Aston University Recreation Centre in Great Barr, Birmingham, used to use a contractor for any scarification work - until Head Groundsman, Malcolm Edwards, did his sums.

He found that by making a capital investment in a machine he could save money in the long run; and he chose a Trilo C15 to prove it. Now they have one machine to mow, scarify and collect all in one pass as they wish.

L-R: Jon Proffitt of Trilo with Head Groundsman, Malcolm Edwards

Malcolm has been at the university for 39 years and is supported by only one other groundsman to maintain the 50-acre campus.

“We’ve used a contractor for the ground works for the previous years but after a trip to Saltex we found we could buy a unit for the amount we’d spent on external labour. This was a major reason for the purchase, but more than that the build quality, working speed and versatility of the Trilo C15 was far superior to anything else we looked at.”

“Jon Proffitt of Trilo brought the machine in and left it with us for a few days to try out, which we did alongside some other models. The C15 was the easiest to use, especially adjusting the depth of scarification which is a piece of cake. The size of it also suited our tractor and the requirements of our site making transport and manoeuvring around the site simple.

"We’ve had it out over the autumn scarifying the cricket squares, outfields and our other playing surfaces including football and rugby pitches. With the work it’s done already, compared to the what we would have had to pay, the C15 has almost already paid for itself! The versatility of what it can do is fantastic, but with the added bonus that we can get the work done whenever we want to and not just when the contractor can fit us in.”