Ipswich, England - March 17, 2006 - One of the stalwarts of local authority grass maintenance, the Ransomes Commander 3520, celebrated a unique milestone recently when the 500th production model rolled off the assembly line at Ipswich.

Launched at Saltex in 2000, the five cylinder ride-on mower has a 3.5 metre working width with a choice of Magna 250 fixed head cutting units or Sport 200 floating head units, with direct hydraulic drive and variable reel speed control.

With sales of around 80-85 units a year in a specialist sector the Commander has a significant market share in the municipal arena. Powered by a Kubota 51hp water-cooled diesel engine it has a mowing speed of 12 km/h and a transport speed of 25 km/h. This provides impressive productivity of 3.2 hectares per hour at the maximum operating speed and makes it the ultimate multi-reel self-propelled mower for parks, sports grounds and amenity areas.

Tim Lansdell, Technical Director at Ransomes Jacobsen commented, "The Ransomes Commander 3520 is the latest in a string of high capacity, five unit municipal mower going back to the 350D. It provides a highly efficient method of cutting grass and with its power to cutting width ratio of under 11kW/metre it is closer to that seen on ride-on greens and tees mowers. In these more environmentally friendly times, this type of consideration is entering the decision making processes of many municipal purchasers and is increasing the popularity of the Ransomes Commander. We're looking forward to the 1000th machine!"