ALLETT WORK WITH MAN UTD
Developing new Buffalo mowers
The new Buffalos at Old Trafford
Grounds Manager at Manchester United FC, Tony Sinclair, and his team have been working closely with Allett Mowers in the development of the latest generation of Buffalo cylinder mowers.
The process began when Allett left several machines with the groundsmen to trial and list their suggestions on improvements they thought could be made, enabling them to have direct input in the evolution of the mowers.
The results seen in the Buffalo 34/5 include mounting the engine centrally on the chassis, giving the user a better view of the cutting area, a larger diameter front roller for straighter lines and less ground pressure and, what Tony sees as a huge advantage, the 200mm diameter 8 blade cutting cylinder designed to cut long and wet grass.
Using the mowers over an extended period also led to the introduction of one handed fitting and removal of the grass box, facilitated by adding a handle and grass box hoop in place of arms. A feature extended across the Allett range.
"We were so pleased with the developments on this latest mower," said Tony. "It's more lightweight and produces a fine finish while being easier to operate. In fact, it is so good we bought a package of nine new machines."
Four Buffalo 34/5 mowers cover 90% of the cutting done at Old Trafford while two manage the pitch at The Cliff. Over at the Aon Training Complex, Manchester United's training ground and Academy base, three Allett C34's with Verticut cartridges and trailing seats are employed to maintain the sixteen pitches.
"We were very pleased to be involved in the developments for the Buffalo," Tony adds, "and whilst we do of course have our granular and foliar programmes, the Old Trafford pitch is doing well. There is no doubt in my mind the Buffalos contribute to that."
The Allett mowers were supplied to Manchester United by Peter McGreavy, Sales Director at Cheshire Turf Machinery, who will also provide full servicing facilities.
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