TRACTORS
Merchant Taylors ’ chooses
ISEKI
Richard Ayling , Grounds Manager at Merchant Taylors ’ School in Middlesex , has praised his new fleet of ISEKI tractors for helping the grounds team maintain 300 acres of estate .
Merchant Taylors ’ is an
M independent day school for boys , aged 11 to 18 . Since its foundation , in 1561 , the school has been widely-regarded as one of the best schools in England , providing an all-round education of the highest quality . One of England ’ s “ great nine schools ” its reputation today remains that of a “ top ” boys ’ school .
From the classroom to the sporting facilities – no stone is left unturned .
“ We try and give the boys the best experience they can in whatever sport they want to enjoy ,” said Richard . “ We have over 80 acres of sport areas , and that sits in nearly 300 acres of estate including the preparatory school grounds . This is why we need to invest in the best machinery .”
Richard , who has been at Merchant Taylors ’ for 26 years and oversees a team of 10 members of staff , explained that up until recently he was tied into a 5-year contract hire for the school ’ s larger equipment . That contract was coming to an end , and he began to research the market .
“ My plan was to raise the standard of the equipment and when searching for tractors I was led to ISEKI ,” he said . “ I was very impressed with the demo we had from RT Machinery , and the IQ transmission was one of the main reasons we purchased them .”
Richard purchased two ISEKI TG6507 ’ s and a TG6687 which both benefit from the innovative dual-clutch IQ gearbox . It combines the ultimate comfortable automatic operation with the advantages of manual gear changes . Specific to the IQ range of TG tractors the Headland management controls are also perfect when working with turf maintenance implements . The PTO Stop / Start function allows you to stop the PTO when the link arms are raised for ease of operation . PTO Stop in reverse lifts the arms to a pre-set height if reverse gear is selected to prevent any damage to implements . These are fully adjustable .
Richard also purchased the
ISEKI TH5370 , which is ideal for areas where lightweight machinery is required , and he mainly uses this on the school ’ s synthetic sports pitches .
“ We ’ ve really put all four IS- EKI tractors to the test since
68 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | January / February 2023