Tag Archive for: Fleet

Ford Ranger fleet drives Campey customer service

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Ford Ranger fleet drives Campey customer service: As the post-COVID market approaches, Campey Turf Care systems has ensured their Product Specialists stay on the road with a new fleet of Ford Rangers.

Campey has successfully navigated what has been a difficult time for the industry and has strived to keep providing outstanding customer service and support in accordance with changing regulations over the last 18 months.

Ford Ranger fleet drives Campey customer service

Ford Ranger fleet drives Campey customer service

Now, the company is looking forward to restrictions ending, and with the anticipation of higher demand, has ensured Product Specialists will always reach customers with the fleet of eight new vehicles.

Providing on-site support has always been a cornerstone of the Campey experience, from machinery recommendations to installations, and the importance of those visits to the end-users is often highlighted.

Maintaining that contact during the pandemic whenever possible was crucial for grassroots and professional clubs alike as they continued to work. Working tactfully during this time ensured Campey maintained their existing markets while concentrating on a sharp increase of interest in the second-hand market, a sector that Campey, while already established in focused on to meet the constantly changing requirements of customers.

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Growing Toro fleet for HHA

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Growing Toro fleet for HHA: Owing to gradual business expansion, HHA Grounds Maintenance in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, has grown its Toro fleet with the addition of the LT-F3000 Triple Flail Mower and the GrandStand stand-on.

The family-run business, which is celebrating 10 years of service, is responsible for grounds maintenance for a number of schools and parish councils in the East of England.

Growing Toro fleet for HHA

Growing Toro fleet for HHA

Owner, Harvey Hart, had encountered Toro Groundscare machines before and at a pivotal moment in the expansion of the business opted to boost the fleet with quality products they could trust.

Harvey comments: “With three two-man teams in operation daily between March and October, we needed a robust range of machinery which could cater for the variety of jobs we encounter.”

With lawns, playparks, schools, business sites and graveyards to maintain, HHA needed different machines to negotiate both urban and rural sites and varying terrains. With busy rotas and a growing client list, quality and longevity became key factors in deciding what machinery to add to the fleet.

Harvey continues: “We have two Toro Z-Master Zero-Turn mowers which we got over eight years ago and they remain in excellent working condition. As the business grew, we decided to add to the fleet with a Triple Flail mower and a GrandStand stand-on machine.

“Both are fantastic, but we are especially pleased with the GrandStand which is compact, nimble and can get into places that the sit-on can’t. As with all Toro mowers the cut is beautiful. Our clients are always thrilled with the finish.

“You can’t fault the Toro machines. They are absolute workhorses that just run and run if you look after them. We get minimal issues and we take good care of them. They pay for themselves, especially when you think that some of our Toro’s have been operating almost as long as our business!”

This was the first time that HHA had bought machines directly from Reesink Turfcare East Anglia branch, which Harvey cites as being ‘fantastic’. Having been impressed by the customer service he also signed up to a maintenance contract to offer ultimate peace of mind in the eventuality the machines required any aftercare.

Alastair Rowell, UK sales manager for turfcare equipment at Reesink Turfcare, comments: “It’s wonderful to work alongside businesses like HHA and help them grow their fleets. Their teams are getting increasingly busier with further expansion on the cards, so it’s important that they are supported with the right tools for the job.”

Speaking of the future, Harvey concludes: “Our potential is vast and to have a range of premium mowers along with the support of a leading brand like Toro is integral to us.”

Reesink Turfcare is the exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland for Toro groundscare machinery. For further information on the range call 01480 226800, email info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk, or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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New fleet gives The Blackwood a boost

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New fleet gives The Blackwood a boost: A switch in management policies at one of Northern Ireland’s leading golf clubs has resulted in a major £160,000 investment in new John Deere course maintenance equipment.

The Blackwood Golf Centre is situated in the heart of the Clandeboye Estate’s beautiful parklands, just at the top of the Ards Peninsula in County Down. Extending to 240ha, the club runs two 18-hole courses including the par 54 Temple and the par 71 championship Hamilton, plus a 26-bay floodlit driving range, putting green and short game area.

New fleet gives The Blackwood a boost

New fleet gives The Blackwood a boost

Historically the club has predominantly used John Deere machines, but some of the fleet had been faithful workhorses for the past 18 years and so were becoming quite aged. Last August the club underwent some fundamental changes, which included enlisting the help of independent golf management consultant Paul Gray, who has taken on the contract to manage the club.

One of Paul’s first changes was to upgrade the John Deere equipment fleet, directly liaising with course manager Jonny Eager and Ricky Neill, sales manager at the local John Deere turf dealer Johnston Gilpin & Co Ltd.

With the help of a five-year John Deere Financial package, the club bought a John Deere 8900A PrecisionCut fairway mower, 2500E hybrid electric greens triplex mower, 2653B PrecisionCut tees & surrounds triplex mower and two TH 6×4 Gator utility vehicles. Also included in the purchase were a Trimax Snake articulating rotary mower and a Buffalo debris blower.

Course manager Jonny Eager is very pleased with the new fleet and says the machines have boosted production and efficiency. “We have been using John Deere machines at The Blackwood since 2003 and have always found them very reliable and easy to use.

“With this new deal we replaced two of our older Gators with the TH 6x4s, while the rest of the machines are additions to the fleet, which now consists of 12 John Deere machines in total. They do a great job and the backup we receive from the dealer is first class. All round we think they represent longevity and good value for money.”

Blackwood Golf Centre consultant manager Paul Gray adds: “Machinery replacement in the past had been fairly neglected here, so one of the first changes I made was to embark on a new replacement programme, starting with this financed machinery purchase deal.

“Since changing to the new machines this season, members have been full of praise for how the courses look and play. Given the really difficult spring we had in terms of weather, the members have really complimented the staff for the excellent conditions the courses are in.”

“Part of the deal included full training for The Blackwood’s own mechanic, who came up to the dealership and spent some time with one of our technicians to learn how all the machines are assembled, used and operated,” explains Ricky Neill.

“We are very keen for the greenkeeping team to carry out all their own regular servicing and maintenance, with support from our expert technicians should they require it. Our dealership at Lisburn has had a good relationship over the years with The Blackwood Golf Centre, and we are here to assist them with any future machinery requirements as the club develops.”

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Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet

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Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet: Inverallan Landscapes has taken one step further in its quest to become fossil fuel free by expanding its Pellenc portfolio with the purchase of two Rasion Easy self-propelled mowers and a set of Airion blowers.

Step by step, Inverallan Landscapes, a gardening and grounds maintenance contracting business in Stirling, is changing the way it does business. By integrating battery-operated equipment and reducing its carbon footprint, it hopes to offer customers a completely ‘clean’ service – according to managing director John Maxwell.

Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet

Inverallan expands Pellenc fleet

“We want to be the first landscape contractors that operate battery-only, so during the past three years we have been upgrading our tools and equipment to the equivalent battery models, as well as installing solar panels at our business unit,” he said.

The company first became acquainted with Pellenc equipment back in 2018 after purchasing a set of Helion 2 Compact hedge trimmers – the lightest battery-powered hedge trimmer on the market. After reporting excellent results, it continued to invest in Pellenc equipment and two years later, Inverallan Landscapes now boasts an impressive portfolio which includes chainsaws, blowers, hedge cutters, pole saws, road sweepers, grass strimmers and mowers.

The company’s most recent Pellenc additions were prompted after it was awarded a new contract in which a dedicated maintenance team would be working for a large housing association with over 1000 properties.

According to John, the zero-emission approach made total sense.

“To my knowledge this may well be the first maintenance team in Scotland to be 100% environmentally friendly so we are making huge strides. Not only will they solely be using the Pellenc equipment to maintain the houses and grounds, but they will also be using a brand-new Nissan E-NV200 electric powered van.

“It ticks every box – from the machinery point of view, the operator’s point of view and also from the residents’ point of view. There are just so many benefits from using the Pellenc equipment.”

Light, odourless, noise-free, with no starting problems and enough power to enable professional users to work for a full day on a single charge, it’s no wonder more and more professional users are turning to Pellenc. It is an attractive alternative to those who have, for a number of years, been relying on fuel-based machinery.

Not only will users see a huge amount of savings by eliminating the necessity of purchasing fuel but by using the Pellenc equipment, they will be contributing to protecting the environment by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and noise pollution.

“The team much prefer using the Pellenc equipment compared to the two-stroke products,” John continued. “It is far more lightweight, so they are less fatigued while working, there are no fumes and the equipment is so quiet. You particularly notice the benefits in those long, hot summer days.

“You also don’t have the issue of maintenance or parts going wrong in comparison to traditional two or four stroke equipment – such as spark plugs, air filters or oil changes. With the Pellenc equipment you just push a button and off you go.”

John saved particular praise for Rasion mower, claiming that it has enhanced the team’s grass cutting operations: “It’s a brilliant machine and it has more advantages than a traditional petrol mower. Firstly, it is so much lighter and from our point of view up here in Scotland, with the amount of rain we have, the ground can quite often be saturated. If you go onto that ground with a petrol mower, you are adding a lot of weight and you find yourself sinking into the ground. With the Rasion mower we have been able to get onto those saturated grounds and we have been able to tend to grass that we might not have previously been able to cut.”

“The other benefit is that it is wider than most petrol mowers, so we find ourselves cutting faster and covering more ground in a shorter amount of time.”

Inverallan Landscapes purchased the equipment from Agrovista Amenity in Stirling, and Allan Wright, amenity specialist for Agrovista, said: “It’s great to see that Inverallan Landscapes is revolutionising its approach to service provision through the introduction of battery-operated equipment.

“With Pellenc tools, there’s no compromise on performance, and users benefit from long-term cost savings, reduced noise and operator vibration.

“All Pellenc tools come with a three-year commercial warranty and batteries benefit from the new improved four-year commercial warranty. I believe the future is in the use of battery equipment and the new technological developments from Pellenc are certainly leading the way.”

Pellenc is exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

You can also follow Pellenc on Twitter and Instagram @PellencUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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Enville’s new fleet finance deal

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Enville’s new fleet finance deal: Founded in 1935 and considered one of the finest examples of heathland golf in the UK, Enville Golf Club near Stourbridge features the 18-hole Highgate and Lodge courses, with the former being used by the R&A in recent years for Regional Open Qualifying tournaments.

It has also recently been announced that Enville will host the R&A Girls’ U16 Amateur Championship for the first time, for three years from April 2021.

Enville's new fleet finance deal

Enville’s new fleet finance deal

Enville’s course manager Andy Wood, who has been at the club for nearly three years, was previously at Robin Hood, Cosby and The Belfry Golf Clubs, so he knows his local dealer Farol Ltd well and has been using John Deere course maintenance equipment for over 20 years.

His avowed ambition is to produce two of the best courses in the Midlands for Enville’s members, guests and visitors, and in so doing to try to get the club as high as possible up the list of the top 100 golf clubs in England. The club has also invited five top golf course architects to tender for a master plan to take the course to the next level over the next five to 10 years. As part of this process, Andy has overseen a policy change to reduce the club’s reliance on capital purchases of new machinery with no real structured plan in place, other than a rolling programme with kit coming off operating leases needing replacement each year.

“I just felt that this was not a very sensible approach, for budgeting purposes in particular,” says Andy. “The club could be spending £50,000 one year and £100,000 the next, and this did not suit budgeting over a longer period. We therefore agreed a new budget for the next five to 10 years, combining a shorter operating lease for new mowers with a longer finance lease arrangement for the likes of tractors, which have a longer life expectancy, so that the club’s capital spend would be significantly reduced.”

All the main manufacturers were invited to tender for the demonstration and supply of individual machines for year one, including tractors, utility vehicles, leaf collectors and aerators, followed in year two by the cutting equipment. Each range was tested to see what fitted the courses’ and Andy’s needs best, followed by an assessment of service back-up and support, including product warranties, once the decisions on the choice of kit had been made.

“John Deere and Farol, with dealer salesman Jacob Shellis leading the way, ticked all the boxes,” says Andy. “Things like cut quality should be a given at this level. More important is that should any problems or issues arise, they get dealt with straight away and we’re not left stranded with broken down machines and unnecessary downtime.

“For me, it’s always been about building a good, sound relationship and trust in the supplier, its products and the dealer, and that people deliver on their promises, especially through the tender process. Farol has always supported me very well on the service side with warranty claims, tournament support, training programmes and the like. The John Deere Financial package was very favourable too, with competitive rates.

“With this new deal we’ve managed to rationalise the fleet and every bit of kit does the job I need it to. We’ve gone down from 122 machines and auxiliary pieces of equipment when I first came to 94, and we’ve saved on a lot of labour, time and repair costs. Among other things this has enabled us to invest £40,000 in a new machinery shed and a new seed and fertiliser store, so we’ve now got enough room to keep all the main kit and supplies secure and under cover.

“Being a heathland course built on very sandy soils, we’re fortunate in that we can stay open all year round and work on the course at any time of the year,” Andy adds. “This makes life a bit easier in the winter, but it also means that we require a good irrigation system in the spring and summer months, something the club also invested in last year.

“One of the most encouraging things has been our record income in 2019 from green fees, which is a great sign that things are moving in the right direction. Enville’s always had a good reputation, but hopefully the machinery, agronomic and other changes we’ve been making to the course over the last couple of years have contributed to this increase.”

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