LPG ATV Case Study - RSPB

Managing 2000 head of cattle from 40 different graziers at the RSPB Ouse Washes Reserve in Cambridgeshire is now cheaper and greener, thanks to a fleet of four liquefied petroleum gas, (LPG) powered Honda ATV’s. Housed at the RSPB visitor centre next to Ouse Washes near Manea, Cambridgeshire, the Honda ATV’s are refuelled on-site from a bulk tank installed by Calor.

Made up of seasonally flooded lowland wet grassland, the Ouse Washes are the perfect breeding ground for hundreds of different species of waders and wildfowl including one of the UK’s rarest breeding birds, the Black-Tailed Godwit. But without the help of cattle that have traditionally grazed the Washes for over 300 years, the habitat would become unsuitable for supporting these birds.

"Having access to ATVs that run on LPG has provided the RSPB with a good opportunity to save money and I am pleased with the final product and service we now have."

Jon Reeves, Stock Manager, RSPB.

In order to manage the wetlands in the summer when flooding subsides, cattle are brought to the Washes to graze. For RSPB stock manager Jon Reeves ATV’s provided the only realistic way in which his team of eight staff could cover the 1046 hectares of grassland, to carry out the shepherding and ensure the welfare of the cattle.

When the local garage forecourt closed down, running petrol driven ATV’s proved to be a major problem as staff had to make a 16 mile round trip in another vehicle to collect fuel - a task that used up valuable man hours, incurred additional mileage and added to the overall cost of fuelling the ATV’s. In addition refuelling from a can was prone to spillage and was potentially hazardous to the ecosystem.

Concerned with such refuelling issues and escalating fuel costs, the RSPB approached their local Honda ATV dealer, Fieldens for advice. As one of a growing network of 15 ATV dealers across the UK offering LPG conversion packages supported by Calor, Fieldens sales manager, David Williams explained:

“The RSPB’s problem wasn’t uncommon. I have had several customers who have experienced similar issues with increasing fuel prices and lack of availability due to the closure of local garages. That’s why the LPG package provided by Calor has such potential,” he said.

“As each ATV would be doing close to 7000 km a year, which is a lot of wear and tear, some ATV’s would have to be replaced before the working life of the conversion kit expired. With this in mind it was important to design a kit that was hard wearing and could be transferable from one ATV to the next,” explained David.

“The performance and size of the tank were also very important. With a full tank the ATV can travel up to 76km with no obvious performance difference to the petrol version apart from a reduction in emissions due to the cleaner burning qualities of LPG,” continued David.

Following extensive field trials at the RSPB Ouse Washes, refuelling from a temporary tank supplied by Calor, Jon Reeves confirmed his order for four LPG powered Honda ATV’s. At this point engineers from Calor visited the site mapping out the desired location to install a fixed bulk tank refuelling facility, which was then installed by Calor’s technical team.

Having worked with Calor and Fieldens to develop the concept of running an ATV on LPG, the RSPB took delivery of their fleet of four LPG powered ATV’s in April 2001.

Commenting on the new fleet of ATV’s Jon Reeves, RSPB stock manager said: “Having access to ATV’s that run on LPG has provided the RSPB with a good opportunity to save money and I am pleased with the final product and service we now have.”

The RSPB will also benefit from working with Calor the industry leading supplier of LPG by plugging into their complete support package. In addition, by renting the onboard and on-site refuelling tanks from Calor, all the maintenance is taken care of by trained experts and Calor will replace the onboard tank after five years at their own expense.

Complete with a hand pump to make refuelling simple and easy, the 1200 litre tank will be monitored by Calor and regularly refilled to ensure that the RSPB never runs out of fuel.

“We are always keen to expand our offer to the market by investing in new applications for LPG powered vehicles and machinery, developing products like LPG powered ATV’s and lawnmowers,” explained Barry Ohrman, Calor sales development manager.

“By working closely with Honda ATV dealers we have built up a network of 15 LPG specialists centres across the UK, training staff and installing refuelling equipment at a number of sites. We now have a product offer that gives ATV users a cheaper and more convenient alternative to petrol and diesel, which is supported by technical expertise from an ever expanding local dealer network,” he continued.