College mower goes full-time

Head groundsman Ben Connell and his team at St Joseph's College in Ipswich won the use of a John Deere 2653B triplex cylinder mower for the 2009 season after entering a Cricket World website competition - and they liked it so much, they ended up buying one.

"The loan period for the 2653B finished on November 1st, and we had already decided to buy the mower before it went back to the dealer," says Ben (pictured). "There was not quite enough in the budget to have that machine, so Tuckwell offered us an ex-demonstration model instead.

"We've been absolutely happy with it, and I think the competition was a great sales incentive! The loan period proved to us and the college management how well the mower fitted our needs, and how much time we were saving by having it in the fleet.

"The mower will be mainly used on the cricket outfield and the first team rugby pitch in the summer," adds Ben. "The rugby pitch is sown with Rigby Taylor's R11 100% ryegrass, which doesn't want to be cut too short, so we'll have to change the cutting height each time from 25mm on there to 15mm on the cricket outfield. However, it will be worth it, as we'll still save so much time over the whole mowing season."

The loan 2653B was the college's first ever ride-on cylinder mower, and it was used across the 56 acre site, which includes four rugby and three cricket pitches, a small five-a-side football pitch, plus extensive gardens and areas of amenity grass. It halved the time it took to cut the two main rugby pitches, which freed the grounds staff to concentrate on bringing other areas of the site to a similar high standard of finish.

For further details and/or photographs, please contact:

Henry Bredin
John Deere Limited
Tel: 01949 860491
Fax: 01949 860490
Website: www.johndeere.co.uk