Description:
Welcome to Episode 112 of the Reel Turf Techs Podcast! Today, we’re diving into the world of turf management with Andy White, Equipment Manager at Bluemound Golf and Country Club in Wauwatosa, WI.
Bluemound, a private 18-hole gem, serves as Andy’s playground, where he operates as the lone tech in the shop, occasionally joined by the crew for some extra hands.
Andy’s journey is a unique one, blending his long-time background as a carpenter and logistics expert at FedEx into the dynamic realm of the golf shop. But don’t let the seeming disparity fool you – Andy’s early days spent tinkering with his dad and teeing off with his brothers set the stage for his seamless transition into the world of golf course mechanics. And hey, his welding skills didn’t hurt either!
In this episode, discover the tools that Andy always has by his side, explore his diverse taste in guitar playing, and unravel the challenges he faced during his swift rise from assistant technician to Equipment Manager in just four months. Plus, get the inside scoop on Andy’s role in hosting the Wisconsin EM meeting at his shop this month.
Transcript:
Trent Manning: 0:04
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 Welcome to the real Terp techs podcast episode 110. Today, we’re talking to Andy white equipment manager. At blue man golf and country club in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Blue man golf and country clubs are private 18 hole club. Andy is alone tech in the shop with occasional help from the crew. He has mostly Toro equipment. Let’s talk to Andy. All right. Welcome Andy to the real turf text podcast. How you doing today?
Andy White: 0:54
Good. Thank you, Trent.
Trent Manning: 0:55
Yeah. Thanks for being here. We’re going to have fun. Tell us how you got into the turf industry.
Andy White: 1:01
Well, I was in logistics for a long time. We’re at FedEx. Before that, I was a carpenter for many, many years. But a guy that works here used to work for me over at FedEx. And, uh, he said they were looking for an assistant mechanic. And I said, well, hey, let me go talk to the superintendent. And lo and behold, uh, I talked with him, and about a month later they hired me as an
Trent Manning: 1:26
Oh, wow. Awesome. So did you have any kind of mechanical experience before then?
Andy White: 1:32
Yeah, well, since I was like 12, we were working on dad’s cars. Every Saturday morning, you’re changing a tire, or changing a starter, or doing a tune up on a car, or working on a lawnmower, or anything. I mean, we’ve always had, we’ve always, and I’ve always owned a truck or a car that needed a toolbox, so.
Trent Manning: 1:50
Oh yeah. Yeah. No, I can relate to that too. And I think it’s, you know, I mean, it’s something that works out really good for mechanics. We, we can save ourselves some money. By being able to do repairs on our own and, and today’s day and age with YouTube, if you hadn’t done it, there’s a YouTube video that shows you what to do.
Andy White: 2:13
And I was a carpenter for many years, and uh, always using tools, and we always, and it was, it was, When I say carpentry, it’s, it was, it’s, it was more commercial stuff. So you’ve got, you’ve got a nine sixteenths in your poetry. You’ve got a tool set with you, you know, so not just, not just a tool bag, but a bunch of nails.
Trent Manning: 2:32
Well, right. Yeah, no, I get that. And I will say that no one wrenches in the toolbox helped me learn how to read a tape measure better. Back, back in the day. I’m like, okay, this makes sense. Half, nine sixteenths. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Each one of these is a sixteenth. Yeah, it’s cool. is your least favorite part of the job?
Andy White: 2:55
I don’t know if there is at least part of a really job. I kind of, I like it. I like it a lot. I enjoy it a lot. I mean, I’ve got challenges. Absolutely. Cause I’m, I’m in the order of the turf industry, but. I enjoy a lot of it, most of it. You know.
Trent Manning: 3:07
Well, yeah, let’s back up a little bit. So you are newer. You told me you’ve been in the turf industry for 16 months and you started as an assistant mechanic.
Andy White: 3:18
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 3:18
Okay. And then how long before you took over
Andy White: 3:22
Four months.
Trent Manning: 3:23
four months? Wow. So that’s, that’s a short, short learning curve there that you had. That’s
Andy White: 3:29
Trial by fire. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 3:31
Yeah, yeah, no, that’s good. So yeah, you probably don’t even know what your least favorite part of the job is yet. Cause you hadn’t been there long enough.
Andy White: 3:39
I enjoy it a lot. I mean, I enjoy just about everything. I mean, I, I enjoy, you know, just working on stuff.
Trent Manning: 3:44
Yeah. Yeah. And I think that’s why most of us do it. We just, uh, we like to fix things. I like to help people. What’s your favorite tool?
Andy White: 3:53
This is gonna come up and it’s uh, It’s a small channel lock, it’s about a six inch channel lock.
Trent Manning: 3:58
Six inch hand lock. Okay.
Andy White: 4:00
it’s just, I use it for just about everything.
Trent Manning: 4:03
All right. Yeah, you’re going to have to elaborate more on, on this.
Andy White: 4:08
I Use it, I mean I carry it in my back pocket most of the time.
Trent Manning: 4:11
Yeah.
Andy White: 4:11
it’s turning, you know, I just gotta adjust something or, I mean, I don’t know why, I just carry it with me.
Trent Manning: 4:18
Okay. Well now that, I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that and you got it in your back pocket and there it is. Nothing wrong at all.
Andy White: 4:26
You know, and then,
Trent Manning: 4:28
have you rounded any nuts off with the channel locks?
Andy White: 4:33
no.
Trent Manning: 4:34
No, all right. Well, that’s, that’s a plus if you can do
Andy White: 4:37
don’t use it. I don’t use it for that. I
Trent Manning: 4:39
Okay. All right. All right.
Andy White: 4:41
No,
Trent Manning: 4:41
I’ll just make it clear
Andy White: 4:43
no.
Trent Manning: 4:44
I Got to be true to my roots and I would say that’s definitely a pet peeve Of mine somebody using a pair of channel locks and rounding the head of a bolt off
Andy White: 4:53
I just got done replacing all the reels on our fairway units, right? And I noticed that every one of those nuts was rounded off. And then I went and looked over at the workbench, and lo and behold, it was a 12 point socket.
Trent Manning: 5:09
Okay.
Andy White: 5:09
So, I mean, on the, you know, height of cut adjustment. That’s, I replaced them all. I’m like, and I bought a six inch, you know, or a six point socket.
Trent Manning: 5:18
Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Yep. Good idea. Yeah. I don’t know. That’s definitely one of the frustrations running across a nut or a bolt that has the head rounded off and you’re like, okay, what am I supposed to do with this? Thanks for whoever done this. Well, what do you do to relax or find your balance?
Andy White: 5:35
I play guitar.
Trent Manning: 5:37
Oh, nice.
Andy White: 5:38
Yeah. I mean, it’s just at home wherever I just, sometimes I get home just to relax. I just, you know, play one of my guitars,
Trent Manning: 5:47
Oh yeah. That’s awesome.
Andy White: 5:49
play a couple songs. That’s about it.
Trent Manning: 5:51
what kind of, what’s, what’s your go to music here?
Andy White: 5:55
Gosh, anything from 60s rock to Pink Floyd
Trent Manning: 5:59
Okay. Yeah.
Andy White: 6:01
everything,
Trent Manning: 6:02
A little bit, a little bit of everything.
Andy White: 6:04
very eclectic. Yes.
Trent Manning: 6:05
Yeah. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. That’s awesome. arE you on Twitter?
Andy White: 6:09
Ah, yes.
Trent Manning: 6:12
You need to look up John Murray and it’s Murray, Murray guitars. He’s a fellow equipment manager and Richmond, Virginia. Awesome dude. And he makes custom guitars
Andy White: 6:27
Oh, that’s
Trent Manning: 6:28
and yeah, he just kind of fell into it. He’s always enjoyed woodworking and that kind of stuff. And somebody was wanting a guitar and he’s like, Hey, I’ll make you one.
Andy White: 6:38
Oh, that’s cool. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 6:39
yeah. And started making them. And, uh, yeah, I don’t know how many he makes a year or whatever, but super awesome guy uh, I’m sure y’all could, uh, I don’t play, so y’all could probably talk the talk, I’m not, I’m not even gonna pretend that I don’t know what a note is or a chord. So you can just count, count me out on playing instruments. What do you think your biggest challenge to date’s been?
Andy White: 7:06
Here,
Trent Manning: 7:07
Yeah.
Andy White: 7:08
there’s a lot of challenges. A lot of challenges. I mean, just to just getting every piece of equipment organized and where I want it to be and where I want logistically the oil changes to be and where I want the, I want to structure the year so I don’t have to, like this year, I structured, I tried to structure as much as I could so I didn’t have to do as much tear down as I did last year, if that makes any sense.
Trent Manning: 7:36
Yeah. So, yeah. What do you mean by tear down, like throughout the season, having major repairs or
Andy White: 7:42
Uh, no, just to, you know, to winterize everything. So, for instance, uh, maybe my oil changes in my walkers, you know, one set of my walkers isn’t due for another 80 or 90 hours. Or actually, maybe it’s, I’m sorry, 40 or 50 hours. But it depends on what it is, you know, or whatever piece of equipment that is. And that’s going to fall in a different part of the year than it would save me time in the winter for more projects.
Trent Manning: 8:09
I got you. Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, that makes sense. And I, I do think that the people up north do have an advantage over some of us in the south where we almost don’t stop.
Andy White: 8:22
Oh, yeah.
Trent Manning: 8:23
you know, luckily for me in Georgia, we, we do have 4 seasons. We really have more of 1 season, but do slow down this time of year and we can take a deep breath, but people in Florida, it’s unbelievable. It’s just go, go, go, you know, year round. It’s, uh,
Andy White: 8:46
Well, you talked to people from Wisconsin before, and there’s two seasons in Wisconsin. One is winter, and the other is road construction.
Trent Manning: 8:54
okay, I can relate to that in Atlanta. I think road constructions, a season in itself that last, uh, indefinitely.
Andy White: 9:04
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 9:05
Well, in your short time there, what’s one of the strangest, strangest things you’ve seen there at the golf course.
Andy White: 9:12
One of the, it was just a, I mean, last month, one of the operators called me up and said, he says, uh, come down to seven handy. It’s like, I said, what’s going on? He says, I’ve got a problem with the tractor door on the John Deere. And I get down there and he’s holding it up. And he’s just standing there with it. It fell off. And I’m like, you gotta be kidding me. And it didn’t break.
Trent Manning: 9:32
Oh, and what, and what was it that fell off?
Andy White: 9:35
the door to the John Deere tractor.
Trent Manning: 9:37
Oh, wow.
Andy White: 9:38
So the cab, the cab door completely came off. I’m looking, I’m like, how did you not break that?
Trent Manning: 9:43
Well, right. Yeah. Yeah.
Andy White: 9:44
was replaced the hinges and we were on our way, you know, a week
Trent Manning: 9:47
So yeah. Did the hinges just fail
Andy White: 9:50
yeah, it’s just that white metal hinges that failed. He opened it up in the wind and it just flew off. And I’m
Trent Manning: 9:55
Uh, nice.
Andy White: 9:56
that’s cuddly. That’s crazy.
Trent Manning: 9:59
Yeah. He needed to get, uh,
Andy White: 10:02
no.
Trent Manning: 10:03
air and he really got some fresh air.
Andy White: 10:05
Hmm.
Trent Manning: 10:06
That’s good stuff. Well, do you have any mentors in the industry?
Andy White: 10:11
I got a couple. I got John over at Westmore. He’s the neighboring course and he’s, I don’t know, he’s 10 minutes away, which is really nice. And our superintendents talk and we lend each other equipment. And he’s, he’s been doing it for a long time and he’s a really smart guy. And if I need help with something, I give him a call and he, he helps me out. Also
Trent Manning: 10:30
yeah. Go ahead.
Andy White: 10:31
Jeff over at Aaron Hills as well.
Trent Manning: 10:34
Okay.
Andy White: 10:34
We’re all. We’re good friends and we’re, you know, we talk a lot and he helps me out with some stuff. Actually, he’s going to stop over tomorrow with, you know,
Trent Manning: 10:44
Yeah. How important is that to have a couple of people that’s been in the industry for a while to, to lean on?
Andy White: 10:50
it’s amazing. It’s amazing.
Trent Manning: 10:53
Well, that’s, I mean, that’s what I love about this industry is, I mean, people are so accessible and so willing to help, you know, I mean, and you could say that it’s competition between the two courses, but it’s not, I mean, golfers are going to play golf wherever they want to play golf. And, you know, they’re just helping you out and that’s, that’s awesome. And y’all are fortunate in my opinion, that y’all do have a good group of technicians there in Wisconsin that, that get together and network
Andy White: 11:32
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 11:33
and, and, and learn together. I mean, that’s, that’s really good stuff. What’s, uh, some of the lessons that you’ve learned from these mentors?
Andy White: 11:43
Well, Jeff taught me how to grind.
Trent Manning: 11:45
Okay.
Andy White: 11:45
Yeah, and that was, that’s invaluable. I Learned electrical stuff from him. And he helps out whenever he can, you know. I mean, I just, I know he’s got a, he’s got a busy shop. He’s got a busy course, but he helps out with a lot of stuff. And they, they both do, actually, John and, and Jeff do. So it’s, it’s nice to have him close by, you know.
Trent Manning: 12:06
Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. Why is John coming by or is it Jeff coming tomorrow?
Andy White: 12:11
Oh, Jeff’s going to come tomorrow. We’re going to do some relief grinding.
Trent Manning: 12:14
Oh, okay. Does this be first time relief grinding?
Andy White: 12:17
Second time, but I think there’s a problem with my machine. So I want to look it over. He’s got the same Foley I have. So I’m going to,
Trent Manning: 12:24
Yeah.
Andy White: 12:24
having issues with it. So
Trent Manning: 12:26
Well, there’s, there’s definitely a learning curve when you do that relief ground and, and it depends on how often you do it. Because if you’re not using the mechanisms enough, they can get, you know, bound up with grinding dust and all that stuff. So getting them freed up. Well, what would be your dream job or opportunity?
Andy White: 12:50
think I’m there.
Trent Manning: 12:51
You’re there. All
Andy White: 12:52
I think I’m here. That’s a, that’s a great job. I enjoyed a lot. I’ve got we’ve got a great crew here. I don’t know. It’s like the dream team over here,
Trent Manning: 12:59
Okay.
Andy White: 13:00
me, because I’m learning, but I’m going to be a great mechanic someday. I promise.
Trent Manning: 13:03
you go. That’s a good
Andy White: 13:04
You know, I’ve got, I’ve got our director, Alex, Alex Beeson Cron. He’s, uh, he came from Aaron Hills. Then we got our superintendent, Dan Votter. He came from Olympia Fields.
Trent Manning: 13:15
Okay.
Andy White: 13:16
One assistant that came from Shore Acres, one assistant that came from the Union League. And, uh, Another guy that came from Miller Park.
Trent Manning: 13:24
Okay.
Andy White: 13:25
So,
Trent Manning: 13:26
Yeah. How, how big a crew do you have there?
Andy White: 13:29
Oh, in the summer we got probably 25 with college kids and high school kids. We’re pretty busy. You know, I was going to tell you earlier Our two biggest pieces of equipment we use on the course are blowers and rollers.
Trent Manning: 13:48
Oh, yeah.
Andy White: 13:49
We use a lot of sand. They love their sand. So yeah, I
Trent Manning: 13:54
do you do a lot of grinding?
Andy White: 13:56
- Yeah. Oh,
Trent Manning: 14:00
do they, uh, top dress?
Andy White: 14:02
every other day. I mean, no,
Trent Manning: 14:03
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Andy White: 14:06
it’s pretty often. I’m not, I’m not exactly sure their schedule probably at least once a month.
Trent Manning: 14:11
Okay. Yeah, yeah.
Andy White: 14:12
like that. It’s a, it’s a lot of sand.
Trent Manning: 14:14
That’s,
Andy White: 14:15
Maybe, maybe once every couple of months. I’m not sure what their schedule is. I guess it depends on the weather too.
Trent Manning: 14:20
Well, yeah, yeah. I guess all that’s weather dependent. And, however much they put out seems like too much. It doesn’t matter where you’re at in the country, I don’t think. Do you have a technician you would like to work with for a day?
Andy White: 14:36
was thinking about that, and I was thinking possibly Chad Braun.
Trent Manning: 14:41
Yeah, he would be an excellent one
Andy White: 14:43
He’s a smart guy. He’s not that far away either.
Trent Manning: 14:45
I was just going to say, I don’t think he’s that far away. Yeah.
Andy White: 14:48
three, four hours, something like that,
Trent Manning: 14:50
Yeah, it’d be a, a great day to go pick his brain for a day.
Andy White: 14:54
Oh, yeah.
Trent Manning: 14:55
I was lucky enough when I came up to Wisconsin last year, I made my way across Wisconsin and stopped at the Foley factory and hung out with them for a little while. And then the next morning hung out with Chad and Austin Wright was with me. And we, uh, went to the Toro R& D side and, uh. Got to see Jeff Drake and some really cool things that they were doing but uh, just seeing Chad shop You know, he puts all these pictures on Twitter and you think oh, there’s no way he really keeps it this
Andy White: 15:28
I’ve seen the tour with Hector, and that’s like an impressive shop.
Trent Manning: 15:32
Oh, yeah. Yeah, he he keeps his potlice over
Andy White: 15:35
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 15:36
and I don’t it’s so much nicer Working in an environment like that when it is clean and organized you can find what you need
Andy White: 15:44
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 15:45
things Well, what do you know now you wish you’d known on day one?
Andy White: 15:49
wish it would have started 20 years earlier.
Trent Manning: 15:51
Uh, yeah. Yeah.
Andy White: 15:53
I do love it.
Trent Manning: 15:54
Yeah. This was, uh, you’re calling that you didn’t know about, huh?
Andy White: 15:57
Yeah. I’m always had a passion for golf, but you know, I was a carpenter for years and I’m like, and I love what I did every day and I went to work every day loving what I did. And then then I didn’t one day, it was
Trent Manning: 16:08
Yeah.
Andy White: 16:08
a political nightmare with the union, but I’m not going to go there.
Trent Manning: 16:12
Okay.
Andy White: 16:12
But I got out, got on the road for a while. And then, uh, we came back home, and here I am.
Trent Manning: 16:21
Awesome. So did you play golf as a kid growing up or,
Andy White: 16:26
All my brothers and I played golf in our early 20s, and I was probably 21, 22, and we played golf all the time. Yeah, you know. Uh, we lost one of my brothers about ten years ago, but me and my brother Danny still play it a lot, you know, when he’s in town. So it’s, it’s an addicting sport. I enjoy it.
Trent Manning: 16:48
that’s good. That’s really good. And so out of all the years of playing golf, you had no idea, right?
Andy White: 16:55
No. No. I should have been here in the first place. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 16:59
well, no, and I mean, I’m not, you know, making fun or any of those things. It’s, it’s just amazing though. How many people that really enjoy the game of golf and they play golf all the time and they have no clue what is involved in maintaining the golf course.
Andy White: 17:16
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 17:17
I mean, it’s kind of mind blowing to me.
Andy White: 17:19
There’s a, you know, Alex said to me one day, he says, there’s a lot of moving parts around here, isn’t there? I’m like, absolutely.
Trent Manning: 17:26
Yeah.
Andy White: 17:27
We’re in a dull crisis.
Trent Manning: 17:29
know until, uh, you work at a golf course.
Andy White: 17:32
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 17:33
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Andy White: 18:11
No.
Trent Manning: 18:12
No. All
Andy White: 18:13
We don’t.
Trent Manning: 18:14
That’s good.
Andy White: 18:15
Not anymore. Not anymore. Yeah, we don’t have that person and I, I, I don’t surround myself with people like that. I don’t, I just can’t, you know,
Trent Manning: 18:27
I understand
Andy White: 18:28
of those things it’s,
Trent Manning: 18:29
a lot of us. Do you have that person on, on the crew? And it’s always a challenge to, you know, address issues that we may be having with That person.
Andy White: 18:43
you know, and I’m, uh, I’m very welcoming when it comes to, you know, like the college kids or the high school kids, like last year, one of the, one of the kids put a, put a walker In the bunker on 11, which is a pretty steep bunker. And, and the assistant said, go, go see Andy. You know, go ahead and check the height of cut for you and check the machine out and be on your way. And I’m like, he comes up and he’s, you know, kids real timid, look real afraid. And I’m like, first thing I say, I say, are you okay? I don’t care about your machine. I said, are you okay? He says, oh yeah, I’m good. I said, don’t worry about it. We’ll get this fixed and get you on your way. You know, check the machine out, you know, make sure his, his height of cuts good and everything’s working good and sent him on his way. So
Trent Manning: 19:36
think that goes a really long way with a young operator that’s, you know, new to the job or whatever, they feel like you care about them
Andy White: 19:48
yeah,
Trent Manning: 19:48
obviously you did. And, and that’s awesome to, to have that feeling like, okay, yeah, this guy was worried about me and he’s not worried about the machine,
Andy White: 19:58
I mean the kids, you know, kids like, you know, 20 years, maybe not even maybe 17 years old and you know, in high school, he’s a kid, don’t get hurt.
Trent Manning: 20:07
but right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Be safe out there because us, that’s been doing it for a long, long time. We take a lot of that for granted, how dangerous the equipment can be and how bad you can get hurt because we’ve been doing it for a long time and we hadn’t got hurt. So, you know, it’s just like anything else, you know, if you’re into riding, you know, dirt bikes or whatever, the more comfortable you get, that’s when you’re going to get hurt. You know, when you’re still kind of scared of it and you respect it you’re a lot more cautious. And I think it’s the same way with, with turf equipment.
Andy White: 20:45
Absolutely.
20:46
Get ready for tips and tricks.
Trent Manning: 20:48
What are, uh, some tips and tricks you’ve seen you want to share with us?
Andy White: 20:55
Oh, this was a tough one, too. I mean, I, you know, I’m on the turf text, you know, the, you know, the WhatsApp. And then I listen to, you know, pay attention to what everybody’s got, you know, their tips. What do you do this and what are you doing this? And I’m like, I had learned from something like that. And I do all the time. I just don’t have a specific one right now. I mean, that’s stuff I’ve been doing for years. Like. If I needed to make some wire, I’d braid my own wire with a, you know, with a screwdriver or a screw gun, you know. After
Trent Manning: 21:26
Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah.
Andy White: 21:28
you take like two pieces of wire and fold them in half and put them on your workbench and zip it, make it stronger sometimes. I did it twice this year. I was just making a quick fix for a roller because the brushes were falling down. I’m like, here, here we go. Let’s do this in five minutes and get him on his way, you
Trent Manning: 21:44
Oh, nice. No, that’s, that’s a good one. And I don’t think, I know that hadn’t been shared on here. And, uh, I think it is interesting how we can bring tips and tricks from other trades to the turf industry.
Andy White: 22:02
yeah.
Trent Manning: 22:03
I remember a guy. Well, he’s a good friend of mine. Corey Phillips, when I was working with him at the Jerry Pate, the Toro distributor down here we were actually strapping an air tank underneath my van and we had some, it was like, whatever, quarter inch, uh, cable and it had whatever, seven strands or something. And he showed me how to, uh, Put a loop in the end of the cable. You like untwist it and then twist it back together and make a loop and how strong that is. And I’m like, where did you learn this? And he’s like, I like.
Andy White: 22:41
half hitch, yeah.
Trent Manning: 22:43
I grew up, you know, they, uh, his dad worked at a coal mine, but also they had a logging business kind of on the side. So that’s where he learned how to do that.
Andy White: 22:55
You just turn in a half hitch. On the bottom, yeah.
Trent Manning: 22:58
Yeah. I mean, you know, it’s cool, but until you know that you don’t know that. tHere’s a lot of things from other industries that, uh, we can use here too. So I love tips and tricks like that. You got any other ones in your carpenter days?
Andy White: 23:14
Oh my god. There’s a hundred of them. I mean, that’s There’s a hundred of them. Something I don’t know how to apply to golf.
Trent Manning: 23:20
Well, yeah, they don’t have to apply to golf because most of us are carpenters on the side too, you know, or at least around our house or
Andy White: 23:29
Okay, say for instance you need a tap. You don’t have a Tapcon, right? And you drill like a 3 16th hole in the concrete. Instead of your Tapcon, you take a piece of wire and a double headed nail and pound it in. It will stay forever.
Trent Manning: 23:44
Double headed now.
Andy White: 23:45
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 23:45
I don’t even know if I know what a double headed nail
Andy White: 23:47
It’s a, it’s a concrete forming nail. You can just take a, a 16, you can take a 16 penny nail and do it too.
Trent Manning: 23:54
Okay. Yeah,
Andy White: 23:55
that 16 penny nail and that piece of wire will hold that in concrete for years. If you, if you don’t have a Tapcon. You
Trent Manning: 24:03
No, that’s a good one. Yeah.
Andy White: 24:05
in there.
Trent Manning: 24:06
I know I, I’ve, uh, rung off some TAPCONs. I don’t know if I didn’t get my drill bit, drill hole big enough or what it was, but just snapped the head right off. Nothing like that.
Andy White: 24:18
gotta clean the hole up. That’s for
Trent Manning: 24:20
Well, that’s probably, yeah, that’s probably what I done. Drill the hole and didn’t clean it out.
Andy White: 24:24
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 24:25
Why don’t, what else do you want to talk about here?
Andy White: 24:28
Oh, we’re having a equipment managers meeting here up in Wisconsin in January. Headed up by Matt Raddatz and my buddy John. And we’re having it at my shop, which is, uh, pretty exciting. And we’re going to have uh, steel representatives here. So we’re just going to, they’re going to go through some two stroke stuff. You know, one of the things we have to do for our two strokes up here is put them away for the winter. You don’t want gas in the carburetor forever, right? So they’re going to go through that. They’re going to go through some, some of their new electric stuff, all that stuff. So we’re going to have like a, To our, to our presentation from them. So that’s pretty exciting Yeah,
Trent Manning: 25:13
are doing in January? Just two hours.
Andy White: 25:16
it’s gonna be an all day event, but you know, we’ll you know have breakfast and have the thing and then the shop tour and what not, so it’s For most of the day, so it’ll be pretty exciting. It’ll be similar to what you did up at Justin’s shop there
Trent Manning: 25:34
Yeah. No, that was, yeah, that was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing his shop.
Andy White: 25:39
Yeah
Trent Manning: 25:40
that’s what I tell everybody that I talk to and tell all the listeners that podcast. If you get a chance to visit a shop, just go do it. It doesn’t matter how big or how small the shop is. You can learn something. I would say every shop I’ve walked into, I’ve at least seen one thing that I said, Oh, that’s a good idea. Or why didn’t I think about that?
Andy White: 26:06
You know, I was, I was up by Matt last week and Matt Raddatz, he’s a, I seen one of the things he did to his fairway unit. So I’m like, I want to do that. He put, he put down a bed lighter on his floorboards.
Trent Manning: 26:21
Oh, okay.
Andy White: 26:22
So, you know, all the paint is, is worn off on mine. I
Trent Manning: 26:26
Mm hmm.
Andy White: 26:27
that. He’s painted it on with a brush. I’m like, I want to do that.
Trent Manning: 26:33
Oh,
Andy White: 26:33
No excited, you know, and he’s, uh, he’s got two shops, actually. It’s like one and a half shops, I guess.
Trent Manning: 26:38
Mm hmm. Yeah. No, that’s, yeah, that’s awesome. I mean, you can pick up all kinds of ideas from, from other courses and it’s interesting how we all do the same thing and we all do it a little bit different.
Andy White: 26:52
Yep.
Trent Manning: 26:52
You know, it doesn’t matter what, what course you go to and even what the expectations are at that course, you know, we, we do it, we do it different. And I do think you can learn something every day, no matter who you’re talking to or, or what you’re doing. Well,
Andy White: 27:10
all the time. I learned something otherwise it’s not any fun.
Trent Manning: 27:15
yeah, that’s, that’s right. Do y’all have anything else lined up education wise throughout the year Wisconsin
Andy White: 27:24
we don’t, as of yet, uh, we were talking about doing a welding class in the spring.
Trent Manning: 27:30
Oh, that’d be
Andy White: 27:31
So, that would be really cool to have somebody come in and, you know, you know, someone that can, has all the welding stuff. I mean, I’ve got a MIG welder, I’ve got a TIG welder, you know, but, you know, I’ve got a stick welder, but, there’s all kinds of different stuff that you can bring out, you know. Have somebody do a presentation, whatever, at somebody’s shop. Actually, I was talking to Jeff about coming out from Aaron Hills, because he’s a, he’s one heck of a welder himself, so.
Trent Manning: 27:58
Okay. Yeah. Well, I mean, that’s the thing in this industry. I mean, there’s a bunch of guys that are turning wrenches like me and you, but they got a welding background,
Andy White: 28:08
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 28:09
you know, and we could learn so much from them,
Andy White: 28:12
Yeah. And I do. Yeah. I do have a strong welding background too. But, uh, it’s a little rusty. I won’t
Trent Manning: 28:20
Well, I mean, that’s, you know, I, I can stick some metal together and pile up some wire with some big welder, but you know, I’m, I know I could learn more, you know, and I think a lot of us probably could learn more unless that’s what our previous career was. Yeah. Where did you pick up some of your welding experience?
Andy White: 28:42
a carpenter. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 28:46
well, you said you did a lot of commercial stuff, right?
Andy White: 28:48
So I was down at the, We built a power plant back in, Oh, it was 2005 or 2010. And, uh, Down just south of us, actually just north of Justin’s shop and Oak Creek. I did a lot of welding down there. A lot of welding. I did regular welding, aluminum welding. stAinless steel welding. It was, it was a lot of stuff. So,
Trent Manning: 29:10
Oh, that’s awesome. That’s so cool. Yeah. I mean you say construction and I just think hammer and nails and wood and
Andy White: 29:17
we’re talking about a 2. 3 billion project. So it was, it was
Trent Manning: 29:20
Uh, yeah. Yeah, that’s that’s a pretty big project. So in doing that did they give you any training?
Andy White: 29:28
Yes. Yeah. They had training on, on site for us and, uh, some of us were state certified. So that was,
Trent Manning: 29:37
Oh, yeah, that’s really cool. Yeah. Did they have to like x ray the welds or any of that stuff like
Andy White: 29:42
They had certified welding instructors on site. From the local college and, uh, and, you know, they had to bend him, you know, I don’t think they x rayed him at all, so. Yeah, I know they didn’t x ray him. They bent him a lot though.
Trent Manning: 29:57
Yeah, that’s nice. Well, that’s awesome. That’s very cool. You ready to do some rapid fire?
Andy White: 30:08
Sure.
Trent Manning: 30:10
What’s your favorite movie?
Andy White: 30:11
It’s a toss up between Lonesome Dove and The Godfather.
Trent Manning: 30:15
Oh, both, both great, great movies. Yeah, I don’t, that’s tough.
Andy White: 30:21
I’m gonna go with Lonesome Dove because, I mean, The Godfather’s iconic, but Lonesome Dove’s a much better movie.
Trent Manning: 30:25
Oh, it’s great. Yeah, yeah. It’s really great. What would be your last meal?
Andy White: 30:31
Uh, I’m going to go with lasagna.
Trent Manning: 30:33
Oh, all right. Any, any, anything special in the lasagna or just straight up?
Andy White: 30:38
Like mom used to make it, like I make it. I love to cook. I made lasagna for a friend of mine a couple years ago and, and it was 13 pounds.
Trent Manning: 30:45
Oh, wow. That’s, that’s heavy lasagna.
Andy White: 30:48
It lasts forever. It’s always better the next day.
Trent Manning: 30:51
Oh, wow. That’s crazy. What are you most proud of
Andy White: 30:56
My family.
Trent Manning: 30:57
besides your family? You didn’t read that part of the
Andy White: 31:00
No. Didn’t read that part. Sorry.
Trent Manning: 31:03
That’s all
Andy White: 31:03
Besides my
Trent Manning: 31:05
no, while we’re talking about it, what, tell me about your family.
Andy White: 31:08
Oh, I lost my dad a couple years ago. My mom’s still around. She’s she’s healthy. My older brother Danny, he’s a, he’s a tugboat captain.
Trent Manning: 31:18
Oh, that’s cool.
Andy White: 31:19
Yeah, so he’s, he likes, he thinks I have an exciting job, but I mean, come on, really?
Trent Manning: 31:24
Oh yeah, no, no,
Andy White: 31:25
Yeah, so, uh. He’s a tugboat captain. He’s down in Chicago, right down on the Chicago River this week.
Trent Manning: 31:32
So you travel around
Andy White: 31:33
yeah, he has been traveling around for a local company out of Wisconsin. This year he was in, oh God, Utah, uh, I think Missouri River Basin up in North Dakota. Uh, Branson. He was down in Tennessee for a while.
Trent Manning: 31:50
oh wow. That’s cool. Yeah. So wife, kids,
Andy White: 31:54
Nope. Single. Divorced. Yeah. Divorced. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 31:58
No, that’s all right. Nothing wrong with that.
Andy White: 32:00
Little brother, little sister. They’re doing great. My favorite little, my brother Chris has got, uh, my favorite, favorite nephew, Aldo. He’s, he’s three and a half now, I think. He’s adorable. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 32:15
that’s cool.
Andy White: 32:15
And he’s going to be a Hellion because he likes trucks like we do, so.
Trent Manning: 32:18
Okay, yep, that’s, that’s alright.
Andy White: 32:21
And my sister marries at, uh, she’s an HR at Walmart, so she does, she does good for herself.
Trent Manning: 32:28
Mm hmm.
Andy White: 32:29
And she’s, everybody’s close by, you know, everybody’s in town now, except for Danny. He’s, uh, Danny’s traveling, but
Trent Manning: 32:37
Mm hmm.
Andy White: 32:37
they live about, uh, about 35 minutes away. Otherwise, uh, the rest of the family is just right within a mile or two. It’s
Trent Manning: 32:44
No, that’s cool. Do y’all get together often?
Andy White: 32:47
Oh, we did for Thanksgiving. We tried to, but everybody’s out of town. So we do, we do get to go once in a while.
Trent Manning: 32:54
No, that’s good.
Andy White: 32:55
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 32:55
Alright, well, besides your family, what else are you proud of?
Andy White: 33:00
Oh, my golf game sometimes.
Trent Manning: 33:01
Uh, yeah, that’s, yeah, uh, yeah, I could understand that.
Andy White: 33:06
The boss sent me out with another guy from the crew this last summer. He said, I, he said, I can’t make it, but can you, you guys golf with my neighbors? I said, sure. I’m like, And we go up to our first tee and I’m like, I said, I’m just a mechanic here. I’m not the world’s greatest golfer. He’s, he’s like, okay, cool. It seemed like nice enough guys. And I go out, I par the first six holes.
Trent Manning: 33:32
Oh, wow.
Andy White: 33:33
And I’m like, okay. And then, and then I bogeyed, I bogeyed seven, eight and nine with it. And I, and I shot a 38 and you’re like, what? Yeah,
Trent Manning: 33:43
right, right, yeah.
Andy White: 33:44
I was scratching my head. Don’t like, how did I do that?
Trent Manning: 33:48
Yeah.
Andy White: 33:48
Just everything came together. It was fun. I mean, I’m not that great of a golfer, but it was, you know,
Trent Manning: 33:52
Yeah.
Andy White: 33:53
I had a
Trent Manning: 33:53
are saying, man, they bringing in a ringer here.
Andy White: 33:56
Exactly.
Trent Manning: 33:57
That’s awesome though.
Andy White: 33:58
was pretty exciting.
Trent Manning: 33:59
Golf quite a bit?
Andy White: 34:02
yeah. If I want to.
Trent Manning: 34:04
That’s awesome. Yeah. That’s so good.
Andy White: 34:06
I mean, I, I’ll go out here on Mondays sometimes and we’ll, you know, I’ll go out and shoot with a couple of the guys from work or I’ll bring somebody, you know, one of my buddies. But most of the time we just hit the beauty courses around my house.
Trent Manning: 34:19
Yeah. Well, nothing wrong. Nothing wrong with that
Andy White: 34:21
Yep. It’s like home. I think I enjoy not being at work, you know, because you don’t want to, you know, you’re here for eight hours plus a day and then, you know, here be another four. I’m like, no, let’s go somewhere else.
Trent Manning: 34:33
Yeah. Yeah.
Andy White: 34:34
Not that it’s not a wonderful golf course, but you know,
Trent Manning: 34:36
Well, right. No, I definitely understand that. And I think that’s one reason. I mean, that’s obviously not the only reason, but. I never really took up the game. I tried
Andy White: 34:48
yeah,
Trent Manning: 34:49
I don’t, I took it, uh, too serious, way too serious and got really frustrated and said, this is not fun to me, you know, I’m not having fun here because this little ball will not go where I want it to go. No matter what I do. So I said, no, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll stick to fishing.
Andy White: 35:08
Oh, I love fishing.
Trent Manning: 35:10
Yeah. That’s fun. I enjoy fishing. Well, tell the listeners how they can get a hold of you. You got an email, Twitter handle.
Andy White: 35:19
Yeah, it’s white. Underscore, A as in Apple, N as in Nancy, D as in D. at Hotmail. com. I’M at Twitter. It’s at Alpha Whiskey. W H I S K E.
Trent Manning: 35:36
All right.
Andy White: 35:36
I’m on there. I’m on Facebook. You can find me there. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 35:40
Well, very good. Thank you so much for, uh, being on
Andy White: 35:44
Thank you.
Trent Manning: 35:45
and thank everybody for listening and another, another episode in the books. 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. 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 Reef