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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Lucy Bladen

It's 'mowing season' and the ACT has a few new style mowers to help

Grass across Canberra is expected to grow quickly over the coming months and the ACT government's mowing team is expecting a busy season.

There will also be some new mowers joining the team with four electric mowers to join the fleet.

The electric mowers are expected to mow more than five thousand hectares of grass over each mowing cycle.

There was a trial of an electric mower in the government's rapid response mowing team last year.

Angus Greene, who works in the government's mowing team, standing in front of one of the new electric mowers. Picture supplied

"Having a transition from fossil fuels to the electric fleet it's not only well received by all the staff but it also makes good sense because those machines represent the latest technology and they're really well built from what we're seeing," City Presentation branch manager Daniel Iglesias said.

City Services Minister Chris Steel said the machines take about six hours to charge and provide eight hours of run time.

"The electric mowers require minimal maintenance, with no grease points or belts and tubeless tyres which help to achieve excellent cutting results and rider comfort," he said.

"The mowers are also lighter than other machines in the fleet which reduces the chance of them becoming bogged."

It has been a busy few seasons for the mowing team due to the La Nina weather cycles and while it is not expected to be as wet over the coming months there will still be large amounts of growth.

There is a high level of moisture within the soil, which will make growth fast even though hotter and drier weather is expected over the months ahead.

Mr Steel kicked off the start of the mowing season, which generally runs from September to March.

"We've seen really busy mowing seasons the last three [seasons] and we're expecting another really busy one with hotter conditions and that moisture in the soil will contribute to really strong grass growth," he said.

There will also be 10 extra staff in the rapid response mowing team, which is tasked with responding to fast-growing patches of grass.

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