LOVE IS IN THE AIR

“Smooth…very smooth” intones the actor in the TV commercial while he intently observes a pint of the black stuff as it settles. You could say the same about the Dennis G860 grass mower – very smooth.

The 860 refers to millimeters and its extra wide cutting span. Near three feet in old money. The main job of the 860 is to mow the overall square. A smaller, more compact machine will cut the wickets.

“The Dennis 860 gives a better cut, simple as” says, in fact beams, the groundsman as he talks about his new love, sorry mower. “You can see the difference in the cut with the naked eye.  Also, the machine is reliable and simple to use with straightforward controls.”

“And it’s so versatile. I cut the baylines on the outfield with it. And then I use the old ride-on mower to cut in between the lines. The 860 doesn’t weave about so the lines are neat, straight.” Baylines are the mowing patterns that criss-cross the outfield, a bit like the squares on a chessboard.

“Another big plus [of the G860] is that it’s so easy to replace the cutting blade cassette with a verti-cut or brush cassette.  I’d say every football ground in the UK had one of these machines.  And then I think it made its way into the cricket world where again every top ground now has one” he says.

This machine is petrol driven (unleaded) with the reliable Honda engine 6.5hp. There are newer, electric versions of the Dennis G860 but he prefers the petrol model. “There are less parts with petrol.  So it’s easier to fix if there is a problem which there seldom is.”

I told him my idea about the Guinness ad and the Irish actor.  Jamie Dornan he promptly informs.  And then comments “You can hear it in the engine, it has a different, I suppose you could say, smooth sound.”

“Do you tuck it in at night?” I kind of jokingly inquire and he replies in the same vein with a mock headline: “Groundsman Ditches Girlfriend for New Model Mower”.  

But jokes aside, the machine is a beauty and as you would expect is well cared for.