As one of the most beautiful and elegant of Britain’s great cities, Bath quite naturally takes the care of its parks, gardens and open spaces very seriously. In the front line of that substantial effort is a Trimax Pegasus from Lister Wilder, chosen for the quality of its cut and all-round versatility.
With hundreds of acres of parks and open spaces, Bath is very much a city that ‘breathes’. But it is also proud of its UNESCO World Heritage status, which was awarded in recognition of its contribution to the understanding of the Roman and Georgian era. Put that together, and Bath unsurprisingly attracts around six million tourists each year who, like the locals, expect it to look a bit special.
Amongst the city’s biggest attractions is the glorious 57-acre Royal Victoria Park where, just a short stroll from the city centre, you can enjoy a picnic, visit botanical gardens, play tennis or mini golf, watch bands play and even ride a zip wire.
Close by stands one of Britain’s most recognised architectural landmarks, the Royal Crescent, which is viewed across a perfect grass area. It too is kept up to scratch by the Bath and North East Somerset Council Parks and Green Spaces team using the Pegasus, which has over the past 20 years become the leader in wide area mowing
As the team’s Senior Supervisor, Colin Hall made a careful assessment of the options before settling for his third Pegasus. “We have tried using a five deck cylinder mower but in one of our larger areas it would take two days for one sports area,” he says. “The Pegasus gives us a high work rate, a good cut and it follows the contours which, in a hilly city like Bath, is very important.”
Amongst other outstanding Pegasus features is the fact that no daily maintenance is required following a 50% reduction in grease points. The roller bearing system in particular benefits from requiring no regular greasing. There is simplicity too in the fact that auto belt tensioning improves the drive to the spindles without requiring manual adjustments.
Meanwhile, the outrigger arms and side channel have been re-designed for increased impact protection, and the wheels are larger to better distribute the weight and reduce ground pressure. Full-width front and rear rollers follow the contours and provide excellent anti-scalp protection.
Colin particularly values the extra functionality that has had been added to the Trimax through an electronic Multi-Lift which gives the operator the flexibility to manoeuvre in tight spaces or around obstacles. While this facility allows either side deck to be lifted independently, there is also a QuikLIFT option that allows all decks to be lifted slightly off the ground for traversing paths, driveways and kerbs. Meanwhile, Transport Mode completely raises all three decks for road transport.
“Moving around the city in traffic is important,” says Colin. “I always reckon that using it to mow is only half the job. Using it to move from site to site is the other half and its very important to us. “You get an experienced person on a Trimax and you can get a hell of a lot of work done. I wouldn’t be without it.”