Travels with Terry

Homemade leaf vacuum
This 1950s vintage Toro general tractor (gasoline engine) was transformed into a vacuum/blower used primarily for leaf cleanup around the clubhouse at The Manor Country Club in Rockville, Md., where Randall Pinckney is the superintendent and Richard Bassett has been the equipment manager for the past 26 years. Bassett used a gasoline-powered, low-blow blower/vacuum with a 12-inch-diameter suction hose mounted in front of the radiator after the frame was extended. The HVAC heavy-duty ductwork was extended from the blower to a plywood box. The 3/4-inch-plywood box measures approximately 8 feet by 10 feet with a metal mechanical tailgate made from tubular steel and flat steel. It has four 9-inch-diameter holes with screens on either side to release the volume of air from the vacuum. It took about 10 days to build and most of the parts were in inventory.

Scuba Air Tank
Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, British West Indies, has a strong scuba diver presence. The North Sound Club, the only 18-hole course on the island, repurposed a used scuba diver tank. A high-pressure flexible air hose and air chuck made it into an easily transported air tank, used to pump up the tires on the 40 E-Z-GO golf carts in their fleet. The used scuba tank holds from 2,700 to 3,000 PSI, and costs about $4 to fill up completely with oxygen at a local specialty scuba shop. A regular air tank holds much less air at a lower pressure – which would run out quickly with use.With regular use for the carts, it would usually need to be refilled every 2 weeks. Though the tank is moderately heavy, it can be moved easily enough be one crew member to fill cart tires by hand. Two valves are installed on the tank, with one controlling the on/off operation and the other regulating the flow of air. The high-pressure flexible air hose and air chuck were acquired at a local auto parts store and installed by the crew. Jason Deerwester, director of golf, Robert “Chilly” Chilman, associate golf professional, Anthony Persaud, acting superintendent, and Davy Eubanks, general manager are the team members behind the repurposed tank. The used air tank cost the club about $150, the air hose/air chuck cost about $45 and it took about 15 minutes of labor to install the air hose.