*%$# &* Anyhow!

Published May 24, 2007

It never fails. Just when things are going pretty good, something happens to mess it up. The weather has been good and the members have been very complimentary regarding the condition of the golf course. And then....a hydraulic leak on #2 green. The good part about it is it's only one pass. Because the greens mower is equipped with an alarm that sounds when a fluid loss of a few ounces occurs, the operator was made aware of the leak and was able to immediately get off of the green. The bad part is hydraulic fluid is HOT and kills the grass upon contact. The damage is done! The photo doesn't clearly show the damage at this point but in a few days that will change.

Before we can repair the damage we'll have to wait a few days to see how extensive the loss is. Once we have a better idea, we'll replace the damaged area with sod from our nursery.

Before alarms were available, it was not uncommon for an operator to continue mowing without noticing the leak. Depending on the size of the leak, hydraulic fluid is very difficult to see, especially early in the morning when the sun is low in the sky. I can remember instances in the past, here at Lake View as well as at other golf courses, where as many as 4 or 5 greens were affected during such an occurrence. Usually the operator continued until the fluid was completely exhausted and the mower failed to operate.

In addition to alarms, many of the newer generation greens mowers can now use "Bio Oils" made from natural sources like peanuts and the like. I've heard that these new alternative oils cause less damage when a leak occurs. In a different spin, at least two manufacturers are now offering all electric or gas / electric hybrids that use electric motors to turn the reels instead of the traditional use of hydraulics. No hydraulic fluid...no hydraulic burn!

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