As demand grows, and implements get bigger and better, as does the fleet of Kubota tractors for sports turf maintenance company Southern Ground Care.
Established in 2012 by Keith Petley, later joined by his son Lewis Petley, the reliability and ease of operation has seen the company loyal to the brand from the outset – now with an L2-602, two L2-622’s and most recently an M6-131 joining the pack to provide the power to operations at schools, football and cricket clubs along the south coast.
After working in transport for nearly 40 years, Keith made the break to something new in 2012, helping with the maintenance at a local cricket club in a volunteer capacity. It was here he purchased his first compact tractor from Kubota’s B-Series and the rest, as they say, was history.
“Over the years we’ve had a B3030, then progressed to two STV40’s and an ST401 with a cab. Kubota has been the backbone for everything we offer and as we’ve branched into new sports and new operations, our Kubota fleet has grown accordingly” Keith says.
“We currently have three tractors from Kubota’s L-Series which give us the ideal power to weight ratio for the vast majority of implements we use from general maintenance to end-of-season renovations on football and cricket pitches. These have given us outstanding reliability and are intuitive and comfortable to operate.”
The latest delivery made by local dealer Rod Gaskin in July 2024, was a M6-131 equipped with turf tyres. Lewis explains, “We found ourselves hiring an M5 when we needed to utilise the heavier kit which was inconvenient compared to having our own higher HP tractor that we could use as and when required.
“The turf tyres on our M6 spread the weight really well, avoiding unnecessary compaction and we find the tread is not too aggressive even when working on slightly softer ground.”
With workload ramping up, the team have also invested in GPS systems for all four tractors to optimise efficiency. “We thought it would be good for spraying but we’ve reaped the benefits of it with nearly everything we do.
“It speeds up the operations, improves the accuracy for operations like seeding, aeration and even mowing, and means that less experienced members of the team can go into every task with confidence.”
“We’re also assisted by the fantastic team at Rod Gaskin who are quick to offer us help and support, together with taking care of our routine servicing to avoid any costly downtime. The back-up with Kubota is second to none” he adds.
