With a decision made to reduce grass cutting on around 75 sites across the borough, came the necessity to purchase a more durable and efficient cut and collect set-up for the team at Walsall Council.
The solution - a high-capacity C12 unit from Trilo. Delivered in the autumn of 2024, the Trilo was swiftly put to task, making light work of the mowing and clean collection of wildflower areas and other green spaces, all while reducing labour and fuel requirements too!
Andrew Stokes, Principle Operations Manager for Walsall Council, has been with the local authority for the last 17 years and currently oversees the team responsible for all elements of grounds management and street cleansing. He explains the changes to the cutting schedule which drove the purchase.
“We previously had around 4 sites which would only be cut once a year, for the benefit of supporting pollinators and wildlife more generally. As part of a larger 10-year ‘managing grass’ plan, this was increased to 75 for the 2024 season. While this brings many benefits, it posed a challenge for our equipment which only had limited capacity.”
Working closely with supporting dealers F R Sharrock, Andrew and the team looked at the Trilo C12, with its robust steel fabrication and heavy-duty flail head designed to cope with the most demanding cut and collect tasks.
Boasting noise reduction, dust suppression and a 12m3 hydraulically controlled hopper, the C12 was the right choice to deliver both the quality and quantity of mowing the council were looking for.
“We’ve gone from using a machine which could only collect 1m3 which, when you factor in the need to empty and transport the waste, meant the whole task would take two or three people. With the introduction of the Trilo the task can now be completed by one person all from the tractor cab. Not only is that reducing the reliance on resources, it’s minimising the number of trips required to dispose of the cuttings thereby freeing up equipment and lowering our fuel usage.”
He continues, “We are working with ever tightening budgets so being able to reassign our workforce and benefit the environment at the same time is the kind of efficiencies we really need.”
“The feedback from the operators has been nothing but positive” he adds. “The C12 proved to be a workhorse right through the tail end of the year and, moving forwards, will only continue to play a greater role and allow us the potential to add more areas to the programme.” The Trilo is also equipped with a handheld hose and brush attachment, allowing it to also be used for leaf collection.
“The idea is we’ll be able to complete all of our cut and collect work before the leaves start to fall, then change the C12 to bring greater productivity and efficiency to this side of our operation.”
