All 21 Toro Workman turf vehicles have center-mounted front rear-view mirrors used when driving on development roads and for backing up when being parked at the maintenance building complex at The Reserve Club in Indian Wells, Calif. A Napa Mirror #97653 ($20.99) and the Napa Bracket Part #97828 ($27.77) is bolted to the front fascia. The two Larsen fertilizer spreader/seeders are used for winter overseeding and fertilizing of the Bermudagrass turf. The Napa Mirror #97653 ($20.99) is mounted onto the Napa Tripod Bracket #97678 ($54.09) that is placed on the rear of the spreader/seeder, which makes it quite easy for the operator to quickly view how much grass seed or fertilizer is left in the hopper. It took less than a half-hour to mount both mirror/bracket applications. Felix Milward is the superintendent and Miguel A. Flores is the assistant superintendent.
Equipment Usage Control
This employee personal usage control of string-line trimmers, edgers and hovercraft rotary mowers was put into place so the staff would not put them away broken – but instead they were taken to the mechanics for repair. Employees “checkout” and “check-in” equipment themselves with their name, equipment description, check-out and check-in times and supervisor’s name on the clipboard form. This control procedure helps produce “personal responsibility” in the team effort – and it makes it much easier for an employee to approach the equipment managers without any backlash, knowing that putting it back “broken” would be subject to a reprimand. The pegboard comes in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets with matching-hole size brackets available at any local big box lumberyard/hardware store. Total cost was about $200 for the pegboard, brackets and clipboards, and it took a couple of hours to wall-mount them. This system has been used by Jim Vajen, director of golf course and community landscaping, at Fiddler’s Creek, the Creek Course, in Naples, Fla., since the mid 1990s. Brian Weaver is the equipment manager and Richard Garcia is the assistant superintendent.
Terry Buchen, CGCS, MG, is president of Golf Agronomy International. He’s a 41-year, life member of the GCSAA. He can be reached at 757-561-7777 or terrybuchen@earthlink.net.
