A fleet of Kubota machines, consisting of three RTV900 all-terrain utility vehicles, an L5240 tractor and an F80 outfront ride-on mower, has boosted efficiency at Chessington World of Adventures & Zoo, an 80 acre Surrey theme park visited by around 1.25 million people each year. The Kubota machines were leased earlier this year from local Kubota tractor and groundcare equipment dealer, Lister Wilder, of Ockham, Surrey, on a contract hire basis.


Chessington's Landscape Manager, David Hill, said there were significant benefits in having all the new equipment provided by one supplier. "We now have a comprehensive set of machines that work well and have never let us down. We have substantially reduced our maintenance costs and become far more efficient as we can now plan work in advance knowing that we have the right tools for the job ready to go."

The Kubota L5240 mid-range tractor plays a key role in maintaining Chessington's green credentials by powering a West composter fed with green waste from the park and animal waste from the zoo, producing up to 200 cu m of compost per year for use as mulch. A conveyor belt on the composter drops down into a trailer to load it with the freshly made compost, which is tipped in piles to mature for six months before being used. The tractor then delivers the mature compost in its front bucket to where it is needed.


"The tractor gets through much more work far more quickly than the model it replaced, as at 52hp it has more than twice the power," said Hill. "It's a nifty machine for getting around the site, even within the confines of the theme park, and the lads love using it because of its comfortable cab with its air conditioning and radio."

As well as its regular composting duties the tractor hauls trailer loads of bulk materials and heavy equipment around the site. It also pulls a large flail mower used for the twice-yearly cutting of areas of long grass, and a chipper for reducing green waste. David Hill said that the company's accountants liked the contract hire arrangement, which comes with a full service plan. "It means that we should have no major equipment maintenance costs for the next three years, when we will replace all the machines with new models."