The relationship between the Grounds Crew and the Maintenance Department (“Shop”) is a truly fascinating dynamic. The Grounds Crew cannot function without the support of the Shop, while the Shop would cease to exist without the Grounds Crew. The Grounds Crew can be critical of the Shop relative to the maturity and performance of the equipment while the Shop can be critical of the Grounds Crew, insinuating a cavalier approach to the care and operation of the mature equipment. Having lived in the mix for the past nine months, I am of the opinion that both sides have a dog in the fight!
I have been exposed to numerous pieces of equipment, including but not limited to; a Club Car Carryall Work Cart, a Jacobsen Turfcat Rough Mower, a Toro Greensmaster 3150 TriFlex Greens Mower, a Toro Reelmaster 5510 Fairway Mower, a Toro Workman Utility Cart, a Buffalo Turbine Blower, a Par Aide Foot Extraction Golf Green Hole Cutter, an Accuform AccuLevel, a Stihl Chain Saw, a Stihl Backpack Blower, an Ames Shovel and an Ace Lawn Rake. The operation of some of the equipment is intuitive (i.e. Ames Shovel, Ace Lawn Rake), while other pieces of equipment (i.e. Toro Greensmaster 3150 Triflex Greens Mower) are far less intuitive!
To date, I have made my contributions to the Grounds Crew/Shop fray, as I have jettisoned off in a Work Cart hauling a full load of sand with a pancake like flat tire, I have lost an oil dip stick, I have marked down the wrong type of fuel on the Master Fuel Report causing wide-spread panic thinking I pumped gasoline into a diesel tank, I have temporarily misplaced a gas cap, I have bent a tire rim on a Jacobsen Turfcat Rough Mower, and, through a series of events, I have had a Toro Greensmaster 3150 Triflex Greens Mower virtually sideways on the Shop’s hydraulic lift!
Note: Periodically, it is necessary to radio the Shop for the equivalent of emergency roadside service. Regardless of the circumstances, it is always an unsettling feeling, as, in my humble opinion, the mechanics cast immediate aspersions relative to culpability.
Well anyway, I have been on a reasonably good run, feeling confident with the care and operation of the equipment, not causing any problems or furrowed brows, not requiring emergency roadside assistance and attempting to stay completely under the radar.
This all changed a few Sunday’s ago, on a chilly 30 degree morning. I was tasked with mowing the greens on our nine-hole Short Course, our three Practice Holes and our two-acre Practice Putting Area. After a clean run (sans scalp marks in the collar), I returned to home base to hose down the three cutting units, wash out the grass catch baskets, top off the gas tank, document the fuel usage on the Master Fuel Report and back the mower onto the Shop’s hydraulic lift.
On this particular day, due to the external temperature, the industrial sized rear Shop garage door was closed, however the industrial sized side Shop garage door was open for business.
Rather than the usual straight shot through rear Shop garage door onto the hydraulic lift, I needed to navigate my mower through the side Shop garage door; avoiding a few pieces of mature equipment in sick bay, circumventing the rear of the hydraulic lift, while simultaneously attempting to avoid the Procom Magnum 160 VT Diesel Forced Air Construction Heater (discharging 175,000 British Thermal Units), positioned three to five yards northeast of the right side of the hydraulic lift.
As I passed the right side of the hydraulic lift, yards away from the diesel heater, for some reason, I looked back and noticed gasoline sloshing out of the gas tank of my greens mower, as an unnamed knucklehead had forgotten to secure the attached gas cap to the tank after a fill-up at the pump.
Thinking I got away with yet another embarrassing bone-headed maneuver, the lone mechanic on duty, watching the goings-on from a clandestine location, hot-footed it over to my Toro Greensmaster, suggesting my actions were one spark away from bringing the entire organization to the ground, not to mention the possible demise of a lone mechanic and a knucklehead from the Grounds Crew!
Going forward, I may be better off manning the Ames Shovel and the Ace Lawn Rake!
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