Greenkeeping fleet overhaul at Potters Point

potters point staff on john deere equipment

Potters Point Golfclub and staff showing off their new green equipment. Photo courtesy of Potters Point

With no new equipment since 2008, Potters Point chose a complete greenkeeping fleet overhaul instead of individual replacements and periodic repairs.

Sports & Parks

5 April 2017

Potters Point holiday resort in County Wicklow, Ireland, recently decided to replace its entire greenkeeping fleet with new John Deere equipment. This exclusive luxury mobile home park was established in 1957 and is situated in rolling parkland on a stunning headland overlooking Brittas Bay.

“We bought our first John Deere machines in 1997. We had nothing new since 2008, so the fleet was getting old. This time, rather than replace the machines individually and pay for ongoing repairs, we decided to change all the equipment at the same time. The benefits were a better trade-in price and all the new machines being up-to-date and equipped with the latest technology.” said manager Irene Lacey.

The new fleet includes three PrecisionCut cylinder mowers – an 8700A for the fairways, a 2653B for tees and surrounds and a 2500B for the greens – a JX90 walk-behind rotary mower, a 1200A bunker rake, two 3038R compact tractors equipped with mid-mounted rotary mower decks plus one front loader, and three 6×4 diesel Gator utility vehicles.

“We opted to replace two quad bikes with an extra utility vehicle, as the Gator is far more versatile,” says Irene. “In addition to the cargo bed, it can pull a trailer and carry two staff. The Gators are used as general purpose materials and staff transporters, and for jobs such as emptying the bins on the course. They’re four-wheel drive and fitted with heavy-duty all-purpose tyres, as it can be wet at times. The 3038R compacts are also used to mow the grass areas in the mobile home park.” she added.

“I have been on a number of John Deere courses, so I know the equipment better than other makes,” says head greenkeeper Eamonn Delaney. As the equipment is serviced regularly, we’ve very little downtime and it means the staff are not having to sort out machines when we could be doing something else around the resort.” he added.

“As far as the latest technology is concerned, compared to our older fleet, the quick-release system on the compact tractors’ mid-mounted deck is a fantastic piece of engineering.”

“Setting up features such as the single-point height of cut adjustment on the mowers are a massive improvement too – they’re much easier and save a huge amount of time. Engine noise has also been reduced considerably on all the machines and there are a lot more safety devices – the health and safety aspect has improved greatly.” said Eamonn.