Dennis E-series excites

The rise of battery-powered machinery has impressed Richard Dexter, Head of Grounds and Gardens at Oakham School, but he believes that Dennis Mowers has gone one step further and made it even better.

Oakham School, based in Rutland, East Midlands, is a vibrant, fully coeducational boarding and day school for 10–18-year-olds. The school’s strengths lie in the spectacularly wide range of academic and cocurricular opportunities provided.

Sport has always been an essential part of Oakham School life and it has an enviable reputation for excellent coaching and mentoring in a variety of sports. Equally impressive and highly regarded are the sports facilities and stunning grounds which equate to just over 75 acres.

Richard is the man responsible for maintaining these areas. Originally from a greenkeeping background, Richard joined the school 15 years ago and, in that time, he has worked his way up to the position of Head of Grounds and Gardens.

According to Richard, it was the “variety of all the different sports surfaces”’ which enticed him away from greenkeeping. He admits to having his work cut out but wouldn’t have it any other way.

With a team of 10 groundstaff to oversee, health and safety is of the utmost importance, and it is for this reason that Richard started exploring the possibility of battery-powered equipment.

“We wanted to reduce hand-arm vibrations across the site and make sure that staff were getting as little exposure as possible,” he said.

“Also, as a school, we are looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint at every opportunity. Therefore, we felt the time had come to purchase electric mowers and we looked at two different brands.

“I wanted the rest of the team involved in the decision because they are the ones using the mowers. I took on-board their feedback and every one of them said they wanted the Dennis – I’ve never seen them smile so much. The battery-life on the Dennis E-Series was the big game-changer.”

For many years, turf professionals have been choosing Dennis for their superb cut quality and reliability, and recently the company introduced the next generation of its mowers.

The new E-Series is a range of battery powered mowers that are no compromise alternatives to the range of petrol machines which meet sustainability and environmental initiatives, reduce carbon footprint, emissions, running costs and noise without any range anxiety.

Richard and his team decided on two mowers from the E-Series range – the Dennis ES860 and the Dennis ES-510.

Users of the Dennis G860 cylinder mower will no doubt see familiarities in the new ES-860. This 34” battery powered turf management system delivers maximum versatility and the range of 13 interchangeable cassette options provide a solution to