Dennis is red hot at Llanelli Scarlets

When Dean Gilasbey returned to Lllanelli Scarlets after a spell working for a leading sportsturf contractor he had one very important request. To prepare and maintain the new playing surface with Dennis mowers.

“I came back to the Scarlets in the summer (of 2008) to look after their brand new stadium, and I just had to have Dennis mowers to help me care for the turf,” he explains.

Llanelli Scarlets’ new stadium Parc Y Scarlet replaced Stradey Park, the home of Llanelli rugby for almost 130 years, in November (2008).

 Previously the club had used ride on mowers, which Dean explains were too heavy and were causing too much compaction.

Dean ordered two 86cm-cut Dennis G860s for Parc Y Scarlet’s main pitch and training pitch, delivered in time for Dean to prepare the playing surface for the opening game at the new stadium.

“I am delighted with them,” he says. “I personally think they are the best cylinder mower on the market. I had a another company come and demo their mowers here and they were not a patch on Dennis.”

“They are light weight machines giving less compaction, and also have low vibration handlebars, which is great from a health and safety view point, keeping the grounds team well away from any possible injury.”

Dean praises the G860s for the ‘superb’ cut they give and the level of presentation offered. “We are a brand new stadium and a lot of the games here are televised. I have set high standards and I must fulfil them.”

He comments that he found the mowers to be an excellent investment.

The Honda engine is so reliable, I have never experienced anything to go wrong with one in all the time I’ve been using them, so I have great faith in them,” he explains..

Dean also singles out the attachment system, which offers a choice of eleven quick change cutting and maintenance cassettes, as a particularly useful feature: “As well as eight blade cutting cassettes, I also have the tungsten tipped Vertcutter cassettes which are excellent. I use them for end of season renovations to remove thatch and encourage a stronger sward. As you can imagine the ground gets a lot of wear so we like to keep well maintained, strong, healthy turf. The versatility of the Dennis mower makes my job so much easier,” he says.