Monitoring Bunker Sand Depths
Surveyor Marker “whiskers,” available in a variety of bright colors in packets of 25 for less than $10 at Amazon, are being tested at the 36-hole Fiddlesticks Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida. A test bunker had the usual 4-inch perforated drainage tile and drainage pea gravel installed, then the entire bunker floor was covered with a Bunker Solutions bunker liner. The 6-inch-long whiskers were then strategically placed 4 inches deep into the subsoil on the bunker bottoms. G-Angle Bunker Sand, available from Golf Agronomics, was placed at a settled depth of 4 inches. Once the bunker sand shows about a 2-inch depth, the whiskers become easily visible, alerting the maintenance staff to redistribute or add new bunker sand. Gabe Gallo is the director of agronomy. This excellent idea originated on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Swiss Versatility
I was visiting Switzerland last June and came across this Rapid Monta M141 single axle walk-behind tractor sitting on the back of a flatbed truck. Like a Swiss Army Knife, it is very versatile — e.g., it is a sheep’s foot roller. It has many optional front-mounted attachments, such as a sickle bar, snow plow, rotary broom, eco-mulcher, fertilizer spreader, drilling seeder, flail mower, harrow, leveling harrow, hay rake, hay maker, mini cargo bin, rotary weed brush, rototiller, snow thrower, stone burier, twister hay rake and even a pull-behind trailer. There are many sized tractors available with 7-14 horsepower gasoline engines, all with hydrostatic drive. The “sheep’s feet” come in different sizes and with variable spacing available — and the drums come also in varying widths and designs. This machine reminded me of the versatility of the Steiner Turf Equipment here in the U.S. The Rapid is made in Switzerland and it has distributorships throughout Europe. Each tractor size costs less than 20,000 euros.
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