Description:
Welcome to Episode 113 of the Reel Turf Techs Podcast! Today, we’re in conversation with Tyler Barrett, the Southeast Regional Sales Manager for Foley Company, based out of South Florida.
Tyler’s journey is a dynamic one, starting at the age of 16 lugging bags and cleaning clubs at his local golf course. Formerly the Equipment Manager at Duran, Floridian National, and Country Club of Orlando, Tyler faced a pivotal choice between his passion for aviation and golf. He found his niche in the shop, drawn to the problem-solving and variety that comes with being an Equipment Manager.
From his time at a high-end private club to serving as a road technician for a Jacobsen dealer and his current dream job with Foley, Tyler shares the insights gained from manufacturer service schools and an unexpectedly delicious path to finding balance. Get ready to discover the unique perspective of a presidential visit at a golf course and much more.
Transcript:
Trent Manning: 0:05
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. Manning let’s have some this episode are real turf techs on golf course industries Superintendent radio network is presented by Foley county a strong supporter of equipment technicians and golf course maintenance departments everywhere Foley county offers a proven solution for above and below the turf for turf professionals To learn more about Foley company’s line of real grinders bed knife grinders and the air to G2 family of products or to find a distributor visit www dot Foley C o.com Foley Ready for play Welcome to the real turf techs podcast. Episode one 13. Today, we’re talking to Tyler Barrett. Southeast regional sales manager for Foley company based out of south Florida. Tyler was former equipment manager at Duran. Florida and national. And country club of Orlando. Let’s talk to Tyler. Welcome Tyler to the RealTurfTex podcast.
Tyler Barrett: 1:29
Hey Trent, how’s it going? You must be scraping the bottom of the barrel,
Trent Manning: 1:32
That man is getting rough. It’s getting, it’s getting pretty bad drumming people up, but, and I don’t remember who it was, but somebody called me out and they said, you’ve had on every grinder manufacturer, except Foley and you’re sponsored by Foley. And I said, well, let’s fix that. I happened to know a guy and we’ll tell more about that story. The first time I actually met you at J. R. Wilson’s place up in Noyak on Long Island. And yeah, that was a lot of fun.
Tyler Barrett: 2:05
Oh, yeah. But no, thanks for having me on Trent. I mean, it’s, uh, never in a million years that I think I’d be sitting here interviewing for a podcast, but here it is. I’m looking forward to it.
Trent Manning: 2:16
Well, never in a million years did I think I would be doing a podcast. Like, what is this redneck from North Georgia doing a podcast? And it’s funny. I get all kind of like, you know, people I don’t know or whatever. And they’re like, you do a podcast? Well, you know, they just think it’s like the strangest thing.
Tyler Barrett: 2:34
Oh, yeah.
Trent Manning: 2:34
know, anybody, there’s an app for that and everybody has a podcast.
Tyler Barrett: 2:39
Yep.
Trent Manning: 2:39
that’s what we’re doing here.
Tyler Barrett: 2:41
Awesome.
Trent Manning: 2:42
your story on how you got into the turf industry.
Tyler Barrett: 2:45
Yeah. I mean, so I was thinking about it this morning and, uh, You know, I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t on a golf course in one form or fashion, you know, as young as I can remember my dad. played college golf and I was always just kind of dragging in behind him, you know, he was playing golf and I was driving the golf cart four or five, six years old and you know, just always been on the golf course, started playing golf as soon as I could, you know, got to that high school age where you start thinking about, know, what your first job is going to be and which burger you’re going to flip at the fast food joint. And that just didn’t do it for me. And being at the golf course, I saw all these guys driving golf carts around all day, you know, just I just thought to myself, how could it get any better than that? And, uh, as soon as I turned 16, I got in the car and went to the local golf course and applied for a job at the bag drop.
Trent Manning: 3:36
Okay.
Tyler Barrett: 3:37
And started lugging bags and cleaning clubs and washing carts, you know, on the weekends. I mean, it was still child labor law and all that kind of stuff and, and, uh, I just loved it. I mean, it was just such a fun job and, you know, I think back to it. And, and how formative that was for me to, you know, for that to be, you know, my first job in that position, I was surrounded by guys that were all retired military, you know, or, you know, retired successful, you know, business people. And they were, you know, they’re just working for free golf, but they were at 16 years old when you first job, you know, surrounded by these people that are all successful. And I, you know, I, I’ve never really thought about it, but I just learned so much. About what it is to, you know, be a person, you know, what work ethic means and how to make a difference, you know, and even if it’s a small difference, just. Those guys, you know, every one of them along the way have been a huge influence on my life and, uh, you know, worked through high school kind of, you know, they say, if you want to stop playing golf, you get in the business. And that was the truth. As soon as I started working on a golf course, you know, the game kind of went out the window.
Trent Manning: 4:53
Why don’t, hold on just right quick while you were on that, I mean, it just had me thinking and I’m pretty sure I’ve said it before, but I just want to say it again, that we don’t realize how many young people we affect because we get so many young people, you know, high school, college coming in. And you’re, you’re really affecting those people, good or bad.
Tyler Barrett: 5:20
Absolutely.
Trent Manning: 5:21
I mean, it is, it is a good thing to, you know, to mentor them and yeah, show them right from wrong. And I mean, I know I got yelled at a lot, but I don’t, I’m not saying that, you know, you should be yelling at them, but you know, at least show them, show them the ropes. And like you said, you know, it’s a lot of them, it’s their first job they’ve ever had in their life. And they don’t know any better,
Tyler Barrett: 5:49
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 5:50
you know, so anyway,
Tyler Barrett: 5:52
Totally agree. Yeah. Worked through high school. I worked as much as I, I could. I was just, I just became a workaholic. Graduated high school and then college, uh, Came knocking. I my grandfather was a huge influence on my life. He was a retired Air Force pilot. He flew helicopters and planes in the Air Force, and he was another person in my life that was just a huge influence. And so, you know, from a really young age, it was golf and it was aviation. And here in Florida, there’s, there’s two colleges that, that do You know, the pilot kind of training and curriculum. And one of them was, it was here in town and I graduated high school and started at Florida Tech. And it was an aviation management business degree. And there was flight training, coupled with that. So, you know, I did four years of that all the while still working at the golf course. I just, I never gave up the golf course. You know, by that time. I had moved over to the grounds maintenance team. You know, that summer between high school and college, I worked for the grounds crew and I found myself, uh, elbow deep and a spreader at Morganite on the 1st day.
Trent Manning: 7:06
nice.
Tyler Barrett: 7:07
You know, air fine superintendent superintendent told me I had to get all the lumps out of the spreader. And so I was, and he let me go at it for quite a while before I finally asked, you know, why it smells so bad. He told me it was processed. Sludge and I thought, oh, that’s funny. And he was dead serious. And every time I see a bag of it now at Home Depot, you know, it’s like, oh, yeah but I fell for that once won’t fall for it again. And then so, you know, through college, I was cutting cups every day, 7 days a week, I’d go in at, uh, 5, cut cups, leave at 730 or 8 and go straight to campus and do the college stuff. And then you know, the economy was kind of, in a tailspin, for lack of a better word, and I had actually started working in a shop for the head mechanic at the time, and he retired, and you know, I was kind of at that point where, you know, I You know, that fork in the road, you know, do I pursue aviation or do I, you know, stay close to home and, and do the golf stuff. And so I stayed close to home and I took over his roles there as a, you know, equipment tech at a local club and I just fell in love with it. I mean, it’s just so much fun. You know, it was, every day was a little different, uh, problem solving, troubleshooting, all that kind of good stuff that comes with the ins and the outs and, you know, never really look back. I was there for quite a while. I was there for, uh, seven years or eight years. And then opportunity opened up down southeast floor and I got to work at a really high end exclusive club. And that was just a, I mean, I learned more in three years there than I did seven years, you know, at a, at a smaller club. It was just, it was drinking water out of a fire hose, you know, it was just a blast. I mean, it was just so much fun. And then I was, uh, you know, I was commuting two hours a day for that job and it was seven. Seven days a week and I burned out and you know, we tried to move down there closer to and it just didn’t work out and so the drive killed me and I, I, I just, I burned out. I was so tired. I couldn’t take it. Ended up working for Jacobson actually. And the, and the factory direct branch. It was a road tech with, with Jake for a couple of years
Trent Manning: 9:23
That’s so funny.
Tyler Barrett: 9:24
with it. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 9:25
It’s hilarious because out of everybody that I’ve interviewed, there’s so many that’s worked for a Jag dealer at some
Tyler Barrett: 9:33
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 9:34
I don’t, I mean, it’s just funny. He’s like, yeah, I work and they all say it the same way. Like, oh yeah, I worked at a Jake dealer too
Tyler Barrett: 9:40
Yeah. And, and, you know, honestly, God, I, I, I loved it. I mean, the people I worked with were awesome. The factory direct, you know, model worked really well, you know, there were hiccups along the way, but yeah, I look back at those, at those years and, I mean, I loved every minute of it. It was, it was everything that I liked about working in a shop, but. Multiplied, you know, it was just the troubleshooting was a little more in depth, you know, the, the, you got to see different faces every day. You got to it was just really easy to stay active and learning.
Trent Manning: 10:16
Yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 10:16
And they were a great company to work for. I mean, I, I hope that they, you know, can kind of get their pieces back together and, and
Trent Manning: 10:25
Why don’t I really think they, they have a huge or had a huge opportunity with COVID and you know, all the other manufacturers really struggling to get the equipment out, they had a huge opportunity and hopefully they can capitalize on that.
Tyler Barrett: 10:43
Yeah. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 10:44
and I, sorry, I wasn’t trying to talk, talk bad about Jake.
Tyler Barrett: 10:48
No. I mean, I get it. Right. I
Trent Manning: 10:49
know, it’s,
Tyler Barrett: 10:50
it every day.
Trent Manning: 10:50
yeah, we, we all hear it a lot, but I mean, they have really good potential. It’s just, you know, I think it’s something, and I mean, everybody that I’ve ever met and talked to that worked for them are great people. I mean, they have really good people working there.
Tyler Barrett: 11:08
But, uh, yeah, hopefully it, it, uh, competition’s good for everybody.
Trent Manning: 11:13
Well, it is
Tyler Barrett: 11:14
and I love their, a lot of their products. I really, really liked, I mean, the cutting units were, were great. The, you know, the the 322 and the eclipse and a lot of that technology, you know, we see it now in different colors, but
Trent Manning: 11:28
right.
Tyler Barrett: 11:28
they did it, they did it really well or do it really well. I should say,
Trent Manning: 11:32
Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean
Tyler Barrett: 11:34
of,
Trent Manning: 11:35
didn’t mean to sidetrack you there.
Tyler Barrett: 11:36
no, no, all good. I kind of saw the writing on the wall when I was with Jake and, and, uh, you know, the opportunity with Foley opened up, I had known Foley, you know, at every course I had been at, I had gotten to know, you know, most everybody at Foley that, you know, an end user would come in contact with Ron and Vince and and Greg, you know, all the Gregs. And, uh, you know, I was always impressed with the company, always impressed with the product, and I had an opportunity to come on board with them. And it’s been You know, the greatest thing that’s ever happened. I mean, it’s just the company is just awesome. And the opportunity that they’ve given me it’s just been a blast. I mean, some days it’s just like, man, it’s, it’s hard to believe that I get paid to do this. You know, it’s
Trent Manning: 12:21
Oh, you’re right.
Tyler Barrett: 12:22
just helped so many people and get to develop so many relationships and get to meet so many people across, you know, an entire region. Um, It’s, it’s just a blast. I mean, it’s, it’s, I, not a regret in the world.
Trent Manning: 12:39
Yeah. How long have you been with him?
Tyler Barrett: 12:41
Six years. This is my sixth year.
Trent Manning: 12:44
Yeah. Yeah. And I guess, how did the opportunity come about? Because it weren’t, weren’t you kind of the first technical
Tyler Barrett: 12:56
yeah, so in, uh, in this part of Florida you know, the distribution was the Jacobson branch for the, let’s say, 75 percent of the Florida market. And, you know, just like me looking at the writing on the wall, I think Foley saw the writing on the wall as well. And they were looking at. You know, what do they do to make sure that the fully customer in the state of Florida is taken care of and what they decided and looking back now, hindsight was that a factory direct model would be best. Right? And. You know, looking at how Jacobson was doing the factory direct model, you know, maybe it wasn’t, you know, there wasn’t a lot of proof in the pudding at that point, but you know, grinders being such a specialized product in a, in a, in an industry, right? I mean, every golf course has got two grinders, maybe four at really large properties. It allows you to really pinpoint. The customer service, right? Because doesn’t matter what color the grinder is. Right? I mean, we’re, we’re all making dull stuff sharp. Right? And really what it’s all about is just being able to support the product, being able to support the customer and being able to, really just be there when needed. And so the factory direct model here in Florida, you know, coming out of the Jake direct branch. Um, you know, I, I think it was it was Greg Turner called and and Ron, I met Ron in Orlando and we just kind of talked about it doing a factory direct, you know, set up where they gave me a truck and a trailer, a set of grinders. And just, uh, you know, hear the keys and have that and drive that trailer from one end of the state to the other, you know, showing off the, you know, the, the products and, and doing things like parts and service and technical questions and training and warranty repairs and refurbs. I mean, you name it. We do it. And it’s just a really simple process for the customer. It’s, it’s, uh, you know, called Tyler, you need a stone, you need a grinder, you need. Whatever the case may be, it’s kind of a one stop shop and it’s worked really well. And it’s, it’s been a blast. I mean, it’s been, it’s been really fun.
Trent Manning: 15:10
No, that’s awesome. I know the dealers help a lot, On taking off some of the financial burdens and that kind of thing, you know, credit in and
Tyler Barrett: 15:20
Oh, yeah.
Trent Manning: 15:21
So, and then a level of support and then I know when I work for. Jerry pay, I don’t remember the exact details, but I know fully required. Jerry Pate to send two technicians ever so often to their service school in Wisconsin. And luckily I was fortunate enough to do that and I loved it. I mean, it was so
Tyler Barrett: 15:43
Oh, yeah.
Trent Manning: 15:44
going up there and, and it wasn’t just, you know, okay, here’s our product. It was, you know, let’s troubleshoot this, you know, this goes out or that goes out and let’s look at the electrical diagrams. And I mean, it was really hands on fun troubleshooting.
Tyler Barrett: 16:00
Yeah. No, that service schools are great. We think we just did our 1st service school since code last year. And so we had a really good group of guys go up to the factory and we’re looking at that. That’s back in place now. So
Trent Manning: 16:13
Oh,
Tyler Barrett: 16:14
I, yeah, you know, and so I’ve actually had the opportunity. I went to the service school as a distributor tech, but also, you know, once I got hired for fully, I was up there for the service school. So it’s cool to see kind of both sides of it, you know, and. Yeah. The service goals are huge.
Trent Manning: 16:31
Very cool.
Tyler Barrett: 16:32
Yeah, they’re great.
Trent Manning: 16:35
Well, what’s your, when you were turning wrenches on a golf course, what was your least favorite part of the job?
Tyler Barrett: 16:43
You know, it’s hard to, hard to pinpoint a least favorite part of the job. I, I really didn’t have any part of that job that I You know, it was I mean, some jobs are a little more pleasant than others, right? I mean, changing belts on a progressive was never my favorite thing to do, but, uh,
Trent Manning: 17:04
uh,
Tyler Barrett: 17:05
You know, this, in this job travel and the traffic is, is the least favorite part, you know, the traffic, a lot of windshield time in Florida. And then if I’m not, you know, if I’m going to, you know, Jerry Paterson, the turf. Airlines and traveling. It’s, uh, I was watching just people watching last week and I’m convinced that when people go to the airport, right, they take their luggage out of the trunk and put the brain in the trunk and just walk into the terminal, you know, I mean,
Trent Manning: 17:34
yeah, yeah,
Tyler Barrett: 17:35
just never know what you’re going to see in an airport. It’s, it’s, uh, it’s wild,
Trent Manning: 17:40
that is, uh, I agree with that one for sure. I What’s your favorite tool?
Tyler Barrett: 17:46
you know, a little quarter inch, uh, hex bit or hex driver. You can get a little ratchet. Okay. You know, fits in the palm of your hand and, and I’m convinced I can do just about anything to a Foley grinder. I mean, uh, short from bending the metal and welding it together. Um, you know, a lot of the hardware is really common, you know, five, 30 seconds handling heads and just a little, uh, quarter inch hex bit ratchets, my, I got, I got them scattered all over the place. I got one in the truck and one in the tool bag. Uh, try to keep one in the pocket, you know,
Trent Manning: 18:21
yeah. Yeah, no, that’s awesome. Yeah. Hard to beat. Do you use any, uh, electric stuff? Like a little,
Tyler Barrett: 18:28
yeah, yeah, I don’t, I don’t have, uh, yeah, the quarter inch electric mean, that thing is what, uh, electricity and the lithium ion battery stuff, what it’s done for hand tools is crazy. I, I don’t ever, I shouldn’t say ever, but never see guys dragging their hoses around shops anymore. I mean, it’s, uh, what those tools have done and even the small compact, like you said, the quarter inch driver, three H drive, you know, ratchets. Some minutes. They’re, they’re awesome.
Trent Manning: 18:56
Yeah. I love the little quarter inch, you know, the hex drive where it has a little clutch on it. For especially working on two stroke stuff and, you know, backpack blowers, taking the shrouds on and off and T27 Torx bit on there and, you know, you’re not running it in there with a regular drill and stripping every, all the plastic stuff out.
Tyler Barrett: 19:20
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning: 19:21
handy. Well, what do you do to relax or find your balance?
Tyler Barrett: 19:27
You know, at the risk of sounding like a softy I’ve started baking bread. Uh, a friend of mine at GIS in Orlando started just out of the blue talking about, uh, sourdough
Trent Manning: 19:41
Mm.
Tyler Barrett: 19:41
he’s got me hooked on sourdough. It’s the craziest, I mean, right up there with do a podcast. I never thought I’d be baking bread. And then enjoying it as much as I do. I mean, it’s got this little sourdough starter that I feed, you know, once a day and. Make sourdough with it and that led to pizza. So now, you know, cooking and baking and doing all that stuff for the family. And then I’m a huge, uh, college football nut. I mean, I, I, it’s, it’s genetic, you know, huge Michigan Wolverine fan. So it’s been a
Trent Manning: 20:13
well you’ve been really excited then,
Tyler Barrett: 20:16
been basking in reflective glory. Finally it’s been a lot of fun to watch, watch this year.
Trent Manning: 20:21
yeah. So how did you pick Michigan and South Florida.
Tyler Barrett: 20:25
So my mother’s side of the family is all from Michigan. Uh, and, and a huge Michigan fan. So it was just always around and
Trent Manning: 20:32
Right.
Tyler Barrett: 20:32
it was
Trent Manning: 20:33
Yeah. Everybody gives me a hard time because I’ve, I’ve pulled for Alabama, and I’ve lived in Georgia my whole life, but my dad’s from North Alabama and that’s all I knew growing up. Alabama football and Georgia sucks. Yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 20:49
Right.
Trent Manning: 20:50
Yeah, that’s it. He pulled for two teams, actually Alabama and whoever’s playing George. I don’t, you know, it was just one of those things. So that’s, that’s what I learned to do too.
Tyler Barrett: 21:01
Being a Michigan fan, you vote, you, you root for every team that plays Ohio State, no matter what.
Trent Manning: 21:05
Yeah, I’m sure. I’m sure. Well, what’s been one of your biggest challenges to date? And just in life and when work, whatever, whatever.
Tyler Barrett: 21:14
you know, that’s a tough one too. You know, I would say just balancing all the demands that are at you every day, you know, between work and family, making sure that you know, your, your time’s well spent you know, the, the busier, you know, we all get, it’s really important to make sure that you know, what really matters is taking care of too. So it’s,
Trent Manning: 21:35
Hmm.
Tyler Barrett: 21:36
um, not sure if it’s a challenge, but it’s something that, you know, it’s. My responsibilities have, have, uh, grown. It’s something that I’ve, you know, made sure that I pay close attention to.
Trent Manning: 21:47
I think it’s definitely a struggle.
Tyler Barrett: 21:51
Right.
Trent Manning: 21:51
you know, especially the, I do think, you know, it’s changing over time. The golf course, but, you know, back in the nineties, it was go, go, go. And, you know, work first family last, and that’s probably not just the golf industry. I just think that was kind of the, the rhythm we’re in. And now it’s definitely, you hear a lot more about work life balance. And I remember, uh, A guy asked, and me and John Patterson, how do y’all deal with work life balance? And John, John Patterson’s like, well, you know, when I was coming up, it was work, work balance. That’s all, that’s all you’re trying to do was balance work and life didn’t matter. But it’s great for the industry. And I mean the country, you know, whoever is worrying more about, uh, being at home with family because it is so important and the guy that, uh, he’s going to drop. This week, I believe. So you’ll hear it again, or you just heard it a month ago when you hear this one talking about how much time you have with your kids, because. You know, when they’re little and they’re around a lot, you know, that’s a very short window, you know, you might say, well, they’re going to be at home for 18 years, but the amount of time you actually get to spend with them just gets less and less every single year,
Tyler Barrett: 23:15
Right. Right.
Trent Manning: 23:17
you know, when they get teenagers and they’re busy with friends and sports and all those things, you’re not seeing them as much. And then, you know, once they fly the coop, who knows when you’re going to see them.
Tyler Barrett: 23:28
Right. Right. Right.
Trent Manning: 23:31
So, yeah, very, very important. We got any strange stories that you saw out there at the airport or on a road or at a golf course?
Tyler Barrett: 23:39
You know, I, I don’t know if strange is the right word, but when I was working in Southeast Florida, we got to have, it was actually Obama at the time as a sitting president. He came out to the golf course for a weekend and, and seeing, uh, the operation that, you know, follows him around whoever it is. I mean, that was, that was wild. I mean, it was, it was like being in the middle of a war zone, you know what I mean? Well, playing golf.
Trent Manning: 24:05
Oh, I’m sure. Yeah. So a bunch of guys with them fours running around.
Tyler Barrett: 24:09
Well, not really. I mean, they were, they were around, but you couldn’t see them. You know, they could see you, but you couldn’t see them.
Trent Manning: 24:14
yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 24:16
Yeah, I mean, just, just the, what’s involved and, and seeing, you know, what follows that person around it. Everywhere that they go, it’s, it’s just, it’s baffling. You know, from communications to, you know, the protective side of it.
Trent Manning: 24:31
Mm.
Tyler Barrett: 24:33
really cool to see.
Trent Manning: 24:34
That is, yeah, that is a very cool experience. Do you have a mentor in the industry?
Tyler Barrett: 24:41
You know, I can’t I feel like if I narrowed it down to one, I’d be leaving out so many. You know, it’s one of those things about this industry, right? It’s, I’ve always said, I can’t remember who told me, but it’s not an equipment industry. It’s a people industry, you know, and, and.
Trent Manning: 24:55
a good one.
Tyler Barrett: 24:56
Everybody I’ve come in contact has been a mentor in some form or fashion, you know, it’s whether it’s the 1st mechanic that I worked under and, you know, cut my teeth or whether it’s a superintendent along the way, or a vendor rep, or, I mean, there’s just, there’s too many people to name. I mean, the, this industry is just flooded. With really, really good people. And I think all of us, you know, benefit from, I think everybody in the, in the, in the book, you know, you could say it’s meant to origin some form or fashion at some point. I mean, it’s, it’s one of the really, really awesome things about this industry.
Trent Manning: 25:33
I agree a hundred percent. I think that’s a great answer. Everybody in the industry. I mean, it is because it’s just, yeah. And that, I mean, I’ve, you know, I’ll just sound like a broken record. I know, but I just love this industry so much. And that’s why I mean, why I want to do this podcast and get people’s stories out there
Tyler Barrett: 25:51
and you’re doing it a great,
Trent Manning: 25:53
learn a
Tyler Barrett: 25:54
and you’re doing, you’re doing it a great service. So thank you
Trent Manning: 25:57
thank you for that. I do appreciate that for sure. What would be your dream job?
Tyler Barrett: 26:02
man. I think I’ve got it. No, yeah,
Trent Manning: 26:05
You know, you don’t want to be flying a C 130 or F 14 or.
Tyler Barrett: 26:10
so I’m through and through an aviation nerd, right? I mean, every time something flies overhead, I’m looking at it, you know what I mean? And if you were to look at my YouTube algorithm right now, it’s all airplanes. I mean, everybody thinks I’m crazy. I’d love flying, but I wouldn’t want to do it for a living, you know what I mean, it’s, it’s a lifestyle that, I don’t know, it’s just not for me, you know, it’s
Trent Manning: 26:34
Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 26:35
very corporate, it’s very, you know, you’re not an employee, you’re a number on a seniority list, and you can get axed in a heartbeat, and you’d be living good one day, and, and struggling the next, you know, it’s just love flying, wouldn’t want to do it for a living,
Trent Manning: 26:51
Gotcha. What technician would you like to work with for a day?
Tyler Barrett: 26:57
that’s probably an easy one, but man, Chad Brown, every time I talk to him, it’s whether it’s for 30 seconds or 30 minutes, you, you, you learn something, you know, I mean, the guys just you say equipment manager. I say, Chad Brown. I mean, the
Trent Manning: 27:11
Oh, right. Yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 27:12
I mean, the guys, I’m not sure he’s, he’s the gold standard and so to work alongside him and just see what he does. Even on a slow day, you know, I think would be, would be awesome.
Trent Manning: 27:26
I think he’s a Toro walking encyclopedia. I’m serious. And I mean, not, and not just that’s actually, that’s very unfair to say that about him, because I mean, so knowledgeable about everything, but you know, in our WhatsApp group, if somebody has a Toro thing, he comes with a tech manual, a service bulletin, something. And how he finds this stuff so quick. So I actually, I even asked him one day in the, in the group chat, like, how do you find these pictures, you know, of these exact problems people are asking about so fast, and he says, well, I have them all in separate albums. And I said, you make me sick, you know, to be that organized. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love Chad. And I wish I was that organized, but I’m not, my brain is not, doesn’t work that way.
Tyler Barrett: 28:23
Yeah,
Trent Manning: 28:23
say, and I’ll even start like, okay, I want to organize some of these pictures and I’ll get 10 pictures in and then, you know, it’s a little squirrel running off over here. But yeah, no, he would definitely be a good one.
Tyler Barrett: 28:37
his attention to detail is just awesome.
Trent Manning: 28:40
Why don’t I, he’s only what? 45 minutes from y’all’s factory.
Tyler Barrett: 28:44
Oh, yeah,
Trent Manning: 28:45
Yeah. You need to run over there and see him. He would love that. Yeah, for sure. Hook it up. Well, what do you know now? You wish you’d known on day one.
Tyler Barrett: 28:55
you know, that it all works out know, the decision to. Leave aviation pursue golf was not an easy one. You know, it’s not a glamorous, uh, you know, walking through the airport with your funny little hat and short sleeve shirt and tie on and to leave that, uh, work at a golf course. And I think a lot of people thought I was crazy. A lot of people still probably do think I was crazy. But just knowing that you know, every, every little step along the way, it’s all for the better. And, uh, yeah. And, you know, just keeping a positive attitude is what it’s all about.
Trent Manning: 29:36
Yeah, that’s great advice. For sure.
29:38
Get ready for tips and tricks.
Trent Manning: 29:41
What kind of tips and tricks you want to share?
Tyler Barrett: 29:44
So, you know, I’m talking about spin speeds a lot, and I think probably everybody is, but you know, the, the Edge Series reels from Toro,
Trent Manning: 29:51
Hmm. Okay.
Tyler Barrett: 29:54
A lot of the spin speeds in the Foley’s are preset a little high. And You know, like, uh, you’re going to be between 200 and 240, I think Chad Brown would say 219 was the spin speed that he found, you know, that worked for 11 bladed 5 inch reel. But just being aware of spin speeds and knowing that, you know, with edge series reels, we’ve, we’ve got to slow spin speeds down to compensate for, you know, the hardness of the reel, but also the, the low drag bearings and seals in the, in the newer Toro reels. you know, being in different shops every day, you see so many different little
Trent Manning: 30:27
Can we, uh, can, yeah, can we keep touching on that spin speed? I got some follow up questions.
Tyler Barrett: 30:33
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 30:33
So how much does spin speed change? If you got the same diameter reel, but you know, so you were talking about 11 blade, so you go to a 14, do you need to slow it down a little bit more?
Tyler Barrett: 30:47
Actually speed it up a little bit, probably closer to 240. Yeah. The, the 14 bladed five inch is probably the quickest. That you’ll be at, I would say,
Trent Manning: 30:56
Okay.
Tyler Barrett: 30:56
quickest speed,
Trent Manning: 30:57
So same thing. If you had a blade, then you’re going to be a little below 200 maybe.
Tyler Barrett: 31:04
so, I don’t, you may be a little below 200. So, the way the spin speed works in the Foley, right, Uh, there’s no feedback back into the grinder that says, Yep, you’re at 200 or you’re at 210. It’s strictly a voltage out of the board, depending on. Where you’ve got the spin speed set on the screen or where you’ve got the spin speed pot on the control screen. So,
Trent Manning: 31:28
Mm.
Tyler Barrett: 31:29
if you’re wide open, right, you’re going to send 90 volts of DC power to the, to the spin motor. And that 90 volts of DC power is going to spin every reel a little different, right? So, older Toros were a lot harder to spin, just, you know, free spin. And so, if you took, say, 75 volts of DC power to an older Toro it’s going to spin a lot slower than a newer Toro does. Just because. That same amount of voltage is gonna spin the reel, you know, that much quicker. Um, I, I’ve seen some of the seven inch reels where, you know, maybe you’re down around 1 90, 1 90,
Trent Manning: 32:04
Okay. Yeah,
Tyler Barrett: 32:07
between 200 and, or, you know, two 10 to two 40 for the, for reels. And it’s just feel, you know. Right. You know, I mean everybody, you can hear it, you can feel it, you can see it, you can see the, see the barber pull effect and all that kind of good stuff. But it’s,
Trent Manning: 32:22
don’t, for, for what it’s worth, I’m at two 38 on a 14 blade five inch reel.
Tyler Barrett: 32:27
yeah, there you go.
Trent Manning: 32:30
I don’t, that’s, and for the listeners, we did not talk about this beforehand. This is, this is just fact. And actually I was, uh, I just came back from the Bahamas. They got a Foley six 53, so 2019 model, it looks brand new and I checked it. It had 47 hours on it. And, When I checked and I know I put at least 15 hours on it. So these guys aren’t doing a lot of grinding down there and the electricity.
Tyler Barrett: 33:02
new, right?
Trent Manning: 33:03
What, right. And their electricity down there is kind of suspect because to use the grinder, you have to turn everything else in the shop off. I don’t, it’s weird, you know, because when the motor tries to kick on, it’s enough of a voltage drop that it’ll turn the whole machine off. If there’s one single thing on an outlet in their shop,
Tyler Barrett: 33:28
So the real, you know,
Trent Manning: 33:30
not a good
Tyler Barrett: 33:31
The, the, right. The real grinder ideally is on a 20 amp dedicated circuit. They’re, you’re talking, so the machine tripping operates a low voltage relay. It’s
Trent Manning: 33:39
Right, right. Yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 33:41
Every Foley grinder we’ve ever made but on the Powers, you know, and the Caribbean, you’ve got to be aware of whether it’s 50 Hertz or 60 Hertz, I think. You can have some weird things going on in the traverse and I probably shouldn’t talk about it because I’m not versed on it entirely. But
Trent Manning: 34:00
Why don’t, if the grinding motor would kick on everything run good. And I was spending 14 blade flex 2100 reels at two 38, just like I do back here in the States and like the ground out. Perfect.
Tyler Barrett: 34:15
awesome. But
Trent Manning: 34:16
So now I would, since we’ve whipped that horse enough about the spin speed, you can continue with your tips and tricks.
Tyler Barrett: 34:24
Yeah, I mean, you see so many. I think maybe it was something you talked about at one point, but I’m seeing it everywhere is the using the piece of galvanized pipe with the little uh, cap on the top of it, slide it over the lift yoke and lift reels into the grinder with that.
Trent Manning: 34:40
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 34:41
then, and pipes, you know, stick the pipe on the lift yoke and move it around the shop. You know, it’s always a little nauseating to hear a cutting unit be kicked across a concrete floor. So it’s just little things like that, but I mean, there’s so many little doodads and gadgets that guys work up and fab. And you know, there’s always some sort of modified 5, 8 open and wrench somewhere T handle around the shop somewhere that are used. But so,
Trent Manning: 35:10
Good stuff. What else you want to talk about?
Tyler Barrett: 35:13
as long as this is there, and after, after the next couple of weeks, you know, fully and we’ve been working on some new stuff, that’s really exciting. We’ll have a new product launch here in the next couple of weeks. That I think is really going to be something that can make a big difference in a lot of shops. You made me sign a disclosure. I had to get you to sign a disclosure since it’s the week before it’s getting launched, but
Trent Manning: 35:35
Why don’t I signed a disclosure when I was at Foley, I believe.
Tyler Barrett: 35:39
okay.
Trent Manning: 35:40
maybe it’s, maybe it’s still valid, but now I, I mean, seriously, yeah, this is not going to drop before, before then I would never do that to you or the Foley company.
Tyler Barrett: 35:53
Right. So we’re calling it the quick spin. It kind of sits flat on the floor, you can push a reel up on it or travel walking grades more up on it and do a quick. You know, spin grind only, right? So we’re not, we’re not gauging. We’re not reliefing. We’re just doing a quick in between kind of touch off spin grind. Um, you know, talking about lifted reels and moving reels around the shop. You know, all that’s kind of alleviated because it’s, it’s just flat right on the ground. I mean, it’s it’s really, really cool, really quick, really you know,
Trent Manning: 36:25
got to pull the bad knife.
Tyler Barrett: 36:27
You don’t have to, no,
Trent Manning: 36:28
Okay.
Tyler Barrett: 36:30
no, and it’s, uh, you know, how do I say this European markets have, uh, the really large fixed head greens mowers, you know, the, the Dennis and the Allet, uh, 42 inches wide, you know, obviously getting those things in grinders is a bit of a physical challenge and that’s where this machine really comes in, I mean, you just drive it right up, right, the rear roller clamps down automatically, you do a quick touch left and right and you’re thrown sparks and you’re getting it sharp and in no time. So it’s.
Trent Manning: 36:59
Hmm.
Tyler Barrett: 37:00
It’s, uh, yeah, it, it, it’s a really cool, cool, uh, piece in, in the Foley line. It’s kind of new for us and, and, you know, working, you know, even further down the pipeline. Yeah. There’s a lot of, a lot of exciting things coming outta Foley over the next 12 months, so,
Trent Manning: 37:15
Awesome. I can’t, I can’t wait. I’ll always love new products and new
Tyler Barrett: 37:19
Oh yeah,
Trent Manning: 37:20
And yeah, do you know if they’ve made any progress with bed knife grinder? Cause I know they were talking about, yeah,
Tyler Barrett: 37:27
yeah.
Trent Manning: 37:27
coming up with some things there and maybe
Tyler Barrett: 37:30
I, I’ll say that, uh. The engineering team has been firing on all cylinders,
Trent Manning: 37:37
awesome.
Tyler Barrett: 37:38
all, all good stuff.
Trent Manning: 37:40
Yeah, no, that’s, that’s exciting. All right. Are y’all still making the Rotary great blade grinder?
Tyler Barrett: 37:47
Yeah, 460 and 465. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 37:51
That’s cool. You know, it’s one of those, it’s a huge investment unless you got a lot of Rotary units. It’s kind of hard to justify that for, you know, golf operation.
Tyler Barrett: 38:02
yeah, it does a really good job. It’s, you know, it’s not for everybody, obviously, but you can fly through some rotary blades really, really quick and really, really consistent, which is what it’s all about.
Trent Manning: 38:13
Right. I know a wheel. He’s got one out, a lotion club. But it, you know, it’s candy land out there. They got anything they want.
Tyler Barrett: 38:20
Right.
Trent Manning: 38:21
anything you want. What do you want to, you want to do some rapid fire?
Tyler Barrett: 38:27
Sure.
Trent Manning: 38:29
Let’s do it. What’s your favorite movie?
Tyler Barrett: 38:33
Yeah, it’s tough. Rampant fire. I’m gonna ramble about this one. I guess if I had to nail it down, I’d say the big Lebowski, you
Trent Manning: 38:39
Oh yeah, it’s classic. The dude,
Tyler Barrett: 38:43
the dude. Yeah, but there’s so many men. It’s hard to, it’s hard to leave out all the other ones.
Trent Manning: 38:48
Oh, I don’t throw another one out there.
Tyler Barrett: 38:50
Uh, you know, coming out of Christmas, you can’t beat Christmas vacation.
Trent Manning: 38:54
Yeah,
Tyler Barrett: 38:55
you can’t beat plane trains and automobiles.
Trent Manning: 38:58
No, no, the good one.
Tyler Barrett: 39:00
uh, yeah. The latest Top Gun was really good. You know, being an aviation nerd, it’s hard. I mean, I’d probably get my wings taken away from me if I didn’t mention that one.
Trent Manning: 39:09
Well, I was going to, I was going to question since aviation and you’re not going to say top gun Maverick. I mean,
Tyler Barrett: 39:18
And Maverick was good. I think that’s probably the 1st 1 that was, you know, arguably better than the 1st 1. I just saw something there. They’re going to make a 3rd 1. That makes me a little nervous.
Trent Manning: 39:27
yeah, I’m nervous about that.
Tyler Barrett: 39:29
I think somebody maybe is running to the bank on that 1.
Trent Manning: 39:33
what would be your last meal?
Tyler Barrett: 39:35
I tell you 1 thing that you’ve done, right, is, is proven that this industry is full of carnivores. I mean, I think everybody’s a steak, a steak and a potato.
Trent Manning: 39:44
yeah.
Tyler Barrett: 39:45
Yeah, I gotta be honest. I’m not crazy about steak. Uh, I mean, I enjoy a good steak, right? But I guess the last meal would be, uh, you know, a nice beach bar somewhere on the water with a ice cold Corona and maybe some nachos or something like that.
Trent Manning: 40:01
Cool. Seafood? You into seafood?
Tyler Barrett: 40:03
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Trent Manning: 40:04
you gotta do
Tyler Barrett: 40:05
Florida seafood, yeah. A grouper sandwich would be up there. Up there with the, with the corona, yeah.
Trent Manning: 40:11
Yeah. We don’t do seafood in the Midwest. You
Tyler Barrett: 40:15
Well, maybe, uh, catfish, maybe.
Trent Manning: 40:18
Maybe. I wasn’t too crazy about steak in the Bahamas. You know, there’s not many cows
Tyler Barrett: 40:23
not a lot of, not a lot of cattle ranches down there in the islands.
Trent Manning: 40:26
Fact, uh, what are you most proud of beside your family?
Tyler Barrett: 40:33
You know, I would hope know, hopefully a long time from now, when they’re throwing dirt on top of me, that they can Look back and say that I was reliable. You know, if Tyler said he was going to do something, he did it, you know, if you needed him, he was going to be there. And I, I, I’m proud of that. And I work hard for that every day. I’m also really proud of Foley. I mean, not to. You know, put the brown nose on, but, uh, you know, what, what we’ve done here in the last couple of years with COVID and all the challenges that, you know, it’s been thrown at us. I mean, they’ve taken it at the factory, right? I mean, I’m just a, I’m just a schlop out in the field, you know, the guys are the guys and gals at the factory that have just worked so hard taking every challenge thrown at them with stride, you know, and we’ve kept, you know, the, the pricing has been really consistent. The lead times have been really consistent. Um, You know, everybody up there from top to bottom that they’ve been able to do in the last couple of years is really awesome. And I’m proud to be a small part of the team. I’m proud and grateful both.
Trent Manning: 41:39
No, that’s awesome. And I don’t know why I’ve never really thought about this, but, you know, and I work for a Toro distributor and I’ve seen you know, and nothing, I think it’s happens a lot of distributors. There’s some junk that comes out of the factory. Because, you know, I mean, whoever on that assembly line that day, and they miss this or they miss that, whatever. And I’ve seen it with Toro and deer and honestly with the Foley, I hadn’t, I mean, y’all do really good at the factory level, you know, getting those machines put together and having them
Tyler Barrett: 42:15
Oh, yeah.
Trent Manning: 42:15
when they get there.
Tyler Barrett: 42:17
Oh, yeah, that’s what it’s all about. I mean, it’s, uh, I was, I was actually just looking at it. A couple of days ago last year, I think I had 2 warranty claims in my territory and it was just. You know, nothing. I mean, it was a, you know, maybe a misaligned pulley on two, two different warranty tickets last year, which is, you know, it’s not, it’s not me, right. It’s, it’s everybody at the factory that are,
Trent Manning: 42:40
All right.
Tyler Barrett: 42:40
day in and day in and day out putting out quality products. So it’s, it’s
Trent Manning: 42:44
And that, that probably those warranty claims probably happened during shipping. You know what I mean? I’m like,
Tyler Barrett: 42:50
that. That’s a good one. I’ll have to go back and change the description on that one. It was truck line, didn’t it?
Trent Manning: 42:53
I don’t like, yeah, I should’ve got a warranty claim on my six 53 grinder. Cause I unloaded it with forks that were way too short and it tipped back and bent the back shroud. So I’m over there doing bodywork right after
Tyler Barrett: 43:08
I met one of your guys. I met one of your guys last week. He told me about a thermal event, maybe, at one of your shops. So I’ll be watching the warranty
Trent Manning: 43:16
Thermal event. Oh yeah, yeah,
Tyler Barrett: 43:18
Yeah,
Trent Manning: 43:19
yeah. Okay. Yeah. You talked to Joel. We did have, I like the way you put that thermal event. Yes, we did have a building fire and yeah, all our equipment burnt. And I guess when they put the fire out, that is very corrosive, you know? So the rails on the bed, knife grinder. Oxidized, I mean, terrible oxidation. So part of the insurance claim is, I said, I want new bearings and new rails. And they said, who’s going to do the work? I said, I’ll do the work. You know, don’t worry about, can we get a special guy to come out here though? And I do want to, uh, while we’re on that, you brought this up. So changing the rails on that is not a lot of fun. The way that bore, you know, the, you know, it slides out, but you can’t get to the,
Tyler Barrett: 44:16
right,
Trent Manning: 44:16
the screws on the bottom.
Tyler Barrett: 44:19
672, right? You’ve got to pull that electrical cabinet out. It’s not, you know, the next time you do it, it’ll be a lot easier than the first time you did it. I mean, it’s, uh, but like, you know, the 670 is a piece of cake. I mean, you can get underneath there and do that easy. The only hard part is just getting that cabinet out of the, or that drawer pulled out, and accessing what, the last three
Trent Manning: 44:41
Mm. Yeah,
Tyler Barrett: 44:42
nouns.
Trent Manning: 44:43
Yeah. And thanks for the moral support. Cause the second time I do anything, it’s going to be easier than the first
Tyler Barrett: 44:49
Oh yeah, yeah. If it’s not, then something’s not, something’s not right.
Trent Manning: 44:54
Can we, uh, uh, yeah, we got time, we got to tell the J. R. Wilson story. So the first time,
Tyler Barrett: 45:04
of limitations on this one.
Trent Manning: 45:06
well, yeah, we won’t, we won’t mention any names, but the first time I meet Tyler is, uh, J. R. Wilson’s shop at Noyak Golf Club on Long Island. And, you know, I’d followed you on Twitter and I don’t, we’d talked on the phone, I think a time or two. Before then, but you come up to do a little talk and I was doing a talk there and what happened to your car at a restaurant?
Tyler Barrett: 45:34
yeah. I mean,
Trent Manning: 45:35
run into it?
Tyler Barrett: 45:36
yeah, speaking of the least favorite part of the job, right, is the traveling. So that trip, I was supposed to leave the night before at, say, six o’clock. I didn’t leave until 6 a. m. the next morning, right? So I’m leaving Orlando at 6 at your, at JR’s place at 8 a. m., so that’s not going to work, right? But I, I, we just made the best of it and I got there around lunchtime. We did our thing. You and I went out to dinner Come out to the car and the, and the, you know, the left rear quarter panel is, uh, you know, not only bashed in, but a big old black, you know, scuffed on the side of it. And I’m just like, man, I can’t, I’m just, it’s taught me dead in my tracks. Right. So then I started thinking, well, was that there, that just happened, or guess it was I didn’t think nothing of it the next morning. We’re back at J. R.’s place. Cause I think we went around to a couple of different clubs, did like a little tour. And, uh, you know, J. R. looked at it, and he’s like, man, I can, I can take care of that for you. That’s, if we just get that black mark off, you’ll never see the dent, right? And so he, You know, J. R. has never met a challenge he didn’t take head on, you know, and, and, uh,
Trent Manning: 46:41
And he’s just a big teddy bear. And he just wants to help somebody so bad.
Tyler Barrett: 46:46
nothing but the, but, but absolute best intentions. And he, uh, went and got this huge buffer wheel. I mean, looking back at it now, I feel like that thing was four feet across, but
Trent Manning: 46:55
It was at least a 14 inch Muffin Wheel. Ha
Tyler Barrett: 46:59
the buffing Then he put a little, you know, Polish on it. And, uh, the wheel went one way and I saw the, the, you know, the unpainted surface of the, of the fender. Right. And then it went the other way. And I think you said like, Oh, might be getting a little heavy there. And he pulled the buffer away and that black mark was gone. Right. But so was the clear coat. And so it was the paint. And so it was everything. So now it just put this huge, you know, label on it. Like not only did I see it, but I tried to fix it. I think he might’ve went and got a paint pen and
Trent Manning: 47:32
did. He found him a white paint pen and
Tyler Barrett: 47:35
Yeah, so that afternoon, right, I, uh, pointed west and went straight to JFK, dropped the car off, and I, I ran as fast as I could, never looked back, and never heard anything back.
Trent Manning: 47:45
Well, that’s good.
Tyler Barrett: 47:46
yeah.
Trent Manning: 47:47
No, the part of traveling, like you say,
Tyler Barrett: 47:50
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 47:51
of the job for sure. Well, thank you so much, Tyler. It’s been so much fun. I’ve really, really enjoyed it and hopefully the listeners will enjoy it too. But thank you so much for
Tyler Barrett: 48:02
No, thank you, Trent. Yeah, thank you. It’s,
Trent Manning: 48:05
we are recording early, so I hope I look forward to seeing you in Phoenix.
Tyler Barrett: 48:10
Yeah, absolutely. I’ll be there.
Trent Manning: 48:12
Thank you so much for listening to the Reel 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 Reel turf techs.