Ask most golf course superintendents about their largest budget item and they will tell you: it’s labor. A February 2015 survey conducted by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America backs up this statement.
Based on responses from more than 1500 golf course superintendents, all members of the GCSAA and located within the U.S., the survey showed that seven expense categories dominate 76 percent of the typical golf course’s maintenance budget. Within these seven categories, labor accounts for a whopping 54.9 percent, while chemicals, equipment leases, equipment repair, fuel and lubricants make up an additional 24.4 percent of maintenance expenditures.
Hiring the right people is critical, but don’t overlook the importance of then equipping that team with the best tools for the job at hand. With these concerns in mind, the Golf Course Trades has compiled a list of top resources to help golf course superintendents get the most out of every maintenance dollar.
AgriMetal Inc.
Founded in 1980, in Wickham, Quebec, Canada, AgriMetal got its start in business as a manufacturer of farm machinery. By 2000, the company had honed its focus, concentrating on the development of products for maintaining green spaces. Today AgriMetal Inc. is recognized as a leading manufacturer of turf maintenance equipment.
AgriMetal launched its first turf product in 1985–an innovative straw blower for landscaping, with the laborsaving capacity to handle a full bale of straw in a single load. Two years later, the company added a revolutionary 360 leaf blower to its product line. Operated by belt drive technology, the 360 leaf blower has a reduced number of parts when compared to competitors’ products and, subsequently, fewer parts to maintain or repair. In addition, AgriMetal’s Turf Sweeper/Vacuum, introduced in 1989, has proven to be so durable that many of the original machines are still in use today.
AgriMetal credits feedback and collaboration with the users of its products as a primary reason the company continues to develop and refine equipment that effectively serves the needs of turf managers throughout North America. www.agrimetal.com
Bannerman Ltd
Located in Rexdale, Ontario, Canada, Bannerman has been delivering “sports turf magic” to its customers for almost 50 years. When golf course superintendents and other turf managers need to aerate, seed, top-dress, edge, groom or line (mark) their facilities, Bannerman offers reliable equipment, service and parts to help them save time and money.
You can learn more about Bannerman products at www.sportsturfmagic.com or by visiting the company’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/BannermanLimited.
Buffalo Turbine
Since 1945, Buffalo Turbine has manufactured and shipped thousands of turbine style blowers and sprayers. Every piece of Buffalo Turbine equipment is produced using high-precision, machined components to ensure long-lasting dependable products.
Offering a variety of products to suit customer needs and budgets, Buffalo Turbine units are in use around the world and for a range of applications, including golf/turf, paving contractors, solar farms, poultry barns, airports and racetracks. One of the company’s most popular products for golf course use is the Cyclone KB.
The Cyclone KB is the original turbine-style debris blower. Developed in 1996, the KB unit was based on a machine that has been in production since 1945. Today’s Cyclone KB4 is the fourth generation of the KB blower taking into account new technology to help create a more advanced product.
www.buffaloturbine.com.
Global Turf Equipment
Located in San Antonio, Florida (near Tampa) Global Turf Equipment has grown to become one of the largest independent suppliers of late-model, pre-owned turf equipment in the world. Global Turf Equipment buys, sells, trades, rents or leases top brands of turf equipment including Toro, Jacobsen, John Deere, and other brand names known and trusted within the turf maintenance industry.
Offering savings of up to 60 percent off the cost of new turf equipment, the pre-owned equipment sold by Global Turf Equipment has been carefully inspected and reconditioned to assure peace of mind, cost savings, and reliable performance. Global Turf’s pre-owned equipment comes with a minimum of 50 percent reel life remaining and 80 percent tire life remaining, plus all-new fluids and filters in both the engine and hydraulic system, all new spark plugs and all-new rotary blades and bed knives. Parts are also replaced anywhere a faulty or over-worn part is discovered during the 100-point inspection process.
“When you buy pre-owned equipment from Global Turf Equipment, you get machines that are reliable at just a fraction of the cost of new equipment,” said Jim Sartain, Co-Owner of Global Turf Equipment.
Find out more at www.globalturfequipment.com.
Graden USA
Founded in 1986 as a family-owned business in Victoria, Australia, Graden Industries has grown to become a recognized name worldwide in the manufacture of specialized turf equipment. The company’s U.S. headquarters, Graden USA, is based in Richmond, Virginia.
For many golf courses, the slogan, “Gotta Getta Graden,” echoes the popularity of the company’s verticutters and its CSI, a contour sand injector. The CSI injects sand through a gravity feed system and works well on both level and undulating areas, including golf greens, approaches, and lawns. By using the CSI’s seeder unit, golf courses can groove, fill, seed, and return to playability as quickly as possible. Find out more about Graden turf equipment at
www.gradenusa.com.
Jacobsen/ Dixie Chopper
In 1980, Dixie Chopper founder, Art Evans, set about to create a zero-turn radius lawn mower for commercial use. The result of his efforts, the Dixie Chopper, is known as “the World’s Fastest Lawn Mower,” but as the team at Dixie Chopper is always quick to point out, quality and reliability are equally as important in describing their mowers and their brand.
In 2014, Dixie Chopper mowers became part of the Jacobsen/Textron family, joining one of the largest and most respected names in the turf maintenance industry. Last year, the North American Equipment Dealer Association (NAEDA) honored Dixie Chopper with the NAEDA’s 2015 Most Improved Award for the greatest percentage of improvement in overall ratings based on the association’s annual dealer-manufacturer relations survey. Find out more about Dixie Chopper mowers, accessories, and customer service at http://www.dixiechopper.com.
Land Pride
A division of Great Plains Mfg. Inc., Land Pride has been a leader in grounds maintenance equipment since 1986. Based in Salina, Kansas, and with manufacturing plants across the north-central area of the state, Land Pride designs and produces turf equipment along with rotary tillers, grooming mowers, over seeders, rotary cutters, rear blades, landscape rakes, snow blowers, zero-turn mowers, and other tractor implements.
Committed to sales and service at every level, Great Plains owns its own trucking company (Great Plains Trucking) with more than 75 trucks dedicated to ensuring the care and timely delivery of every Land Pride product. www.landpride.com
Nordic Plow
Developed in West Chicago, Illinois, Nordic Plow is known for its rounded edge plow blade that can be attached in a matter of seconds to most all-terrain vehicles, mowers, trucks or cars. The Nordic Auto Plow simplifies the job of moving snow while minimizing the risk of damaging driveways, pavers and grass. Designed to glide over either smooth or uneven surfaces, Nordic Plow offers a 49-inch and a 64-inch rubber-based composite blade plows that can be attached to a golf cart.
Another Nordic Plow product that is of special interest to the golf industry is a golf course mower plow that offers an inexpensive and timesaving way to clear core plugs from greens, tee boxes and fairways. The Nordic Plow golf course plow is available to fit most turf equipment and tri-deck mowers, including John Deere, Toro, Smithco and Jacobsen products. Learn more about Nordic Plow products at www.nordicplow.com
Progressive Turf Equipment
For more than 30 years, Seaforth, Ontario, Canada-based Progressive Turf Equipment has designed and manufactured rotary finishing mowers used by golf courses, turf grass producers and other turf managers worldwide. Located midway between Detroit, Michigan and Toronto, Canada, Progressive Turf Equipment is a privately held Canadian corporation.
Focused on the production of durable and reliable products, its responsibility to provide stable jobs for its employees and the objective of contributing productively to a sustainable business community, Progress Turf Equipment targets its products to three client profiles:
- The Superintendent Series, designed for the golf industry including private, resort and public (municipal) golf facilities
- The Groundskeeper Series that serves municipal and general application needs, including sports complexes, parks, landscapers, recreational areas and estate properties
- The Producer Series for the turf grass production industry, serving commercial turf grass producers of all sizes
Utilizing 3D CAD software, an integrated ERP system, CNC manufacturing work-cells and other innovative technology, Progressive Turf Equipment safeguards the quality of its product and the satisfaction of its customers in the manufacture of six product lines. - Pro-flex pull behind contour finish mowers for golf courses and rolling terrain
- Tri-deck wide area pull behind finish mowers for turf grass production and other turf grass applications
- Tri-deck mowers designed for sports turf and turf grass production applications
- 3-point hitch, single deck finish mowers for smaller sports and turf fields
- Steep slope mowers that are controlled remotely
- Private branding for front mount mowers developed for the municipal tractor market
For complete information about the products and services of Progressive Turf Equipment, visit www.progressiveturfequip.com
R & R Products
Offering replacement parts for the commercial golf and turf industry, R & R Products is committed to the highest standards in replacement part products. To help assure the quality of the products it sells, the company owns computerized numeric controlled lathes and mills for precision machining, punch presses, a state-of-the-art laser cutting center, and five heat treating systems for complete control of the temper on all R & R blades. In short, R & R Products controls every aspect of its manufacturing and warehousing process.
Today the R & R line of replacement parts includes golf course accessories, irrigation, safety, and tools. The company warranties its reels, bedknives, and tines for the life of the product and ships 98 percent of all orders on the same day the order is received. Visit the R & R website at www.rrproducts.com.
Steven Willand Inc.
Founded in 1966 in Fairfield, New Jersey, as an outdoor power equipment dealer, Steve Willand, Inc. expanded to become a wholesale commercial power equipment distributor and by 1980 had become a supplier of Ransomes turf equipment for golf courses and municipalities.
Today Steven Willand Inc., represents Jacobsen, Turfco, Club Car and other turf equipment manufacturers throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, Metro New York and parts of Massachusetts. https://www.swi-distribution.com/
