Four years ago, Radley College welcomed a new Toro
fleet of Groundsmaster and Reelmaster mowers to the independent boys’ school in
Oxfordshire.
There’s a lot of pressure on Radley College’s grounds
team. Not only does it have the upkeep of some of the most extensive and finest
public school sporting facilities in the country on its hands, but with the
school increasing the number of bursaries and scholarships for the first time
in its 172-year history, the sports facilities are expanding too.
Luckily, grounds manager Adam King and the 19-strong
team in the estates department, including groundsmen, greenkeepers and
gardeners, have the benefit of a Toro fleet of Groundsmaster and Reelmaster
mowers working across the 14 rugby pitches, 10 cricket squares and football
pitches, three astroturf hockey pitches, tennis courts and a nine-hole, par 34
golf course.
The College’s latest fleet joined four years ago in a significant lease agreement with Reesink, Adam says: “With more to do, the biggest benefit from
our Toro fleet in the last four years is how it’s saved us time, allowing us to
be more efficient and productive. Having two Reelmaster 3100-D mowers for the
weekend cutting of the cricket outfields and aprons has been particularly
beneficial.”
As the school gears up for a new boarding house
opening in 2020 and the expansion of the sporting facilities to accommodate,
the reliability of the fleet as well as its time-saving aspects has not gone
unnoticed by Adam.
“We chose this combination of machines with specific
work in mind and they’ve not only delivered on that but more. We’ve built more
natural and artificial sports surfaces into the equation and got them into
play. Plus, there have been no problems running the fleet, no breakdowns or
issues.
"The lease agreement with Reesink allowed us to
have new machines straight away, while also covering winter service, and all at
a fixed cost. We were able to manage our budget and benefit from new and
upgraded equipment at an important time in the College’s history.”
So, what’s next for Adam and the team? “We were at
BTME to take in the new technology and product development on offer, and I was
most interested in seeing lightweight three-wheel fairway mowers and greens
mowers which we haven’t specifically had before. Plus, there’s been
developments in engine size and I’ll be interested in seeing the effect of that
on our surfaces here.”
Since then, Adam and the team have trialled the Toro
Reelmaster 3555 and 3575 mowers across the School, based on which Adam
concluded they are the “best bits of new kit I’ve seen in a long time and
versatile enough to be multi-sports mowers”.
