Tag Archive for: Keeps

Calderdale Council keeps line marking on track

Calderdale Council keeps line marking on track: Resource management, time and consistency were all factors that needed tackling at Calderdale Council, and the Turf Tank One has addressed them all.

Senior Technical Officer Samantha Ward had retirements in her line marking team, which meant losing over 60 years of experience. Temporarily, Samantha utilised members of the gardening group to mark out the running tracks and football, rugby and rounders pitches needed in the borough, but she was always looking for a solution.

Calderdale Council keeps line marking on track

Calderdale Council keeps line marking on track

“I thought there must be a better way to utilise resources that didn’t involve additional recruitment and the time it takes to provide full training,” Samantha explained.

“Our line marking team were impressed by the time that Turf Tank would save and the way you could plot the pitches. We knew from there that our gardeners could focus more on their traditional jobs whilst people like me who are technically minded could work with the Turf Tank robot.”

Redistributing resources had an immediate positive impact on the team, with timesaving and line accuracy next in line. Savile Park is one of the Council’s busiest pitches, with athletics, football and rounders all hosted at the site. Previously it took staff an entire day to line a 400m running track, whereas now it takes less than two hours.

” Savile Park, is a multiple-game site, and it’s much easier to mark out now. Once we set a template on the Turf Tank, we can pretty much set up each sport, football, running tracks, rugby, and rounders, and let it go.

” Every time it goes out, it’s in the right space, and it’s accurate.

“Our time is precious, and the running track we’ve marked out today now takes just under two hours with one person and the Turf Tank, so we have pretty much smashed the time in terms of the full day. Because of that, the Turf Tank has recovered a lot of time for our staff to do other things on the sports pitches and around the borough.

“We have also saved time with initial marking of football pitches, probably a week and a half every time we mark out, which is invaluable time.” .”

A video with Calderdale Council can be found here

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Etesia keeps Higher Wiscombe beautiful

Etesia keeps Higher Wiscombe beautiful: A new Etesia Attila 98X ride-on brushcutter is helping the luxurious Higher Wiscombe farm and holiday cottages live up to its glowing reputation.

Higher Wiscombe is a 52-acre farm with a cluster of four exceptional holiday cottages in its centre. It is located in the heart of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is close to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and the South West Coast Path.

Etesia keeps Higher Wiscombe beautiful

Etesia keeps Higher Wiscombe beautiful

Alistair and Lorna Handyside are the owners of Higher Wiscombe and they work tirelessly to maintain their award-winning five-star gold cottages. The land and green spaces are equally as important as the accommodation, and no stone is left unturned when it comes to maintaining them.

“In order to make the setting as beautiful as possible, we mow approximately 4 to 6 acres each week, which is about 16 hours of mowing,” said Alistair.

Alistair has recently purchased a new Etesia Attila 98X ride-on brushcutter and his decision to purchase it was based on the success of his previous mower, which also happened to be an Etesia.

“We bought a third hand Etesia sixteen years ago and it’s always been so reliable,” said Alistair. “It was mainly due to it being so good that I wanted to keep with Etesia and the Attila 98X absolutely appealed for the amount of work that we have to do every week.”

Etesia’s Attila 98X ride-on brushcutter is reliable, efficient, comfortable, and safe. The output, combined with 4-wheel-drive and performance makes it ideal for some of the toughest jobs.

The 98X has a 98cm cutting width for more efficient working while eight cutting heights are available between 50mm to 120mm, with one transport position, which is easily adjusted with a centralised lever.

It can be used on slopes up to 30% and its strengthened structure welded tubular chassis offers its operators a better driving position. Furthermore, the electric start offers a high comfort level, rack and pinion steering, plus hydrostatic drive. Special attention has also been paid to sound and vibration levels to reduce them to a very low level – making it ideal for public areas.

Alistair explained how he uses the Attila 98X.

“There are three types of mowing we carry out. One is the paths around the edges of the field, so that our guests can easily see the perimeter and take their dogs for a walk. The second areas are the pasture which we try and keep tidy. The third area is all about brush clearance, which we do twice a year. We’ll go in and make sure the brush hasn’t intruded into the field boundaries or we’ll use it to clear an area for some replanting.

“The best bit about this piece of kit is its reliability,” continued Alistair. “I’m saying that from someone who’s had an Etesia for 16 years and never had a problem.

“There are also three standout features on this model, two of which are brand new to me. One is the pedal at the front which means you can keep both hands on the wheel. When you’re doing a long run it is so much more comfortable. The second one is the slope meter, which is a very simple piece of kit, but is a really good warning device and not being electronic it will never go wrong. The third feature I like is the easily adjusted cutting height. I like the fact that you can do it as you’re going along. If, for example, you are coming to a bit of particularly high grass, you can simply lift it a bit so that you can cut that and then reverse over it and do it again afterwards.

“The Etesia 98X is a first-class piece of kit and we would recommend it to anybody who’s got similar kind of high mixed usage as we do.”

Alistair purchased his new Etesia 98X through Andrew Symons and was quick to praise the support he has received from the Etesia dealer.

“I’ve had a fantastic service from the team there,” he said. “They’re going to come and collect it when it needs servicing, and I can’t fault the support we’ve had from them at all.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk.

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Etesia UK on Twitter @EtesiaUK and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/EtesiaUK. You can also view the latest Etesia videos by visiting www.youtube.com/EtesiaUK.

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TurfKeeper keeps things easy at Warrington GC

TurfKeeper keeps things easy at Warrington GC: The TurfKeeper platform from Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS) has been praised for delivering new efficiencies to task allocation and stock management for the team at Warrington Golf Club.

The more that Course Manager Ben Goodchild explores the cloud-based software, the more time-savings he finds – with holidays, consumables and labour-hours now all logged in double-quick time and reports available at the touch of a button.

TurfKeeper keeps things easy at Warrington GC

TurfKeeper keeps things easy at Warrington GC

Ben has held the role of Course Manager for the last three years and heads up the maintenance of the 18-hole James Braid designed site alongside a team of seven greenkeepers, technicians and mechanics. “I originally saw TurfKeeper demonstrated at an event in the States” he explains, “so on my return, I spoke with Kevin Scarce of OAS and we quickly introduced in here at Warrington GC as a great way to allocate the jobs. We have a large TV on which we can project TurfKeeper so during our morning meeting we can all easily see and discuss the tasks for the day and week ahead.”

“While this in itself was a much more efficient way of working, it was clear that there was so much more we could potentially do with the software. It’s certainly one of those tools where the more you put in, the more you get out so we’re now managing items like staff absence, orders, stock, machinery and budgets all through this one TurfKeeper platform.”

Driven by a desire for better information and knowledge to inform future decision making, TurfKeeper is the leading online software system to monitor and control all key areas of day-to-day operations. An integral part of turf operations around the world, new modules are being introduced regularly to reflect changing requirements and full data and reports are quickly and easily available to download – something Ben has found particularly useful.

“One of the functions which has proved to be very enlightening is the greens report, which gives me a breakdown of labour hours spent on different course jobs such as divoting the fairways or looking after the bunkers” he explains. “When you go to greens meetings and the condition of the bunkers is brought up, I can show them the numbers which is critical in justifying why something is looking a certain way, or what is needed to raise the standard.”

Ben concludes, “What would have previously been documented in hundreds of ExCel spreadsheets is now all safely in one place not just for the team to access, but the General Manager also has all of the information they want on the budget at their fingertips. When much of our job is getting more challenging, TurfKeeper is one tool that keeps things easy!”

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Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill

Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill: Scott McKittrick, Course Manager at Kirkhill Golf Club, has revealed how Attraxor® has helped him to suppress Poa annua and has resulted in the greens playing firm, true and fast.

Kirkhill Golf Club is a parkland course, founded in 1910 and designed by the renowned course architect and five times Open winner James Braid. The course is located on the outskirts of the city of Glasgow in the South Lanarkshire area.

Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill

Attraxor® keeps Poa at bay at Kirkhill

Scott originally joined Kirkhill Golf Club as an apprentice back in 1995 and was rewarded with the Course Manager position just seven years later. He now oversees a team of six members of staff and explained the importance of keeping standards consistently high.

“We are in a very competitive area and are surrounded by many golf clubs,” he said. “I’m pleased to say that we always get great feedback, and we hold our own. We must be different and entice people to join and that involves always being at the top of our game.”

Therefore, when he was recommended a potential solution to tackling a large percentage of Poa annua on the greens, he was keen to trial it.

“Our greens consist of approximately 60%-70% annual meadow-grass and because of this we would have to be aggressive with the turf. We would double cut and roll, and it took a lot of time and labour.

“I spoke to Ramsay MacGregor (Amenity Specialist for Agrovista Amenity) and he told me a lot about a product which he believed to be brilliant at supressing annual meadow-grass seed heads. After talking at length, I thought it would be great for us if it did exactly what it said on the tin.”

The product Ramsay introduced to Scott was Attraxor® – a BASF product which has been shown to effectively regulate growth of managed amenity turf. The active substance, Prohexadione, inhibits the gibberellic acid pathway, which results in a reduction of turf height and turf biomass. Furthermore, as well reducing clippings it also suppresses the seed heads of Poa annua.

Key advantages include:

  • Attraxor® is formulated for rapid foliar uptake – as quick as 4 hours from application.
  • Superior performance against Poa annua pioneering.
  • Attraxor® can be used earlier or later in the season at cooler temperatures compared to other growth regulators.
  • Consistent growth regulation of turf grass species.
  • Root formation is also promoted through the use of Attraxor® whilst turf colour and quality are enhanced.

Scott initially applied Attraxor® at the recommended minimum rate of 375 g/ha and was instantly impressed.

“The first time we tried it last year, the Poa was going crazy. We applied Attraxor®, came in the next day and we couldn’t believe it. It looked as though it had literally wiped the whole Poa out. When you got close you could see that it was still there, but it was severely dishevelled. From that moment, we knew it was a game-changer.

“In that first year we mainly used the product to firefight the Poa seedheads, so as soon as we saw it was coming back, we hit it with Attraxor® again. However, this year we have taken a more regimented approach; applying it at a higher rate of 500 g/ha. This has reduced the seed head production and has worked really well. The ball roll is no longer affected by the Poa, and the greens play brilliantly – they are exactly where we want them to be.”

By attending an Agrovista Amenity education day, Scott found that he wasn’t the only one reporting good results from Attraxor®.

“The education days from Agrovista Amenity are important because they provide an opportunity to see how products and technology are developing,” he said. “There have been a couple of seminars that have focussed on Attraxor® and it brought together lots of greenkeepers who have all been using the product. It was great speaking to them and finding out what rates they use, what they might be mixing it with and what results they are seeing.

“The general consensus was that it is a brilliant product and is great for supressing Poa annua seed head production.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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Keeping it genuine keeps costs down

Keeping it genuine keeps costs down: Since Toro started filling its machines with its new PX Extended Life Hydraulic Fluid, customers have been enjoying a reduction in downtime, increased time between services and an improvement in the total cost of ownership of their machines.

To provide customers with value added improvements, Toro changed its standard fill hydraulic fluid to an extended life hydraulic fluid called Toro PX Extended Life Hydraulic Fluid.

Keeping it genuine keeps costs down

Keeping it genuine keeps costs down

Since 2019 every machine out of production has been factory-filled with this new PX fluid, and customers and distributor Reesink Turfcare have noticed that by sticking with this genuine hydraulic fluid brings big benefits.

Michael Hampton, purchasing and sales process manager at Reesink Turfcare, says: “Just as buying genuine applies to all Toro parts so does it ring true when it comes to hydraulic fluid. By sticking with Toro PX Extended Life Hydraulic Fluid customers are guaranteeing a reduction in servicing intervals for hydraulic fluid and filters to up to 2,000 hours compared to using the standard Hydraulic Fluid which requires a change every 800 hours.”

Sticking with the new PX fluid allows for increased hydraulic fluid and filter change intervals, eliminates the initial low hour hydraulic fluid change, allows for common change intervals across product offerings reducing confusion during maintenance servicing, as well as reducing the overall cost of ownership.

Michael continues: “Hydraulic fluid is an essential part to the machine. Its main function is to provide energy transmission through the system, which enables motion. Hydraulic fluids are also responsible for lubrication, heat transfer and contamination control. So, when it comes to quality control and safeguarding the performance of the machine, sticking to genuine hydraulic fluid surely rates highly.”

Toro PX Extended Life Hydraulic Fluid is suitable for all Toro machines apart from the GP1260, Groundsmaster 7210, Groundsmaster 360 and Outcross. It is available through Reesink Turfcare online at via reesinkturfcare.co.uk, by phone on 01480 226800 or by email at info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk.

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Kubota keeps Mount Kelly in tip-top condition

Kubota keeps Mount Kelly in tip-top condition: A fleet of machinery from Kubota has been described as ‘critical’ to the maintenance programme at Mount Kelly College and Prep School, replacing an array of equipment lost in a major blaze in November 2021.

Grounds Manager Mat Stevens has praised a pair of cabbed compact tractors and the two GR2120 ride on mowers for their roles in keeping the 140-acre site presentable, while their new RTV X1110 has vastly improved both accessibility and productivity.

Kubota keeps Mount Kelly in tip-top condition

Kubota keeps Mount Kelly in tip-top condition

The grounds and gardens that make up the Mount Kelly complex are a hive of activity, not just providing sports and recreational facilities for students, but open to community and club use – including Chelsea FC who have used the winter sports pitches for Girls and Junior fixtures. A team of ten assist Mat in the maintenance who, for the last year, has been tasked with replacing their equipment bank following a shed fire at the site.

“We have had Kubota equipment here for 15 years or so, and while we have used other tractors in that time, we came back to Kubota as it has always been the best suited to our requirements and is a brand we all know and trust” explains Mat. “We opted for a L2452 and ST40 tractor, both cabbed, which means we can keep the team safe and healthy in all weathers. They are equipped with everything you’d want for a comfortable operator experience and the illuminated dash display is great for easily keeping an eye on fuel usage, PTO revs and hours etc.” He adds, “Both of these compact tractors have plenty of pulling power and their 4×4 drive makes light work of the heavier tasks where trailers are required.”

Alongside the L2452 and ST40, local dealer Vincent Tractors also delivered a pair of GR2120 ride-on mowers which Mat says are perfect for cutting around the lawns, particularly in areas where tractor access is limited. “It couldn’t be easier to adjust the height of cut and raise and lower the cutting deck on these which makes changing the set-up between different areas super simple. The 450-litre grass collector holds plenty of clippings, reducing the amount of time spent emptying and, again, an easy lever system makes the task quick and simple.”

“These machines, along with our new RTV X1110, have had a massive impact on how we get tasks done – in better time and with improved accessibility all round.” The X1110 from Kubota’s RTV Series brings a smoother ride, more comfort and even better drivability, ergonomically designed for optimum driver comfort and control. “This is an amazing bit of kit! We’ve not had one for the site before so previously would have to walk or share the tractor to get equipment around. The open back has plenty of space for tools and the hydraulic tip function means we can easily remove any soil or debris. Its ability to seat two people comfortably and its great off-road capability gives the team access to any part of the estate in any weather or ground conditions for improved productivity.”

“Another bonus is the fantastic support we get on Kubota products from the team at Vincent Tractors. Getting parts is super easy and communication and servicing is never a problem.” Mat concludes, “We couldn’t be happier with these additions to our equipment bank and each of them are making a real difference to our maintenance programme and keeping the site presentable throughout the year.”

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Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC

Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC: For the first time in four years, the players at Warrenpoint Golf Club are going into the winter on main greens, thanks to an extensive aeration programme introduced by Head Greenkeeper Matt Purcell.

It’s also no coincidence that this year, Matt purchased a Redexim Carrier and Verti-Drain® 1513 allowing the team to effectively aerate all 18 greens in as little as a day – keeping them bone dry and proving themselves as fit for year-round play.

Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC

Carrier and Verti-Drain® combo keeps Warrenpoint GC

Warrenpoint is ranked as one of the top parkland courses in Northern Ireland, situated in the heart of County Down and surrounded by the Mourne Mountains on one side and Carlingford Lough on the other. Matt heads-up a maintenance team of five and, on joining the club in late 2021, took some soil samples on the greens which highlighted the need for some ‘TLC’. “Like a lot of golf clubs in Ireland, we were previously relying on contractors to come in and aerate, but my experience from working in clubs in England means I appreciate the multiple benefits that can be brought about with regular aeration every five to six weeks.”

“After speaking to the board, we invited Ian Lauder from Redexim and local dealer Cyril Johnston in with the Redexim Carrier and Verti-Drain®, which I had trialled at a previous club. I was no-less impressed seeing it the second time around! The great thing is that the implement can be used with the Carrier or swapped onto a tractor giving you complete flexibility, and a power unit that can then conduct other operations on the greens and tees” Matt explains.

Since the combination was purchased and delivered in March this year, Matt and the team have aerated all greens once a month, along with the tees twice and specific problem areas on some of the fairways. “This set-up is just brilliant. It is faster and wider than other comparable models meaning we can complete most of our greens in four or five passes, and all 18 greens in a day. The tyres are much better as well being slick, which means we can go anywhere with it and not have to plot a specific route around the course.”

The Redexim Carrier is powered by a 31hp engine and hydrostatic transmission which lends itself to high output and ease of operation. It can work with a variety of implements such as seeders, verti-cutters and in this instance the Verti-Drain® 1513 – a lightweight 1.3m model, working with 15o of heave and to a maximum depth of 6” making it ideal for use on sensitive turf areas.

Matt adds, “Time is of the essence with everything we do on the course. Not only do we need to be aerating when the conditions suit, but when we do the operation, we want to be round as quickly as possible so that the members can play golf. With this combination, we can now do both – delivering huge improvements to playability and course condition that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the players and the club.”

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Deere keeps park in great shape

Deere keeps park in great shape: Multi award-winning Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) attracts half a million visitors annually to its 500-acre estate near Wakefield.

Fashioned around 18th century Bretton Hall, the Grade II listed historic park and garden features 100 sculptures and installations scattered across the valley destination, with north and south sides sloping down to two ornamental lakes.

Deere keeps park in great shape

Deere keeps park in great shape

This year YSP celebrates its 45th anniversary. The Park opens every day except 24 and 25 December, so the eight-strong grounds team knows the work to keep presentation pristine rolls on relentlessly.

Diverse demand across the Park stretches from amenity grass and close-mown turf to formal gardens, arb work, water management and even a living roof on The Underground Galley, notes Mark Chesman, Head of Estates and Projects, who started life here as a landscape co-ordinator.

“Exhibitions and events run year-round,” he says, “and visitors expect everything to look clean, tidy and well-maintained to set the sculptures off in their best light.”

Handling the scale of the park’s upkeep depends on minimal machinery downtime and helping the team in that capacity is a full, flexible service agreement with local John Deere dealer Balmers GM.

A longstanding Deere customer, YSP had no hesitation moving across to Balmers when it opened a branch locally in 2015 after the previous dealer closed.

“All the Deere kit is exceptionally reliable,” Mark says. “Balmers are just a phone call away if we have any snags and they respond swiftly with fast turnaround on machine replacements.”

The cost of the annual service, undertaken in autumn/winter when summer’s heavy footfall lightens, is spread over 12 months, “which helps improve cashflow and gives us added peace of mind in knowing what the outlay will be”, Mark adds. “We replace older machinery as and when we need to, with new Deere units, such as our wide area and front deck mowers, covered by JD Powergard protection.”

The fleet of five diesel Gator TH 6x4s does the donkey work of transporting equipment, tools, material and green waste around the park. “The tipping facility is particularly useful, while the Gator’s six tyres ensure lower ground impact in the more sensitive areas of the site,” Mark says.

Under his mission to switch over to electric tools and machinery, Mark has started the process by adding a Gator TE to the fleet. “Our environmental policy and action plan is designed to reduce fossil fuel use and minimise our impact on the climate,” he explains.

“The Gator TE delivers zero emissions, has less vibration and is cheaper to run because it is a far simpler vehicle – just a battery and motor. It’s charged up overnight using a three-pin plug and we get a full day’s work on that – particularly important because of the size of the Park.”

Covering the 30 hectares of grassed open space around the hall is the JD 1600 turbo mower, with front and two side decks, supported by a 1580 ride-on collector mower, which Mark says is “a fantastic machine that comes into its own at the start and end of the season and to ensure the Park is tip-top for exhibitions”. Summer and other peak periods see the Deere mowers on duty trimming the overflow car park, meanwhile.

Under Balmers’ aftercare service, the park team attend an on-site induction programme when new machinery is delivered, followed by an in-house equivalent that includes a rundown on tyre checks and grease points, ensuring everyone’s fully competent.

John Deere’s 997 zero-turn ride-on handles the critical cutting in confined spaces, Mark says. “We want to be able to operate in ever tighter areas, as the complexity of maintaining the park rises. The 997 is coming up for replacement so we’ll be discussing options with Balmers soon.”

For some work, machinery and tools cannot replace the age-old traditional methods, Mark explains. “The team has to keep a safe distance from the sculptures when using ride-ons.

“Close cutting is completed with hand shears as we cannot risk even the slightest chip on any of the artworks.”

YSP includes works by British and international artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore (one of the largest open-air displays of his bronzes in Europe).

The Park manages a stand of historic woodland of high conservation value that numbers native species such as oak, ash, beech and hornbeam, with some veteran specimens estimated to be more than 300 years old.

“All trees on the estate are surveyed regularly. We have 2,000 parkland individuals, excluding the woodland,” says Mark. “Our longstanding arborists, Earnshaws, manage the large mature trees, while everyone is qualified to complete ground level work up to 380mm.”

With a board of trustees whose members include the present Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, YSP has every opportunity to wax lyrical about its many qualities but Mark does a pretty good job himself.

“This is a wonderful place to work and members of staff tend to stay here a long time [Mark himself has clocked up 17 years] to face the everyday challenges of what is a complex though beautiful place.”

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Trencher Hire keeps project costs down

Trencher Hire keeps project costs down: When a customer of broadband and telecoms provider 2020 Networks took the decision to transfer their phone system over to VoIP (Voice-Over Internet Protocol) they could never have envisaged the potential costs involved.

For BT Openreach quoted an ‘eye-watering’ £13,000 to undertake the associated engineering works in order for the new fibre to be installed. Mick Clarke, Partner with broadband and VoIP provider 2020 Networks, said that not surprisingly another way forward was needed and Trencher Hire UK was instrumental in helping cut costs by many thousands of pounds.

Trencher Hire keeps project costs down

Trencher Hire keeps project costs down

“Our customer was located on the edge of an industrial estate in Simonswood near Kirkby in Liverpool and, because their existing broadband connections were so poor, wanted to move over to VoIP, which is the future of telephony.

“We proposed a 150mb leased line, but Openreach quoted over £10k in ECCs to get the fibre in. We therefore decided to arrange the civils ourselves. The cost of hiring a mini-excavator with operator would have been around £2k. However, we found a much more efficient and cost-effective option by hiring a Toro TRX-16 pedestrian trencher with operator from Trencher Hire UK.

“A 170 metres long trench was dug-out to a depth of around 400mm, with 170 metres of 50mm duct being installed, as well as three chambers. The cost of all the civils, which included the hiring of three labourers over a couple of days, cost just £1,500. I also undertook some of the work myself.

“The Toro TRX-16 was a tremendous piece of kit and the work was undertaken in just three hours. The service from Trencher Hire UK was really excellent with clear responses and the unit delivered on time and was extremely good value.”

2020 Networks offers two hosted VoIP and SIP platforms that provide services either on a ‘per channel basis,’ or via extensions with inclusive minutes.

VoIP uses a dedicated broadband line to process voice traffic. In simple terms, it turns your voice into data packets and sends them instantly over your existing broadband network to the person you’re calling. The callee won’t notice anything different, they still hear your voice as normal. The call quality will be the same as, or better than, any existing landline service.

To find out how Trencher Hire can help you, contact us on 0121 751 9319 or email: team@trencherhire.com or visit us at: www.trencherhire.com

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Kubota keeps Kingston pristine

Kubota keeps Kingston pristine: Kubota’s new F-series mower is playing an important role in Glendale Services’ new contract in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, which involves the maintenance of parks, housing, verges and highways.

“We take care of grasscutting on everything from verges to sports pitches, along with sportsfield renovations and preparation,” explains supervisor Richard Leadbeater.

Kubota keeps Kingston pristine

Kubota keeps Kingston pristine

“The contract is based on cut-and-drop, and we are using three Kubota F-series mowers plus a G series compact mower for smaller areas, supported by electric strimmers and blowers.”

Richard comments that the team has recently switched from another brand and the process has been seamless.

“The controls are slightly different, but the mowers are very easy to drive, which is important as we often have new starters on the team.”

The F-391 mower chosen by Glendale is powered by the latest 38hp four-cylinder Kubota stage V engine, with hydrostatic transmission and on-demand four-wheel drive.

It is fitted with a 1.52m (60in) rotary deck and has a 61 litre fuel tank for reduced downtime.

“We like the straightforward nature of the mower – it’s easy to repair if it gets damaged by our working environment and we can rely on the parts supply.”

The mowers are used from March to September for at least five days a week for six hours, cutting on a two-week cycle. They are required to handle anything from long grass on verges to closer cuts in parks and playing fields.

“The Kubotas are proving very durable and we have not had any issues,” he says.

Cut height is adjustable via the castor wheels, generally from 20-70mm for this contract.

“Although the mowers need to be productive, cut quality is also essential, especially for housing work, as residents place great importance on the appearance of their surroundings,” Richard points out.

For operator Xavier Alsina Bartolome, the manoeuvrability offered by the mowers, which have power steering as well as a top speed of 19.6kph, is a major advantage.

“I can work really tightly around trees and posts which reduces the amount of strimming needed and makes the team more efficient,” he comments. “It’s well designed for roadside work with good forward speed and even at 20mm cut height the deck rides well over drain covers and other obstructions. It’s also very comfortable to drive over a long day.”

With the contract set for seven years, durable and quality machinery will be key to offering the best service, and Richard says:

“The Kubotas are working really well and we would certainly expect them to last the life of the contract.”

Neal Harper, Machinery Manager for Glendale, comments: “We have partnered with Kubota for a good many years now and have found their product range robust, of good value and suiting most applications that our contracts come across. Kubota is approachable as a manufacturer and willing to work with us to find solutions to our needs, backed up by a professional and reliable dealer network across the UK.”

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