Magazine: Something you (thankfully) don’t see everyday.
By Eric Kulaas in Mechanics on 15th Dec 2009 6:00
Fortunately we’ve had more near misses on 16 then splashes. Probably the most spectacular was the 5500 sprayer with one wheel over the bulkhead. The one that did go over was a GroomsMaster bunker rake.
We had to use the backhoe to lift it back up onto the turf. Our operator had a little to much “Buddy Wiser” the night before. Until we lifted it we had no oil spill on the water. After it came up we had to scramble to keep the “sheen” from escaping. We probably only lost about a cup of fuel and were able to gather that up with our pads.
This pic was of a close call. It was left in neutral while the operator was putting the flag back in. An experienced operator but it still happens. And for those of you who maintain these, you know what a chore it is to keep up with the brakes. But this is the key reason we make sure our parking brakes work. (Usually)
The Shape of Things to Come
Precise Path is the company that’s making the Robotic Greens mower. Their main idea, as I understand it, is to have one person with each mower, generally 6 per course. They get the mower on the green and operating then attend to raking bunkers, cutting the cup, moving the Tee markers on that hole. Then move on to another.
I was thinking about that concept today as I was walkmowing greens, thinking how much time I waste trying to straighten up my lines. Since these are GPS controlled they wouldn’t have the “error” built into them that I have. Then the idea was if I had about 4 of these mowers and could start one on a green, then go start another, until I ran out, and then start over. Could I finish 18 holes in 2.5 to 3 hours??
One question was could they go fast enough. Just about all the info on mowing speed has to do with the rate of clip ration or how often a blade cuts across the turf in relation to ground speed. It’s about 4 MPH. Which doesn’t sound like much but it’s a brisk walk, usually partially in the dark. Sometimes with obstacles (like a lake or bunker) and often these greens are huge. So the speed is limited.
We have people on our crew who usually reduce the speed of the mower, which doesn’t improve the quality, but it does enable them to survive a bit better. Half the people on our crew are just unable to do this. Let alone do it well.
So if these are GPS and guidance controlled, possibly they could speed up in the middle of the green to about 6 MPH and slow down to make the turns? The reason for the speed is the cost of the machines.
We are walkmowing because of the quality but our crew has been paired down due to the economy. There is no excess of people or machines. That Equipment Managers are doing this shows to what extent the effort of providing a quality surface takes. The robots could help a lot.. The numbers just have to work out. Right now, my feeling is they work out to excessive one-up-manship.. Something our industry has been a party of.
If these will enable a course to provide a better product at less cost they will absolutely succeed.
Visit themilitantmechanic.com the great blog by Eric to get your fix of the militant mechanic.
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