Travels with Terry

Side Spinner Control Switch

Multi-talented Eric Kulaas, equipment manager, at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, St. Petersburg, Fla.,found an inexpensive dual on/off light switch that costs less than $10 in lieu of buying a $100 replacement switch for their TurfCo WideSpin Topdresser. The dual switches control the conveyor belt or spinners individually with a simple flip of either switch. To keep the control switch dry from the elements, a zip-type plastic bag is used to make it waterproof. The labor time took less than an hour to complete.

Unique fairway roller

Matt Shaffer, the director of golf course operations at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., site of the 2013 US Open Championship, has always been an innovator of golf course maintenance equipment who likes to “think out of the box.” Shaffer had a vision to produce a wide fairway roller – similar to a green’s roller – to remove the early morning dew off of the fairways, reduce the leaf wetness to reduce foliar diseases, breakdown organic matter, and raise the mowing height to use less water and still have great playing surfaces. Shaffer had a dinner meeting with Sal Rizzo, president, of Salsco Inc., and the rest is history. The Salsco Tranz-Former Fairway/Greens Roller’s went from research and development to production in eight months, with three to four months spent on the steering alone so that it will not tear the grass, because Salsco is a small manufacturer that can move quickly on R&D. The Tranz-Former has the same design concepts as a greens roller that follows the contours and smooths the surfaces. The rolling width is 10 feet, the transport width is 5 feet, 3 inches that fits easily over bridges, cart paths and through gates with a transport speed of 11 mph. The MSRP is $35,000.