Launched with the promise of delivering a quieter, more cost effective and environmentally friendly greens mower, John Deere’s hybrid electric 2500E has amply fulfilled its potential at Trefloyne Golf Club near Tenby in Pembrokeshire. In what are extremely challenging conditions, characterised by hard, driving rain for much of the year, the 2500E triplex greens mower has achieved highly dependable levels of consistency and reliability.
“Efficiency and consistency are paramount when machinery budgets are tight,” says Gareth Knight, golf course estates manager at Trefloyne’s 18-hole parkland course. “The quality of cut with the John Deere 2500E is as good, if not better, than anything on the market right now. Perhaps the biggest impact of the 2500E has been the reduction in oil leaks. They can be devastating to greens, but because there are no hydraulics in the cutting unit drive circuit, I’ve experienced no leaks whatsoever.”
The mower was supplied by John Deere dealer PowerCut of Carmarthen, but Gareth says he has had little need to call on their services. “It was well documented that the 2500E had a few teething problems in its early days,” says Gareth, who was a member of the Celtic Manor Resort greens team for the 2010 Ryder Cup, and is active in BIGGA’s South Wales region. “However, my first month of running the mower was the only time we had to call the dealer out. That minor issue was rectified straight away, and since then the machine’s been bulletproof.”
Working in often severe climatic conditions, with wind, rain and snow commonplace, every cut counts for Gareth and he stresses that the importance of machine reliability cannot be overstated. The performance of the motor and hydraulics has also been consistently excellent, he adds. “I’m extremely particular about machine maintenance and keep a spare motor in the shed, but I’ve not needed to use it.
“For a modestly-sized greenkeeping team like ours, with just three full-time staff, it’s also critical for mowers to deliver a consistent quality of cut. Heavy rain is a fact of life here and we cannot risk missing an opportunity to cut the greens because we have to keep tweaking and making adjustments. That just doesn’t happen with the 2500E – there’s no doubt it’s a quality machine.”
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