The versatile Major Swift Roller Mower helps Cardiff stay ahead as a Green City
Cardiff has more green spaces per person than any other UK city, making it one of the most liveable European cities. The Welsh capital already boasts the largest number of Green Flag Awards in the country, the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world, with 201 flags flying around the region.
These are high standards to maintain for Cardiff Council Parks Services Area Manager Will Power. “We have sixteen hundred acres of grass which we’ve got to maintain along with other open spaces and parkland, floral decks, trees – you name it, it all comes under us,” Will began. “The sort of things we’re looking for within a mower these days is versatility. We’ve got to keep costs down so obviously we look for a mower that’s going to fix all.”
Witnessing the Major Swift Roller mower handle a variety of conditions convinced him to look no further. “I’m a Green Flag Judge and I was judging a park in a neighbouring Authority. There was a Swift roller mower working on the site. I had seen what it can do in the long grass and I saw what it could do on just a normal sports field. But now I could see it on a fine turf events area and I was bowled over by the actual finish that the mower gave. As soon as I saw that I thought, we’ve got to have that mower!”
The gear-driven roller mower excels past belted mowers, allowing users to maintain a fine finish on long and short grass while reducing overall costs. “I used to drive mowers which had belts and I was forever changing the belts. The Major Swift has a direct drive with gearboxes on each blade which copes with the short grass and keeps the fine turf going. But it also has the capability of going into a lot longer grass as well. We are able to do that with one mower instead of buying a whole fleet of them, reducing our purchasing costs.”
Managers of parks and leisure services are challenged to keep running costs low while maintaining public spaces so visitors can enjoy them throughout the year. The MJ71-540T Swift wide area mower is an obvious choice. “Major mowers have been excellent cost wise because of the simplicity and the ease to actually work on them. The running costs have been reduced as well. The flail mowers we used to use – you can literally see the needle on the fuel gauge dropping by the second. With the Swift, these can go all day without having to touch the fuel tank; even a couple of days without having to put any fuel in the tank of the tractor.”
The sturdy build of the Swift is a distinct advantage of this trailed roller mower, which is produced using Strenx™ 700 MC high-strength steel and polished with a galvanised body. “These are very, very strong mowers. The gauge of steel is second to none,” Will affirmed.
Most of all, the Major approach to customer service and the high level of attention throughout the years has been reassuring for this busy manager. “Our supplier Ted Hopkins and the rep, Wyn Davies, who talks to us take great pride in trying to supply us something which is fit for purpose: Wyn wants us to really try these machines out, to put them through their test, so we have the right product. I have not known a dealer, or a company like Major, to help us, to look after us, and treat us like the way they do. We started off with a 12000 Major mower and now have four Major mowers.”
“People who would benefit from Major mowers are other local Authorities, but I would also recommend them to contractors as well. Cheap to run, cheap to maintain, but have that build and quality that will give you the finish that you require. It’s one mower for all.”