A recent upgrade to the mower fleet at Plymouth Argyle Football Club has seen the delivery of two INFINICUT 34” FX cylinders and two SM34 rotary mowers to the club’s stadium pitch at Home Park.
Together with outstanding quality of cut and first-class presentation, Head Groundsman Chris Ralph also cites the improvements in consistency achieved with their mowing operations thanks to the industry-leading INFINIApp.
The investment has been on the cards for the last 18 months, which gave Chris and his team of five ample time to compare and contrast the options available.
“We’d been using two INFINICUT fixed head cylinders and were always happy with those – they’re reliable and comfortable to use, with minimal noise and vibrations. We found nothing that could better those” he explains.
“On the rotary front, we demonstrated various models and were impressed with the performance and finish of the SM34’s, the ease of height adjustment compared to competitor machines and the side placement of the grass bucket which means it’s not hitting your legs all the time!”
With the decision made, the fleet was delivered by Andy White and Paul Curgenven of Shinners Bridge Garden Machinery and INFINICUT’s Mark Clifford-Kennedy in February 2024. “Andy, Paul and Mark left no stone unturned when they dropped the machines off. They went through every detail of the machines, guided us through set-up and demonstrated the full functionality of the INFINIApp.”
Chris continues, “The Bluetooth control is a great feature. We can quickly and easily set reel speed, clip rates and more, and share settings between machines to give us greater consistency than we’ve ever achieved before.”
In addition to the cylinder and rotary mowers, the club also purchased a pair of ThatchMaster cassettes from the TMSystem. “I’ve been looking at these for a while! Our ProPitch reports were identifying an increase in thatch levels over the last 12 months and our only way of trying to combat that previously was with a tractor and rake.
“We equipped our 34” machines with the ThatchMaster cassettes for a first pass in mid-March and the results were outstanding! We each removed three or four boxes of unwanted organic matter, and the pitch looked healthier immediately.
“The whole team have been really impressed, with not just the INFINICUT machines themselves but the support and service we’ve had from Shinners Bridge along the way. We’re now well placed to further drive up the standards of our stadium pitch, along with our neighbouring first-team training surfaces too.”
