Nottingham & District Gun Club has turned its attention to robotic mowing, with the help of local dealer B&B Tractors, with Husqvarna Automower now maintaining the club’s grounds. 

Carl Smith, owner of Nottingham & District Gun Club

Directing their attention to automated mowing in 2019, the Club chose Automower 550 to maintain four of its shooting layouts, covering up to an acre of land. With a restricted amount of time to mow, fears of theft, and the limitations of shared equipment, the Club turned to B&B Tractorsto help assist with their challenges. 

Carl Smith, owner at Nottingham & District Gun Club, said, “For many years we’ve worked with the team at B&B Tractors as their service has always been fantastic. When we discussed the idea of turning to robotic mowing, it quickly became evident that it would be the smart thing to do, and Husqvarna Automower stood out as the obvious choice. 

“The Club has always had the challenge of maintaining the grounds when clients are there, which means limited hours in which to do so. Time is the most precious thing that the ground staff has, but with limited hours to work in, it’s never something we’ve had surplus of. 

“Trying to keep the layout tidy has always been a challenge we’ve faced, with dandelions and daisies becoming a particular issue in the past. As quick as we’d be at removing them, the quicker they’d be at growing."

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Carl continued, “Shortly after our Automower was installed, it wasn’t long until we were seeing the fruits of its labour. Being able to mow day or night, in rain or shine, our layouts looked better than ever. The dandelions and daisies were also no longer an issue."

One of the biggest issues the Gun Club faced was the breakage of garden machinery while being swapped between the grounds team, and the threat of theft while being stored overnight. Carl explained, “Storing expensive equipment has always been a worry in case of break-in’s, and when tools are being swapped between many different team members, breakages are inevitable, and so it became a conscious decision to stop buying expensive equipment. 

“Using lower-quality equipment was okay in the short-term, but eventually we decided it was time to invest in Automower, thanks to its abilities to avoid these issues.

“I have to admit, I was initially sceptical whether the Automower would be able to deliver all that it promised, but it has certainly proved its worth."

Carl says in the future they hope to expand their robotic fleet.