The right machine for the job
In the course of a typical week, the maintenance crews at CPS Grounds cut grass on a massive scale, many hundreds of acres of it across a wide swathe of South Gloucestershire, Bristol and North Somerset. Having the right machinery to do the job to a high standard at reasonable speed is absolutely crucial – and for owner Chris Richardson that necessitates a fleet of Trimax Pegasus mowers.
CPS has built a substantial regional business around looking after school playing fields, sports grounds for local clubs and a range of other sites such as hotels that have wide areas of grass. At one stage, the company’s sports fields remit included maintenance of the Memorial Stadium for Bristol Rovers. While the package of ground care services offered by the business also extends to sports pitch design, construction and renovation, grass cutting is the bread and butter for a highly mobile team of around 40.
Chris reverted to Trimax after briefly diverting to another brand. “Three years ago we tried another mower and within six months regretted it,” he says. “The Trimax mowers had been faultless until they got old and developed a couple of isolated electronics problems. They have modified their electronics now and the machines are great, so I called Ian Davies (Area Sales Manager) at Lister Wilder and asked him to source us three new Trimax Pegasus mowers. We bought one set during lockdown last year and two more in the early part of 2021.”
After 15 years as market leader, the Trimax Pegasus S4 has established itself as the benchmark in trailed mowing for wide open grass spaces. Available in 4.9m and 6.1m widths, it’s a machine that has evolved substantially over recent years with, 15% fewer grease points opening the way to an incredible 35% potential reduction in maintenance costs. Latest innovations include an electronic Trimax Drive Protect System which uses built-in sensors to prevent the mowing decks from lifting in unsafe conditions, or until the blades have stopped spinning.
“Beyond all else, they are reliable and they achieve a finer finish, than the competition,” says Chris. “I particularly like the cleanliness and simplicity of the design because that means maintenance is easy and annual costs are low. It makes them much more cost-effective than gang mowers.”
He adds: “They are also efficient, with a nice wide cut that means you cover a lot of ground more quickly than you can with a cylinder mower. Given the portability, you can travel with them between sites much more quickly, and that’s important when you consider that man hours make up a big proportion of our overall costs. They deal well with ground contours and cope much better with the little obstacles typically left on sports pitches that can cause problems with gang mowers.
“Its simple really – we use Trimax because they are the best for what we do. I want quality and reliability but also the credibility of being seen to be using the best machinery. That’s a key value for us.”