Dennis FT510 turns it around at Maldon

The Dennis FT510 cylinder mower has been integral to Maldon Bowling Club’s team of determined volunteers and has helped to improve the green according to Greenkeeper Mark Piper.

Maldon Bowling Club is a friendly and progressive club situated in the Blackwater town of Maldon in Essex. It has a wide playing membership of approximately 90, with bowling abilities ranging from novice to international standard.

The Club is pleased to boast former English and Essex County Champion Andrew Squire as a member. Does a player of Andrew’s calibre put pressure on Mark and his team of volunteers?

“Not really,” he said. “I put more pressure on myself because I have my own standards and if I know the greens not up to scratch then we work hard to improve it.”

The green has indeed seen significant improvements after the Club decided to take over the maintenance themselves.

“It was the best decision we made,” said Mark. “It made sense financially and because we can dedicate more time to it, the green has improved no end.”

Mark assembled the team of volunteers and it was soon time to look for suitable equipment to maintain the green. After a lot of research into various machines, he decided that the Dennis FT510 cylinder mower was the best option.

The Dennis FT510 has become the ‘must have’ piece of turf maintenance machinery at bowling clubs around the country and it’s easy to see why. With a 51cm working width, the FT510 provides its user with comfort, flexibility and excellent performance. A true sense of control is obtained through the unique roller clutch drive for a smooth take-up and a variable clip rate helping to create the desired finish.

Available with five-bladed and ten-bladed cutting cylinders the machine can be matched to any situation and the interchangeable cassettes can be changed without the requirement of any tools. The range of 12 different cassettes mean that one machine can be used for several key maintenance tasks including scarifying, verticutting or brushing.

After initially being sceptical about whether Maldon Bowling Club could afford the Dennis FT510, he was delighted when Dennis and SISIS pointed him in the direction of some funding opportunities.

“I hadn’t even thought about whether funding was possible,” said Mark. “However, after speaking to Dennis and SISIS, funding was a very realistic option. All the staff at Dennis and SISIS were instrumental in helping us with the funding package and we were delighted when we received the funding from SUEZ Communities Trust.”

It wasn’t long before Mark was the proud new owner of the Dennis FT510, and he is of the opinion that it has significantly improved the green at Maldon Bowling Club.

“Robert Jack (Dennis and SISIS Area Sales Manager) brought the FT510 to us at Maldon and he gave us a very good demonstration,” said Mark. “He stayed with us most of the day and went through all the information thoroughly. By the time he left, we were all greatly confident that we could use the machine.”

“I mainly chose the FT510 because of its ease of use,” he continued. “What I really like, is that with just one power unit I can do all the different jobs throughout the year with the cassettes. We bought what we thought were the most essential cassettes – the 10 bladed cylinder, the scarifier, the verticutter and the sorrel roller. I believe that it certainly saves us a lot of money because otherwise we would have had to purchase all the equipment for these tasks separately.

“Ultimately, the FT510 has gone down very well – it is so comfortable to use and everybody is very happy with it. In the short amount of time we have had it, it has already made a difference to the green.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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