Top Toro Mower awaits school groundsman in waiting

A retiring head groundsman has given his soon-to-be-appointed-predecessor a helping hand by investing in a brand new Toro mower.

With Sherborne School's current head groundsman, John Old, set to retire in August, the search is on for his replacement. But John isn't resting on his laurels in his last remaining months - instead he's found the perfect mower to assist the next head groundsman at the Dorset independent boys boarding school.

"Our old mower had reached the end of its useful life," John reveals, "so I was looking for something that would do just as good a job. We trialled eight mowers and the Toro Reelmaster 3100-D came closest to what we were after in terms of comfort, speed and overall performance."

And with John and his team responsible for a whopping 64 acres at the sports-centric school - including 18 winter pitches, nine grassed cricket areas and a grassed summer running track - comfort was a key factor.

"The Toro mower was the most comfortable, which is important because whoever's using that machine has to spend a lot of time on it!" he continues. "For instance, we mow our cricket grounds three or four times a week, which takes two-and-a-half-hours each time. So I was mainly looking for comfort."

John says he's very happy with his parting gift to his predecessor. "This is the first bit of Toro kit we've had at the school and we're really happy with it," he adds. "We're looking forward to getting to grips with the mower once we've had a bit of rain and the grass really starts growing. We'll also use it on our main rugby pitches in winter. But so far it's doing a very good job."

For more information on Toro machinery, contact your local Toro dealer. Alternatively, call distributor Lely UK on 01480 226800 or visit www.toro.com.