Industry Acknowledgements
Uttoxeter Racecourse for being generous and accommodating hosts
John Deere UK Ltd and their dealers Rea Valley Tractors Ltd and Kubota UK Ltd and their dealers FR Sharrock Ltd for supplying and setting up tractors used in the test.
Major Equipment Ltd
www.major-
equipment.com
McConnel Ltd
www.mcconnel.com
Spearhead Machinery Ltd
www.spearheadmachinery.com
The Grass Group (Progressive Mowers)
www.thegrassgroup.com
Solid and well built, the Wessex ProLine RMX-500 offers the useful facility to lift one deck whilst still cutting to manoeuvre around an obstacle
Tri-deck mowers
These made an impressive sight lined up together in the centre course, and are clearly capable of cutting some impressive amounts of grass. The Uttoxeter team are most familiar with this type of mower and put them through their paces thoroughly, even testing out the Trimax Pegasus on the hallowed turf of the racetrack itself. “Outputs are high and they all cut well with a good quality finish,” commented Reuben Langridge. “The Trimax Pegasus was particularly impressive, because it was virtually silent and travelled well behind the tractor. The deck design meant that it lifted the grass before cutting it, giving very good results even on longer grass.” Stability in transport and ease of access
for servicing also came in for praise. Trimax also supplied the 3.23m Snake tri- deck mower which produces a fine finish and looks like a useful machine for undulating turf with lots of obstacles or kerbs to negotiate. Build quality and ease of handling made
the Wessex ProLine RMX-500 popular with the team and, as with their other machines, height of cut adjustment was simple. “You can fold one deck and carry on
cutting around an obstacle which could be really useful,” commented Reuben, “It was a little noisier than others though, but this was probably due to the faster blade tip speed .” Manoeuvrability and ease of handling
were considered to be some of the best features of the Spearhead Trident R, which also cut shorter grass well with a good finish, and was also pretty impressive in the wet
and on longer swards. “Our main gripe with this mower was the
release catch for lowering the decks, which was tricky to operate; it was also difficult to get inside the outer decks to set the cut height.” Strong build quality and a good quality of cut, plus straightforward height of cut adjustment won points for the Progressive TDR15 tri-deck, but Reuben admitted to being disappointed by some design issues. “The shorter drawbar means that the pto
can foul on the tyres in a tight turn, and this mower is noisy to operate. However, it is very stable to tow, with an additional toplink for safety and produces a good quality of cut with the rotation of the blades directing grass away from the wheels. Output is also high,” he said. For Uttoxeter Racecourse, the jury is still out on which mower to choose in the future. Further trials will include a Trimax triple deck with four blades per rotor, whilst Charlie is also keeping a close eye on a Votex development project which combines a front mount mower with a pair of folding rear decks. However, the Uttoxeter grounds team
were universally in agreement with visitors to the open day held at the racecourse at the end of the trial - it was a unique opportunity to see a range of different mowers put through their paces, side-by-side in a ‘real life’ setting.
To see video interviews with the manufacturers and Charlie Moore, Clerk of the Course at Uttoxeter, download the Aurasma ‘augmented reality’ scanner which is included in the Pitchcare magazine app. Simply hover your mobile device over the ‘play’ symbol below to activate.
Trimax Mowing Systems
www.trimaxmowers.co.uk Votex Hereford
www.votex.co.uk Wessex International
www.wessexintl.com Test procedure
Manufacturers delivered their machines to Uttoxeter Racecourse at the beginning of the week and supplied product training and information.
Uttoxeter groundstaff appraised and trialed the mowers on a range of turf surfaces and then discussed their findings with Pitchcare writers
Dealers and end users were invited to view the mowers in action and try them, while discussing their needs with the manufacturers.
Generous clearance between the deck and roller means that clippings are evenly distributed by the SDR65
The new triple deck Spearhead Trident R was praised for manoeuvrability and handling
Strong build quality and a good finish are offered by the Progressive TDR15
60 I PC JUNE/JULY 2015
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