As part of Devon Council’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, South Hams District Council has purchased a range of Pellenc battery-powered grounds maintenance equipment. The new machines, supplied and supported by local dealer Radmore and Tucker are already showing significant savings in fuel expenditure and also considerable environmental advantages.

Selected following thorough examination by council supervisors and staff of the different options available to them, the Pellenc products chosen consist of a Excelion grass strimmer, Helion hedgecutter and Airion leaf blower – all powered by the 700P back-pack battery.

The Green Technology™ products, distributed in the UK exclusively by Etesia UK, will be used across the region and at the District Council’s head office at Follarton House to help maintain public parks and open spaces close to office buildings.

“We only have to pay for electricity to charge the battery, so the fuel costs are next to zero and the range is greater compared to petrol so even before we do our analysis at the end of the season we know that our fuel efficiency is much better. Equally important, of course, is the reduction in our carbon footprint,” said David Burkes, charge hand gardener for South Hams District Council.

Following the grounds care team’s visit to IOG SALTEX, they decided that it was the ‘product of the show’ and they organised a demonstration so that they could test the equipment in their own settings.

“The reasons that we opted for the Pellenc products are simple; we have a lot of offices staff in Follarton House as well as hosting weddings and other functions there. Any equipment we use needs to be quiet to operate as we don’t want to disrupt the office staff or intrude on any visitors – something we just couldn’t do with petrol-powered equipment.

For grounds maintenance tasks close to buildings, David particularly likes the four-speed selector on the Excelion grass strimmer: “I like the fact that you are able to work at variable speeds. If I am close to a building, I can use the low setting for low noise and then speed it up when I am further away for a quicker cut.”

In the last five years, Pellenc has gained market recognition by offering a unique range of ‘zero emission’ battery-powered handheld tools, thanks to the development of Lithium-ion ultra-high performance batteries. This exclusive Pellenc technology allows for a drastic reduction in the production of greenhouse gases and noise pollution. It is also comfortable for users, meets new sustainable development demands and offers excellent economic profitability.

“The Pellenc tools have been very reliable and the battery lasts for a whole day of working without a problem. I would recommend Pellenc and have done to others as I’ve been so impressed.”

National grounds management company Glendale has confirmed its commitment to quality by recently purchasing a range of 60 Etesia Pro 46 models, increasing their fleet to around 300 Etesia machines.

“The deal with Etesia underlines our commitment to use only the highest quality machinery. We chose the PRO 46 PBE push and PBTS self-propelled models after several successful demonstrations, mainly due to Etesia’s excellent reliability record over the last ten years,” said Glendale’s Commercial Director Stuart Darbyshire.

The contractor has used a lot of different pedestrian mowers in the past. Stuart says that the pedestrian rotary mower is a difficult item to specify correctly because they are heavily used so must be robust, but must also be at an affordable price point. “When we looked at reliability versus cost, the Etesia mowers came out on top. In the ten years that we have worked with Etesia, there have been a couple of occasions where we tried other manufacturers’ products which were cheaper but not as successful – they were simply not as reliable at the Etesia machines, so we went back to Etesia and haven’t looked back since.

“We normally depreciate the pedestrian mowers in our fleet over a two year period, and we are happy that the Etesia mowers will be able to carry out the contract work to the required standards, and cope well with the demands of our commercial grass cutting operations.”

Designed to meet the rigours of a wide variety of commercial grass cutting applications, Etesia’s Pro 46 pedestrian rotaries are specified by contractors who want to profit from grass cutting. The Single bladed Etesia PRO46 PBE push and PRO46 PBTS self-propelled models have a 5hp Briggs and Stratton engine. Cutting width is 46cm, the detachable grass box with ‘full’ indicator has a capacity of 52 litres, and overall weight is just 37kg. Designed around the operator, the handlebars are ergonomically shaped and mounted for ease-of-use. New ‘soft-touch’ controls reduce pressure on the hands and fingers during operation. Extensive testing of these latest models has shown low vibration levels that meet stringent Health and Safety guidelines. There are six models available in the range, with options including mulching facility.

“The good thing about these models is that they are extremely versatile and good at cutting & collecting. Whilst the majority of our work is cut and collect, some is cut and drop, so it’s useful that we only need one machine for both jobs. We now have around 250-300 Etesia pedestrian rotaries in our fleet so we see them as our pedestrian mower of choice and Etesia is a key supplier,” adds Stuart.

This year’s weather has seen rain alternating with spells of warm, dry sunshine – the ideal conditions for encouraging grass, weeds, saplings and other unwanted plants to grow strong and lush. Holywell-Cum-Needingworth Parish Council in Cambridgeshire has chosen Etesia’s Attila 98X four-wheel-drive ride-on brushcutter to clear this sort of overgrown vegetation.

The Parish Council have responsibility for over 13 miles of designated walkways and common land, banks, slopes and uneven ground to keep open and in good order all year around which is no mean feat.

As Jane Bowd, Parish Clerk at Holywell-Cum-Needingworth Parish Council points out, “Much of the route is grass, scrub and rough turf. The terrain is often uneven or waterlogged as some of the houses in the parish are built on a bank which is not easy to reach, but still require maintaining. It’s public money that we spend so we have to look at other products, but we’re very happy to stay with Etesia because we know that are excellent at what they do – nothing can compare to these machines.”

With a cutting width of 98cm and up to eight cutting heights which can be adjusted by centralised lever, the Etesia Attila 98X ride-on brushcutter is reliable, efficient, comfortable and safe to use. Special attention has been paid to sound and vibration levels to reduce them to a very low level. A low centre of gravity, four-wheel-drive and a powerful 23HP Briggs & Stratton engine plus heavy-tread tyres and differential lock provide greater stability on slopes up to 30°.

“We call it the Daddy – it even pulls logs out of the way and does everything a ‘normal’ mower can do and so much more,” explains Ian Armstrong, Head Groundsman for the Parish Council. “It goes through waist high material with ease – nothing seems to stop it.

“When we do our hedge cutting around the outside perimeter of the sports pitches, we leave the branches on the ground and just run over them. Then, when we cut the grass the Etesia mulches it all up. It’s so fast and is certainly the best mower for what it does on the market – no question.”

“As with any grounds maintenance tasks, we don’t get a lot of feedback from residents when the areas are looking good, but when it looks bad – we certainly do,” added Jane. “The past year, with the poor weather, we had some complaints at the beginning of the year with the length of the grass as our other mowers couldn’t get onto the grass to cut it. We have a policy here to mulch, rather than cut and collect, so we just took the Etesia AV98X out to cut all the areas that the other mowers couldn’t.

“You can’t expect our groundsmen to do the job if they haven’t got the right tools – with Etesia they know that they can’t use that as an excuse.”

Nottingham City Council has taken delivery of eight new Etesia PRO46 pedestrian mowers to maintain the large parks located throughout the area, which brings the fleet size to over 40 mixed Etesia machines in all.

Selected following a thorough demonstration process by council supervisors and staff, the Etesia commercial walk-behind mowers were chosen to maintain a wide range of facilities including parks, gardens, traffic islands and other open green spaces.

Nottingham City has a historic network of open and green spaces with over 20% of the City’s total land area made up of accessible, open and green spaces. These spaces are designed for recreation and enjoyment as well as improving the quality and beauty of the local environment. The majority of these spaces are public parks, natural spaces, allotments, cemeteries and sports grounds. Nottingham City Council manages, cares for and develops these spaces and has achieved 15 Green Flag awards and 11 Community Green Flag awards for 2011/12, the highest number in the East Midlands.

“Nottingham City Council looks after 136 parks and gardens across the city which range from large tourist attractions such as the impressive Arboretum through to the smaller neighbourhood parks,” explains Gary Watts, Horticulture Supervisor at Nottingham City Council Parks Department. “Our aim is to offer a wide range of quality attractions that entice visitors to the City and that are accessible, attractive and useful to residents. Etesia help us to achieve these high standards.”

Designed to meet the rigours of a wide variety of commercial grass cutting applications, Etesia’s Pro 46 pedestrian rotaries are specified by contractors, local authorities and landscapers. The special shape of the mowing deck produces a powerful suction and blowing effect to ensure a quality cut with maximum collection. As an option, a mulching kit and mulching blade convert the pro 46 mowers into formidable mulchers. The Pro 46 rotaries are lightweight and compact, making them ideal for mobile grass cutting units. The handlebars fold, without the use of tools, for easy transportation or storage.

“The Etesia mowers have a very low vibration level. Like many councils, we use a point scoring system. Every minute you work, works out to 1 point per minute as it’s the easiest way to work. Etesia are very low – 1 point per minute where as some other equipment we’ve used has been a lot higher which means than that our groundscare team can’t use the equipment for as long.

“The option to cut and collect grass was another big factor in our purchase. We have a lot of traffic islands where we have to cut and collect and the Etesia leaves the best possible finish.

The Council generally replace their fleet of mowers every 2-3 years. For the past six years they have chosen Etesia and have been very happy with their purchase. “When we first decided to buy Etesia, their mowers come out on top on both the operators’ and mechanics’ evaluations, for comfort and ease of use, robustness, manoeuvrability, easy maintenance and the fact that they have easy-to-fold handle bars and are easy to transport between sites on the back of our ATV’s. Operators like the mowers because they produce a very good cut and it’s also an advantage to standardise on one manufacturer of mower as it helps with regular servicing, maintenance and spare parts.

“The Etesia’s are extremely reliable. We use them every day and nothing ever goes wrong with them. I would recommend Etesia as they are excellent in what they do.”

For further information, or to arrange a free demonstration, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Etesia on Twitter @EtesiaUK and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/EtesiaUK.

To celebrate its 40th Birthday, Pellenc is offering to extend the warranty for an additional year on the Helion hedge trimmer and battery purchased at the same time.

With over 10 years of experience in lithium-ion batteries, the company is seeking to strengthen their position and expertise in battery technology. Pellenc is the pioneer in environmentally-friendly battery-power tools for the landscaping, local authority and groundcare market.

This extended warranty applies to Pellenc batteries as long as the battery is purchased simultaneously with the trimmer (Pellenc Battery: ULB 400, ULB 70P, ULB 1100 and POLY5) through the UK distributor Etesia UK.

Pellenc has replaced the ‘old’ combustion engines with a brand new electrical technology. The Pellenc technology associates an electric motor and a revolutionary battery. The patented electric motors, with an unrivalled power-to-weight ratio, develop an extraordinary power output with unequalled durability.

Light, odourless, noise-free, with no starting problems and no filling the fuel tank, your old petrol chainsaw, hedge trimmer or brush cutter will seem to belong to the past. Pellenc has overtaken most of the manufacturers of tools for maintenance of parks and gardens through its Research and Development department, which is particularly efficient. This team includes more than 100 researchers and is working steadily to provide you with tomorrow’s solutions today.

The extended warranty runs until 31st July 2013.