A ‘One-Stop-Shop’ package of commercial turf equipment and agricultural tractors supplied by two John Deere dealers in Hampshire was chosen by grounds maintenance contractors John O’Conner for their first ever ‘overseas’ contract – on the Isle of Wight! The first machines for this six-year contract with the Isle ofWight Council were delivered in March 2011, in time for the formal start of the grass cutting season. They included lawn tractors, out-front mowers and a compact tractor supplied by the groundscare division of New Forest Farm Machinery of Ringwood, and two bigger utility tractors from R Hunt.

John O’Conner’s contracts manager Stan Hayden oversees the firm’s programme of amenity grass cutting and grounds maintenance for highways, parks and gardens and cemeteries across the island.

“With being so far south the grass never really stops growing here, so weather permitting, if we can get on the ground and it’s dry enough, we actually cut 12 months of the year,” says Stan. “The contract calls for 16 cuts a year on the highways, 20 a year in the parks and gardens, and around the same for the cemeteries.”

For mowing the highways, parks and gardens, the team use a fleet of seven John Deere 1445 front mowers, which are fitted either with the company’s 62in rear-discharge rotary decks or with Trimax flails. The smaller, more manoeuvrable lawn tractors, a 24hp X748 four-wheel drive diesel model and an X749 with a collection system and four-wheel steering, are used in the cemeteries.

Moving up the grass cutting scale, a specially adapted John Deere 5090R 90hp tractor fitted with hydraulic wrap-around gang mowers is used on larger areas. This design was first used on a John O’Conner schools contract in Leicestershire in 2010, and offers increased productivity with lower fuel costs, as well as a superior finish.

A 135hp 6630 tractor is used with a Twose flail for cutting all the highway verges on the island three times a year, as well as for hedgecutting. The smaller 4720 compact tractor is used for general trailer work, and with a Sisis Quadraplay single pass maintenance system for spiking, grooming and brushing sports turf surfaces after play.

“We’ve been very happy with the John Deere machines and the parts and service back-up we get from the dealers at both Hunts and Ne