Burnley FC head groundsman, Paul Bradshaw, has recently purchased two Dennis G860 professional mowers complete with a range of interchangeable cassettes from his local dealer GGM Groundscare for use on the Turf Moor pitch.
Paul is no stranger to this machine. Prior to his role at Burnley, Paul plied his trade at Liverpool FC. It was there where he had his first encounter with the G860.
Two Dennis G860s chosen by Burnley FC
“I’ve used the Dennis G860 ever since I’ve been in football. At Liverpool they used Dennis machinery so during my time there I became really familiar with them. Then, when I started at Burnley we had a very old one with a six blade cutting cassette. I was already used to how they work, how to set them up – they are really lightweight and easy to handle.
“When we got promoted this season we decided to buy two new G860’s only this time we opted for the eight blade cutting cassette,” said Paul.
Burnley’s recent promotion is their second taste of premiership football. Five years ago, following relegation, a new Desso pitch was installed and Paul believes that the previous surface caused so many problems that it played a part in the club’s poor string of results.
Paul is keen to eliminate any such problems this season and on each match day, Paul and his team arrive at the stadium to cut it both ways to a cutting height of 25mm. It is then marked out and prepared by 11:30. It will be kept at this height until the leaf starts to ‘thin out’ and the height will be lifted slightly but timed well so that the players won’t notice any difference. The verti-cutter cassette is also used to clean up after games during March to November whilst the brush is used only occasionally during the winter.
“The best feature on the mower is its interchangeable cassettes - it just makes everything so easy. We wanted a mower that wasn’t just a mower and it’s great to have a machine that’s so versatile,” said Paul.
