Hap says, "Nothing runs like a Deere, except for deer themselves and me."
A welcome delivery on Monday afternoon was our new triplex greens mower. The benefit of this mower is that it is hybrid compared to the machines we’ve been using. In this case, hybrid means that the machine itself is driven by an engine, but the cutting units are electric. The machines we’ve used in the past used hydraulics to drive the cutting units.
The down side of hydraulically driven reels is that the lines and fittings can break or burst, causing oil to be released on the greens turf. The oil runs so hot in the machine, that when it comes in contact with turf, the grass is instantly killed. About 8 or 9 years ago, a hydraulic line burst in the center of #17 green, a day before the Men’s Member Guest was to start. It took 130, 4”x6” plugs from our nursery green to repair the damage. It required working well into the night. Putting surfaces that take weeks and months of preparation and care can be damaged instantly by hydraulic oil. What's even worse, is when a hydraulic line develops a pin hole leak and the operator doesn’t catch it. In this case, streaks of dead grass on multiple greens are possible. With expansive damage like this, there is no way to plug it out. The only solution is to wait months for the oil to be flushed out of the root zone and then allow the turf to heal itself. At HCC, we train our operators to be on the lookout for such leaks and if they spot one, immediately stop. By stopping where they are, even if it’s the center of a green, they're containing the damage to one area, which we can resod or plug. This scenario is far better than driving off the green to a car path, leaving a trail of dead grass.
At Augusta National, every fairway mower is equipped with a tennis ball. The point of the tennis ball is to throw it at the mower in front of you if you see oil leaking that the operator of that machine can’t see.
This mower takes the hydraulic leak possibility away and that’s something I’m grateful I won’t have to worry about any longer. At Highlands CC, we double cut our greens daily, making the first pass with a triplex and the second cut with walk-mowers. Therefore, it’s important we have equipment that we can rely on, like this new machine, delivered today.
Note the tennis ball hanging from the roof of each mower at ANGC.