Since Robert Cheape joined The Glasgow Academy in 1985, the school and accompanying sports grounds have expanded significantly.
His tenure as Head Groundsman has been underpinned by a long-standing partnership with dealers Hamilton Ross Group, and much of the success he has attributed to the reliability and versatility delivered by Kubota tractors in use at the grounds for over 30 years.
Founded in 1845, The Glasgow Academy is the oldest continuously fully independent school in Glasgow, now providing a private coeducational day school for 1700 pupils.
The school is renowned for its sporting prowess – with rugby and hockey played by both the students and Glasgow Accies Sports club in the winter months, then switching to primarily cricket, tennis and athletics during the summer.
Working alongside Robert on the maintenance of the natural turf and artificial surfaces is a busy team of six, with three of the staff having over 120 years of service between them.
“With sport played daily, we rely heavily on having the right, reliable equipment to produce pitches that can withstand the pressure of constant wear” Robert says. For more than three decades, powering that maintenance operation has been Kubota. “In the shed we have a Kubota B1550 from the early 1990’s which still runs and is used for lighter jobs around the sites, a B2650 and, more recently, we added an L2622 to the fleet.”
“While we can see the improvements and things like the controls and operator-friendliness has moved on they’re still, fundamentally, well-built, comfortable, reliable workhorses. For that reason, I’ll never use anything else” he adds.
The L2622 delivered in August 2025 brings increased power and productivity, featuring a 61hp stage-V diesel engine and the highest rear lift capacity in its class. “With time of the essence, we found we were relying on larger, more power-hungry implements and the L2622 has proven the perfect partner for implements such as our Verti-Drain – which we’re increasingly relying on with the more regular periods of prolonged and heavy rainfall.”
“We also run a Kubota RTV-X1110 which is another reliable runaround, towing smaller equipment and getting people and tools around the sites quickly and safely.”
Reliability for Robert extends beyond the machines themselves, with Kubota he also has the added peace of mind of first-class dealer support from the team at Hamilton Ross Group.
“I’ve dealt with Paul Denholm since 1990 and the school’s relationship with Hamilton’s began even before that,” he added. “We just know that if we need anything, from a simple advice call or a service visit, that they’ll be there to look after us. That sort of service goes a long way.”
