With sports fields, golf clubs and municipalities all needing to tighten their belts, they are relying on mowers and machinery more than ever not to let them down.
Historically, groundsmen opted for cylinder mowers which were known for their ability to achieve a top quality cut.
Most cylinder mowers had rollers which left a beautiful stripe guaranteed to get people’s attention; but as time went on groundsmen all over the world were starting to realise the cost implications of running such machines.
In order to ensure the best possible cut the cylinders needed frequent sharpening of blades. Not only was this a timely and costly process, it also meant downtime. With downtime came grass, lots of it, and this exposed the other limitation of the cylinder mower.
Whilst cylinder mowers performed well in ideal conditions, they struggled with grass which was long or wet. Manufacturers came to realise that there was an opportunity in the market.
The groundsmen’s requirements had changed: not only did they require a machine which ensured a top quality cut, but they also required a machine which could handle less than perfect conditions and provided low maintenance costs. This saw the development of rotary mowers.
Trimax Mowing Systems, now a market leader in the field, spent many years researching new technologies to find a solution for the modern groundsman - the rotary mower!
This innovation offered a slightly different cut method – rather like an inverted helicopter.
As the mower moved over the grass, the airflow formed from the fast spin of the blades, created an uplift enabling a clean cut and excellent finish.
Although priced similar to the cylinder mowers, rotary mowers were far more robust and reliable machines.
The versatility of the rotary mower meant that it was now possible to cut longer grass even in wet conditions, which gave far greater flexibility and cost savings to the groundsman.
Whilst almost impossible to tell the difference between a cylinder and a rotary cut, the difference in maintenance costs were significant.
Trimax Mowing Systems carried out a study to compare the maintenance costs between a cylinder mower and one of their rotary
The analysis confirmed that a cylinder mower averaged an annual maintenance cost £5,000 whereas the maintenance cost of a Trimax rotary mower of comparable size were a mere £700 per year.
Looking at the maintenance costs of running a mower for a time period of only 5 years, that comes to a staggering difference of £25,000 vs £3,500.
These maintenance costs exclude both labour inefficiencies and mower downtime.
Whilst a few stalwart Groundsmen remain loyal to the cylinder mowers, the majority have realised the huge potential of the new Trimax rotary mowers and are already reaping the benefits, as Wolverhampton Council have testified:
“Maintenance is considerably less than cylinders.
“Each set of 7-gangs requires around 154 hours of workshop maintenance per season on the cutter heads alone. The Trimax Pegasus requires 70% less maintenance.”
Trimax pride themselves on their continuous commitment to providing innovative solutions. The highest level of finish with minimal downtime and maintenance has always been at the core of their engineering and manufacturing.
For more information, or to talk with other municipalities about how their new fleet of Trimax machines has increased business efficiency, then please call 01933 652235 or visit www.trimaxmowers.co.uk
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