Winter Reel Grinding Extravaganza

The question I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, "What do you do during the winter".  Without question, the most time consuming project is reel grinding.  There is a total of 71 reels in our shop, and 58 of the 71 need to be ground this winter.  The grinding process begins with the mower being broken down into three pieces; engine, reel assembly, and the handle bar assembly.  If it's a reel off a riding mower, the reel assembly is simply removed from the mower and taken to the breakdown station.  Next the reel assembly is completely broken down.  All the bearings are replaced, and packed with fresh grease, and the unit is reassembled.  The reel is then ground so all blades are even, and sharp enough to cut newspaper.  The bedknife and front roller are then put back on, and the height of cut adjusted.  Finally the mower is put back together and ready to cut as soon as mother nature decides it's time.  This is also the time that other parts of the mower that need repair or replacement are done.  This is a process that will typically take 5-6 weeks.  We will probably take closer to 7-8 weeks this winter with only one mechanic and one less employee.  We can all be assured that the reels will be producing great conditions as Mike Martic the Assistant Superintendent has taken over the grinding duties.
If conditions allow, we will be getting out on the course to remove some trees that are inhibiting play, or no longer are safe, healthy, or aesthetically appealing.  We will also be trying to get a little more drainage done if possible.  I will post weekly updates this winter with our progress in the shop, and any outdoor projects that are able to get done.

   

Update

After nearly 3 months without internet at the maintenance facility, we are back online.  Sorry for any inconvenience you endured without information from our blog.  We have been busy since the last post on September 6th.  Super storm Sandy came through and uprooted 15 trees.  We lost four maples and eleven pines.  We were able to get the course cleaned up and back open for play pretty quick compared to some other local courses.
We also rebuilt the regular black tee on 13, tripling the square footage, and raising it by 6 inches.  This will allow the blue tees to be played from this tee on a more regular basis.  If you notice a difference in the sod on the tee, we used sod from the putting green to expand this tee.  The turf from the putting green is a mix of bentgrass and poa annua, while the existing tee surface is a pure stand of bentgrass.  We will be able to slowly eliminate the poa in this tee using growth regulator, and eventually the turf will all be pure bentgrass.
Once we finished the tee, we put our focus on leaf clean up.  Super storm Sandy was actually a big help in this task, as it knocked many of the leaves out of trees for us.  After the storm passed we experienced a long period of dry weather that allowed us to do a complete clean up of all the leaves.  It is rare to have the course as dry as it was this time of the year, and be able to run equipment over the entire course without worrying about causing damage to the course.
As the leaf work wrapped up we began putting together a drainage plan for several of the fairways.  some fairways needed just a few drains installed, while others needed more extensive work.  We added drainage to the left side of 13 fairway near the bunker.  This was an area that would lay very wet after rains, and force us to skip it when we mowed fairways.  We should be able to get equipment on this fairway much quicker after rain now.  We also added several runs of drainage to 7, 11, 2, and 9 fairways, picking up some problem areas.  All these spots are now dry after it rains instead of puddles.  Several hundred more feet of drainage was installed on 6 fairway next.  We still have two areas on 6 we hope to get addressed before the start of next season.  With the drainage added to 6 in spring of 2012 and what we did this fall, this fairway has gone from a real problem when it rains, to seeing minimal standing water after heavy rains. The finale and largest drainage project came on 8 fairway.  This fairway has problems from the beginning all the way to the approach.  We installed over 400' of drainage to this fairway, and still have several areas to finish.  The difference already though is night and day.  8 would be covered in puddles after rain, and we have now narrowed it down to two areas.  While there are still many areas that need drainage, we are very excited about the progress that has been made this fall.

Why We Aerify

Why do we aerify?

1. Relieve soil compaction from players and equipment.
2. To ensure optimum levels of oxygen are available to the roots.
3. Opens air pockets improving the absorption of fertilizer and water to the root zone.

In a soil or sand profile, there is either air or water consuming any available space. Air/oxygen is much more beneficial to the plant in this space because; it allows the plant to breath well, and the water that does come in contact penetrates the surface rather than sitting on top of the surface. When a green, tee, or fairway become compacted, the air pockets are eliminated and it becomes difficult for the plant to breathe. This leads to a slow suffocation of the plant’s root system, and can lead to a much more detrimental problem than a two-week inconvenience.
LCC's greens had reached the point where they would puddle after a short rain.  The greens here have great drainage, so when we start having to wait for puddles to drain into the soil profile we know compaction has reached a point where relief is needed.  This has come from intense maintenance (double cutting 6 days per week, and rolling 4 times per week) and excessive foot traffic.