The Other Side of Golf Maintenance
Usually I order enough of our hydraulic fluid in 5 gal pails from a company to get free freight. We recently switched to a higher quality synthetic fluid and so far have to get it from a dealer. I really like the fluid but in addition to it cost, the freight is quite interesting. This batch came in 3 pails to one box.. A bit on the creative side although it took two of us to move it from the semi to the utility vehicle..
this is a seal kit for the hydraulic motor for a cutting deck. it’s virtually the same for a reel. it costs $87.00. It has 4 seals, 4 o’rings and a snap ring.
This is a pile of hoses and fittings to make 6 hydraulic hoses for the wing decks of a Toro 4700. That’s $500 worth and I still have to make them. There are 5 other decks on this machine.
We have this process that we do to our POS Tiff Eagle greens. We’ve been doing it for years and I call it churning..
First, you have to have well top dressed ones. The more sand the better. Then, you need a really good set of groomer reels (or two). Next, you need to get at least two REALLY sharp sets of reels ( 
), preferably ones that have been freshly sharpened.. and following up you’ll need a roller or two..
The groomers slice and dice, the two mowers and the roller smooth everything out. It’s a quick way to get it from a 10 to about an 11 or more on the stimp meter. It’s amazing what Superintendents go through to provide fast and smooth greens..
Each groomer reel costs about $3000 and there are 3 per machine. Sometimes we use two machines. This sand, is from nine holes. Typically we’ll do each green twice, at 90 degrees.