Tractor mowers are just the job

Hertfordshire based John O’Conner Grounds Maintenance has bought two new, specially adapted John Deere 5090R utility tractors from dealer J E Buckle Ltd, to carry out the schools grass cutting contract for Leicestershire County Council.

Fabrication work on the tractors was carried out by Howard Marshall Engineering of Papplewick, Nottingham, specifically so that each one could carry new Ransomes Hydraulic 5/7 mowing units. With two of the seven cylinders under the tractors’ mid-section and the remaining five units mounted on the rear linkage, the tractors have since been reclassified as mowers and are dedicated to grass cutting.

The adaptation involved removing the tractors’ original diesel fuel tank and installing two smaller tandem tanks to enable the mid-mounted cylinder units to be positioned for optimum use. As a result, the total fuel capacity has been increased by around 30 litres, allowing a full day’s work to be completed without needing to refuel.

“We bought both the tractors and the mowers to replace older machines at the end of their working life, and they make a great combination,” says contract manager Steve Cooper. “Our recently renewed contract with the council covers the whole of Leicestershire and the inner city, and means the new machines are covering a lot of ground.

“We have to cut around 1 million m² of grass a week at 400 sites altogether, including 200 schools and other education sites. That’s a lot of grass, spread over a wide area, so we can’t afford to have the tractors going back to the depot all the time to refuel, we need to get a full day’s work from one filling.

“Since using the new tractor mower combinations, we’ve found that productivity is up and fuel costs are down. They are also more compact and manoeuvrable, which is of particular benefit when they are working in junior schools, which have smaller playing fields.

“John Deere tractors have been a part of our machinery fleet since 1990, and we have established a good working relationship with Buckles over the years, as they are the nearest dealer to our head office and main workshops,” adds Steve Cooper.

“We chose the 5090R tractors for this new contract after trying out two or three other makes to go with the mowers, but none came up to the same quality level we’ve come to expect from John Deere – the tractors are very powerful and comfortable, which is particularly important to the operators, and the productivity and finish of the mowing units is also far superior to our previous mounted gangs.”

Teesside stocks up on more Deere

Teesside Golf Club at Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, has recently updated its course maintenance equipment fleet with four new John Deere machines.

These include a 30hp 3320 compact tractor with ComfortGard cab, a four-wheel drive 1905 five-gang cylinder mower with cab, for intermediate cutting between the fairways and roughs, a TH 6x4 Gator utility vehicle for general transport duties and a 2500B triplex greens mower with groomer attachments. machines.

Course manager Tony Smith has worked at the club for 30 years – “As man and older man!” as he puts it – and is currently chairman of BIGGA’s communications sub-committee. machines.

“We bought our first John Deere machine around 20 years ago, and have stuck with the brand ever since,” he says. “We like the machines for their reliability, performance and finish, plus the greens staff just love using them, they are very operator-friendly. We work to the machinery budget set by the club, and aim to change machines every four or five years, unless an urgent replacement is needed.” machines.

The new machines join an extensive John Deere fleet at Teesside, including a 4115 compact tractor, 5300 utility tractor, two 455 lawn tractors, two 2500A greens mowers, two 2653A tees & surrounds mowers, two 365 trailed gang mowers, two 220A walk-behind greens mowers, 4x2 and 6x4 Gator utility vehicles and an Aercore 1000 tractor-mounted aerator. machines.

The 18-hole parkland course is 109 years old this year, and is situated on what used to be the old Stockton racecourse. The clubhouse was opened in 1932 and was originally an old granary, to which ships coming up the Tees delivered their grain. machines.

“When I first came here the course was very flat, with no trees, and was prone to flooding,” says Tony. “Since then we’ve planted over 32,000 trees, installed several ponds, made extensive drainage improvements and effectively rebuilt the golf course. It’s also now a haven for many species of wildlife.”

John Deere first for Norwich City

Norwich City FC’s Carrow Road stadium is the first Football League ground in the country to feature John Deere’s new irrigation sprinkler heads. Supplied by dealer Ben Burgess, 10 MC75 3in and four MC55 2in straight nozzle heads have been installed by Irrigation Services (UK) Ltd of Norwich in time for the new season.

Head groundsman Gary Kemp oversaw the construction of a new Desso GrassMaster pitch at the stadium in 2004, in which natural grass is reinforced with synthetic fibres that knit the pitch together, providing excellent wearability and drainage as well as a consistent playing surface throughout the season.

“Being sand-based, the pitch needs a good, reliable watering system, as without this the grass can go off quite quickly,” says Gary. “With football today, watering is one of the main techniques used to make the ball zip about. In keeping with modern day practice, generally we do a heavy watering on Friday, then on Saturday we can water the pitch anything up to six times leading up to kick-off, then again at half-time, plus another good soaking again after the match – so the sprinklers get a lot of use throughout the season.

“As our existing sprinklers were coming to end of their life and needed replacing, we tried out one of the new John Deere heads last year, as well as a couple of alternatives, and we found the John Deere units were by far the best option for us.

“For maintenance all the new heads are serviceable from the top, so there’s no need to dig them out each time. Another advantage is that no dirt can get into the heads, because of the way they are constructed – we have a gravel track around the edge of the pitch, which was a nightmare with the old sprinklers as we had to keep cleaning them out all the time. The John Deere heads feature a dual flushing system which cleans them out automatically as they move up and down.

“As with all our other equipment, the dealer back-up is superb. This is crucial, as we can’t afford to be without the watering system – if there is a problem at any time, we can order parts and get going again within a day, which is the most important thing.”

Gary Kemp has been a Ben Burgess customer for around 20 years, since the club bought its first machinery package for Norwich City’s 26 acre Colney training ground. Current John Deere equipment includes a new 8700 fairway mower with QA cutting units, 2653A and 500 triplex reel mowers, four compact tractors, an Aercore 2m aerator and two LX lawn tractors.

“Everything is bought on a five-year John Deere Credit lease with maintenance, which is a good arrangement,” says Gary. “The club knows what the monthly payments are to the penny for budgeting, and we can change the kit regularly to take advantage of the latest technology, which makes life a lot better for the grounds staff.”

Top quality all round for Ladies Irish Open

The 2010 AIB Ladies Irish Open at Killeen Castle, Co Meath on August 6 to 8 has attracted the strongest field of women professional golfers in its history. As part of the Ladies European Tour (LET), the tournament is supported by John Deere, the Tour’s official supplier of golf course equipment and irrigation products.

Maintenance of the 18 hole, 7700 yard, par 72 golf course at Killeen Castle is carried out to a high standard by a team of greens staff led by course superintendent Mark Collins and assistant Robert Kane, using a comprehensive fleet of John Deere mowers, Gator utility vehicles, aerators, bunker rakes and tractors supplied by local dealer Dublin Grass Machinery.

As part of an ongoing partnership agreement, John Deere officials are working closely with the LET’s agronomists, with the goal of helping to produce better quality playing surfaces throughout Europe. Agronomist Julian Mooney, greenkeeping consultant to the LET, says:

“LET has developed a close working relationship with the course maintenance team at Killeen Castle. Despite the challenging grass growing season, the course has improved considerably over the past month and is on target with preparations for the AIB Ladies Irish Open.

“Killeen will very comfortably bridge the gap between a high quality private members club and a professional tournament venue. I would expect our players to rate Killeen Castle among the top conditioned venues the LET visits in 2010. This year’s event will also double as a dry run for tournament maintenance regimes in advance of The 2011 Solheim Cup.”

The AIB Ladies Irish Open field includes five current American Solheim Cup players and the full European team, which includes world ranked number 3 Suzann Pettersen, who won the event in 2008, Anna Nordqvist, who is ranked 6th, current European number 1 Laura Davies CBE, reigning Ricoh British Open Champion Catriona Matthew MBE, past multiple winner of the Ladies Irish Open Sophie Gustafson, Maria Hjorth and Helen Alfredsson, the 2007 Solheim Cup Captain.

John Deere and the LET extended their original patron agreement at the end of 2009 for two more years. John Deere is an official industry partner of The 2011 Solheim Cup match between the women’s professional teams from the US and Europe (captained for the second time in succession by Alison Nicholas), which will also take place at Killeen Castle. The partnership agreement additionally covers the AIB Ladies Irish Open, supported by Fáilte Ireland, in 2011 & 2012, and The 2011 PING Junior Solheim Cup.

Gator gets new olive livery

John Deere has introduced a new version of its popular XUV 850D high performance 4x4 utility vehicle, in olive and black livery. This model is aimed at customers who prefer an alternative to the usual bright green and yellow colour scheme, including shooting and countryside estates and farms, outdoor adventure centres and wildlife parks.

This olive and black Gator is fitted as standard with aggressive tread, off-road style tyres, but otherwise is the same specification as the existing XUV model, complete with a steel tipping cargo box. It is available with all the same attachments and options, including road homologation, and the standard four post ROPS frame can also be upgraded to a deluxe full glass cab if required.

The XUV Gator is specifically designed for off-road and rough-terrain performance, and is based on a hydroformed steel frame for increased durability. It also offers a true four-wheel drive traction system – activated by a simple dash-mounted electronic rocker switch, this on-demand system incorporates lockable front and rear differentials to maintain excellent traction in the toughest ground conditions.

The XUV Gator’s 24hp (850cc) liquid-cooled, three-cylinder Yanmar diesel engine is the most powerful and quickest accelerating in its class, with the fastest top speed at 30mph in high range. Advanced clutching ensures smooth power delivery and engine braking assistance from the dual range, continuously variable transmission.

All round independent suspension offers improved handling, operator comfort and ride quality, with 175mm (7in) of suspension travel and 270mm (nearly 11in) of ground clearance. This enables the XUV Gator to follow rough and bumpy terrain with ease while keeping all four wheels firmly on the ground, whether the vehicle is fully loaded or unladen. Maximum payload capacity is 635kg and towing capacity is 590kg on level terrain.

Additional operator friendly features include a glove box and storage compartment, cup holder, 12V power outlet and integrated 50mm (2in) rear hitch. Base UK list price of the new John Deere olive and black XUV 850D utility vehicle, which is available in limited numbers this summer before full production starts in November, is £11,033 plus VAT.


Alpha Plus Groundcare West Broomhill Kintore Aberdeenshire AB51 0XA