Keith
Porter, head groundsman at Leigh Sports Village in Greater Manchester, has
added to his fleet of Dennis mowers by purchasing four G860 cylinder mowers and
four PRO 34R rotary mowers.
Leigh
Sports Village certainly lives up to its name by comprising of a main stadium
pitch - a Desso Hybrid GrassMaster, three additional soil based sand
ameliorated pitches with primary and secondary drainage and irrigation; and two
full size, three seven-a-side and a 5-a-side floodlit 4G synthetic pitches. The
village also features an indoor sports centre and a swimming pool.
It is home
to a number of professional sports teams including rugby league side Leigh
Centurions and Manchester United FC U23’s, U19’s and most recently the ladies
team. It is also used by local teams and organisations such as Leigh East
Amateur Rugby Club, Leigh Athletic FC, Team Elite Football Academy, Pro
Football Academy and various age groups of Leigh United FC and Hindley Green
Juniors.
Keith has
been the head groundsman at this impressive facility for nearly eleven years
and in that time has excelled in improving the quality of the playing surfaces.
To cut and
prepare the pitches for match days he has long relied on the Dennis G860
cylinder mower. However, with games coming thick and fast, and armed with some
rather ageing rotary mowers, Keith felt the time was right to add to his Dennis
armoury.
“Quite
often, we will have back-to-back games and have three games in a week – so we
need good equipment for a quick turn-around,” he said. “Our old rotaries were
about four years old and had become unreliable. I’ve used lots of Dennis machines in my time and they have always been incredibly reliable so we decided
to look at their new rotary mower.
“We had a
PRO 34R on a demonstration and were really impressed with it so we decided to
go ahead and purchase four. It was also the ideal opportunity to bring in more
G860’s because they have always given us great results.
“They are
both light machines compared to competitors, so they are lighter on the pitch
and therefore there is not as much compaction.”
The new
Dennis PRO 34R is a 34” (860mm) rotary mower which has been designed to help
groundsmen achieve an aesthetically pleasing appearance and desired playing
surface. It is ideal for sports pitches and lawns producing the enviable
‘Dennis Stripes’ while a powerful vacuum flow collects debris quickly and
efficiently. The angle of the cutting deck and twin blades can be easily
adjusted using a single ‘click adjuster’ ensuring the mower is suitable for
changing conditions and meeting groundsmen’s requirements.
Keith
believes the two mowers perfectly complement one another and that both play a
vital role in his maintenance programme.
“We use
the G860’s to cut the pitches for match preparation and then the day after the
games the rotaries are used to clean up and present the pitches in time for the
next game,” he said. “The rotaries keep it free from debris and nicely stripes
them up - in fact, the presentation on the PRO 34R is very comparable to a
cylinder mower.
“The
rotaries also save us so much time because before we had the PRO 34R’s we used
to have six rotary mowers out there at one time but now we just have four which
do the job in a faster time. This is because there are two blades as opposed to
one and a wider cut. A quick turnaround is essential here especially if you are
going from rugby to football.
For a
number of years now the Dennis G860 has been the number one choice for
groundsmen like Keith. Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and
comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls for -
throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive. The mower
also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which
has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent
finish on every occasion. The Dennis G860 also features an interchangeable
cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks.
“What I
like about Dennis as a company is that they are very interested in your
opinion,” Keith continued. “They are always asking you about your experience
with their mowers and ask if they could make any improvements. They then go
away and genuinely listen.
“It just
adds to the overall package and everything about the company is great. The
mowers are British made, they have been around for a long, long time, they put
a lot of thought into the machinery based on industry feedback and their main
priority is their customer.”
