Tag Archive for: Fleet

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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First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills

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First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills: When it comes to golf course machinery, time is money, and as such efficient machines are fast becoming a must have for golf courses across the country. Which is exactly the reason Cotswold Hills opted for the Groundsmaster 5900-D in its first Toro fleet deal.

“We have a team of six here to maintain a 157 acre course,” explains course manager Wayne Vincent. “Plus, with the course draining naturally because of its position on Limestone rock it’s playable year-round, which means there’s no let up on maintenance. That’s why it’s so important to have efficient machines that get the job done quickly to a high standard.”

First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills

First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills

The 18-hole, 6,800-yard course at Cotswold Hills is situated at the top a hill 850 feet above sea level. With the club’s impressive views and stunning tree-lined course, it’s attracted a membership of near 1000, with member expectations for the course as high as they are above sea level.

With that in mind, updating the club’s machinery fleet after years of replacing one machine at a time was of the utmost importance. And it’s the Groundsmaster 5900-D, capable of mowing 17 acres an hour, that heads up the new fleet of efficient Toro machinery.

“We have a lot of rough to cover on the course and previously we were spending three days each week cutting it,” says Wayne. “It was obvious we needed a larger machine to get the job done quicker. Although our fleet was already predominantly Toro and had served us well, we looked into other brands for due diligence. But there wasn’t another brand that had the size of machine we wanted available – no one could match the offering that Toro provided not only when it came to the spec of the GM5900-D, but the fleet too.

“The GM5900-D has cut our rough cutting time in half already,” Wayne says. “With the increase in cutting width and speed, alongside its excellent contour following, we can now get the whole course done in a day and a half and the finish of cut is brilliant.”

Joined by a new Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinder, RM3575-D and a Greensmaster Flex 2120 pedestrian mower, the new Toro fleet has certainly made an impression.

“From experience I know that Toro machines are incredibly durable, which is why we’ve had a fleet of purchased Toro machines for so long. But having these four new machines with the latest upgrades and technological advancements has made a vast difference already.

“The Greensmaster Flex 2120 follows contours really well and is helping us extend the collar cut into the aprons and run offs and the Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinder is giving us a better, cleaner cut, particularly in wet conditions.”

And going forward, this first lease deal with Toro is just the beginning of a longer term investment in the club’s machinery to help improve the course.

“Continuing an agreement plan with Toro will mean that we can consistently bring to the course the newest technology and upgrades, while simultaneously reducing machinery downtime. We’ve already seen the team’s productivity increase after only having these new machines for a few months, so it’s definitely proven to be the right move for the club” concludes Wayne.

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BGL Golf invest in 175-vehicle Club Car fleet

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BGL Golf invest in 175-vehicle Club Car fleet: Club Car, a brand of Ingersoll Rand and Official Supplier to The European Tour, has delivered a new fleet of 175 golf vehicles to leading multi-course owner, Burhill Group Ltd.

The fleet consists of 162 new Tempo golf cars and 11 Precedent cars. It is the fourth Club Car fleet the golf and leisure group has invested in over the past 11 years, underlining BGL’s commitment to maintaining the highest standard of customer experience at its 10 UK golf venues.

BGL Golf invest in 175-vehicle Club Car fleet

Colin Mayes, CEO of Burhill Group Ltd, said: “By upgrading our fleet to the latest Club Car models we know that we’re getting a reliable product that is easy to work with and that our customers will value the comfort and look of the cars.

“Managing the vehicles at each of our venues has been easy and using Club Car has served us well over the course of our partnership. We look forward to that continuing and many more years of a positive relationship.”

Watch Video: Colin Mayes interview

Delivered by Club Car’s UK dealer, Bradshaw, the high-spec vehicles feature a rust-proof aluminium frame, new alloy wheels, premium comfort seats and a spacious dashboard, as well as proven engineering and industry-leading durability, designed to deliver enhanced ride comfort.

In addition to the golf fleet, BGL has taken delivery of two Villager 6 vehicles, part of Club Car’s Carryall range. These utility vehicles include ergonomic seating to accommodate up to six people and a Kohler 429cc overhead valve engine with electronic fuel injection for increased horse power and fuel efficiency.

The new fleet comes on the back of significant investment across the BGL portfolio of golf venues, including enhanced facilities and improved sustainability measures both on and off its golf courses.

The group recently reported an increase of 25% in golf club membership over the past four years.

Kevin Hart, Sales Director Golf for Club Car Europe, Middle East and Africa, says: “BGL is a leader and innovator in the industry, and the root of that success is its clear, customer-centric ethos.

“Club Car has an important role to play in the customer experience at contemporary golf venues and we greatly value the endorsement of the quality and reliability of our products, and the successful long-term commercial partnership we have with BGL.”

For more information on BGL, visit: https://www.bglcompany.co.uk

For more information on Club Car, visit: https://www.clubcar.com

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New Toro Fleet At Bradford GC

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New Toro Fleet At Bradford GC: If success is a fresh pair of eyes, then The Bradford Golf Club in West Yorkshire has well and truly succeeded since the arrival of its first Toro fleet.

Darrell Crowley re-joined the club as course manager in 2018, and one of his first big decisions was to choose the supplier from which he would source his new fleet, as part of the club’s commitment to continually investing in the course.

New Toro Fleet At Bradford GC

Having seen the difference and improvements that the previous Toro fleets had made since his return, it was an easy task. Darrell comments: “There have been Toro machines, among other brands, at the club since the millennium, but it wasn’t until 2006 that the first package deal arrived. I had recently started as an assistant greenkeeper at the time and the club wanted to move away from updating individual machines to getting a bulk amount of new kit from one brand to see what difference that made, and if that approach further improved the course.”

And while Darrell could see the immediate improvements the switch to a Toro fleet deal with Reesink Turfcare made to the overall quality and condition of the course, it’s coming back to the club now as course manager and seeing the long-term benefit that this has made when it really hit home for Darrell.

“The course is looking better than ever. It goes without saying each individual machine makes a difference, but of course only to its particular area such as the greens or tees, so to get a fleet of new machines to cover all areas of the course, well the collective improvement is simply striking.

“The board has been working tirelessly for the last twenty years to keep the club in the modern era, keep up with the latest machinery advancements and make it more self-sufficient, the first Toro fleet deal was a big part of that. It’s been so successful and made such a positive improvement to the course since that we have continued our relationship with Toro, and this is now our third lease agreement.”

And it’s an impressive fleet of Toro machines that have been brought on board. The fleet consists of like-for-like renewals of the Greensmaster TriFlex 3400, Groundsmaster 3500-D, and Workman HDX, plus three new additions in the Groundsmaster 4500-D, Reelmaster 5010-H and Multi Pro WM sprayer, which are already making a strong impression.

“The Multi Pro WM sprayer and RM5010-H are definitely my new favourites,” says Darrell. “The Multi Pro WM’s information centre gives us more accuracy and the hybrid drive system on the RM5010-H is really beneficial for fuel savings.

“The demonstration process for these two was great as well. Russell Groundcare were able to get us the machines we wanted quickly and then gave us the time to really test them out. They then worked closely with us to help supply the package once we were set on the machines for the fleet. The whole process from start to finish was seamless.”

Named 2018 West Yorkshire Golf Club of the Year by Your Golfer Magazine, the club is a popular destination for golfers and keeping the course up to standard has proved even more vital in recent years with the club undergoing a large development project. But the Toro fleet has been more than up for the job says Darrell.

“In recent years we have restructured several holes and undergone tree removal to help return the course back to its traditional moorland roots, this has been coupled with a major refurbishment of the clubhouse.”

With Darrell, the team and the board all having seen the benefits Toro has brought to The Bradford Golf Club, it’s likely Toro will continue to have a place at the club.

“What Toro provides is reliability, high quality of cut and high quality of build, all at a competitive price. I don’t think other brands can really offer the same, and if the quality is there, there’s no need for me to look elsewhere,” says Darrell.

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