Caring for your Assets

One of the things we have been complimented on many times over the years is the appearance of our turf equipment inventory. Guest superintendents, members and especially vendors that sell “iron” for a living always ask if that mower is new. When I tell them the age and hours of the unit in question they’ll usually respond with a big “wow!” I’ll let you in on our dirty little secret. We wash our machines after each use.


When I first learned of another superintendent washing and waxing equipment daily I thought to myself, he’s nuts! Sure he’s got a multi million dollar budget and migrant workers; he can afford to do anything he’d like!

Washing our equipment daily wasn’t always done this way; our new shop built in 1999 provided us with that opportunity via a clean asphalt covered wash pad. Crew members no longer had to stand ankle deep in mud to clean equipment after use. Thus a tradition was born.

We pay particular care to the wheels and flat metal surfaces as juices from grass clippings are quite corrosive. While this may appear to be a time consuming chore, if done daily is quick and easy to keep up with and seldom adds more than ten minutes to the job. Research shows that operators take better care of equipment that is in good shape. We want to keep it that way. Washing our equipment daily should pay for itself over time as we recognize increased trade in values when it comes time to replace it.

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