Diarmuid Griffin, equipment manager at Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg in County Clare, Ireland, got his start building off-road go-karts from a kit with his Holy Communion money. After working as a caddie and getting his education in agricultural mechanics, Diarmuid did a stint at a workshop in Saudi Arabia. When a job opened three minutes from his home in Ireland, he jumped at the chance at his dream position. Listen in on how Diarmuid fabricated a tine-holder stand and articulating jib crane. This conversation across an ocean connects us all in valuing a career where you’re trusted and left to do your job and do it well.
Transcript
Trent Manning:
right. So say your name again, please.
Diarmuid Griffin:
My name is dear Ms. Griffin.
Trent Manning:
it. Yeah. I’m glad. I’m glad you all that is on the record and styling listened to it a few times and maybe not.
Diarmuid Griffin:
was really hoping you would try and say it, but since you asked,
Trent Manning:
Yeah. That I didn’t even want to I’ll be honest. I’ve been calling you diamond. this was, is close to that.
Diarmuid Griffin:
yeah, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.
Trent Manning:
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel 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 Welcome to the real turf text podcast, episode 34. Today, we’re talking to Dearman Griffin. He’s the equipment manager at Trump international and dune bag. On the coast of Ireland, dune bag is an 18 hole course, which was redesigned in 2016. By Dr. Martin hall tree. Dearman has one assistant technician and his workshop. Shout out to Rory. Let’s hear from Dearman. welcome. Dearman to the real turf tax podcast. Thank you so much for coming on. We’ll get right to it. How’d you get into the turf industry?
Diarmuid Griffin:
My entrance into the turf industry? I suppose, in typical Irish fashion, that’s a shark story about telling you the alarm was personal, but the golf course I work at now, it was previously Dubai golf course was built in 2001, open 2001. So in 2002, I was like 14 or 15. And in this area there isn’t a lot of employment, especially for kids you’re working embarrassed and stuff like that. So I’ve been Kadian, so I was like 14 or 15 year old caddied for summer months in between school. So I did that for three, four years, I think. And after school in my last year of school was do my leaving cert, which like your final exams of high school, I guess. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had no clue and the 10 years get a job or get a qualification or go to college. And I didn’t really want to go to college. It wasn’t in my head and the company that were running the caddy program, caddy master, I think they’re the best at a point are not sure. Come back awhile. Now. They were like, we’ll bring it to the Cayman islands for six months and you go caddy, dairy, put you up and all that newsfeed local, you guys go on. And I was like, that sounds Okay. That sounds not too bad. So we were done in grand Cayman with grand Cayman and like November and some it departments to go for six months, but till November from refinished SCAD in maybe September. So I was kind of doing nothing and Irish story again, would lead back to bar. So when I was in the doctor bar and the guy Barry Murphy he was the mechanic and the golf course at the time, I was like, Oh, the way, if there’s ever an apprenticeship going around like that, I had no clue about anything about mechanical wise and the gospels didn’t even know it existed, but it was just packed conversation. So in the following match, I was out on camera and as Katie and I get this phone call, Barry’s like, oh Yeah. I have that job here. I’m like, watch out. It was like, oh, what can in the workshop in the bathroom? I was like, cool. And I was like, I ain’t going to be finished here in a couple of months. I knew it was, I guess the next week I flew back to Ireland between the back and conduct to Ireland. And I started as I can a print this in the workshop of that golf course. So I spent like four years there as the print, this book here, there’s no way of, let’s say like a tough mechanics college around like that. So I had to go to an agriculture and mechanics apprenticeship,
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Diarmuid Griffin:
is kind of tricky because I was doing my golf course stuff during the day. Like I do now. And you go off for like three months of the year, six months, then two treatment blocks over the four years and you’re in didn’t combine harvesters and stuff. I don’t see. So I had to wing that completely, but like, I suppose it can only be asked what you’re showing. So I used just kind of concentrate on the school and part of it and passed all the exams. So that was a bit like four years as an apprentice and golf club down the road. Was it on the road, like an hour away. They were looking for a mechanic after that. And Barry goes, this guy is good enough. So calming down there. So it was truly golf course, and it’s been three years there. And after those two years, I was kind of like, I didn’t know if I wanted to do it. And when he was, when he was good, like, I didn’t know if that was what I really wanted to do. I got kind of set up with a job in Saudi Arabia, working on a cause I’m the manager in a workshop and one of the firms out there. So I went to do that because good money. is the way to be. I’ll make savings, pay for a house, get a kind of a head stack then guys. Yeah. Well cared for two years. I mean, did like a year and a bit there. And it was like no lifestyle, money go, but no lifestyle as a, I don’t want to do this either. But then the job came up and the golf course where I’m from where Barry was buried, moved on and it was now trombone. They taken over of refurb and I’m like, this is literally, this is treatment. It’s in my house.
Trent Manning:
Oh, wow.
Diarmuid Griffin:
It’s good money. It’s a job. I wasn’t interested. I was a bit disillusioned by it, but. Is it hard jobs or had got where I’m from? Like so the gap will go back and show herself. And in one sense it was a perfect mix because I came up with the industry from not knowing what a more was learning my trade show. Getting my own workshop and golf course, initially it had to run in the back then. I went into a huge setup, like the mechanics they’re learning systems, from everywhere.
Trent Manning:
Um,
Diarmuid Griffin:
I learned all the way off and then I got a real grasp of wash, proper management of a proper workshop board. I don’t think I could do what I’m doing now. If I hadn’t seen the big, big picture of what goes on, I learned so much about preventative. That’s so much about carding and I would have spoke to you earlier, but now I can use Twitter as a diary. There’s so much initially that I did in those two years that I don’t even remember now. Cause it wasn’t a thing, but now I have a card nearly every day. That’s kind of like I said, the long version of public, Sharpton of story, how I got, where I am.
Trent Manning:
No, that’s awesome. That was a good story. you have any, mechanical aptitude before that? Or did you enjoy
Diarmuid Griffin:
didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t I didn’t think I talked about this, but no, not really. As such, I thought I was going to court to the building trade pre 2008 bubble burst. That’s what everyone did where I was. Everyone was like diploma, catheter, electrician per terror. I taught maybe that’s the road I’d go down. I never sounded circled to college. back when I was 12 or 13, one of my, my best friend call, no, we were nesting that top 13, 10, 11. We took our savings from our holy community. And we bought kids to build your own Afro go-karts where you weld up the frame and all that. Like I’m from a farming background originally. So my brother that can kind of has the farm. When I said farm it’s small where I am, but he like an elder in that. So I bought all his kids. My parents didn’t know about this. We were buying, it was like cash on delivery. So we had our saved and spent up like probably six or 700 juristic. So I built this case because what it was doing was like, sure. Yeah. we’ll try it anyway. So that would have been, my first thing is a bit broader. Showed me how to, well then looking back at it now, like it was poverty, like as good sticking it together, but so build up the frame. Catholic. You talk about running off a Honda GX, one 60 engines interview and such that kind of stuff. ATV wheels. And we built a. No, it wasn’t perfect. But that would have been my experience. Then I bought a couple of other golf carts and I stripped them down and got them to be painted them and got them mechanics and got them going again. But that would have been it. I never would have seen a future. I was too young to have I care. You can drive at 16 and America. Yeah, It’s a, it’s kind of 18 here. So by the time I got to 18, I was in Cayman islands. So I kind of fell into that. The only other experience I would have had is over to driving the tractor at home. I’m doing a lot of the tractor work. I would have been a farmer from the tractor seat, but I wouldn’t have been a farmer outside of the tractor. I did want them to ask about calls out like that. So that would have been the only experience I would have had pre going into the golf course workshop.
Trent Manning:
I got, ya know, that that’s a good story. I love it. It reminds me of my dad and his brother. So they grew up farming and really poor, and they went halfers, you know, combine their money and bought a bicycle, you know, from catalog that they had to put together. You know, funny stories that you don’t think about, know, and, and these, know, Bob above kids about a cycle. So, you know, it was no big deal, but they had to save their money up and their own bicycle.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Yeah. The tricky part to the whole thing is that was extended to my mother and father were the engine and all these parents would be in. So coming out of, you know, like didn’t know about it, but they kind of just went along with it then, because it was still there. That’s the genuine
Trent Manning:
Walk us through your daily shot routine.
Diarmuid Griffin:
So like from, from distance episodes, like an ordinary. I probably have, I guess, different parts of the world, a different result. I kind of have it really lucky cause they, I met Scott the superintendent when I come back to Trump to buy, but I was like a hard hours and he was like, what do you want? Or so you like there rarely or whatever you want to do. And I kind of like, I like a seven o’clock staff, but the guys are starting at six. Now this is going back up at basic Starkey. The, I am not good to get up in the morning. I sat there and now I still do that. So I start at seven, even though the guy stack the six in that’s how you season that. So when you have some light in and when someone says you should be there, when everyone’s not really. Cause runs smooth and I find it gives myself more time in the evening. Cause I’m there an hour and a half, maybe two hours sometimes longer than the guys are in the, after. So I get more time to actually get stuff done with no one moving machinery around the act, as well as that, like, we’re kind of, I don’t want to say bad guys, but we are little out in the sticks where we’re out in the west of Ireland. So my courier deliveries are three, four o’clock in the afternoon, a week apart most days. So there’s no real point that I’d gone up to a Gawker. Did the parts guy drive and then you lose a day.
Trent Manning:
Right, right.
Diarmuid Griffin:
You know what I mean? Like at the end of the day, I think I’m back in dune Dyke six and a half years. I think I’ve maybe got three phone calls. Maybe that something something’s gone wrong and something’s gone wrong is generally something that started.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah,
Diarmuid Griffin:
It’s not the end of the world. Like as the G okay. Jumps doctor, because someone left an ignition. And like I said, I am treatments. I’m actually, I’ve moved to class or know about a house, literally, maybe in two minutes.
Trent Manning:
Oh, wow.
Diarmuid Griffin:
From work. I pretty much could not, I’m never really aware of in the past if I, if there’s a problem. So I’m okay. But, so I stacked at Normally I would kind of work off my diary a lot, maybe a bit off my phone. Now I started using the phone a bit more. I’d be big man for making this list of everything that needs to be done. I know you will have to say that you can make a list, but you never stick that, but I’d be big man for making lists. I think it’s really simple way of kind of work and then I’ll make a list and I’ll what I’ve and what I don’t have to not write the next day. And I just keeps folding over. Yeah. There’s days you won’t even touch that list, there’s great satisfaction to see what you have done and you still know what you still have to do, I would go in the morning, I look at that list, prioritize. Pardon me needs to be done, know what doesn’t need to be done when I get done, do I have to do have an assistant in the at the moment and he give him whatever jobs he needs generally the morning time to be fair is any service that isn’t out on the Any repairs that isn’t out on the course, that’s more than on time, I guess, for the same for I wouldn’t get out in the course. Definitely not as much as I’d like to, I try to go maybe Fridays for it is a good day to set a wind down the week, but Friday afternoons and part in day, forgetting all the chords. Definitely 100% check tight or whatever. And for I like Friday to be data will get out for 15, 20 minutes, half an hour, especially to look at pheromones pheromones, like my book. You’re trying to match five. You there’s the one where they’re hidden dividends. We’ve got lots of ones. Are they? It’s just, they’re the one that anyone to make a set of greens more because it’s what you’re going to hit a claim part about it. But fair remarks. I don’t want you to, like, I like watching those things like babies, trying to make sure they’re they, I try and get out with them and we would generally summertime, Monday, Wednesday, So that would be the day I would get out. And of course I don’t get out as much as I would So if we do the mourn and up servicing and stuff like that, for more than all the machinery would roll back in around 11, 11 30, you guys often launch, but the times are washed down, dry down. We spend afternoon and check in and scheduling for the next day. re it is really not saying clockwork as stock work seems like it’s really efficient. It’s not what you kind of knew. You can only know when a problem’s common or, you know, it’s called that’s Um, The way I did it, like when I went back to um, cause it was new owners, new green keeper, loads of new machinery, loads of extra staff. You could go in in the morning. There’s three guys standing handlers and I got really changed heightened. This one, this one is to go up. That one is go down and I was like, this is not.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Who’s making the call and how do we know this If you want something, don’t come to me the next day before I leave, give me an I’ll have it done. If you know, it needs to be done tomorrow. We know what needs to be done yesterday afternoon. You know what I mean? And we just organized take the panic out of this and there’ll be Nolan standing around, but a more on their hands, the continual what’s So I kind of had to put systems in place at that, but I also did this. I put a whiteboard, a big whiteboard, and if you have a problem, you write it up. It’s kind of next to the job board. You’d write that up. Or so servicing all that. So there was no kind of preventative service plan in place, and it’s still kind of old school compared to you guys, but with my turf and Um, So it is like timer label every 50 hours. It’s by the meter by the ignition key and the guys right So then write that on the board, but if it’s up there at least on checking it every few hours or roars check him out and we see what problems go up and we see what’s going for service, but as well as that, because some, the board decide the jobs board, Scott and John, the head and the assistant Dessie, what’s a problem or could problem for scheduling and what’s.
Trent Manning:
yeah, Yeah,
Diarmuid Griffin:
I guess it’s pretty much anyone else’s set up.
Trent Manning:
yeah, I mean, we all do it similar. I mean, their own old differences
Diarmuid Griffin:
When I was listening to other episodes and that everyone’s like, oh, I’m in a four. I mean, I’d have five I’m like, how am I going to tell these guys? I go in at like seven.
Trent Manning:
I’m trying to remember who it was. I think Chris Whitaker, he takes his kids to school and he didn’t come in until like eight or eight 30.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I don’t feel so bad now.
Trent Manning:
So you’re out in the middle And I, I mean, I’ve went back and forth. Sometimes I’ll come in early 30 minutes before the crew or something. And then other times I’ll come in at seven and I’m lucky enough, I got two assistants in the shop. I make sure they’re there on time and, you know, if it’s a flat tire or something, all star, you know, they can handle Do you relief grind not?
Diarmuid Griffin:
I do. I use when I’m ready to come back. 15, that kind of abandoned place, the buy news. And we had 4 46, 40 and a six 70 the workshop at the time. Wasn’t a great workshop. It was more of a shed. So it was not a moisture and all the shafts and all the on the, I know you’re familiar with 40, so you know the shops and I bought new shafts that needed a lot of work to get them, right. So we put a plan in place to buy. They had a plan in place actually to replace them with news. I think it was the fight flight fight was the brand at the time I could and the bed nurse going down, I was like, no, like, I really like if we stay, but for these and Toby fair, like the organization at green or like the dust you want, that’s fine. That’s no problem. And the guy that was selling them at the time was actually going out with the business, but I rang him. I didn’t know him. And he was saying, Yeah. go for leaders. This new one coming out is the six foot tree, but it won’t be me. It’ll be dealing with a big guy in Harland Arjun’s back region. I just actually had one, I think, in Ireland at the time when, or maybe he got someone in America bit fuzzy, but he did a FaceTime demo. Cause I couldn’t fly to America. I was only there a few weeks and I’m going to fly me to America to look recording. So I did that and I was looking at some videos on YouTube and stuff. I was like, I like this. I really, really like this. I didn’t have the room to build a specific grinding room. So you’re doing cause grinder noticed I really liked the, and to this day I remember meeting Mack at GIS. I don’t even, I’ve only ever been to GIS Orlando, last time I remember meeting max, I’d seen all about the Peerless, I saw Dan. I was like, did they look really good? But they weren’t on my radar at the time. And 2015, And they did a class up. If I used to change again, I’d be like, oh, I need to go and see on because they do look like a good machine, but at the moment I love the Foley. I really do love. They’re really very sorry, but they’re really rare here. Like there’s, I think maybe one or a course in Ireland. And I got the first of the 600 trees in the UK and Ireland. They’re really variable. I think, I think there’s kind of something a bit more. I’m known as a guy in the UK in Bob’s in pro sport postpone UK and they’ve started to I guess where we are fully Habart’s expanded our range so they can they can Maybe get hit the places that were Bernard before. yeah, It would be really rare to have fully in Ireland looking at.
Trent Manning:
yeah, I don’t know as RP is pushing in the market or, or not.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I remember mark Sentinel. cause I follow his blog, I guess. Remember he told me, I think he’d sold some into Greece or somewhere because he was saying it would have been no problem to supply me. I was like too late now. So I think maybe they can, they just, maybe don’t, don’t push it at the moment. Like maybe they will, but I liked the area, but I guess it will be maybe tricky at the start because you’re moving to eccentrics and using the PI day upon. But Yeah. you have a finished product once is offered. Maybe it’s a little tricky. The staffer once you’re used to it, I guess like notes is, seems like it’s the job.
Trent Manning:
Yeah, the guys that I know that are using them, I mean, by them and think the greatest thing thing
Diarmuid Griffin:
Skips. Whereas by I’m like, I’m going to search your area. I put like, like urinating. Jared Manning scape, Heinz Hector Velasquez, Chad Braun, who? Stephen talk their names. I remember from back when I was in Shirley times, 2010, 2011 on God, on the IgE CMA, I remember it, it was like the blog part that not India, your names is all this crop so sometimes you were saying, come on to the show. I was kind of like, oh, what can you really add? Cause we’re so far behind you guys. You’re so far ahead of what we do
Trent Manning:
don’t I mean, after seeing so determines that may some, videos of his workshop, and it’s really impressive. I wouldn’t say you’re behind anybody far as your set You got to go on, on there.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I remember skipped and being sort of like that John Patterson, obviously, as I say, I say, if you say I met those guys out there. Love them, like understand hundred percent.
Trent Manning:
Well, and skip, and John Lebo, lays that milling machines.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
Yeah, you’re just saying the cream of the crop in America. Most golf courses don’t have a lay than a milling machine. So you’re probably not far behind at all. You’re probably ahead of a lot of places in America, honestly.
Diarmuid Griffin:
You got six, five tree, correct?
Trent Manning:
I do. Yep.
Diarmuid Griffin:
That you like it.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. I love it. I’ve had it. long have I had it? I had it three years in one job and then two years in another shop and I got two shops that I’m over and we replaced one, three years ago and one, couple of years ago. And I mean, I love it
Diarmuid Griffin:
I remembered Kevin, the crate and they were going to send the guy from the UK to conduct PDI kind of instructions. And I can’t not train and operate our chain. And I was like, I’m not waiting for that guardian where you can take in this thing all with the pilot and doing it myself. So I had to go and print a new units. Like you could teach anyone to grind on a 46 foot sheet and it shows, it shows yourself, anyone combined. I remember the guy, your eyes weekend. He goes, Oh, yeah, this is the 6, 7 2. They’ve just out the 6, 7, 3. And I’m like, what you mean there? I was like, do know if like, think you’ve the newest thing and now it’s not the newest thing you’re going to have it like six days. I was like, ah, there isn’t too much of a difference, your sister or feed, and some guys don’t even use it after together. Like, so I’m with that. Two to six, seven to.
Trent Manning:
I went on with the 6, 7 30 after Colin Chadwick. And I asked him, he had one and he’s like, I love it. Great. Because I know this is the way I tend to work is I’ll have a bad knife ground and I’ll have a real grind and be putting a cutting unit back together and I’m not standing right next to the bed knife grinder, and I’m not constantly tweaking it. So that’ll be over there, just back and forth. it is nice to be able to run those different programs and that way that way has done.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Thanks for breaking my Yeah. cause I haven’t really talked to anyone like second, third, fourth. Isn’t Um, I haven’t talked to him to had one, but it is what it is
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, for sure. I mean, as I still might get machines, tell us you’ve fabricated lately.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Lately. not so much. Some people are the Gators cause we changed our two groups. I did caught list today American, an ODBC standardized like a thousand liter tank square tank. To hold three of doors for chemical that maybe chest height. So you can gravity fit into sprayers. And underneath that then is going to hold six, 200 liter barrels. What my thinking is, I’m going to hold them horizontally, obviously just the risk of the leak, but I’m going to Mount all the barrels on rollers. So for pillow barons, and I make the shafts just out of the tube section and space as makes up so that you can turn the tap to the high side, you can just rotate about. So. That’s the plan is I’m still thinking it out. I’ve drawn. I would never call know, but I might try and get it put together and get it up since I have to be galvanized. But that’s probably what I’m doing at the moment. Again, there’s just a little bit of tidiness to put them all together and have to borrow and start together because at the
Trent Manning:
has your welding better since you were welding go-kart frames together when you were 12?
Diarmuid Griffin:
I like to think so, but you can mask a lot of problems that are made, whether they’re so,
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah.
Diarmuid Griffin:
nah, I get, like, I definitely better than that as 12? years of age, so
Trent Manning:
Uh, I got talking about fabricating, I do want you to tell us about time holder Stan. I know I saw it on Twitter. They got all kind of.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I suppose like a lot of the stuff have fabricated. You’ve seen articulate in You see, and the timeout is born or would have a way of how can I make this easier? Like we could all work hard if we’re led work hard, but why not work if we can get around this? Like the heaviest thing I lift the work is probably a hammer I don’t binge for going up and down. It’s only the fully and I used articulate now arm for next to Noonan’s. But that time holder came out of prayer. My times are stored is about 30 meters away from where the lift is maybe 40 meters you try and carry six or eight. It’s hard. They’re sticking you in there. I’m like, you got to go back to your four times and you have to go get the times the need to go get the tying guards and then you have to get boards. So I was like, I need to make a way of where I can bring all of that to the lift, but I don’t want to leave it at the lift. I don’t like clutter. I like I place for everything and everything and its So I wanted to keep them together and bring them to the lift put on my times, swap them, put the ones I’ve taken off the back on the stand. then it’s funny because I remember listening to your episode or Bob and Bob was talking about how you go off and see some guy in Europe. And that was me. And then he was on about how it was kind of irony and it, he was like, oh, he paints these tie-ins to, if they get fired. He also got that. I got that from someone that’s before, but I remember Bob going. That was a great idea. I can, I use that as a gosh, I didn’t put it on Twitter to tell you not to use it, but the irony in that was the day I heard him speak about that I forgot about the paint the times. Cause I don’t do it anymore. I don’t do it because tie-ins, haven’t dropped out. in years. So I’m like, wait a minute, panting these things the next day. They’re like, oh, he’s lost the time. And we couldn’t find it. I don’t know. It is, it was like for years. And then I was like, there’s no need to do it. And we lost the time. So I need to go back through that again. So yeah, I brought that on myself thinking that way
Trent Manning:
So your GM arm, did you make that? Do that’s
Diarmuid Griffin:
the JV arm I made myself out. So that came out of a necessity to You saw my set up pinch. We’d probably talk about that. That’s about 11 and a half, 12 foot from the pillar, but the pillar that Springs are, is eight foot from the wall. So I wasn’t going to get the reach with just, a slide and the heists is slide on that, our roll on the beam, but it was no good cause on the radius, but only reach eight foot. That was true for charter, but I wanted to go and I was thinking, how do I make this? I couldn’t move the beam for the shade. I didn’t want to move the bench because now it would be in front of the real decision to get units out and. Then our level units. So I was just trying to think, and I’ve looked, I was looking I think it was, I was just looking at the garden mall, how factories and stuff. And I seen articulate arms again, a number of in industry. So I didn’t really know what it was. I was like, that is easy mix. That is not hard at all. So I said, I remember seeing the one video on it. It was kind of finished a little bit different after that, because at the start it was really giddy. I knew I couldn’t make it with just pins and holds. Cause I was like, I need to be able to just the, I guess the stiffness and rotation or the restriction sort of the, the second arm, the further out arm of the two easier move than the inner one. So I built in like an adjustable break onto the pin is literally just nylon washer treaded back so I can adjust the attendant. Of board of board of the pivot points. So it’s on bear and design block barons on each side, and can adjust the barons as on the slider, and then you can adjust the tension and it’s pretty much so I can steer it wherever I want. And it doesn’t like if you try and look straight up and your jib is off, then it starts swinging over and back. But when you put like an adjustment brake on it it that a little bit of restriction makes just a lot smoother. So it just a basic, I guess, what you would call Harbor freight like or we call them our C it’s just a kg heist. And I took off the remote off and got like a wireless fire promote, just mounted that onto wired the controls into that. So it’s just like a key on the articulate in gym. The good of it is then again, I’m not sure if it’s 6.3, you have, but mine was solid. So did you be trying to bring the arm and the wire? True, but it will get caught in the front. So I, the, in section off the top of the grinder boy in the kid from the newer version with the brushes and paint and it all in and just mountainous. So it’s just like, now it doesn’t have the support, but I’m not going to be dancing on top of the leader. So it keeps it sealed, but my wire will run all the way into the center point of the grinder.
Trent Manning:
So you said that’s a kit, a kit you can get from poli where the brushes,
Diarmuid Griffin:
Well, it’s not a kid, but I just went on from the pats and I bought. And there’s like the brushes and indoors too. I guess you could probably fall. Let me show you the folder. Like just two pieces of flat metal a stick it down. I’ll take a picture of it and send But for that reason, you can still feel as up your front doors. You still have no dust, no noise, not just in or not, not just up. And my cable, just slide in along the brushes them so you can drop it right, down and spot. So when I was making that, I said like a lot of people maybe grab off the real, but hooks. And I was like, I’ve only maybe three or four types of units to be fair And the curator for use for the two 20 are kind of different. So I made just two or three different brands. Just one pen and it just picks each individual. So Yeah. you can change the head, but if you’re doing one unit you’re more divided doing five or whatever, like Michelle So each one, she just one pin just pick up the unit, you’re picking it up in, by the way, it’s picked up by the machine.
Trent Manning:
yeah.
Diarmuid Griffin:
So it will always pick up pretty much level It works like the adapters are actually pretty handy surprised I’m not selling yeah, that worked out really well. I was kind of proud of that. I suppose some of us stand up because I have to take it out and draw from nursing and see, this might not work. I wasn’t really sure, but yeah, I worked, very well.
Trent Manning:
no, it’s really impressive. And I mean, I’ve seen a lot of just a straight strategy. Uh, You know what I mean, a lot of people have those and they’ve been seeing them everywhere, but I’ve never seen an articulating deal and that’s makes it so cool is you can go all over the it.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Like I tested to left. I think it. was 150 kg, so it’s not heavy duty, heavy G but only lift in 40 kgs, like the QA 5 22 inch QA. If I do If I was even doing the 26 inch QA sevens, I’ll just put them up under 40 table and roll them in that way.
Trent Manning:
yeah.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I don’t have that money, my own money to 6, 2 72 hundreds. So I just rolled them in the back door. I slammed open the back door. So it’s mainly just for my regular cotton units, my 22 inch cotton units. And some guys would say, oh, it’s slow. You can just lift it and put it in as a can lift up and put it in for six years. And then one day you cut your finger. You don’t need that. Hassle. Are you putting your back as a Foley? Six, five tree is deep, but then you get into where the unit
Trent Manning:
Yeah, yeah.
Diarmuid Griffin:
It’s kind of funny because going through the gym to work out and avoid and work all day alarm, but it’s still the right thing to do
Trent Manning:
yeah, for sure. And when you’re 50 years old or older, you know, whatever your age is, if you’ve been lifting and cutting units for a lot of years, you’re going to know it. Tell us what your favorite lists and why.
Diarmuid Griffin:
The obvious one, I still consider myself young person. I’m 32 years of age. I’m pushing on by. I still look much more that’s like everyone says Milwaukee poetry was obviously again, I don’t know if the battery, the battery racks, that’s nearly in my form of pocket all the time. I don’t know what the last time I used the mechanics. They book a weird one and an unusual is a whiteboard. Everyone needs to have a whiteboard. The likes of. This IBC tank. I wouldn’t know how to get it from my brain onto the metal. If I didn’t have a fucking sketch or if I couldn’t move around, Joe, draw it around. You can wipe that won’t work. The jib. I spent a couple of hours on a whiteboard. Will this work? You measure it out that they’re just a gift any kind of number. Like you have to have a whiteboard as much as I use Google. And even when I use apps for my diary and stuff, but like, you’ll probably see me by the whiteboard three or four times a day, kind of all this work. So that’s a different one to whatever else we’ll say. But yeah. it’s probably what I would use the last.
Trent Manning:
don’t So forever. We had whiteboards and that was our job board too. know, I had a whiteboard in the shop to keep tracker shop And we went digital. And so we got a digital job board and all this stuff and my superintendent, he loves a whiteboard. he’s the director agronomy. So he tells the superintendent after we took down the whiteboard, um, he said, I want a whiteboard in this office tomorrow. So, know, he runs out wherever he gets a whiteboard and you know, it was a lot smaller, uh, core days always wanting to draw something, you know, draw this, draw that, know, trying to explain stuff out on the course, you and they’re super handy
Diarmuid Griffin:
Oh,
Trent Manning:
accounts.
Diarmuid Griffin:
you know what they are. And it’s kind of hard to find an answer for this question that hasn’t been answered before. Cause like I said, everyone’s phones, tablets, iPads, infrared cameras. I try, I’m trying to buy It’s underrated, completely underrated. And it’s so simple and yet a million years old, but you can make mistakes on the whiteboard and just wipe out and go again. You know, for me, I love that.
Trent Manning:
What do you like best about your job?
Diarmuid Griffin:
like everyone else, probably the variety of it. You can have a lot of pride in your work when you see four fair, Moore’s gone down over every undulation God made on the west of Ireland. And there’s the perfect nodding on the I liked the fact that, and I would say that. 95% of people in our profession, we’re trusted. We’re trusted that this is going to be right. People leave us alone, let us do our jobs. I think if I got the case a very, it was like a super, and he was like, checking off this. I think I’d walk. I like being left to do our job. We are trusted on there. Isn’t the blade of grass isn’t covered, but something we touch that’s the way it is. Uh, I liked that fact that I liked the fact, like I said, the tools it’s not hard work. It’s not physically demanding. There, there may be standard and conquered all day. Probably didn’t grind it. We’re not out in Irish wetter. That that’s, I like all those things. Variety does very good. The variety is if you’re kind of sick of doing one job, I’d go make this IBC tank over there that I do that, but that’s brilliant. I’d imagine most jobs get born at some stage, whatever. It was very hard to get bored and this job lightings might be repetitive, but you can change what you’re doing and get back to the, what was your path of I liked that part because I do really like that
Trent Manning:
yeah, for sure. uh, one of the strangest you’ve seen.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Like everyone has, I guess, incidents. I don’t use so much water in America. There must be like a machine packed in every body of are there from all the pictures to see. But yeah, I know never really had that much change members, Katie, and one time. It had happened before we got there preferred guys and like a excavator, it was off contractors on the course and track that into the ocean. So they just tracked it all the way up, along the beach. And like, we were always okay. I didn’t say I’m not sure we could do, we just seen the Digger to sit there at the tide was coming in around it. Like there was no get because they initially went all the way and let’s Remembering college, one time agricultural we have obviously there’s modules you have to do, and we have to calibrate this and calibrate them. You do it as a group to like four or five And the job that they were doing, we were rotating around book was calibrate, and attract amount of fertilizer spreader, or they still would have been old basics. You started to basically. And it was a 10 bag by econ, spreader, mechanical open and take off the shoot and recalibrate it or whatever. But one of the guys was doing the calibration. It was like a spreader that was brought in and he’s like, whatever you do, don’t close the shoes. Cause there’s something stuck down there. Alright. And I understand them, but obviously I was, I was standing the back. I was detecting my notes or whatever. I just heard more. And the guy, I never seen a person to turn green, green, green, as grass. And he had put his hand into the shoot to clean out like a little bit of 4k or whatever. Cause he’s afraid mess with the calibration. And in fairness to the guy, he didn’t mean that he taught, he said close the sheep. So enough two before the tops of
Trent Manning:
Oh,
Diarmuid Griffin:
two of these two middle
Trent Manning:
Um,
Diarmuid Griffin:
It was just one of those things he said, do not close the shoes. And all that guy heard was just cause that was, that was one of the more strange or ones apple. Now we live, we live a quiet life over here. Teens don’t change things. Don’t happens. Change things, not enough,
Trent Manning:
What’s one of your pet peeves around the shop.
Diarmuid Griffin:
everyone as the Moore’s not being seen or a hundred percent, the ones that are not going to enjoy it. Everyone has down one staff maybe not been put back. I’ve mellowed a lot. Poverty. If you ain’t got no leper, you could put a machine on fire. I don’t really care, but you could not do something. That’s a simple task that you’re asked to do. And that would have set me on fire.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Accidents happen. I don’t like repeated accidents. Fair enough. Because you should learn from your mistakes in the first But if it’s kind of the standard and we do something, you just kind of do it. That would annoy me things that aren’t done that should that be around the shop of bone kind of pet peeve. And this is definitely going to annoy people. You know, you see the videos like Twitter, Facebook, wherever, and everyone is set certain reels and the lion back the like the back end, the back road up. And they’re like, yo, this is cotton paper. Absolutely. Absolutely awesome. I’ve never yet you’re in this business a lot longer than me, but I’d never seen a cotton unit caught grass line back. You put out it’s going to be tighter, no matter what you do, it’s going to be a couple of clicks tighter. It’s so simple just to make a little frame to set on sitting under rollers. Time in between growings your fall off and cook quality is going to be so much further down the road by doing that simple thing that drives me mad, but that’s just
Trent Manning:
Yeah, No, that’s a really good one. And we’re definitely going to talk about that a little bit more when we talk about your word mansion a minute,
Diarmuid Griffin:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
before we get to what would be your dream job or opportunity?
Diarmuid Griffin:
I suppose it’s kind of weird, cause I never really dreamed about work this is something that kind of fell into on a long-term basis. I don’t dream about work often had nightmares about it, but. I suppose when I went to Saudi Arabia and that I probably mentioned the head green keeper at time, JJ was like, don’t go, sorry, please go to America. You get experienced in America. And I was probably seeing money signs in Saudi Arabia. I of regret not going to look in America, try to work in America. I kind of regret that and trying to get into course and see a different side of the board that said, or maybe even the middle east and order some good places in Dubai and everyday kind of regret that size of it. I would like to someday, can you even just volunteer and like a big event? I know of lighter copters an hour from where I am in 2027. And hopefully I get to maybe volunteer with the guys down but yeah, no, I’m really happy where I am I won’t say I have it on my own way, but it’s a case of they look after me. They trust me. It’s tree minutes from my house.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Diarmuid Griffin:
It’s like I would have to give up an awful lot of lifestyle to move for. I don’t think there’s anything better in Ireland at the moment So Yeah. I don’t know. It’s hard to dream about our jobs screen. I’m happy enough doing what I’m doing,
Trent Manning:
Oh yeah. Nothing wrong with that at where I’m at. And I Don’t know what it would take to get me to leave where I, where I’m at. I mean, I’m not a money guy. I’m not chasing money. I get paid well, I’m really happy, know, doing what I’m doing,
Diarmuid Griffin:
yeah, lots to be said for that.
Trent Manning:
but if I had a dream opportunity and a lot of this comes from doing this podcast and just meeting all y’all, I mean, if I win the lottery, I’m just going to travel to all these different shops and talk people and just hang out and have fun. That would be my dream job.
Diarmuid Griffin:
This podcast will take after you get paid so much for you can do that anyway.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. That’s what I’m hoping. What do you know now that you wish, you knew on day one?
Diarmuid Griffin:
It is only a job. It is only a job. And I think mechanics get a bad name. They’re likely to get bad name because you come to us with problems everyday. I can’t remember the last person that came to me with a solution and it’s easy. I know probably before that affect me, that moodiness side it is only the, a job kind of something in green keeper. Golf course. I won’t say been keeping, let’s say golf course and mechanics that it’s taken so seriously, it’s a vocation goes, are doing huge hours, huge, uh, seven days a week, and those guys will still get fired or they’ll still get replaced. If the job they got a bed in the morning, this that it does not Um, I think COVID taught a lot of law people because stop to work, works out. We were still sent home. You know that’s what just happened. You still have to look at what’s a home. A home is definitely more important than probably I was given the credit for it, but it is only a job. Do you can do the best control the controllables, do what you can, what you can and don’t stress about what you can’t really control. And I probably would have in the past stressed, or that might be cranky or whatever it is a stuff that wasn’t going my way. If I started again, I probably would start on the completely different attitude, but it’s bread in China, it’s bread. And definitely here, you can’t expect churn or dermographic to search for that last 1% in quality and efficiency and everything. Again, search for that, then they’ll want to get better. We want to be better than you’re an Anthony. We want to be better than the cup wanting than those guys. You can’t expect people to search for that 1% day in, day out and then not get stressed or cranky when something doesn’t go their way, because you’re telling those babies to be the best you can be at the best. Most you can be all time. And then something has to give when things don’t go wrong or don’t go. Right. So that would be my advice to anyone is it is only a job work, hard work efficiently. But forget it. The minute you get out the door
Trent Manning:
Great advice. What’s the latest tips and tricks you’ve seen, or you want to share with us?
Diarmuid Griffin:
I don’t know what you guys have learned from me, because in America you’re so far ahead, you see things before we see them. I’m doing things now that I seen on that blog in 2011 tips and tricks were supposedly kind of appreciating is learned. If it’s only on YouTube it’s Onya learn inquire, ask questions, get better. Every day, if you’re not getting better every day or every week, you’re actually getting worse because someone else is getting better. Someone else is passing. You know, if you’re not going forward, you going back.
Trent Manning:
I love it.
Diarmuid Griffin:
That had been my thing is try to get better on your own time, whatever it is, even if it’s only on things you enjoy, we’ll get better at that stuff. Put a little bit for a couple of minutes a day and do that. Practical, tips and tricks. I remember Mike Collins, for a new character in the scene, he’s making some impact, isn’t it? The 10. And I remember him on your podcast and saying about how Moore’s bounce and then that affects the high-ticket record and stuff. And I’ve heard this before, but that’s a good tip. I was on no matter the court Nuno, no matter to fix that, or even like you ever a. Either Toro and possibly Jacobs and are not really over whatever it is. If you’re setting the high eight o’clock it’s 10. I love it. If I’m bringing it. from 12 to 10, what you do is you go and you go to like 9.9 and go backwards, go up. any vibration and anything that can be taken your adjuster is now taken that it’s not in that slack area of where it goes from automatically, because if you can, down from 11 to 10, whatever plays in the adjusted, it hits it. Boom. I know you’re at 9.9, that’s obviously more important going around. Don’t talk in periods because you make too confusing, but if you go like two and a half and the treatment, that’s a than, so that would be a bit of advice on tour. Definitely tour and John Deere, I would imagine check-ins is very similar.
Trent Manning:
is the same deal.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Yeah, there is start low. Even if you’re coming from Holly down is go down above or down below and work your way back up again Another tip thing I said to you earlier document, if it’s Twitter or whatever, take pictures of stuff, even if it means nothing to you. Like a lot of, for oil is going to share some pictures, some videos, and my tire was never really to be a bit like what you guys are, but my target kind of would have been there’s. This could be a green keeper that might be uneasy.
Trent Manning:
Mm. Mm.
Diarmuid Griffin:
And he shed, he might only get into that workshop for maybe two hours a week, maybe, or maybe an hour a weekend. If I can do something that helps that guy to go to doesn’t have much would have been my tag line. So all his documents within senior living or ongoing going might need that. But I have like one that caught fire was I would always write the tire PSI, the four on the rim by the valve. it’s It’s like, it’s simple, but it’s more or less for me. It’s so the guys don’t come to me. What do I pump this up? It’s a void in that conversation, just pumping the what’s on the belt. You don’t know what’s needless to, you could be very valuable to someone else. So document that kind of stuff. You never know when you can pass it onto the, again, it’s a good history to fall back on where you kind of came from prolong, what you learnt
Trent Manning:
a painting your grimmer
Diarmuid Griffin:
yeah.
Trent Manning:
and And I mean that, well, I
Diarmuid Griffin:
It’s simple though. Yeah.
Trent Manning:
right? Yeah. I mean, it’s a idea. And as one of those things, you yourself in the hands. I want it. And I think of that.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Yeah. Let’s see the thing was there. The groomers sometimes can bounce and bounce down. So my thing with the guys, how will I know of it’s our predominant source. If you color code this, you can see it. Now. I probably should plastic and I might be what I will do this year, but I’ve been just using metal marker for that. I’ve been using metal marker all So, Yeah, it, they probably would work with so simple and it really does work because those, especially on the run and off on the side of the turf conditioner boxes, they’re actually pretty hard to see. You only need to be on the left, actually see those when they’re on are off. And that’s me, I knew that, know what we’re looking at everyday. We’re not just like the guys that have enough to be looking out the golf course operators. They don’t need to be looking down to control this tiny little on or off on the
Trent Manning:
and we don’t want them their hands in the cutting unit.
Diarmuid Griffin:
we definitely don’t want them doing that. I go speak and what area was, it was more the puppy, but set your cotton units Like I know you might want to move on data. So, so much of it just reduces the amount of work you’ll ever have to do that on a zone is the tiniest step But I can go into that a bit more of a new you who want to talk about that bench.
Trent Manning:
yeah, let’s talk this bench And for the listeners before you get started. I make sure the real turf techs retweets, the things that you sent me and the with your jib, crane, articulating jib, crane, and your work bench. I’ll definitely those. will all know what we’re talking about here.
Diarmuid Griffin:
the work bench all was before you, it was like a two or three stage job. You set your high to court and then you’re doing the pinch on the ground. Like I said, well, behind you guys, I don’t have the granite table on that. I want to buy one this year, but let’s see. I might just stay with the dominion player, but I decided that. I wanted to say all of my cotton units, as they said on the rollers, it just came to me that I’d never seen a cotton unit reversing down a fare on this back road, or it doesn’t call it that way. So you need to get it the way then I was thinking like, Everett, I want to make this easier. I want to be able to sit down at eye level and look at Everett at noon. So it a big heavy bench at the time, but I’ve moved on to new ones since. So I decided that I’m going to Mount my level in place on a slider. It slides underneath my bench, save space over a smaller workshop. Well, I think a small set, 1500 square foot or of a smaller workshops. I didn’t want separate benches. Really. I was trying to get tire machines and I don’t know the way. And put my rails from my high-ticket underneath Uh, My bench pretty much consists of five, a workbench rubber top. So you can move your units around that. They’re not making noise that are not banging a ding. And so you build it back up with your bed knife after grind and put it all together, said roughly lifted down onto the high, the rails there, slide What would you say there’s pretty much straight out of bench and you can set all your hydrocodone. You’re caught up as the roller sits on it for on this road or as it’s for points of contact. Let’s say what I found is my quality caught my fall off went way, way down the road. I was like, I wasn’t touching you it’s for days, because before, when I was tilting them back by the time they can assess them again, there was probably so much contact at the time, or you’re trying to find it just lasts way longer and it still does. This is. Five or four years old? No, maybe since I started doing that, this probably leads into another thing that I’m nearly nervous about saying, but I don’t grind per time of year or per, I don’t know if other people do despite I’ve never really seen it. I don’t go in by those ways are growing by our here. No, this is trial and error at the start. Like I said, when I went back to um, it was managed during the middle of the renovation because there there’s a new This just goes everywhere and there was a lot happening. New machines come to go. I need to stop. And she is coming to the workshop and how do I stop them coming in twice? So my thing is, if I get in for a service or checkup, I’m going to going, then I know in my head, that’s gone for 50 hours. So now it’s kind of refined down to a bit more like migraines more, the way it’s set up is every hundred hours over the course. No, we’re glad to say, oh, but the quality of it really, doesn’t not where I am. Your place might be every 50 Another place might be 150 hours, 120 hours, but I’ve done in a way that it falls in with service. My favorite Moore’s every 200 hours by going by going to bed. And I’ve after every hundred. everything comes in. Every machine on my service schedule, we’re coming up 50 hours for it’s grease and check over better tension. Whatever’s on But every hundred and every 200 farmers are in for grind surrounds more as a, kind of the same, but but I will front the, so that bench on its own, but not on its own, I would say 75% the time. And another thing, God is 100% not in this back bag. You don’t pay attention to this frequency. If you can reduce your frequency cost down to the point where obviously you have quality learning. I’m not, I’m talking about here. Isn’t sacrificing quality and quality is only as good as you can repeatedly do it. There’s no point being quality one day. If you can keep it on seven days a week, did that’s not quality? That’s your cotton yourself. It’s what we turn say in Ireland. If you think that’s, that’s not quality, you can only be over price consistency. The head of quality is in priority. And then obviously you try and bring up the quality, but only if consistency is in cell phone. And I found with that bench and fine tune. And the frequency, of course my fall off was aware less probably getting twice. And then at the time I would have these this is probably where growing up, when I say grow. my apprenticeship from within a golf course was massive because every time we grown the unit, we didn’t want to see that thing again. That’s no, it we’ll see you when quiet. Whereas I guess if you’re and this, and this, isn’t a jab dealers or anything like that, but if they’re growing in this cotton paper, oh, gee, go. It doesn’t really matter. I guess our language, I’m not saying it doesn’t matter, but it’s not going to affect them directly. They’ll be on some other customer’s unit the next day. You know what I mean? Did they have their job to do? Whereas if I see that, I want that to be the best possible court for the longest possible time. I don’t want to see you till I have to see you because I ordered units to do. And that’s kind of my approach in a roundabout way, but that bench, the frequency of court, thing with the preconceived court is let’s say. We got 7,500 days now. So we went up to 11 plates and they’re really only taken over, completely taken over those machines. Are you trying to run along? I’ve even turned down to RPM because they’re teeth tier four for the powered in I think they’re going at 1900 RPM. And the real versus I think they’re capable of to, uh, Coby wrong windows. Those numbers, maybe it’s too far, but I think it’s two too.
Trent Manning:
Yeah, that sounds right right
Diarmuid Griffin:
if we’re going down at 1900, I’m still way below 20%. My frequency of cook. Cause we cook fair as a 10 mil, but we can say court is in around eight votes. Still we’re low, but you’d have guys that will just go max or the best possible cost, but for example, you’re hitting. 200 blades strikes and manners between your real and your bread, man, you’re bringing that down 30%. So your bed knife is getting hit 30% less at the time, and it’s still consistent court. The court is now sacrificing at all here, so I can space out my grind and not just say, oh, you’re getting 200 hours out going, but I am a hundred hours in green. The frequency of calls, right? My position of my van is right versus the bird mode it’s It was the day it was up in the bed. You had to take so much adjustment, not very little. I run very light contact, very light contact to impact lab. We face, if I’d have to, just to get Richard last couple of days, maybe to get into it. It works for me. I’m not here saying this is the way to do it. I’m saying, this is what I do
Trent Manning:
Yeah. And well, I’ve said it a bunch of times on this. We’re not here to judge, I want to reiterate the point that you made on the strikes of the bed knife, real and bed. And reducing that by 30%, that’s huge. That’s 30%, you know, it is not 1% or 2%. That’s 30% less where you’re getting on the real and bed by having
Diarmuid Griffin:
I took could be a wrong number. Now it might be, cause I think it’s 18 versus 20. It could be a 24, even it could be 25%, 20, 25. It doesn’t matter if it’s 5% is better. 5% reduced, 5% over your real. Barron’s the profit condition. Parents. They’re all running off the same drive. They’re all running less where the rest of you that’s when your less strikes and it is not affecting the win-win for me, women
Trent Manning:
Yeah, no, I think that was great. And I do think a lot of people are probably missing that I could be wrong,
Diarmuid Griffin:
here.
Trent Manning:
think the industry standard is just turn the reels up as fast as they’ll go.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I met like a calculation in the sheet before, like an eye test, the speed again, the speed is set by the fastest. I can comfortably let her down the fairway. And then the real speed matches speed to get it within between 10 and 20% below height cuts off, we champion down or hydropower, I’ll have to change the frequency again, but that is what it is. That’s what a stick there. Or you stick there for your ground speed, then your reading speed follows, whatever. Then I was trying to read the John Deere guys from the factory and stuff. This is kind of like my problems, those rabbit holes, but you should see me speaking to John Deere, cause I wanted, I was thinking the, probably isn’t an appetite for it, but programs are, I guess if you’re writing a program into an ECU or whatever it is, and it’s in detractors, your PTO hours. right. So my thinking was like, why can’t we put this on like fairy, Mars? We have ever notes on them. Why can’t we put real time, real coaching time as an hour, separate our major into that. So now you go for like, yeah, we might be doing eight hours travel or eight hours out time, but it might only be caught in for seven hours. We have a lot of drive then you could possibly go down the road of fine tune and you’re going in time to the PTO on time. That’s a rabbit hole maybe, but it doesn’t seem totally implausible or totally unpractical to me that that be done.
Trent Manning:
No. And you already, your ECM is seeing the input when the PTO is on. So it knows how long it’s on. They’re just not, you know, the hat of recording that.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I said that, that the guys at the factory a couple of years ago, but they were just looking at me kind of strange
Trent Manning:
Um,
Diarmuid Griffin:
here, but I was standing around doing, I suppose another thing maybe I wouldn’t say a waste is preventative maintenance, obviously what I think sometimes I throw the baby out with the bathwater and like, we need to change all our in Barnes and roll the parents every two years or every season me to get this done because it needs to, I think there’s, there’s smacker is doing this to you can measure temperature of your parents, you see them on the grind or you hear after I’m a slave to the army or whatever, and it’s really done by hours. So like, if I don’t need a hydraulic change for two years, I’m not going to change it for two years. We don’t have extreme weather here. I can get away with it It’s not going to go off in the hydraulic tank, just cause the book said that I need to be changed every year. It also said it can get 500 hours. So like I just went up to 500 hours. Some guys will just, we’ll just change over know or change real burns and stuff. And there’s no need to open. I think you’re doing more harm than good. Every time you take it apart, you know, yourself, you take apart as good as any of us? are. You’re not going to percentage out cause you’re losing everything back in that it’s all gone together again. So if you can get away with, we send for flare uh, this year, because the trailer man, unlike some $1,800. 1800 hours is kind of what they went back up. A lot of our stuff here changed for the age, outstream roast and time we’re right on the Atlantic. It’s not really used because we’re kind of seasonal, you know, six months on six months off, but they were on their second bedroom, right? So the day one bed knife and they were on the second by that 800 hours. Now the bed, the bed is I would probably need it to be changed. I would have already been changed them next grain, but that’s true. What I would call predictive maintenance more than preventative maintenance, no one your machine, not just go on completely with what the book says and learn about and find out what’s going wrong. Like I remember I’d say of those five fair remorse. I probably changed four or five roller But aside from that, there’s other stuff I hadn’t changed now, bushings and 10. Because we love that wouldn’t be on the book and it’s, don’t be a kind of a slave to what you’re told to be doing. Go over what you think, but make educated decisions. And Yeah. that wheel Baron is a little high end temp because I’d compare them with a laser. Like that’s what I’ll do on Fridays is learning to predict maintenance rather than just blanket ban and turn the baby out about water under changing, and like our input for John Deere Hermosa beach put very little parts into doors. Now we needed to get push them on down the road That would be kind of a tip is just kinda do that. Just try, be smarter. Isn’t the word, but it’s not the right word, but it’s. I guess it’s maybe it’s easy for me to say, because I have the time, I’d be one of very few guys in the country, maybe with an assistant in that, like, we will look at we’ll roll that we, every bear and we grease very But Yeah, it’s just maybe not doing exactly as the book says, just get a feel for that also, because I see it, you’re going to start seeing it now in the next six weeks, guys were caught in units taken apart, completely stripped down. And I often wonder how bad worded that you needed to do that.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Diarmuid Griffin:
Sometimes you see like an open chapter chapter, you see and just three sets of grinders roll them that week. And my often my thinking is how much is that is Mac? And then how much of it is actually. If you’re quality, I’m sure. these golf courses are top places in the world. You don’t have died. Quality court. Why do you need all the going just for one weekend a year? Yes. There’s extra machines around, but you don’t like how much are they really, really That’s my thing. I think sometimes people have taken, I don’t want to say the preventative maintenance flag and run with it, but going to see units taken apart and Twitter and the next few how much of it really needs to be done and how much of it has been done as a massive chasm in the difference? I would say.
Trent Manning:
No, I think you’re definitely onto something there because a thing, you know, that’s of the standard for a lot of places is where rebuilt all our cutting units every year. Yeah. I
Diarmuid Griffin:
I
Trent Manning:
mean, you’re just wasting and barons and, you know, more problems. And back to your point actually I got two things that you made me think one on the QA fives, the real bear, and seems to always go out on the drive motor side. And that’s probably from disconnecting the drive mode or not getting enough grease back in the. Her, you introducing and contamination, the other thing, and I can’t think of specific unit, but I want us to say years ago, most manufacturers recommended not changing your hydraulic fluid. Not like they do now. Some of them, you know, like you’re saying, they say change it every 500 hours, they used to be hours before changed it. And they would recommend changing the hydraulic filter sooner than that. So all hadn’t changed and the, the hydraulic system hadn’t changed. So why do they recommend 500 hours now?
Diarmuid Griffin:
I don’t mind the 500 hours thing because that machine is working those $500 the whole every year or 500 hours. It makes no sense to me because it might as well it’s in a sealed unit is, might as well be in the barrel as it’s not going to go off not in our climate anyway, if it does 500 hours away and says no problem with that, I’m not going to go against manufacturer, especially when you’ve extended warranties like I’ll Ricard Everett and on Google drive and they can see apps I’ll give away. I don’t. We give back to machines, I’ll give you everything we have done. You can have it all, but let the next owner, it’s a bit of peace of mind to the next owner of that machine. No problem but I would pick the smarter of the two, the one, the suit, two more because people are spending the money. They don’t need to be spending a lot of golf courses. Don’t have the money to spend and stuff like that. And they are spending, they’re sending their machines off of, we just got service for the year and might not need half of what it needs. Like we are where I am air filters, rarely agenda Ireland is not a very dusty, dry spot. It’s the Hampton, you know, so effort is don’t go to any abuse here. Catch up with you on is the curator for real I found that this might sound as a bit of waste. There’s not one every, every 200 hours or in the wintertime. What I’ll actually do is I pull off, you know, like the little pressure vessels on the top, the total was often a porridge, maybe a pamphlet degrees. True. Just to get any contaminants. And just introduced first squeeze into the real burns. It’s not massively costly to me to do it. And it’s a bit of peace of mind because like you’re saying if the bit of debris gets in, because we are a true. The more it gets, hopefully gets that back out again.
Trent Manning:
Nope. That’s a good point too. Well, I think we will wrap it up.
Diarmuid Griffin:
I suppose Twitter is probably the best test to get all of them. It’s I think it’s their McGriff. If you spell Derma, D I R M U I D G R I F F I N. They’re into many more of us out there. I’d imagine,
Trent Manning:
Thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. I’ve enjoyed this. This has been educational. Thank you.
Diarmuid Griffin:
thanks very much for having me. I hope people get some bit of value out of.
Trent Manning:
I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. So after this call with Dearman. I had to do some math and some calculations. And I just love this because. There’s interaction. And I hope all the listeners are getting the same thing. It really gets me thinking and hopefully it gets you thinking. That’s what this is all about. Send us your questions. We’re going to add a listener question segment to future episode. And we’ll be answering your questions on the podcast. The best we know how. We’ll try to do one question at the end of each podcast. So get your questions in. The Ms. A real turf tax on Twitter. And let us know what’s on your mind. Till next time. 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 you’d like to discuss, or you’d like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at real turf techs.