Tag Archive for: Benefits

Kubota partnership benefits charity grounds

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Kubota partnership benefits charity grounds: The great outdoors brings together disabled and non-disabled children and adults to develop life skills and fulfil their potential at Thomley, a special place in rural Oxfordshire.

Founded in 1997 by parents of children with autism and other complex needs and registered as charity in 2001, Thomley’s eight-acre site near Thame delivers a programme of activities throughout the year from sports and outdoor play to creative pursuits and life skills.

Kubota partnership benefits charity grounds

Kubota partnership benefits charity grounds

In the grounds there’s a football pitch, playground equipment designed for the needs of disabled users, and one kilometre cycle track suitable for bicycles, tricycles and go karts. A new sensory garden has been created, and there are plans for a woodland area.

Kubota has a long term partnership with Thomley, and has recently installed its latest G261 ride-on rotary mower to help the three-man maintenance team keep this green and pleasant space pristine.

“Grounds maintenance is just one of our tasks, so having the Kubota mower makes a big difference,” explains David Francis, who heads up the team. “It takes about 10 hours to cut the whole grassed area, and there are different requirements according to its use.”

The football pitch, mini football and golf course fairways require the high level of presentation offered by the three-blade rotary deck, he points out.

“I tend to cut those areas first and then it’s a quick job to raise the deck and top some of the longer areas. We also like to cut paths through long grass for the children to enjoy exploring, or produce a tidy area for camping, so the choice of cut heights is very useful.”

David adds that the compact size of the G261 is handy to work in restricted areas around play equipment and other obstacles in the grounds. It also makes for easy secure storage in a container.

Revised and updated for improved transmission of power and smoother grass flow, the mower replaces the previous G series used at Thomley, and he comments:

“We can see that the mower has been improved with features such as the single joystick to control the cutting deck and collector and new pto clutch and we’re looking forward to getting to know it this spring. Our Kubota mowers have always been really reliable, and it’s so straightforward to do the daily checks. You can’t fault it.”

“We have supported the Thomley Hall Centre for several years now,” says Kubota Tractor Business Unit marketing manager Rob Edwards. “Thomley was identified though the employee forum several years ago as a deserving community organisation to support, and

continues to be a key partner in the programme of Kubota community support activities undertaken in the surrounding area to our Thame head office. We are very pleased to continue our association with the loan of the very latest G261 ride on mower.”

Operations manager Joe Kitchen, who co-ordinates the activities, running of the site and the work of staff and volunteers adds:

“We’re so happy to have our new Kubota mower. It’s a great resource and we take a lot of pleasure from how lovely the grounds look when they have been cut.”

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Brokenhurst Manor benefits from dealer support

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Brokenhurst Manor benefits from dealer support: Situated in the village of Brockenhurst in the New Forest National Park, Brokenhurst Manor Golf Club is one of Hampshire’s finest woodland/heathland courses. The club likes to point out that theirs is the correct and original spelling although it is pronounced the same as with the c, which was added to the railway station name in the 19th century by mistake and stuck.

The club hosted the first of last summer’s eight Rose Ladies Series tournaments, sponsored by Justin Rose. This was held in June just five weeks after re-opening following a 10-week lockdown, when the greenkeeping team was only doing essential maintenance to keep the course tidy. The idea for the series came from club member and Ladies European Tour player Liz Young, who was beaten by Charley Hull in a play-off at the inaugural event.

Brokenhurst Manor benefits from dealer support

Brokenhurst Manor benefits from dealer support

It was the pre-tournament support that club manager Kevin Light and course manager Kevan Glass received from John Deere’s local turf dealer Hunt Forest Group, particularly groundscare sales & golf specialist Andy Johnson and golf demonstrator Rob Patrick, that contributed to the decision to sign Brokenhurst Manor’s first ever fleet package deal using a John Deere Financial contract lease arrangement.

As a result, the club’s greenkeeping team now uses a 7500A PrecisionCut fairway mower, two 2653B tees & surrounds mowers, TX Turf and TE electric Gator utility vehicles, a ProGator equipped with a Charterhouse top dresser and a 5075E utility tractor on low ground pressure tyres, plus ancillary equipment including a tractor trailer, a Campey TB 220 brush and a Tru-Turf greens roller.

“Our previous five-year contract was up for renewal in the summer, and the decision to change to John Deere was influenced by a number of things,” says Kevin Light, who has been manager for three years. “Chief among these was that Andy and Rob were very forthcoming with loan machines for testing, demonstrations and tournament support. Both John Deere and the dealership did a very professional job all the way through this period and were really helpful when we needed it.”

“We’ve run John Deere tractors here for 20 years, used Gators before and know the 2653 utility mowers well, but the A Model fairway mower and the Tru-Turf roller were firsts for us,” adds Kevan Glass. “We managed to stay positive through the initial lockdown period and utilised the time as well as we could. Along with the new kit, we were able to get quite a few extra jobs done and ticked a number of boxes while we were shut.

“There are not a lot of clubs like this one, with the forest all around us – the natural beauty of the woodland feeds onto the golf course, it’s very tranquil and provides great views all the way round. However, with a clay subsoil and situated on a flood plain, it can be a hard job keeping it in top condition. Nowadays people want the full golf course experience, they don’t want tee mats and temporary greens during the winter months for example, so it’s definitely more of a challenge than it was 10 or 20 years ago.”

Since Kevin Light took over as club manager, a number of other significant changes have been made and there is a waiting list for members. “We have a great team here now, with Kevan and the greenkeepers, our bar manager Kevin Casswell and club pro Jason MacNiven, who is one of the UK’s leading club fitters, all working together rather than as separate entities,” he says.

“As a members club run primarily for our members, we know what people want to see the club evolve into. However, the whole place is a lot more social these days, and I’d like to think more welcoming to visitors. We are now looking forward to hosting another important tournament, the Brabazon Trophy Southern Qualifier, in May if permitted, and I believe the club can continue to grow and prosper, despite what we’ve all had to go through in 2020 and early 2021.”

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Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits

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Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits: As part of its ongoing commitment to promote the ecological benefit of man-made environments, amenity grass and wildflower seed specialist Germinal has updated its range of wild flora mixtures to make them more beneficial to pollinators.

Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits

Enhanced wildflower mixtures offer benefits

“Research carried out by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) into how best to support pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies has shown that planting a mixture of native and non-native flowers can extend the flowering season and therefore boost pollinator populations by providing a more abundant and longer-lasting source of nectar and pollen,” explains Richard Brown, Amenity Sales Manager at Germinal

“For that reason, we have updated our 2021 wildflower range by introducing a wider variety of species from beyond the UK which, in addition to creating a more abundant and sustainable source of food for pollinators and other beneficial invertebrates in urban and semi-urban environments, will also produce a more aesthetically appealing array of flowers with a wider palette of longer-lasting colours.”

By adding non-native species to its General Landscaping (Urban Meadows) Wild Flora range – which contains 100% wildflower mixtures and ready-to-sow wildflower and complementary grass seed blends – Germinal is now able to offer pollinator enhanced, ‘near-native’ mixtures for use across a range of different soil types and purposes.

Mr Brown adds: “Protecting the diversity and sustainability of the UK’s wild flora heritage is an important aspect of every landscaper’s remit, not only to maintain and promote healthy ecological systems, but also to enhance the environmental aesthetics of man-made green spaces.

“However, what the public perceives to be a natural meadow habitat (a vibrant sea of different colouring flowers) is often at odds with what a true meadow actually contains – a much narrower palette of colours. As a result, these less visually stunning, but 100% native meadows often end up underwhelming their custodians, and frequently get tidied up into a more manicured green space. As such, they don’t last as long as more vibrant urban meadows which are more likely to be proactively maintained and retained for much longer.

“By incorporating non-native species into our general landscaping wildflower mixtures for use in urban or suburban settings such as new housing estates and business or retail park developments, we are therefore empowering landscape architects to not only do their ‘bit’ to reduce the decline in pollinator numbers, but also to produce the wide range of colours expected by the public.”

Germinal also offers a range of 100% UK-native wildflower seed mixtures: based on the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) survey, these Regional Environmental (RE) mixtures are made up of species which are entirely indigenous to the UK and which enable landscapers to create ‘true meadow’ habitats. “For landscaping projects where the use of species which are entirely native to the UK is the critical driving factor, our Regional Environmental range is the ideal choice,” Mr Brown adds. “These carefully selected mixtures accurately replicate local, regional and national UK habitats, thereby enabling landscapers to safeguard native wildlife populations by preserving the heritage of the UK’s natural environment.”

In addition to its standard wildflower ranges, Germinal is also able to create bespoke mixtures to suit site-specific requirements. All of Germinal’s wildflower mixtures contain species which have been deemed ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ by the RHS.

For more information about Germinal’s wildflower mixtures go to www.germinalamenity.com.

Alternatively, for advice on the most suitable mixture(s) for a specific remit or advice about a special formulation, please contact Germinal on 01522 868714.

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New partnership benefits Leven Links

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New partnership benefits Leven Links: Golfers visiting Leven Links Golf Course in Fife are often unaware that they are playing, in part, over one of the oldest pieces of golfing land in the world. This is a traditional links with rolling fairways, many of which are lined by ancient sand dunes, fast putting surfaces, burns and pot bunkers.

The club dates back to 1820 although golf only started being played here in 1846, and it is thought that the original layout became the first course that century to boast both 18 tees and 18 greens. Leven Links also lays claim to hosting the oldest open amateur strokeplay championship in the world.

New partnership benefits Leven Links

New partnership benefits Leven Links

The Standard Life Assurance Company’s Amateur Champion Gold Medal has been held here since 1870, with more recent winners including Lee Westwood and Andrew Coltart. It also hosts the historic Lindsay Shield, an interclub match between Leven, St Andrews and Carnoustie which can be traced back over 150 years.

Establishing a new heritage is the aim of course manager David Gray, who took over here in September 2018 after a period as head greenkeeper at Ladybank Golf Club, also in Fife. David, who is a BIGGA Central Section Scotland committee member, believes there is a lot of potential to bring Leven Links back to a pre-eminent position by once more hosting big events and putting its name firmly back on the golfing map.

Two clubs share the course, Leven Golfing Society and Leven Thistle, and this comes with its own challenges, says David. The sheer volume of competitive golf generates a lot of work to meet the required standards and means the pressure on the small greenkeeping team is constant.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to manage my own course in the way I’d like,” says David. “Expectations are high, and we’re trying to produce the best possible conditions on a day to day basis. This has meant the introduction of more modern techniques and cultural practices, as well as investment in up to date course machinery.

“With the exception of my deputy Gary McLaren, who has spent an impressive 30 years at Leven Links, I have been able to build a fantastic new team who have adapted very well to my strategies and are loving the introduction of the new equipment. Teamwork is hugely important in our industry and with staff working independently towards the same end goal, the collective results are so rewarding.”

As part of this initial modernisation process, a ProGator utility vehicle equipped with an HD200 amenity turf sprayer was bought from local John Deere dealer Double A at Cupar. This provides more accuracy and precision plus a bigger tank capacity than the course’s previous mounted sprayer, and led to the clubs’ first John Deere machinery deal being agreed with the dealership in late 2019, as part of a new partnership approach.

The fleet now also includes 2500E hybrid electric and 2550 E-Cut triplex greens mowers, another ProGator with a Dakota top dresser, TE electric and HPX diesel Gator utility vehicles and an R Series walk-behind rotary mower plus ancillary products including a Wessex collector and a Tru-Turf greens roller, for which Double A is the official UK distributor.

“There was no structured machinery replacement strategy in place when I came to the club, so this was one of the first things we had to address to improve the overall course quality and presentation, as well as reliability of the equipment,” says David.

“I made a proposal to the Leven Links Joint Committee, and their support has been fantastic, bearing in mind we are breaking completely new ground for the clubs with this deal. Now we have an established plan and we’re always talking about what happens next, so it’s very much a continuing process.

“We opted for a John Deere Financial lease deal, which proved to be extremely flexible as not only could we defer payments due to Covid-19, we were also able to bundle in an extra machine, the HPX Gator,” says David. “We had great support too from John Bateson of Double A, and both of these aspects were key factors in making the deal happen very quickly and smoothly.

“Our cutting regimes have changed as well since bringing in the new Tru-Turf roller. John Deere cutting units are set up differently to our previous mowers and the clip rates are higher, so by using the roller we can miss out the odd cut now and again, which is a great bonus given the pressures on play.

“My past experience with Double A has been worth a lot, especially having them on the doorstep and knowing I can rely on the same level of service I’ve always received,” adds David. “They helped me to focus on exactly what I needed to fit in with my plans for the course, and we’re already benefiting from that and the great technological strides John Deere has made in recent years with its product range.”

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University enjoys H&S benefits

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University enjoys H&S benefits: Agria UK’s remotely controlled agria 9600 hybrid bank mower makes lots of friends in high places. Recent converts include the 16 members of the University of Aberdeen’s grounds’ team, all now fully trained and regular users.

Bruce Reid, Grounds Officer in the University’s Estates and Facilities Department, said he knew instantly it was a machine that suited their purpose:

University enjoys H&S benefits

“It works well for us because it’s not complicated; it is so H&S focused and does a thoroughly good job. Tending steep banking both safely and quickly is imperative and that’s why the agria 9600 stood out. On first view at its demo, it looked like a high climbing miniature tank patrolling the grounds. We were an early adopter and purchased one of the first in July.”

“We have our fair share of extreme slopes and banked areas. There are three distinct campuses.  King’s College campus, is over 500 years old, and dominates the section of the city known as Old Aberdeen.  It lies approximately two miles north of the city centre.  To the west, there is the more recent Foresterhill campus, next door to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and home to the School of Medicine and Dentistry, as well as the School of Medical Sciences and then to the east is Hillhead campus which is predominantly student halls. Together with research and lecture buildings, all sites have bespoke grounds, sports facilities and green areas. Hillhead in particular, has purpose built student residences set among landscaped areas which house several thousand students.  Typically, it’s here where we have many steep slopes, gradients easily in the 30° to 50° range, all at varying heights. We try to cut and mulch these fortnightly during the growing season,” continued Bruce Reid.

With its low centre of gravity and rubber caterpillar tracks, the agria 9600 powers safely through heavy duty work on high slopes to 50°.  The operator uses a joy stick on a light, hand held LED display control panel to manage six key mower functions. The display shows travel speed, cutting height, hours of operation, the battery charge status, the radio signal strength and an on / off switch.

Range is an impressive 300 m at a generous forward speed of 10 km/ hr allowing some of the most difficult and awkward-to-reach terrain to be tackled from a healthy distance. Should frequency be disturbed, the remote control changes to a different band frequency automatically.

A Hybrid drive concept means the agria 9600 combines a petrol engine with being electrically driven. This set up is therefore more environmentally friendly than hydraulic systems. The petrol engine powers the mower and generator while the generator produces electricity in Safety Extra Low voltage (48V) for driving.

In two widths, 112 cm and 80 cm, it cuts and mulches in two directions and is effortless on a variety of applications, including fine turf.

“The main thing for us is health & safety,” continued Bruce Reid.  “We don’t want operators walking behind mowers on any of our banked areas. It is infinitely safer to have a remote machine perform these tasks. Like everyone else, we have risk assessments for all grounds care activities and right away, a remotely controlled mower minimises risk.

“Ours is the 80 cm wide version. It’s a very straight forward machine yet versatile. The whole team took part in a familiarisation and training session given by Agria UK so everyone is now extremely confident. They feel safe because they don’t need to remain close to the machine nor do they need to set foot on the bank. It’s surprising light machine to transport, it can be popped on a trailer and moved with an ATV which helps save time and transport costs.”

Edzard Michalsky, Product manager for Agria said: “The beauty of this machine –and indeed all remote controlled agria mowing systems – is that there are no hand-arm vibrations to factor. Everyone deserves a healthy working environment and this machine means you can spend a whole shift engaged in cutting and mulching.”

Wilson Morrison, Sales Manager from dealer Fairways GM, who distribute Agria UK products in Scotland, said: “Bruce and his team put H&S at the top of their list. The agria 9600 gives them a head start. For example, if for any reason the transmission signal between machine and operator is lost the machine automatically shuts down.  Both the machine and the remote control offer emergency shut off switches and safety flaps giving protection against thrown objects, this has been tested independently by industry experts. At 420 kgs theirs is a light easily transportable machine. Running time is approx. 15 hours on each charge.  Each unit comes with a replacement battery and charger which almost doubles the working time.  Fuel consumption is around 20 litres per six hours run time. Developments like these help future proof the industry.”

See the agria 9600 at BTME on Stand RED 202 alongside sister company, Wiedenmann UK on 218.

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