Herb Leyva began his career in the golf industry after 25 years of service in the United States Navy and is now the Equipment Manager at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, CA. We’re talking with Herb about how to get consistent results day after day, keeping up with the preventative maintenance requirements in a lease agreement, and the very real labor struggle that exists regardless of your facility. Herb gives us a way to avoid the dreaded black fingernail, shares his views on backlapping, and details a fab project building a monorail to pull 300-lb.
Transcript
Trent Manning:
welcome to the real realtor techs podcast for the technician that wants to get real follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we’ll learn tips and tricks. I’m your host, Trent. Manny let’s have some fun. Welcome to the real turf techs podcast, episode 24. Today we’re talking to her believer. He’s the equipment manager at Torrey Pines golf course and San Diego, California. Torrey Pines is a public facility, which has two 18 hole courses. And one was the home of the 2021 us open. Herb has two mechanics working with him in his shop. Let’s hear what herb has to say. Welcome herb to the real turf text podcast. How are you doing today?
Herb Leyva:
good. How are you?
Trent Manning:
I’m doing great. Thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. And we’ll get right in. Yes, sir. We’ll get right into the questions. How did you get started into the turf industry?
Herb Leyva:
Yeah, well, that’s kinda interesting. I was in the Navy for a total of 25 years and I just happened to be retiring or L actually I got stationed here in St. Louis. Over 32nd street, which is a big Naval base that’s located here. And at the time we had president Clinton in office and he was making some big changes with the military. He decided to cut the military in half. So right off the bat, they were going to decommission 300 ships out of our fleet. Yeah, we had a total of 600 ships act of, and they decided to cut it down to 300 in order to do that. They also had to look at personnel overall and start screening people out. After 20 years of service, at that time I had 20 trucks.
Trent Manning:
Oh, wow.
Herb Leyva:
And so anybody over 20 was being asked to consider retiring, if they did not want to retire, then they would screen their service record and see if they had any blemishes in their service record. And then they would kind of force them into retirement. In my case, I had a pretty clean record I could have stayed in. The problem was, is I had just come off of a three year sea tour off of a destroyer. And that was my, my shore duty tour that I was in. And at that point I was informed that I would probably have to go back out to see if I wanted to stay in at the same time, they decided to freeze all advanced. I was a senior chief at the time, looking to advance to a nine or a master chief.
Trent Manning:
Mm.
Herb Leyva:
And that kind of got frozen. So under the circumstances I was looking at the fact that I would have to go back out to sea and I wasn’t looking at possibly advancing. So under the, that situation, I decided I’ll just go ahead and put in my papers right along with a whole lot of other guys that retired basically around the same time. So getting out of the Navy, I had to go look for a job and looking into jobs that fit my qualifications. I ran into a situation where there were looking for a mechanic at a private golf course or rebelling. And I filled out that particular application along with a bunch of others and waited for a response. And I got a response from them immediately, you know, so, and doing so I said, well, you know, the problem is, is I’ve never worked at a perfect equipment. It’s all been Navy ships. I know how to fix equipment. You know, nuts and bolts are not some boats. It’s just the application. I said, as long as I have an idea of what to look for, and I have references to, to refer to and be able to teach myself exactly what I need to do, I can go ahead and do that. So the guy was willing to give me a chance. I went in. I showed him what I could basically do. And he was very impressed and hired me on the spot, you know, so it was kind of funny. So once I got into it, I started learning what turf was all about and what the equipment required. And it didn’t take me long to get a ball, a handle on the ball and, and figure it out and do what needed to be done. So that was my first experience was at a private golf course at our country club. And I went from being the mechanic to the translator, to the safety guy to, I ended up with, I think, six or seven different titles while I was there, but it turned out to be very rewarding. And then something else opened up closer to home and went to Berona. Barona Indian reservation at at the golf course there, cause they were opening up a brand new golf course. So, you know, I’m from there. I was there for approximately six years and then moved to another one and so on and so forth. So I eventually ended up over here toward vines, but I’ve had I think six different golf courses so far and experiences that I’ve had. And it’s approximately 25 years of golf maintenance. So it’s been interesting to say the least and somewhat rewarding because I do enjoy that job.
Trent Manning:
Did you play a golf before or what kind of drew you to
Herb Leyva:
You know, it’s kind of funny. You should ask that I’m not a golfer. I understand the game. I’m one. But going out there and chasing the ball just doesn’t really interest me. I did play it while I was active duty Navy overseas in the Philippines, they had a real nice golf? course up there in the middle of the genital. And every time he would hit a ball it, the monkeys would come out of the jungle, catch the ball and run back into the jungle with it. So it was a lot of fun. We had a big cooler beer and we chased balls through the jungle and watched the monkeys take off with them. So it was kind of funny, but that was my first experience in golfing, needless to say I, I shanked a lot of them into the jungle anyways,
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
it was interesting then by the end of that game, it didn’t matter.
Trent Manning:
That was good. That was where I was. We were at. Can you kind of walk us through your daily shot routine?
Herb Leyva:
Okay. It’s kind of interesting right now. The shop itself is kind of small for the facility. I work for the city of San Diego. So working for the city is interesting because when it comes to golf, they really don’t have a clear understanding of what it takes
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
to have a golf course under their care. And they look at it more like a park. You know, they don’t realize that it’s a 24 hour turn around from one day to the next. They, they want to take it easy people in the city. You know, they’re not pressured in any way. They, they work at, at a pace that is very laid back and they come to enjoy. Life, as it goes on, unfortunately is, well, as, you know the, the golf course is not that way because you have to concentrate on the next day. After you finished one day, you go to the next day and get it ready again for play. And you’ve got to have the same results every day, you know, or at least tried to get the same results every day. So people are happy and they pay the kind of money that they charge to play at Torrey Pines. So it’s an interesting situation there. We come in and of course we’re dealing with a very good superintendent who knows how to grow turf.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
certainly does a great job when it comes to getting the golf course ready for tournament. However, from the aspect of superintendents and assistance it’s kind of tough dealing with situations that they create because they make it harder than what it should be. We, we need a better communication every day, which is always a problem. We need better training for personnel that go out and work on the course which is always a problem. So when we come in obviously they make up a schedule, they pass it out personnel to go out and do what they want done on the porch as myself and the two mechanics that work for me. I’ve got. Assigned to the north course, and I’ve got the other one assigned to the south porch. And then we kind of concentrate on what’s going on, try to pick up where they’re trying to create the daily activity. And we are concentrate on making sure that they’re only issues or problems. And we make sure that everybody goes out and gets going. At that point, we turned back around into the shop and concentrate on the maintenance requirements that we have to do on a regular basis. And with the amount of equipment that we have add Torrey Pines it never ends. We’re always trying to catch up,
Trent Manning:
Right.
Herb Leyva:
because we’ve got over 300 pieces of it. You know, I’ve got six fair way units two guys. And so each one has three we’ve got six air fires, you know, the six 40 eights from Doro in, or our equipment is fairly in good shape because the city was smart and they picked up the lease with total. Yeah. So we’re under release and we’re turning over equipment anywhere from three to six years, depending on the type of equipment that it is. So it’s a big turn around in equipment, but it’s fairly new. However, with a lease you also have all the maintenance requirements that come with. And we operate under the miter system. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that.
Trent Manning:
I am
Herb Leyva:
So yeah, so we try to keep that going and making sure that we stay on top of our PM requirements in addition to whatever people, abuse and misuse. So, you know, we have to respond to breakage and issues that come up on a regular basis, you know, flat tires situations that occur just simply because either something happened or they hit a curb or they they dropped the machine or they didn’t hook it. up properly on the trailer and it rolled off. And then obviously the issues where they, they ended up running over. Material out there. That’s not supposed to be mowed over.
Trent Manning:
Well, I’m really glad to hear that. Even at Torrey Pines, they have the same issues as everybody.
Herb Leyva:
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning:
Yup. That was awesome.
Herb Leyva:
change no matter where you go.
Trent Manning:
Yep. And I’m sure you’ve seen that work in at different courses is that happens everywhere.
Herb Leyva:
It does. But, you know, unfortunately it happens more in some courses than others, you know? And, as much as I hate to admit it, Torrey Pines is probably one of the worst storms.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
Believe it or not. It, you would think we would have a very sharp group and some people that are very conscientious and pay attention to what they’re doing and would really take pride in what they do. Unfortunately I’d say, or presented. Personnel that really take it that way. Is it about 30%? The rest of them could care less.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
And so that that’s an issue, unfortunately, but it’s, it’s part of the, part of the golf industry. I think overall it doesn’t change no matter where you go.
Trent Manning:
Yep. That’s true. Do you relief grind?
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. I’m sorry. Relief crime.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Do you relief grind your reels?
Herb Leyva:
You know, that’s interesting, a very controversial subject, to be
Trent Manning:
Yes, it.
Herb Leyva:
with you. And, and I look at it. from a different perspective I have in the past, I don’t particularly care to relieve grind because if you grind in your equipment properly, You get the right angles and you adjust the equipment properly where your bed life to real contact is very, very light the way it’s supposed to be. And it cuts clean. Then you’re not really creating any friction between the bed knife and the real, and a lot of the relief grinding is from what I understand from the manufacturers, this to relieve the pressure between the real and the bed mix and maintain a sharper edge that way without so much contact between the bed knife and the reel when you adjust them, because the tendency is, if it doesn’t prep tight-knit and, and I’ve seen a lot of people. Well, it doesn’t want to cut. They’ll tighten it up some more. And I, I’ve also seen a lot of black nails here and there where people catch their fingers between the bed and my wife and me a reel. And they pinched their fingers and ended up losing the nail simply because they had a too tight and it would bind and they would force it and then they would catch your finger. And then they were sitting in the corner, crying about it.
Trent Manning:
Right. Right?
Herb Leyva:
what you gotta do there is you gotta make sure that if it’s not sharp and your angles are Right. between the bed knife and the reel that you go back, redo it, get the edge back on it and get it to where it’s cutting properly at a bravery, light contact, if any, you know, so it’s, it’s a matter of knowing. How to adjust and how to sharpen real on the bed.
Trent Manning:
Do you do any backlash?
Herb Leyva:
yes, I do. As a matter of fact, for the us open in order to keep things the way they needed to be kept, it was a necessity simply because we just had way too many machines going out at one time and not the personnel to, to keep up with it. So the fastest way to keep an edge on the equipment was to backlash as it would come in and would lap check the, check, the cut and do it again. If it needed to be ground, then I would designate somebody to do the grinding on one particular machine that might need it because it picked something up. Other than that, We would receive everything and adjust everything back into place by lapping. So that was, that was crucial. And, you know, the end result was the USDA was extremely happy and the players were extremely happy. So we came out of there smelling like roses, you know, and turned out to be a very, very good tournament overall.
Trent Manning:
Well so I’m really glad that you’re telling us that you did back lab, because I think in the industry that is viewed, if you, if you back lab, you’re not doing it the right way or, you know, things like that. So I, I really appreciate you letting us know that you back lab and that’s not a bad thing and
Herb Leyva:
no, absolutely not. But I know there’s a lot of controversy there also as far as lapping. And to be honest with you, as long as you have a good edge and you have somebody that is really paying attention to the adjustments and they’re keeping the machine in the right, condition to bring it back to where it needs to be, you lap that, and it will come back. As long as you don’t pick up any debris that is going to damage the
Trent Manning:
right.
Herb Leyva:
you can maintain the,
Trent Manning:
Yup.
Herb Leyva:
so that’s the whole purpose of lamp.
Trent Manning:
I love it. Tell us something you’ve fabricated.
Herb Leyva:
Oh, well, you know, it’s unfortunate. I liked and enjoyed fabricating. we have a welder and we tried to make and create projects. That’s gonna help us in the shop. I don’t know if you had a chance to look at some of the the videos that were created from the U S open. It showed the internal parts of the shop as far as how we have things set up and organized in the shop. So as far as fabrication, it’s limited simply because the city has departments. They have a fabrication shop and we’re not allowed where they don’t like us using a welder and they don’t like us fabricating things. And we really don’t have the personnel to spend a lot of time fabricating anything. They’re a Dory Pines. So there’s a few projects that we have going. We have trailers that need to be repaired. We’re thinking about changing the axle on some of the what do they call them? Oh, I can’t remember the name of the little cheap trailers that they sell for turf equipment.
Trent Manning:
Oh, the trans pro
Herb Leyva:
Hmm.
Trent Manning:
The Toro trailers?
Herb Leyva:
well, no, no, No. it’s not, not the poor, that’s a, it’s an off-brand, but they use them to, to remove, we have rotary machines, commercial side type rotary machines that they use around the lake and they use in areas that they can’t get a big machine in. So they just use like a common home and garden. Rotary machine to do those areas, but to transport them to, and from the golf course, they have a tiny trailer, a small trailer that can carry two of those machines on the back. Anyway the wheels fall off of those things
Trent Manning:
Huh.
Herb Leyva:
because they don’t have, they’ve got more of a it’s it’s a roller bearing rather than a tapered bearing in there with with the nut, you know, that
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Herb Leyva:
hold it in place. So the roller bearing after a while, it starts to fall apart and then the wheels come off and I’m trying to change the hubs, you know, do a hub system where we’ve got a tapered bearings and I’ve got all the material and we’re going to eventually do that when we have time to work on it. But That’s about as far as we can go with fabrication. Now, when, when it comes to. Actual fabrication when I was at Berona, we made a monorail and the, in the shop, or actually it was in the pump house for irrigation and we set up basically a monorail to pull the, the filters, the filters out of the the irrigation pumps, which were there, large Oh shoot. I can’t even remember what we called them, but there, they were weighed 300 pounds a piece. So you needed a chain
Trent Manning:
Hm.
Herb Leyva:
and you would run this thing on the rail. And it would go right to the filter pack where that filter was. And they were unbolted from the pump housing and where those filters were, were sitting and they would take it out and they would clean it. So the rail would, you know, they just hook up to it with with a chain fall and then slide it out and then roll out on the rail. And then they would clean it and roll it back in. And it saved them a lot of time and a lot of work. And we fabricated the whole thing and mounted it inside this building. And it was directly above the pump housings and all that. And to look at it, everybody kind of laughed about it, but when we put it all together and, and assembled it in the pump house everybody was just at all, simply because it worked so well that it saved them a lot of time and money
Trent Manning:
right.
Herb Leyva:
cleaning out those fields.
Trent Manning:
That’s very cool.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. So yeah, you can always come up with neat ideas and in fabrication and coming up with better ways of knowing
Trent Manning:
Hm.
Herb Leyva:
make the job easier, obviously, because that’s the whole purpose of, of making things and creating things to make it easier and more efficient.
Trent Manning:
Right. And then, like you’re saying, it just boils down to time and money
Herb Leyva:
Exactly.
Trent Manning:
And a lot of us, you know, I have so much to do, but we don’t get to fabricate a lot. And you know, there’s some guys that are really lucky and they got enough labor in their shop and they have more time for that fabrication part of it.
Herb Leyva:
That’s true. And you know, to be honest with you, I look at it as a very intricate part of the job, simply because you’re always looking to make things better. And when you have an opportunity to come up with some pretty good ideas and, and create them to simplify certain things and they make it more effective it’s always fun. It’s a good feeling. And you feel like you’re really doing a good job with whatever tasks you have at hand.
Trent Manning:
Right.
Herb Leyva:
and I look at it as a very big part of the job overall.
Trent Manning:
Yeah, for sure. Tell us what your favorite two lists.
Herb Leyva:
You’re gonna laugh. And then, then I’ll explain to you why it’s the broom, believe it or not,
Trent Manning:
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. And the reason is because in order to have a good shot, I believe, and starting from the floor,
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
And so keeping that floor clean, swept up and making sure that that, that floor is always open and clean to where if you need to lay down underneath the piece of equipment and can crawl around that, you can do it comfortably
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
from that point on everything else has to be maintained just as plain and as organized as that floor. You know, so clutter is unacceptable. Dirt is unacceptable. It has to be a clean, organized environment in order to work comfortably.
Trent Manning:
I love it.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. If I’m not comfortable, I don’t like that.
Trent Manning:
I got ya. And do you think some of that comes from your Navy background? Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
And everything had a place. Everything had to go in its place and it all had to be clean And presentable at all times. And that’s where it comes from,
Trent Manning:
And
Herb Leyva:
So I always fall back to that.
Trent Manning:
I think there’s something to be said for sure about everything, having a place, everything, having a home. And I don’t just the feeling, it gives you working in an environment like that is just so much better
Herb Leyva:
Oh,
Trent Manning:
versus you know, a dirty shop. And, you know, and I’m not saying my shop gets dirty all the time, but we clean it and most things have its place. And it’s just, I don’t know. It just makes me feel better working in an environment
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. You, you, you, you, you feel good about working in a place like that. and you know, I’m a true believer. Everything, to find something I hate having to look around for it.
Trent Manning:
Mm.
Herb Leyva:
And, and certainly I don’t depend on memory, you know, because it’s one of those situations where if you try to remember where did I put it? You know, I know it was here last week, but it isn’t there today.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
just drives me nuts. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t work that way. Everything has to have a place. So when you need it, you know where to go?
Trent Manning:
exactly. Do you have any side projects or a side hustle
Herb Leyva:
no, no. I don’t have time for at this point. Again, you know, I’ve got two mechanics are always busy by the time we get out of there in the afternoon, all we want to do is just take it easy and relax.
Trent Manning:
Nothing wrong with that at all?
Herb Leyva:
And I do that too.
Trent Manning:
Yep. What do you like best about your day?
Herb Leyva:
Well, it’s a challenge every day? is it’s a challenge, you know, and certainly with the newer equipment that’s coming out today you know, I guess Torrey Pines in a sense is kind of a testing facility simply because we’re loaded with with the newest and the best that Toro has to offer, which in a way it’s, it’s great. But in another way, it’s, it’s interesting because we’re finding out the new workforce the flex 21, the flux what is it? The 10, 10 26 and the 10 21. We’re trying to Lexus. When you look at that particular machine, I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to look at it, but it’s got an Nexternal transmission and then it’s all put together with shafts and couplings. And the couplings are made out of plastic
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
with a spline shaft. So needless to say, if anything, jams up in the machine and the real, and bentonite that plastic coupling is gonna get worked out. Also some of the shaft assemblies that they came out with for whatever reason, they’re, they’re only about a three eighth of an inch in diameter where it comes together and it snaps, it just, just a clean snap. So now you’re having to replace the shirt. You know, and there’s a lot of little things with those machines that are starting to, to fail just by simple everyday use,
Trent Manning:
Right, right.
Herb Leyva:
you know? and then the transmission, some cells, you know, they’ve got a clutch it’s, it’s just a very simple purchase that sits there and that plug it has a tendency to, after a little bit of time, it starts to wear, and then it starts to slip. So you have to adjust those frequently and it’s all brand new equipment and we’re having to pay a lot of attention to it,
Trent Manning:
Hm.
Herb Leyva:
you know, and we’re learning it as we go along. The, the other thing that we’re having to deal with as the hybrid systems that they’re coming up. Computerized system and the, the computers, the sensors that are Ana they’re proprietary. So we can’t get in and we can’t find out what the problem is with the computer. It has that info center,
Trent Manning:
Right.
Herb Leyva:
a little screen that sits in the controller area, and that gives you a lot of codes. It gives you a lot of information and then you’ve got the decipher, all those things, which again, it’s something that we never had to do before. Now we’re having to get into those things and having to figure out exactly what’s going on and then try to figure out if we something we can fix in the shop and send it back. Or we have to call the Toro tech to come in and do his magic with his little backpack or laptop. Hook up to it and then figure out exactly what’s going on. So it’s a lot of coordination and it’s sometimes takes quite a bit of time to get things going and get them back out there and do the job. So it’s, it’s becoming more and more interesting. And you’re having to spend a lot of time working with those systems, which you never really had to worry about before
Trent Manning:
I don’t. What do you think one of your biggest challenges is with the newer technology?
Herb Leyva:
basically is obviously the learning, how to decide for that information
Trent Manning:
Hm.
Herb Leyva:
and get a handle on it. That’s going to be a big challenge. The other is to give Toro to release the information. You know, and one of the things that they’re doing, and again, it’s an adjustment for everybody that is working with tour equipment. They’re doing away with all the paper manuals and references, and you have to have a computer in order to get the information that you need. They also have the little barcode on the machine that you can scan with your phone and you can flash it with, with your telephone and it’ll bring up all that information. But have you ever tried to read a service manual on the wall? On a cell phone?
Trent Manning:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. And all, and I actually, for that reason, I got a tablet, a
Herb Leyva:
Oh, there you go.
Trent Manning:
tablet, and I will say yes, much better on a tablet versus itself,
Herb Leyva:
You’re not squinting all the
Trent Manning:
but yeah. Yeah. And you can zoom in too
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. There you go. But it does make it a little more difficult because, you know, I, I don’t know. I guess, you know, I’m somewhat of a dinosaur I’ve been around for a few years and trying to adapt to that particular way of working has been probably a little more difficult for me than most people simply because I knew my generation didn’t have anything like that.
Trent Manning:
Right, right.
Herb Leyva:
Kids today, are you steward? People like me, it’s a whole new world and I’m having to learn it as I go.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Well, good for you though, but that makes it interesting to you, Right.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah, it does. It’s another thing that, that creates a challenge for you. And if you like what you do, you will eventually learn it. You know, it does, you go through and you deal with it on a daily basis. So.
Trent Manning:
Since you’re a leasing Toro equipment, do you get to go to the Toro service school?
Herb Leyva:
It’s available. I realize it’s available. The Toro guys, obviously it gets sent to Minneapolis or to go get exposed to the information and get back. The city of San Diego has an offered the Toro company or the distributor four-door does offer it. But it’s not free. And to obtain it, you know, we have to get it through the city and the city because of the number of people that we have. We’re short shorthanded as it is. You. know, we lose a guy and we’re in trouble. That’s one third of our workforce.
Trent Manning:
right, right.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
Yep. No, I get that. And I’m assuming in San Diego, y’all never really stopped.
Herb Leyva:
It’s 365,
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
you know, the weather here, unfortunately, it’s, it’s great. We don’t have to deal with winners. We don’t have to deal with too many storms. Usually it’s nice and sunny. It’s cool in the morning. Great. On the day, you know, and so in most cases it’s an enjoyable day here and there’s an awful lot of people that want to play golf. So we’re busy yeah.
Trent Manning:
First year was one of the craziest things you’ve seen at the golf course,
Herb Leyva:
at at this golf course or
Trent Manning:
any, any, any golf course does the crazy story.
Herb Leyva:
Oh, well, about as crazy as a gift. I, and I hate to say it because what I’m doing is I’m criticizing somebody’s method or practice in respect to the maintenance of golf courses. But I did work for a superintendent that was, as far as he was concerned, oh, he maintained and kept the best greens anywhere. Nobody could maintain greens and like he did and what he did or what he used to do when he would talk to us, he would put about an inch and a half to two inches of sand on top of the green.
Trent Manning:
Oh, wow.
Herb Leyva:
And then, and then the pickup, the sand, he would use the mowers and what he wanted every fourth, every fourth green that he would pick the sand up with. He wanted sharp more to do it.
Trent Manning:
Wow. Okay.
Herb Leyva:
And so needless to say off of evergreen, we would take off at least you know, the utility club car that has the box in the back. We would fill seven of those at every green full of sand that came off of the green after Dawn and his reasoning behind it is he wanted to make sure that every crevice and every crack and every hole that he created was filled with sand. And the only way he was gonna make sure that as if he actually blanketed the whole green with Sam, that was his theory. And so we would basically destroy the mowers and picking up sand every time he would stop dressed like that.
Trent Manning:
Wow.
Herb Leyva:
I replaced real assemblies about every nine months, I would completely replace have to replace the reel
Trent Manning:
Wow.
Herb Leyva:
the machine simply because we would just run it through the grinder so much that we would just end up having to replace it after a while.
Trent Manning:
That’s correct.
Herb Leyva:
So, but that’s about as crazy as it gets, I think.
Trent Manning:
Yeah, no, I would agree that, that, that mob top it for all the crazy stories I’ve heard on this podcast, I’m loving that. Yeah, that’s insane. And yeah, I don’t, I don’t really follow the logic. Luckily the guy that I worked for, if we’re picking up a lot of sand he’ll make a change because he wants the sand to stay out of there, you know, want I’ll put the sand on the grass and then just pick it up and throw it away.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. It makes no sense, but you know, again, different philosophies,
Trent Manning:
Hm.
Herb Leyva:
Trains of thought. That was about as crazy as it got. And I couldn’t convince them otherwise, you know, I just, I just couldn’t couldn’t make sense of it. And I, I tried talking to him about it, but
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
by God it was going to be the way he wanted to done. And that’s what he did.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Well,
Herb Leyva:
And so I said, okay, well, you know, the money’s there because you’re going to have to replace a lot of parts. And, and when it comes to the machine, so we’re gonna, we’re in term up.
Trent Manning:
Tell us one of your pet peeves.
Herb Leyva:
Oh, one of my bed bees. Oh, Cleanliness, I guess that’s, that’s a biggie for me. I, I check equipment all the time. And unfortunately in the city being in the position that I’m in, I, you know, I feel my hands are tied simply because I can’t discipline correct or create any kind of action to make people understand that they can’t do that. You know it falls under a different sense of administration with respect to how the city runs and how everything is set up. So I’m responsible for the equipment and all I can do is report it and then it’s up to somebody else to correct it. And it’s unfortunate because. Without strong discipline that problem will never be resolved and then we’ll go away. And it’s, it’s a big thing with me to keep things clean in order to keep things running properly.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
I hate seeing equipment when it’s brought back and it’s put away dirty on just, I hate tolerating that, but I’m having to bite my tongue frequently.
Trent Manning:
I think a lot of us definitely have to struggle with that.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. And you know, it happens all the time, but one of the solutions that. I’ve found and it’s worked at least with my smaller equipment is when I first got there, I asked him, I said, well, you know, cause they had everything piled up in one room and of course, none of it worked properly. What did work in the last, and it was a situation where I just took everything out. I went through at all, what was salvageable. I was able to get back in line with it, but I made a list of things that they were using on a frequent basis. And I asked them, I said, what, what do you really need to maintain in the shop for, for people to move the job? And, you know, they said, well, we’re obviously strength. Drummers is one thing because they use them all the time to clean bunker edges and cart paths and around trees and things of this nature. So I said, well, we need at least 10 string trimmers. Per course, you know, so 10 for the north 10th. And I said, okay. now give me 10 names of people that you will assign these tremors to. And what I did was I assigned individual termers to individual people, and then I’ve got a holder for the tremor and I put a lock on that tremor with a combination and I gave it to the guy I sit and I set up the combination for the lock. And I said, here you go. You’re the only one that has access to this. So you’re responsible to maintain it, take care of it and use it. Nobody else is going to use it except, and it seems to work. I haven’t had to replace them since 17 20 17 or 2021 now. So,
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
and they, they all work. So they’ve lasted that, you know, the, the time, and I’ve had to add more tremors to the list because 10 wasn’t enough. So, so, so I’ve had to add more, but, you know, That’s the same, same set up and it works same way with, with handblowers. I assigned handblowers to reach under the door and I’m put a lock on each one of them and seems to be holding up. I haven’t had to replace either handlers or termers.
Trent Manning:
Hmm. That’s an interesting idea.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. And so far, you know, it has saved them a lot of, a lot of money and replacements because from my understanding before I got there, they were replacing them on a yearly basis.
Trent Manning:
Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. That’s been a huge savings. Yeah. What would be your dream job or a dream opportunity? Or are you already there?
Herb Leyva:
Well yeah, I guess, I guess this is it for me, you know? I mean, I’ve I’ve been doing it now for right at 25 years. So I put twenty-five years in the Navy. So I’m 71 year ago
Trent Manning:
Hmm,
Herb Leyva:
coming this month in August, I’ll be 71. So he, you know, and everybody’s asked me, he says, when are you planning to retire? I said, well, I guess from, I can’t do it anymore. I’ll be, I’ll be pulling, you know, throwing in the towel and saying, that’s it.
Trent Manning:
Mm.
Herb Leyva:
But you know, if I had, if I had an opportunity to, to select a job, maybe I, I don’t know, you know, it would be Maybe somewhere where I could teach people
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Herb Leyva:
Right. You know, and and spend the rest of my time showing people how to do it. Right. You know, and
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah, I think that would be good. Cause I do enjoy, you know, the guys that I’ve had work with me. I’ve got one that has followed me for, from one place to another. That still works with me. You know, he, he broke away from me for a while, but then came back and we’ve been working together and he knows my my philosophy and he knows, he
Trent Manning:
Hm.
Herb Leyva:
how I work and he enjoys working with me and
Trent Manning:
awesome.
Herb Leyva:
he’s, he’s learned a lot from me and he does things around. I like to see them done. And so, you know, that says a lot for him and it says a lot for me. And in the sense that it makes my job a whole lot easier.
Trent Manning:
Oh yeah. I’m sure.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah,
Trent Manning:
And you’re getting things done the way that you like to do them
Herb Leyva:
exactly. Exactly. and
Trent Manning:
having a guy that’s, you know, loyal to you and I’m sure it looks up to and all that stuff as, as wonderful.
Herb Leyva:
yeah, it is. And, and, you know, to be honest with you, I don’t really have to give him direction half the time he’s already applied. They read my mind, you know, because I see something and he’s on it.
Trent Manning:
Right,
Herb Leyva:
I don’t want to say anything. He just he’s looking around and he sees things and he makes them happen.
Trent Manning:
That’s awesome.
Herb Leyva:
so it does work really well.
Trent Manning:
Was the latest tips and tricks you’d like to share with us again, anything.
Herb Leyva:
You know, that’s, I’ve had a lot in the past, but right off the top, I haven’t really come up with anything. other than that. Making sure that you have everything written test to be, you know, and, and in placing the right tools for the right job. Making sure you have, especially with the new door equipment, they come up with with different sockets to disassemble and remove certain parts off the machines. And, you know, they make references in their books, but you got to look them up. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the, with the grooming system that they’ve come up with on the tour equipment later,
Trent Manning:
The universal. Yeah. The universal grammar drive.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
Yep. Yep.
Herb Leyva:
And the nut that’s in there to remove that you need a special socket. And initially they were tightening that, and this was a tore up. They would tighten to take off and put on the groomer box. Yeah. There’s where the shaft comes out. They would tighten it from there when they would remove one and tighten it internally from there. And it would create that small shaft and agender to wobble and it would chew up the, the seal
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
come out on the box. The, in reality, what you have to do is you have to take that box apart and then tighten it in strongly and then put it back together and then add the oil into the gearbox. And there’s a special socket. And if you don’t have that socket, you can’t do it.
Trent Manning:
Hmm,
Herb Leyva:
And then there’s a special torque, you know, it’s gotta be torque. It’s gone to print a high torque on it. If I remember correctly, I think it requires 50 and 55 foot pounds to torque it. And they, they also, it. also requires Loctite. So it doesn’t spin out. Cause they’ve had them spin out and jam everything up inside the box.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. I actually, I had that happen on one of my units.
Herb Leyva:
or did
Trent Manning:
is yep. That is the guy brings it in and. don’t know the real won’t tire. And I’ll say the box, you know, sticking out about an inch farther than it’s supposed to be sticking out.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. Well, I’ve had several incidents instances where that whole thing would fall apart until they started figuring out exactly what needed to be done to correct that issue. But yeah, initially when they first came out with that groomer box, it was. And and we had several of them break, literally just come apart and they would snap.
Trent Manning:
yep.
Herb Leyva:
we had to replace a few before we figured out exactly where the issues were and how to put it back together to make sure. it wouldn’t happen. So it was a, it was a learning experience to say the least that just the whole goal of box assembly and how to put it together and how to take it apart.
Trent Manning:
I was gonna ask you to tell us about hosting the us open
Herb Leyva:
about, about what I’m sorry.
Trent Manning:
hosting the U S open.
Herb Leyva:
Well, you
Trent Manning:
challenging was that?
Herb Leyva:
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had never done this before now. I’ve had I’ve had the farmers. Oh, every year, we’ve got seven under our belt so far.
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Herb Leyva:
So the farmers is obviously a big tournament, but not at all, like the us open and the us open. The last one they had here at Torrey Pines was in 2008 and I wasn’t here for that. So I heard a lot about it. I looked at a lot of previous U S opens and some of the experiences that other people had had by looking at videos and presentations that people had made concerning the U S open. So I was anticipating a big situation, you know, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to go about I was told that there would be quite a few machines that had to be brought in. I was told that sharpening was going to be a requirement for a lot of the machines because that’s what a USG EA would require.
Trent Manning:
Hm.
Herb Leyva:
So I didn’t know what to expect. And I tried to prepare myself as best I could to ensure that I could accommodate the requirements. So I went out locally and I looked for technicians that I knew or heard that they were very good techs and sent out invitations. I had 12 people identified that I sent invitations to
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Herb Leyva:
and tried to bring them in to give us a hand with it, along with the two mechanics that I had in the shop and myself.
Trent Manning:
Right.
Herb Leyva:
And in preparing for it, I set up stations to backlash,
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
and also set up air stations, you know, set up some hose reels with their air hoses. And I set up a water bibs to have water available or were instant off
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Herb Leyva:
the backlash once it was finished and it was done. And then I had to grind or set up just in case if we had to grind anything during the process and our drive to get as much information from the USG or the, yeah, the USDA. And, and also from my superintendent. Now my superintendent kept telling me, oh, don’t worry about it. It’s going to be toast. Hosting our farmers, you know, and I kept hearing different rumors, you know? And I said, well, I don’t know. You know, we need to make sure we were ready for it and we need to start preparing. So at the last minute he started to panic. I mean, he started saying, well, yeah, let me know what you need in order what you think you’re going to need this, that and the other. And I said, well, it’s a little late. We’re looking at, you know, now a month, month and a half from now. So if we start placing orders for particular pieces of equipment that we feel we’re going to need, and it doesn’t come in on time and set it up and do everything else that needs to be done, we’re not going to be ready. But you know, we scrambled try to get everything ready. Also got the guys coming in, the ones that did commit to coming in and give us a hand and the ones. Couldn’t, you know, they let us know. So out of the 12 guys that I had coming in 50% of them showed up. And so I had six guys out of wealth and they stayed busy during the whole process. And it was interesting because the buildup for the us open you know, big semi-tractor braillers started coming in with all kinds of equipment and they started doing all kinds of stuff out there on the course. And the north course was completely torn apart simply because they, they set up a complete driving range out there that wasn’t there before. And then they started building buildings, you know, the tents and everything else that the set up for. And I mean, it was all the North Korea. Was set up with that. And then they had big parking lot areas out there on the fairways and over the DS and everything else. So north course was basically destroyed in, in the setup and the south course, obviously we had to be set up for the tournament. So the concentration and the preparation crew for the tournament itself really kept us busy and just get nip ready for the initial tournament. And then one, once the tournament came to play we had obviously all the equipment that we had to set up for. So we did have 12 fairway units that went out in unison
Trent Manning:
Oh, wow.
Herb Leyva:
would mow a fairway with one pack.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
And that was a sight to see you. That was impressive. I, you know, I looked at that and I went, wow, That’s amazing. Cause they’re early in the morning, all you saw was just the line of machines and they were together and unison and they were staggered and they would make one pass and then they would come back and turn around and go to the next fairway. And they would just, yeah, they would mow all 18 holes, one Right. after the other with one pass. So it was pretty impressive. And the cut on the fairway units was beautiful. It turned out really nice. It worked out, I had a couple of guys assigned to the units themselves and they would check them and adjust them on a regular basis, you know, so it had a nice sharp edge to get them in time with respect to speed. And also with the real assemblies to ensure that the cut even all the way across was interesting in itself because I had my units in-house have the, the real assembly that has the groomer on them and it has brushes and, and obviously they, they weigh a little more with the extra equipment that it has and the units that came in as loaners to accommodate the, the knee. Didn’t have any groomer assemblies on it. And initially when they first made a pass, you could see a difference in discoloration, even though the height was set up. The same,
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
There was lines that were. Then the others that had the groomers, the groomers were leaving a lighter color on the, on the turf from trying to figure out. And I said, well, how are we going to change this? Or make them all look the same?
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Herb Leyva:
And the solution to the whole thing was in that spring bar. That’s on top of the unit. I don’t know if you’re,
Trent Manning:
yeah, yeah. Yup.
Herb Leyva:
when we did was we changed the tension on the spring,
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Herb Leyva:
which put more down pressure on the reel assembly and as making adjustments to those even everything out,
Trent Manning:
Awesome. That’s very
Herb Leyva:
worked out perfect and then turned out to be a really very very what’s the word, I guess impressive. Out there on the fair rates, because that all looked even
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
So it was really nice.
Trent Manning:
Did the, the guys that volunteered for you, was that just tournament week or did you have some guys in advance week too?
Herb Leyva:
I had I had some during the advanced week and I had some during tournament the the, that they actually asked for time off during the, the whole process. So I had them there for 12 days.
Trent Manning:
Oh, wow. Okay.
Herb Leyva:
were there for two weeks. Yeah.
Trent Manning:
That is awesome.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah, So it worked out perfect. And, you know, I couldn’t, I couldn’t show enough appreciation for what they did. They actually came in and donated third time.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
know, away from work. I don’t know. If a companies where they worked at, everybody was real happy. And the response from the golf courses is that allowed them to come. We’re very happy with the fact that their mechanic came down and represented their golf course. And what we tried to do is have each one of them bring a flag from their course and we hung it up in the shop, you know, representing this is who is here to help,
Trent Manning:
that’s really good.
Herb Leyva:
you know? Yeah. And then at the end of the tournament we presented them with a tournament flag, you know, and gave him a Torrey Pines flag with the 20, 21 us open emblem on it. So, you know, they, they left there with a good Symbol of what they participated in and they seem to be really, really happy with whole process.
Trent Manning:
Oh, that’s awesome.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. We exchanged numbers and information and we help each other and we stay in touch, you know? So these are, these are guys that I feel good comeback for maybe a farmers or anytime that something pops up. I think I could give them a call and invite him and they probably would be more than happy to come down and give us.
Trent Manning:
Oh, yeah, for sure. That’s yeah, that’s awesome. You building those relationships and I would encourage the listeners. Anytime you get a chance to volunteer somewhere, just do it. It’ll be a great experience and you’ll learn a lot and you’ll make some lifetime friends.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. You know, I mean, we. I’m very blessed in the sense that we host professional tournaments at lunch. You know, we have the, obviously the farmers every year, and then we had an opportunity to host the year or so which is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and, you know, going at it without any experience whatsoever was certainly a learn as you go experience. But everything was very positive and it really worked out well for us. So, and the guys that participated I feel left here with, with a good feeling and, and what something to remember,
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Herb Leyva:
for the rest of their lives, you know, even if they don’t ever do it again at a, at a us open or a professional tournament, at least they can say they, they had that experience.
Trent Manning:
Right. Yep. I agree. A hundred percent. I was fortunate enough. I got to volunteer at bell re for the 100th PGA championship
Herb Leyva:
good for
Trent Manning:
2018. And I’ll never forget that experience never. And
Herb Leyva:
It’s it’s different
Trent Manning:
time.
Herb Leyva:
yeah, it is. It is something that you know, cause having working at a private golf course obviously it’s a different environment than working at a public golf course. But when you have a public golf course, like Torrey Pines the events and the course itself you know, even if the course isn’t properly maintained, you go out there and you don’t really see the, the areas that, that are faulty in a sense. Because the course itself is so pretty. You know, it’s just a natural setting out there next to the VR and yeah, it just kind of takes your breath away when you walk that course.
Trent Manning:
No bet.
Herb Leyva:
nice and green and it’s beautiful on a beautiful day,
Trent Manning:
I mean the stuff I saw on TV
Herb Leyva:
place to work.
Trent Manning:
and it was amazing. Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
It is it’s, it’s Beautiful.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Herb Leyva:
You know? So just the location along the natural part of that force is what really makes that course something. So,
Trent Manning:
Well tell the listeners how they can get ahold of you. You got a email.
Herb Leyva:
Yeah. Our, again, I’m working at at city San Diego and my email. is H Leyva, L E Y V as in Victor, a@sandiego.gov.
Trent Manning:
All right. Well, very good. Thank you so much for coming on. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this. This is a really good I appreciate your service to our country. Thank you for that. And we’ll talk to you soon. I hope you enjoyed hearing from her. I was such a pleasure talking to him. just almost speechless. I can’t believe he’s still out there getting it done. At 71. And on top of his game. A very interesting guy to talk to super humble. As you can tell. Don’t forget to tell a friend about the podcast. That’ll really help us spread the word and get more technicians involved in the real turf techs community. I can’t believe how far it’s grown so far. It was unbelievable. We have a WhatsApp group going. A lot of good guys and gals in there. sharing ideas and telling stories. And there’s a lot of fun. If you’re interested in that, send. It’s a DM on Twitter. And tune in next week. We’ll be talking to Michael Shelton. See you. Bye. thank you so much for listening to the real turf techs podcast. I hope you learned something today. Don’t forget to subscribe. If you have any topics. SKUs or you’d like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at real turf techs. See ya.