Kubota strengthens partnership with WWT

The orange liveried tractor and groundcare manufacturer has this month announced that it is continuing its partnership with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), 12-months on since Kubota became corporate patrons of the popular wetland conservation organisation.

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The link between manufacturing excellence and a commitment to improving the environment is something Kubota is extremely proud of, highlighted by its global ‘For Earth, For Life’ mantra, and it sees its work with the WWT as an excellent brand partnership to help develop and strengthen this link and to help aid the excellent work of WWT.
The national partnership with the WWT has also resulted in many of the nine wetland centres nationwide making the switch to Kubota machinery to assist with the day-to-day duties required to ensure that its sites balance the duel requirements of conservation and habitat management.

The latest centre to benefit from Kubota kit is WWT Slimbridge, the official Head Quarters of trust and once home of its founder Sir Peter Scott, who is widely considered to be the founder of modern UK conservation.

Located halfway between Bristol and Gloucester on the estuary of the River Severn, the 1000-acre site is home to much of WWT’s pioneering work for rare and endangered species, such as its programme to re-establish a sustainable population of the iconic Eurasian Crane to the Somerset Levels and Moors.

Charged with managing the 1000-acre Slimbridge site is Grounds Manager Nathan Dixon, who, alongside a team of five, maintains the grassy areas and wetland landscape of the site, ensuring that land is suitable for the mix of daily visitors and on going conservation.

Now central to daily operations is Nathan’s new Kubota G26-II high dump mower, purchased last month through Slimbridge’s longstanding machinery dealer, Lister Wilder.

“A key requirement at Slimbridge is the removal of all of our green waste,” explains Dixon. “It’s vitally important that grass cuttings are collected and removed on a regular basis. This makes the high dump function on the G26-II a vital addition, allowing us to quickly remove cuttings; minimising the time it sits on the ground and reducing the time consuming task of double collecting by our staff,” he adds.

“The efficiency of the G26-II, its superior build quality and the reliability that you get with Kubota engines will hopefully result in a long operating life and greatly help our productivity. The aftersales service offered by Lister Wilder will also play a key role, assisting where appropriate and complementing our in-house maintenance resource.”

Nathan and his team also run a second Kubota model, an M Series tractor, which is primarily used to maintain the surrounding 1000-acre reserve estate, of which a separate reserve management team is tasked with maintaining. If the longevity of this M Series tractor, which predates Nathan by many years, is any yardstick then the team’s hopes for increased productive and minimum downtime will soon become a reality.

The arrival of the Kubota G26-II at Slimbridge will be followed hot on the heels by a second deal agreed between Lister Wilder and Trust, this time to supply the WWT London Wetland Centre in Barnes; joining the likes of Martin Mere Wetland Centre (Lancashire) and Arundel Wetland Centre (West Sussex), which already boast fleets of Kubota machines.