Roots to Shoots grows the Sunward name on the Isle of Man

Arboricultural specialists Roots to Shoots can’t keep their admiration of Sunward to themselves.

Five years after buying their first Sunward machine, the manufacturer is now the only excavator supplier that Isle of Man tree specialists Roots to Shoots will use.

Currently on their third 2.7-tonne SWE 25UF zero-tail mini and first six-tonne SWE 60UF zero-tail compact, the company, which was founded in 2015 by Chris Preston, uses the Sunward excavators on a wide variety of projects.

“If we can get them in on a job they go,” he said. Those jobs include creating access, ditching, mulching, landscaping, handling timber and brash, including feeding a large chipper, tidying sites up, firewood production and jobs around the home farm.

Supplied by West Midlands-based Sunward dealer Hamstead Plant, both machines have a full set of buckets, rotating grabs, mulching/flail heads, brush land rake, and on the six-tonne, a Lasso cone splitter.

“As you can imagine, such work isn’t easy on the machines but with regular washing and scheduled maintenance I can’t fault them or the back up from Hamstead. Nothing is ever a problem for them and because I’m remote that is a massive reassurance for me,” he added.

“Our diggers are now exclusively Sunward. I wouldn’t bother with anything else because the quality you get for what you pay is incredible. The machines are user-friendly for operator and engineer, with plenty of power and reliability.”

In addition, Chris has not kept his admiration of Sunward excavators to himself. Shaun Reid, head of operations at Hamstead Plant, said: “Chris is a great ambassador for Sunward over there and has purchased multiple machines and encouraged others to do so by letting them demo his machines. To the point where there are now five operators running seven Sunward excavators on the Isle.”

Chris said: “A good friend and main competitor has a SWE 25UF and SWE 60UF after having a go in mine and he would not be without them! For me, it’s about showing people the big brands are not what they once were. We both use the same mechanic/engineer and he can’t fault them to work on.

The more Sunward machines we can get here will only strengthen the network.

” The Isle of Man’s leading tree surgery and garden maintenance specialists, for domestic and commercial customers, now directly employs nine full-time staff and supplements them with sub-contractors as and when needed to undertake utility, commercial and domestic arboricultural works, alongside countryside and estate maintenance works. In his “spare time” Chris also farms 80 acres with more than 100 breeding ewes. 

He said: “I’m very old school. When I spend money, even when I know it’s going to make me money, I still have to talk myself into doing it! So, for me to be on my third SWE 25UF and first SWE 60UF speaks volumes. I’ve let anyone have a go with them and there’s not been one bad word to say. Even my mate who runs a very modern fleet of well-known British diggers cannot fault them.

“Back up for me is a massive factor, especially being on an island in the middle of the Irish Sea. I spoke to some local dealers of other brands and they just did not meet the requirements of my needs for backup.”