Travels with Terry (Equipment ideas)

Mark it up

Joe Kennedy, CGCS, director of golf course maintenance at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Nashville, Tenn., and Jon Frydenlund, equipment manager, built a removable Scorpion foam marker for the front of their John Deere 2155 tractor.

The bracket measures 18 inches deep by 24 inches wide and is made of mostly 1.5-inch, square metal tubing and 1.5-inch angle iron welded together. The bracket slides in via quick-disconnect lynch pins over the top of where the removable weight trays normally would be.

The 15- or 25-gallon tank is bolted to the metal tubular frame. The 12-volt electrical wire hook-up has a moisture-proof quick disconnect to the tractor with its own fuse and on/off switch.

The foamer marks a single drop point between the wheels. The operator is trained to determine the proper spacing when applying granular materials with the Vicon fertilizer spreader.

Agsouth manufactures the foam marker (model SC15-FM), which costs about $400 for the 15-gallon model. The metal framework (some of which was in inventory already) and labor cost $100.

When the foam marker isn’t in use, the weight trays can be placed in their normal positions on the front of the tractor.

Goin’ mobile

Osvaldo Cruz, director of golf course operations at the Palmas Del Mar Country Club in Humacao, Puerto Rico, conceived a way to recycle used divot-soil containers. He asked Henry Rodriquez, the club’s irrigation technician, to bolt the four used Par Aide Divot Mate containers (model #425-02, hunter green) onto the back of his EZ-Go Workhorse irrigation technician cart. Rodriquez bolted the containers to the sides using one set of 0.5-inch diameter nuts, bolts, and flat and locking washers for each container.

The containers have a hinged top that keeps anything stored inside dry, which works nicely to store Rodriquez’s irrigation parts and supplies. Each Divot Mate, which cost about $48 when purchased new, holds four gallons of material.

The hardware and labor required to bolt the containers to the sides of the vehicle cost less than $25. GCI

Globetrotting consulting agronomist Terry Buchen visits many golf courses annually with his digital camera in-hand. He will share helpful ideas relating to maintenance equipment from the golf course superintendents he visits – as well as a few ideas of his own – with timely photos and captions that explore the changing world of golf course management.