New mowers work flat out!

When Crews Hill Golf Club at Enfield in Middlesex decided to update its course maintenance fleet, a key requirement was that the new mowers would cope with the ancient ridge and furrow contours of this 18-hole mixed heathland and parkland course.

The club found the perfect solution from dealer Turner Groundscare at Bledlow near Aylesbury, who supplied a complete new range of John Deere machines on a five year finance programme partly using John Deere Credit. Three of the greenkeeping staff also had two days of John Deere University maintenance training at Langar included as part of the package.

"This is our first time running John Deere equipment, and our first time buying on finance, which means it will be easier to keep up to date with new technology in future while keeping to a fixed annual budget," says head greenkeeper Gary Speller. "After a number of demonstrations, we decided that the combination of John Deere machines and Turner's after-sales service was the best choice. We particularly like the suspension design on the mowers, which cope very well with the fairway undulations."

The new fleet includes a 3235C fairway mower with fairway tender conditioners and rear roller brushes, 8800 TerrainCut rotary mower, 2500E hybrid greens mower, two 260C walk-behind greens mowers, Pro Gator utility vehicle with interchangeable HD200 sprayer and TD100 top dresser, TH 6x4 Gator, Aercore 800 pedestrian and 1500 tractor-mounted aerators, and a 2520 compact tractor with front loader.

"The dealer back-up is just as important," adds Gary Speller. "With Turners, if you need anyone at any time, whether it's for parts, on-course training or service assistance, they're always there to help. Typically, when we were preparing for a tournament and had a greens mower on loan that went down with an electrical problem, within two hours we had a replacement and were up and running again.

"The course is our bread and butter, it's why people come to play here. It has to be in tip-top condition, and it is - both the members and visiting groups say they enjoy playing the course, which is what it's all about. Having people see the new machinery and realise the club is investing in new equipment is very important too."

Website: www.johndeere.co.uk