Groovy Roller
Jerry Lemons, ASGCA, president of Lemons Golf Design/Golf Links, Inc. and Better Billy Bunker, designed this implement to firm-up newly seeded creeping bentgrass greens 25 years ago. Instead of “dimpling-in” the seedbed with a riding bunker rake’s knobby tires, the seedbed is firmed-up nicely in rows for a much faster fill-in. A 6-inch diameter ADS solid drainage pipe is filled with concrete with a 1 ?-inch piece of PVC pipe with a rod through it attached to the frame. The frame is made of scrap angle iron and flat steel with a tongue bolted to the back of a John Deere Bunker Rake. It cost about $150 and took a couple hours labor time to build. Lynn B. Ray, CGCS, gave the “Groovy Roller” its name.
Sand Pro Sprayer
It now takes 3 ? hours to spray all the greens by one person vs. seven hours with two employees using a walk-behind spray boom with 300 feet of hose. The Toro Sand Pro sprayer boom is 1 foot wider than the rear tires, is made of powder coated 1 ?-inch square steel tubing that works easily with the Teejet TF-VS-3 nozzles spaced 30 inches apart with an 18-inch height. The on-demand 12-volt Surflo Model 5059-1311-D011 pump operated at 37–40 PSI is part of the 15-gallon spray tank. A Richway TT-3301 Foam Marker with a 60-ounce tank, with controls mounted on the hood, uses Fomark foam marking agent. A Calc-An Acre II hood-mounted computer is used diligently to apply and calibrate the chemicals at three miles per hour. A “nurse tank” fills the sprayer after each green is sprayed. This sprayer cost about $2,000, took about a day to build and was conceived by Lonnie Aller, superintendent, and Phil Taylor, equipment manager, at The Golf Club at Black Rock in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. The sprayer was custom-built by Ag Industries of Cheney, Wash.
Explore the May 2019 Issue
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