ATOS 340 - Alan Crichton, Kington Golf Club, Spring 2019
“The ATOS has been fantastic” ATOS 340 Supplied by REES AGRI in 2016, the ATOS is also fitted with an FL80 loader and replaced a ’52 plate Renault Ceres that, says Alan, had done some serious work. “The Renault served us well but had a lot of hours on it and was not really big enough for the blower. Before we bought, we looked at all options. Not only did we like the ATOS but James Rees was very approachable and came up with a good package to support it, which is important. “The ATOS has been fantastic and the support from REES AGRI is excellent. The tractor can be out working for anything up to eight hours a day and for the 20 weeks or so that we need to blow the course, it will be doing over 50 hours a week.
OPERATOR COMFORT “It’s really comfortable to operate and it’s great having air conditioning – the ATOS was certainly in demand last summer to help keep cool. The high temperatures meant we were out blowing from about 3.30 am through until 9.00 am, after that it was getting too hot and there was a danger of scorching and damaging the grass.
FRONT LOADER The FL80 loader has a lift capacity of 1890kg and uses the FITLOCK latching and MACH hydraulic coupling system. “To reduce weight and damage to the course we only have the loader on for handling work, so we take it on and off all the time, but it couldn’t be simpler. Having the loader, for which we have a set of pallet forks and a one tonne capacity bucket, has made such a difference and it’s used for all sorts of things around the course. “Operating the tractor and loader couldn’t be simpler. The ATOS is very manoeuvrable and the shuttle reverser is ideal for loader work. Although we don’t often take it on the road, we do occasionally borrow machinery from other courses, so when we do having the 40kph road speed is great,” concludes Alan.
Pick another tractor model
Read the full article here
