The Loughborough University Stadium is the jewel in the crown of the dedicated ‘football hub’ at the site’s Holywell Sports Complex. In June 2019, Team Leader of the complex Kris Nurse took delivery of two INFINICUT® 34” FX mowers, together with a set of TurfClean™ cassettes, which have been working hand–in–hand to keep the stadium’s brand-new SIS hybrid pitch in first-rate condition.  

With such a wealth and breadth of sporting facilities at the University, the grounds department is split into teams – with the cricket division being the first to experience the INFINICUT®. “They’ve used a fleet of 22” and 26” INFINICUT® mowers for a number of years and have always sung their praises” explains Kris, who has a team of three working with him in the football hub. “We obviously had an opportunity to use them too and were impressed with how lightweight they are and how simple the mower is to set-up and use, so I spoke to Oliver Hall at MTD about the 34” fixed head version.” 

“Together with the quality of cut and finish they deliver, the University were also keen on the fact that they’re battery powered. Because of the amount of large machinery we operate on a daily basis, we have a real issue with Hand-Arm Vibration (HAV) so taking delivery of our duo of INFINICUT® mowers has been a fantastic step forward in improving that.” Since the new hybrid pitch was installed in September 2019, it has hosted over 60 games for student teams, together with a number of external matches including Derby County Under 23’s. To keep the pitch playing at the standard required, the mowers are in use four or five times a week.  

Helping with the post-match clean-up, Kris also purchased a set of TurfClean™ cassettes from the renowned TMSystem™. “These have been a god send. We use these after play to rid the surface of any debris and stand the grass plant back up. It then takes less than 10 minutes to swap those out and put the cutting reels in, and we’re straight back out to cut. This has eliminated the wheel lines we used to get by using a rotary mower and gives us a quality of finish that is fitting to the arena and the fantastic level of play that we are lucky enough to host.”