Swansea Council Moves To MAJOR

With 240 hectares of parkland to manage, The City and County of Swansea has its work cut-out keeping vast swathes of grass looking neat and tidy.

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Until a few years ago the parks were cut 14 times annually but following successive budget cuts the grass cutting cycle has now been reduced to just 9 cuts. This presents a massive challenge for the equipment involved. While gangs of cylinder mowers were used previously to maintain the parks, the shift to a reduced cutting cycle saw a move to tractor mounted rotary mowers.

Belt-driven, these did a good job during their operations with the relatively short grass that would grow over a two to three week period. However when it came to the latest range of budget cuts necessitating a doubling of the interval between cuts, the existing machines just were not as viable.

"We were having problems with the amounts of cut grass lying on top where our previous mowers just weren't able to mulch and evenly spread the grass to our requirements," explains Andrew Collins, Assistant Central Services Manager for the City and County of Swansea Council Parks Department.

"Additionally, where the grass was long and hence a much heavier strain was placed on the mowers, the belts were slipping and burning out."

These issues prompted a rethink of the Council's procurement policy on mowers and last summer Mr. Collins set about researching and trialing a selection of towed grass cutting machines better able to cope with the heavier workload brought on by the extended cutting cycle.

"Last July we had four different towed mowing units in on demonstration, trialing each one on grass four weeks old, so as to make an alike and factual analysis.

"What became immediately apparent was the need for a robust machine that would be capable of handling our requirements and represented good value for money."

After some tough testing, it was Major Equipment's Towed Mower 12000GR that was chosen for its overall performance in the tough conditions and its robust build quality. Given this and the back-up provided by local dealer Ted Hopkins, Mr. Collins placed an initial order for two units which arrived midway through the 2014 season.

"Put to work on arrival, the new mowers immediately proved themselves in heavy, wet grass. They performed brilliantly and to our expectations.

"Because we're mulching long grass we need it chopped fine and spread evenly to allow for re-growth, without causing dead spots, from lying grass."

The 12000GR's twin swinging blade arrangement is felt to be one of two key factors in producing such a good mulching effect. The second is the fact that rather than using a belt drive, each of the three cutting decks is shaft driven and protected by overload clutches. This means that the rotors don't slow or stall when heavy load is encountered, maintaining an even mulch quality and uniform spread.

That allows the mowers to run at a speed of 8-12kph, comfortably covering the ground in the time available. In just one season, each unit will clock up some 600-700 hours cutting time.

The other key improvement is the move to a trailed format rather than the tractor mounted arrangement of the old mowers, which permitted easier maintenance.

"Importantly from a maintenance perspective being wheeled they are safer to service and maintain without the need to mount then on to a tractor."

As regards servicing, the maintenance requirement is pretty low. Even after half a season's work (approx. 400hours work) there's been no need to change the tempered steel blades. And of course there are no belts to tension, adjust or replace.

"Being trailed, the Major mowers are much more stable and put less stress on the tractor. Our operators are happy because they travel so much better on the road – there's reduced bounce," explains Mr. Collins.

"They're no wider than the old gang mowers so they're easy to maneuver, even through our tight gateways.

Service and maintenance requirements are relatively low. Even after half a season's work (approx. 350hours work) there's been no necessity to change the tempered steel blades. And of course there are no belts to tension adjust or replace.

With regard to parts and information back-up should anything go wrong, Mr. Collins has peace of mind from his previous dealings with the local agent Ted Hopkins.

"We get great service; the parts department is really good and they resolve any issues quickly and efficiently.

"But where the Majors really shine is in their quality of cut and ability to cover the ground swiftly in line with our new extended cutting cycle. With last year's two machines having proved themselves to be more than equal to the demands placed on them, this spring we ordered another two. So with a total of four we'll be more than able to cover Swansea's entire grassland area with the Major's from this season on."