Ashcombe Park Cricket Club based in Cheddleton, Staffordshire have recently upgraded their mowing equipment by purchasing an Allett C34 with a trailing seat. The club has been at the heart of the Cheddleton community for over 150 years offering a beautiful picturesque environment for local people to play their cricket in and socialise with like minded people young and old.
The club play in Division 1 of the North Staffs and South Cheshire League with their ground overlooking the beautiful hills of the Staffordshire Moorlands well worth a visit on a summers day.
Groundsman Dave Ferns has been in the role for 5 years and will be happy to have the luxury of sitting down whilst mowing with the option of the trailing seat saving his legs. A cricket ground can be up to 4 acres in size and Dave states it currently takes him 3 hours to mow the outfield, it will now take him at least half of that- more time left for other tasks! The trailing seat is designed to fit to the mower with a ball hitch and is fitted with a rear roller to enhance the stripes leaving no wheel marks. The seat can be adjusted depending on the leg length of the operator so if Dave is away on holiday (rare he said!) another club member can use the mower with no issues.
The club chose the C34 after having a demonstration from Allett Product Specialist Steve Copnall. The C34 is Allett's 34'' petrol powered interchangeable cartridge system popular in Premier League football clubs enabling tasks ranging from fine turf mowing, verti-cutting and slitting to brushing, scarifying and sorrel rolling. The club have opted for the Turf Rake cartridge to help keep on top of thatch levels in their square and outfield as well as moss which groundsman Dave Ferns told us they suffer massively with with the club being on top of a hill exposed to the weather conditions. The cartridge can be set as aggressively as you wish and will be great at getting rid of the moss without causing damage to the surface.
The Verticut cartridge has also been chosen by the club in order to lift the lateral growth off the square, something which can affect ball roll. The Verticut also helps thicken the growth of the sward by cutting stolons and rhizomes so the club should start to see a better covering of grass on the square. Dave has plans to purchase future cartridges with the brush being mentioned to help him keep on top of worm casts.
We look forward to visiting the club during the cricket season to see how the ground has improved with the use of the cartridge system.
