this will help us reach more young people, giving them the chance to develop new skills, discover new passions and build lifelong confidence, resilience, and self-belief.”

The online auction attracted bidders from all around the world, including entries from the USA, Canada and Switzerland. The winning bid came from Ron Henry of Georgia, USA who bid the substantial sum of £4,400.00. Ron will receive the British built Jubilee Edition Stirling 51 battery cylinder mower after it has been on display at Windsor Flower Show on 11th June and Gardener’s World Show at the NEC on the 16th-19th June 2022. Ron describes himself as a ‘lawncare geek’ who owns and runs the Golf Course Lawn Store https://golfcourselawn.store He also publishes videos on lawncare, fertilisation and ‘lots and lots of mowing.’ He plans to shoot a video for his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/RonHenry which has grown massively in popularity over the last few years offering lawncare advice to all. He will then place the mower in his office studio as a display piece. This is Ron’s second Allett mower. His first is a C27 Evolution, which he uses to maintain his lawn. He said:

“Given that it’s a one-off special edition Stirling and so nice to look at, it’s unlikely that I’ll mow grass with it. I’m very happy to be able to play a small part in helping young people reach their goals through the donation to the DofE charity. The Jubilee Edition Stirling 51 is a beautiful piece of history that I’m happy to be part of. Special thanks to Allett and their partners for building an amazing mower and making the auction open to an international audience.”

The Stirling range of expert mowers is designed for the home lawn enthusiast with medium to large lawns. The mowers feature the Allett cartridge system which gives professional level cultivation and clean-up for lawn thatch control, autumn renovations and weed control. The auctioned Jubilee Allett Stirling 51 (20”) is powered by the EGO 56V battery system using their unique ‘Keep Cool’ technology. Allett Mowers has been a British Manufacturer of cylinder mowers since 1965 and is a holder of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise-International Trade.

“We’re very proud to be able to run this auction with the proceeds going to the DofE Award fund,” said Allett’s Managing Director, Austin Jarrett. “The DofE Award is something we at Allett are very passionate about and we are pleased to have the opportunity to help young people in this way.” Anyone wishing to donate to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Living Legacy Fund can do so by visiting: https://events.dofe.org/living-legacy-fund

Allett Mowers Ltd.  01889 271503 www.allett.co.uk

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Allett reveals Stirling battery mower

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Allett reveals Stirling battery mower: Allett has introduced the Stirling battery mowers to their electric range. This, they say, is a unique mower for the lawn connoisseur, be they a homeowner who is an expert in lawncare, or the professional, demanding the perfection of a greens mower at a fraction of the cost of a professional one.

The Stirling is not just a mower but a complete lawncare system which utilises all the Allett Cartridges (adaption kit required) to achieve a greens standard ultra-low finish. With all the benefits of electric drive, the Stirling is packed with features previously unavailable outside Allett’s professional mower range for groundsmen and greenkeepers. Working with EGO’s renowned Power-Plus Arc Lithium-Ion battery system, they have designed a new generation of innovative, eco friendly, quiet yet powerful, versatile mowing and maintenance systems. Versatile because there is a greater range of lawn finishes with the height of cut range from 5mm to 50mm. Deeper cultivation for improved lawn treatment is made simple with the quick change cartridges that can be changed in under fifteen seconds.

Allett reveals Stirling battery mower

Allett reveals Stirling battery mower

The all-electric drive means quieter mowing at any time of the day, with no pollution at the point of cutting, no fuel collection and storage, push button starting and greater reliability. Two electric motors independently drive the rear roller and cartridge blades, with the EGO 56V battery generating masses of power for up to 900m² of continuous mowing at top speed. The battery will also fit into any EGO garden tool. The bottom blade has been made thicker with greater rigidity for trouble-free and accurate cutting. There is a roller-only drive option, so no rotating blades when travelling between lawns, and variable speed roller-drive offers more control for better mowing and cultivation results.

The Stirling is perfectly balanced with the weight over the rear roller, which means longer lasting, more contrasting stripes. It is also a split roller to ensure less turf wear and scuffing when turning. The independent drive speed allows you to travel at the right speed and the pull back and over-ride features allow effortless control and easy turning. The mower drive controls are simple and easy to use, with hand-palm recessed roller drive engagement. A LED battery charge light is continuously visible, so you know at a glance the battery’s remaining charge level and an overload warning light tells you if the mower is being worked too hard for the motors or battery.

There is also a front roller that is free wheeling for better battery life, less effort and accurate and consistent height control. The power system is neatly integrated into the chassis to provide good visibility of the front roller. An easy, turn-wheel accurately sets the height of cut, with an indicator to take the guesswork out of adjustment. The grassbox is lightweight, with a wire frame and perforated material stretched over it. Easy to carry and lift when it’s full, it also breaks down for winter storage. A lawn rake is a retained feature from other Allett mowers because customers say they love it. The Allett Stirling comes in two models, the Stirling 43 and Stirling 51 with 17” (430mm) and 20” (510mm) mowing width, respectively. Saltex Stand No. K009. Allett Mowers Ltd.  01889 271503

www.allett.co.uk

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Dennis West wins Allett competition

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Dennis West wins Allett competition: What has been a tough two years for everyone has seen a huge rise in the number of people taking to their gardens with more time at home. The Allett lawn stripes competition is in its ninth year with entries welcome regardless of the size of lawn or where they are in the world.

Homeowners are encouraged to use their lawns to design the most eye-catching designs and show off the craftsmanship and dedication that goes into grass maintenance. The standard of this year’s entries has again been incredible, say Allett, with the top six entries coming from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the USA. This year’s judge was Andy Wain, Head Gardener at Euridge Manor and last year’s winner. An internal vote was done by a specialist Allett panel with the top six entries forwarded to Andy to pick his overall winner. First place went to Dennis West of Provo, Utah, USA, who was sixth in last year’s competition. The judges’ comment were: “This is a really clever design. The way the pattern flows around the house is fantastic – Incorporating both stripes and different cutting heights has come together to create a really outstanding piece of art. Congratulations! Beautiful’’

Dennis West wins Allett competition

Dennis West wins Allett competition

Dennis works from home as an instructional designer for a telecommunications company headquartered in Maryland, and worked as a graphic designer for many years. He has a BFA in Animation and an MS in Instructional Psychology and Technology. A little over three years ago, he moved to a newly built house that had no landscaping and over the next two years, he set to installing sprinklers and managing the hydroseeded lawn. He watched many YouTube videos on DIY lawncare and became more and more impressed by what he saw could be accomplished in a lawn. In March 2020 he purchased an Allett Kensington 20H and began raking, sand levelling and conditioning the lawn to grow at a shorter length. For this year’s competition, he tried something different from his first entry but decided it wasn’t good enough. Following more experimentation, he saw online some Zen garden patterns and felt that was a good place to start.

To design the pattern, he measured out the lawn and drew an outline in Adobe Illustrator. Accurate measurements were key to scaling down the lawn to make line widths equal to the 20-inch width of cut on the mower. Then, to get the pattern on the lawn, Dennis used a string and stakes to make the curves. He established the pattern over a few weeks using different heights of cut but felt it lacked something, so he experimented by adding directional stripes, but they obstructed the main design. To bring it all together, he used the mower’s brush cartridge, which helped the design stand out as if it was above the directional stripes. An additional challenge was that Utah is a high elevation desert, so accurately measuring and adjusting the watering was important.

“I am so honoured and humbled by being chosen as the winner this year,” says Dennis, “so many great entries were finalists, I really had some great competition. My family, friends, and neighbours are all so supportive and pleased by this honour, it’s really a great pleasure!”

Dennis now becomes the proud owner of an Allett Liberty 43 battery powered cylinder mower alongside the ALLETT Complete Lawn Care System of six interchangeable cartridges comprising an aerator, a scarifier, a lawn brush, a dethatcher, a verticutter and a 10-blade cartridge together with two cartridge stands.

Allett Mowers is a leading manufacturer of cylinder, walk-behind mowers – the ultimate tool for creating perfect stripes. They launched the first Allett mower in 1965 and the brand has since firmly established itself as being synonymous with creating stripes on lawns and sports grounds around the world.

The runners-up in the competition were:

2ND PLACE

Tim Sanken USA

3rd PLACE

Dale Buchanan-Murtagh, Scotland

4th PLACE 

Tito Triana from East Sussex

5th PLACE

Dave Boyd Scotland

6th PLACE

Sammy Graham from Northern Ireland

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Allett Awarded Queen’s Award

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Allett Awarded Queen’s Award: Today, Allett Limited welcomed the Lord-Lieutenant, Mr Ian Dudson, the Queen’s representative in Staffordshire to meet the staff and present a commemorative vase and ‘Grant of Appointment’ deed for the Queen’s award for Enterprise.

In April 2019 Allett, the Staffordshire based specialist cylinder mower manufacturer won the coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2019 in recognition of its growth in exports and contribution to the British economy.

Allett Awarded Queen's Award

Allett Awarded Queen’s Award

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are for outstanding achievement by UK businesses in the categories of:

  • Innovation
  • International trade
  • Sustainable development
  • Promoting opportunity through social mobility

Allett won this award after the company had demonstrated exceptional and year-on-year growth in export sales over a five year period  and had made a minimum of £100,000 in export sales in the first year of entry.

The Russia World Cup was an important factor in Allett’s overseas sales success however the Company has also seen a huge rise in sales to other countries such as America where sales into the top baseball and football clubs has been a strong and growing market.

Export Manager Dave Allett played a major role in partnership with Allett’s Russian distributors, Moscow based Unisaw, before the world’s biggest football tournament to supply host stadiums, training grounds and contractors with a range of Allett machinery.

Dave Allett and James Till (Allett Director) were invited to attend a Royal Reception at Buckingham Palace last summer.

“We’re very honoured to receive the Queen’s Award,” says Austin Jarrett, Allett’s Managing Director, “This prestigious award recognises our achievements and team efforts in bringing innovative developments in our mowing systems to meet challenges in overseas markets with large potential. Because of increased export sales the business no longer subject to the seasonality of sales cycles in the UK. Our mowers and turf maintenance systems are used throughout the world where they maintain sports surfaces and lawns to the highest standards. The groundsmen in the UK are acknowledged to be the best in the world and these customers demand the highest standards from their equipment suppliers,” says Jarrett. “This relentless demand from our UK customers over the years have driven our engineering team to improve and develop our mowing systems which subsequently help to produce near-perfect sports surfaces and garden lawns. Allett have benefitted from this and we are confident that we can deliver higher standards to the stadiums and lawns using our systems in the rest of the world. Every one of our machines proudly bears a Union Flag decal, and this really helps us in our export markets where the UK is revered for their lawns.

We will be hosting Pitch Maintenance training seminars in China this year,” adds Jarrett, “to help set standards and expectations for the playing surfaces in this huge country which is growing rapidly as a footballing nation. Allett is more than just a machine. We’re strengthening our technical support and embarking on a plan of new product development to concentrate on a wider range of grass and sports turf maintenance products.”

As part of the Award ceremony at Regal House, Allett’s manufacturing facility, Allett held a celebration on the 14th February 2020 to celebrate their success. The Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire was on hand to present the Directors with a ‘Grant of Appointment’ (an official certificate) and a commemorative crystal trophy. After an informative factory tour, the Lord-Lieutenant took the opportunity to talk with Allett employees over lunch. It was a special day for every member of Allett Mowers staff  who are extremely proud to have achieved the award and play their part in producing the machines used in some of the world’s most prestigious sporting venues.

Lord Lieutenant said;

“It was a privilege and delight to present a Queen’s Award for Enterprise today to Allett lawnmowers. Another Staffordshire manufacturing company leading the world in product design, performance, quality and reliability which has driven outstanding continuous growth in overseas sales over the last six years to achieve this well deserved prestigious recognition.

Great to be able to meet the entire workforce to offer congratulations and continued success.”

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