Tag Archive for: Full

George Browns delivers the full package

George Browns delivers the full package: A package of Baroness and Kubota equipment, supplied by George Browns Ltd, is playing its part in the ongoing investment and development across 11 courses that make up Mytime Active.

More than just supplying first-class machinery, Regional Grounds Manager for the midlands Dave Cole emphasises the importance of the ‘outstanding’ back up support and service they’ve received from all George Browns departments which has helped to keep their ambitious maintenance plans on track.

George Browns delivers the full package

George Browns delivers the full package

Mytime Active comprises of 11 sites – offering nine and 18-hole rounds together with footgolf at locations throughout Birmingham, Bromley and Hampshire. Specifically in the midlands under the remit of Dave and his team of 20 are six courses, three of which are the beneficiaries of the latest batch of machinery upgrades. “In taking our greenkeeping practices to new heights, we’ve completely re-kitted out three courses with the expert help of George Browns” he explains.

“Our experience with them as a dealer has always been second to none; whether that’s William Montgomerie giving us the tailored, expert advice when it comes to machine specification and on-site training, or James Bailey in their Daventry service department who is phenomenal at technical support. As we all know, the grass doesn’t stop growing if your equipment goes down! George Browns understand the pressure of time and the importance of getting fast answers, resolving any issues quickly and going above and beyond to get us up and running.”

The new fleet of equipment installed in September 2024 consists of a Baroness GM2810, LM331 and two LM311 all-hydraulic triplex mowers along with an RTV-X1110 from Kubota. “We’ve run Baroness mowers for years and find them to be bulletproof.” Dave continues, “The cutting cylinders are industry-leading and we’ve definitely witnessed a reduction in disease occurrence on our greens because of the outstanding sharpness and cut quality.”

“The Baroness machines alone give us fantastic versatility on our fleet. They’re capable of working on all ground conditions, and by adjusting the height of cut we can mow multiple areas on our multiple sites to a very high level.”

On his Kubota RTV-X1110, Dave describes it as a fantastic all-rounder! “Like the Baroness machines, the RTV is incredibly comfortable and easy to operate, and it’s become our main method of transporting people and materials around the course. It was thoroughly put through its paces over the wet autumn and winter months and it never let us down, no matter how wet it was.”

He summarises, “As we continue to develop our sites around the country, we’re delighted to have the right equipment and support around us thanks to George Browns, helping us to achieve our goals both on and off the course.”

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One Kubota Tractor extends to full partnership deal

One Kubota Tractor extends to full partnership deal: What began as one Kubota tractor at one football complex in Eastleigh is blossoming into a prolific partnership between dealers Rod Gaskin Ltd and Hampshire FA (HFA).

In his day job as HFA Facility Operations Manager, Pete Hussey puts their Kubota L2501 to task maintaining the five natural pitches at the Stoneham Lane Complex. This positive first-hand experience puts Pete in good stead when in his other guise – conducting Pitch Power surveys to provide valuable advice and machinery recommendations to benefit hundreds of grassroots facilities in the county.

One Kubota Tractor extends to full partnership deal

One Kubota Tractor extends to full partnership deal

“Hampshire FA acquired the Stoneham Lane facility in 2020, and while I already had two other venues under my remit, this was the first with natural turf pitches to look after” explains Pete. “I started from square one, understanding what equipment we needed and working with local dealers to find the best fit for our site and our requirements. The first priority was finding the right tractor that would give us versatility, reliability and become the heart of our maintenance programme. For this, we opted for Kubota.”

Specifically, the facility purchased a 50hp Kubota L2501 with full cab and a range of additional features including cruise control and air conditioning for optimal operator comfort. “Most of the jobs we do will take a number of hours to complete so it was very important for us not just to find a tractor powerful and durable enough to use with a wide range of implements, but that would also make for a positive all-round experience for the driver.”

“In addition, we have enjoyed outstanding reliability with this tractor which is testament to the Kubota build quality and the regular servicing and maintenance conducted by the team at Rod Gaskin.”

With the successes of this partnership bearing fruit for both parties, the tie-up became official in September 2023 with Rod Gaskin Ltd announced as Hampshire FA’s official supplier of grounds machinery. Pete explains, “This gives hundreds of grassroots football clubs and now schools and local councils as well, access to a fantastic range of quality machinery from brands like Kubota with an abundance of grants and funding available via the Football Foundation. The possibilities of this scheme are very exciting and can be the difference between bringing core, basic pitches up to a good or advanced level to benefit clubs and communities alike.”

Tom Merritt-Smith, Groundcare Sales Specialist at Rod Gaskin Ltd adds, “We have a great relationship with Pete and the team at Hampshire FA and are delighted to be working in partnership with them to support the growth of grassroots football. Being sports orientated, I know the importance of maintaining football pitches to the highest possible standards. We look forward to supporting Pete, Hampshire FA and clubs in the area with quality groundcare equipment and our aftersales facility for many years to come.”

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Full house for ICL

Full house for ICL: All ICL Technical Area Sales Managers are now fully BASIS and FACTS qualified after two members of staff recently passed their FACTS examination. 

Matt Nutter and Andrew Pledger, ICL Technical Area Sales Managers operating in South Central and South East England have both, recently, successfully completed the Fertilizer Advisers Certification and Training Scheme (FACTS). This means that ICL now boasts an entire team of BASIS and FACTS qualified staff.

Full house for ICL

Full house for ICL

FACTS is available to those who have already qualified for the BASIS Professional Register and want to gain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. The course builds on an individual’s prior level of agronomic knowledge and candidates must have at least one year’s experience of fertilizer and nutrient management planning in the UK.

Successful FACTS participants demonstrate a full understanding of the role of fertilizers on the main crop groups in the UK and can make recommendations that are agronomically, economically and environmentally sound.

By becoming BASIS and FACTS qualified and by joining the Professional Register, staff commit to a Code of Professional Ethics and a programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) which requires them to continue their training to keep up-to-date with the latest developments and to enhance and broaden their knowledge and skills.

This ensures that turf managers receive the very best advice from ICL’s dedicated turf and landscape team.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Full steam ahead

Full steam ahead: Iseki UK was launched in 2017 into a rocky economic environment but with exactly the right man steering the ship. Two years on David Withers has proven his worth as a “Captain” and the company, now based in Ipswich, is making steady progress. 

“We are up on last year which is pretty good,” said David, in answer to the most obvious of opening questions – “How are you doing?”

Full steam ahead

“We are going to sell more this year and make less money and the reason for that has been the collapse in the value of the pound.

That’s even more of a problem for a company which brings in all of its goods from Germany and France – 80% Germany and 20% France,” revealed David, who returned to the UK following his time in the States as President and CEO of Jacobsen.

“The economy is not in great shape and causing a lot of uncertainty but the biggest single impact for us is that exchange rate.”

To highlight the point he added that the pound had devalued by 13% in the previous two months and that Iseki had recently been forced to increase its own prices by 3% to 5%.

“We are going to see inflationary pressures coming in and I don’t think that the economy is going to be strong enough for wages to keep up with inflation.”

Like so many other companies Iseki were prepared for the original Brexit timetable of March 31 and had brought in sufficient parts stock to ensure no issues over that period.

“Then it didn’t happen so, having had a good quarter one, when we were doing a lot to prepare, there was a hangover in quarter two and from April things never really got going.

Now we have prepared again and we are once more full of inventory,” said David, speaking a few weeks before the more recent October 31 Brexit date.

The company has secured additional warehouse space, through a relationship with one of the transport companies on the Ipswich Europark with which they share a postcode to cope over the period.

Any issue of delays at ports is not of huge concern to David, given the nature of the Iseki business.

“If our deliveries take an extra week to get through, it will be irritating but it’s not life-threatening,” was his pragmatic view.

As to the wider issue of ensuring the Iseki brand is available the length and breadth of the country the company is making real progress in bolstering its dealer network.

“What has really worked for us is that we have clarified in our minds what our distribution strategy should be. We find that for many of our dealers we are either the simplest and easiest product a dealer sells – because they also deal with combine harvesters or 500 horsepower tractors and forestry harvesters – and we are the lowest value product they sell.

“Conversely, for other dealers, we are at the upper end of their portfolio. They might be selling products like Mountfield, Honda and Stiga, but don’t have a diesel product other than ours. In these cases we are the most complicated product they sell.”

Many dealers, often classic garden dealers, have been asked if they would like to have a diesel offering in their portfolio.

“We are up to about 16 new dealers but we still have some gaps and we have space for another 30 or so.”

Having spent most of his more recent life at the top end of business life – prior to his time at Jacobsen he was Managing Director of Ransomes Jacobsen, based just down the road from his new home on that Ipswich Europark – he is enjoying building a new business from the beginning.

“I enjoy the closeness with the market, the customers and our staff whereas before there were layers between me and the other people.

That’s fun. But there are plusses and minuses. I find booking my own travel intensely irritating, as I’d never had to do that before,” he said with a smile.

Another area of potential expansion for the company may come on the back of that new dealer network.

“I look forward to the business growing and having more resource and ability to do things. For example one of the things you might see us doing over the next 12 months is bolt on additional products to our range.

“We have had a lot of people asking us if we could distribute for them. I didn’t want to do that to begin with as It was important to get Iseki moving, but now that we have all the infrastructure in place and our polices and procedures are in order we will look at it.

“It would be products of similar standard and reliability and that which are complementary to our own products.”

All forward thinking moves and proving once again that, when the seas become rough and the waves are high, having a capable Captain is so important.

JCB Diggers In Full Production

JCB Diggers In Full Production: JCB has made manufacturing history by going into full production with the construction industry’s first fully electric mini excavator – with more than 50 machines already delivered.

The 19C-1E models – JCB’s first-ever electric diggers – are now coming off the assembly line at JCB Compact Products in Cheadle, Staffordshire, with orders rolling in from customers from across Europe and North America.

JCB Diggers In Full Production

The machine is a staggering five times quieter than its diesel counterpart and can be fully charged in under two hours. The model is expected to be a big hit with companies working inside buildings and in emissions and noise-sensitive inner-city areas. Fully charged, the 19C-1E can put in a typical full day’s shift for a mini excavator.

The 19C-1E will also offer customers great cost-of-ownership benefits, with research highlighting that over the first five years, charging costs will be 50 per cent cheaper for customers who would otherwise be using red diesel. Servicing costs are also expected to be up to 70 per cent lower compared to the diesel model.

JCB Chief Innovation Officer Tim Burnhope said: “In urban environments in particular, contractors are understandably very keen to operate zero emissions equipment whenever possible, including outdoors. I’m delighted that the model is now in full production after successful feedback from customers in many key markets during the evaluation stage.”

JCB Compact Products’ MD Robert Winter said: “This is a historic moment for JCB and for JCB Compact Products. We are delighted to go into full production with the industry’s first fully electric mini excavator. The machine has a very promising future ahead of it.”

Using leading automotive battery technology, the zero emissions and low noise 19C-1E delivers all of the performance of a conventional diesel-powered 1.9-tonne mini excavator. The machine comes with JCB’s LiveLink telematics as standard.

The machine is perfect for working indoors or outdoors, in factories, tunnels or basements, for digging foundations, or on utility projects.

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