Mike Elliott, Head Equipment Manager at The Philadelphia Union League in Philadelphia, PA started working on the golf course at the age of 14. He got some great advice from the superintendent at the time, you should be a golf course mechanic. That’s exactly what he did. He set his ambitions pretty high by aspiring to be the equipment manager at Augusta National. He may have not made it to Augusta but he did make it to Pine Valley, yeah that Pine Valley. Now he is happy to be a part of the amazing things that are happening at the Union League. They are starting an apprenticeship program for golf course mechanics and it is off to a great start. Mike shares some great tips and tricks in the episode.
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
0:24
Welcome to the real turf text podcast, episode 73. Today, we’re talking to Mike Elliott. He had equipment manager. At the union league of Philadelphia. The union league has three courses. Union league golf club at Thorndale. An 18 hole facility with a par three. Core scheduled to start construction in the spring of 2023. Uh, union league Liberty hill, an 18 hole facility. And union league national, a 27 hole facility. Mike has one equipment manager next RET at Thorndale. Another equipment manager. Dominick. Fair ringer. At Liberty hill. And a national, he has two equipment managers, George And Nick. McArdle. Between all three courses, you can imagine he has a mix of everything. Let’s talk to mock.
Trent Manning: 1:16
Welcome Mike to the real turf text podcast. How you doing today?
Mike Elliott: 1:20
I’m doing well. How are you?
Trent Manning: 1:21
I’m great. Thank you so much for being here
Mike Elliott: 1:25
Oh
Trent Manning: 1:25
we’ll get right to it.
Mike Elliott: 1:26
Thanks for having me.
Trent Manning: 1:27
My pleasure. Tell us how you got into the turf.
Mike Elliott: 1:32
Well, I grew up on the Eastern shore of Maryland and I started, I wanted to play high school golf. And I needed a place where I could play in practice. So at 14, I got a job at a golf course on Kent island. Uh, there were only two options. One was a little municipal course. And then there was a nine hole private course called the Cove Creek club. And I had a buddy that worked there and he said there was a spot for me if I wanted a job. So I went down and talked to Tim Sage and he gave me the opportunity. And I started working for him. I worked there for five years and believe it or not, it was full time, year round. Even at 14, I did a lot of painting in the wintertime and, odds and ends or whatever needed to be done. Uh, and then one day, a couple years into it, he had asked me if I wanted to become a superintendent. I thought, it seems like. Pretty good job. I mean, he had a house on the property. He had a truck, got to play golf all the time. What could be better than that? And he told me right then and there, he said, don’t do it. He said, superintendents are dime a dozen. He said, if you want stability in this industry, then you should become a mechanic. And I was thinking, there’s no way I’m gonna become a mechanic. I mean, that’s, that was definitely not in my future. I had no interest in doing that. not the way I grew up. I’d done a few little things to my car, but that was, uh, not really what I had any interest in. So, uh, after high school I went to Salisbury state university where I had a lot of fun. I didn’t quite study as hard as I should have probably, but I met my future wife there. So it things happen for a reason and it all worked out well. we moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1997. And since I needed a job, I applied at Boulder country club and they hired me that Friday. I started the following Monday and I worked that summer on the grounds crew, Mo greens route, every day. And towards the end of the year, they were telling me that I was gonna get laid off, which in my mind, I worked full-time year round at a golf course. I didn’t even think about a seasonal position, but, um, they had, they had an assistant mechanic position that was open no, I had a good work ethic and they knew they knew me well. So, they gave me a shot and I trained under Robert Reicher, who was a master mechanic, one of the best I’ve ever known. he was drafted in the army and was an airline mechanic, worked on planes throughout his life, could rebuild automatic transmissions body work. There wasn’t much, you couldn’t. And I was lucky enough to train under him for almost three years, bef yeah. Before a, um, a head mechanic position opened up at Cole Creek golf course in Louisville, where I had a buddy who was the assistant superintendent there at the time. so my wife had asked me and she goes, do you think you’re ready for a head mechanic position? And I was like, well, if I’m ever gonna make it through Augusta, then I need a head mechanic position on my resume because that was my goal was to make it to Augusta that’s. That was my plan. I wanted to be the best I wanted to get to the top. And that’s where I wanted to be.
Trent Manning: 4:58
so you set your ambitions really low,
Mike Elliott: 5:01
I did, I
Trent Manning: 5:02
Yeah. Right, right off the bat. Yeah. I I’m just gonna be the head guy at Augusta. No, that’s awesome though. And I think that’s a awesome goal to, to work on and work towards and. Possibly, I mean, you really, you got there not literally to Augusta, but you got right to the top.
Mike Elliott: 5:22
I got pretty darn close, I guess
Trent Manning: 5:25
Yeah. No, go ahead. Sorry to interrupt your
Mike Elliott: 5:28
oh, no, not, not at all. so I worked there for three years, and I got married and when I got back, I ended up getting fired for getting married during greens airation, which that’s a, that’s a whole other story for a different episode, but, this will be long and drawn out enough as it is, but, um, I decided right then and there, that was not gonna define my career or my life and it wasn’t gonna stop any of my goals. So I had a friend who owned an excavating company and he needed some help. So I went to work for three years for an excavating company up in the canyon where I lived in Colorado, and I became his mechanic. I worked on everything. I also operated everything as well. So I mean, skid steers and excavators, we did a lot of tree works. We had log skidders and feller bunchers and, dump trucks and low boys. And I hauled equipment. And, I had a CDL, a Colorado driver’s license. So I figured I was good to drive the trucks wherever I wanted, as long as we never went below 8,000 feet and nobody ever got stopped. So it, it was, uh, it was a pretty good little gig, but my son was born in 2005 and I realized that I was leaving for work when he was asleep and I was getting home as he was going to bed.
Trent Manning: 6:46
mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 6:47
I decided I want to get back in the golf course business. So I found a job at Applewood golf course in golden Colorado, was working for a management company, American. and we had found out that the lease for the golf course was up at the end of the year. And there was some questions of whether the golf course was even gonna stay a golf course. It was rumored that they were gonna develop it. And, so I decided maybe I should start looking for another job. And I got on turf net and I found red sky ranch was hiring an equipment manager. And at the time red sky was the number one or number two course in the state. It was a FIO course and a Norman course. So I got my resume covered letter together. And I centered up on a Tuesday morning. I ended up going up, there were an interview on Thursday and I got offered the position Friday morning, and again, my wife, being the cautious one, she’s like, are you ready for the number one course? And again, if I’m gonna make it to Augusta, I need a number one course on my resume.
Trent Manning: 7:53
Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Elliott: 7:54
So I worked up there for just under three years. when we, for many reasons, we decided that we were gonna move back to the east coast, mainly to be around family and grandparents for my grandson and stuff like that. So,
Trent Manning: 8:08
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 8:09
we started looking for jobs, which leads me to my next point of don’t burn bridges. You never know when you’re gonna need an old reference or an old job or anything like that. So I talked to my first boss from when I was 14, told him we were moving back east and he had a good friend named Paul Brandon that worked for Finch back here, the John Deere dealer.
Trent Manning: 8:32
mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 8:33
he is like, Paul knows a bunch of people just send him your resume. And if he hears something, he’ll pass it along. and a couple months went by. I didn’t really hear from Paul and I interviewed at Sedgefield country club in Greensboro, North Carolina, with, uh, Keith Wood. Where they have the Windham championship,
Trent Manning: 8:51
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 8:52
because again, if I’m gonna make it to Augusta, I need a PGA tour stop on my
Trent Manning: 8:56
yeah, yeah, yeah. Right?
Mike Elliott: 8:58
So I got off of the job on a Thursday afternoon and I was going elk coning for the weekend. So I was like, I’ll call you Monday. And let me think about it a little bit. And Friday morning, I got a call from my dad and he said, don’t do anything drastic call Paul Brandon pine valley. He’s looking for a mechanic. And I’m thinking I’m like pine valley, pine valley. I was like, why does that sound so familiar?
Trent Manning: 9:24
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 9:25
And he’s like, just Google number one course in the world. I was like, oh, that pine valley
Trent Manning: 9:32
Oh that, yeah, that five
Mike Elliott: 9:33
Yeah. So I called Paul and he said that Rick was looking for a mechanic. I called him and he passed my resume along and he liked what he saw. So Rick called me that afternoon and a month or so later, he flew me out for an interview and a few weeks after that offered me the job. And that was it. I started working there in January, 2010.
Trent Manning: 9:59
So how did your how’d your dad have the inside track on that job?
Mike Elliott: 10:05
my dad was very good friends with my first boss and he remained good friends with him to this day, they played golf together.
Trent Manning: 10:14
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 10:15
so, like I said, you just, you never know when those old references are gonna come back and help you out. So especially
Trent Manning: 10:22
out to dad too.
Mike Elliott: 10:23
right. For sure. This is the, we all know this is a very close knit industry. So, there’s a, probably three degrees of separation between everybody in this, in this business. But, my wife and I had always said, where do you go from pine valley? There’s once you get there, I mean, could maybe make more money somewhere else or whatever, but you’re really just trading one set of headaches for somebody else’s set of headaches. So the only logical choice was if I ever found a multi-course facility that was looking for an equipment manager to run everything, then that would be the one job I would leave pine valley for,
Trent Manning: 11:01
And how long were you at pine valley?
Mike Elliott: 11:03
11 and a half years.
Trent Manning: 11:04
Awesome. Okay.
Mike Elliott: 11:06
So I had a good run.
Trent Manning: 11:08
I got to, I gotta see a lot of your, uh, handy work when I stopped by there in, in March of this year. And to, yeah. Tommy was giving you all the credit.
Mike Elliott: 11:18
Wow, good.
Trent Manning: 11:19
did this, Mike Mike done that. Mike did this. I mean, it, it was very cool.
Mike Elliott: 11:24
yeah. And a course like that. It’s fantastic. Cuz I mean, I had everything MIG welder, TIG, welder, milling machine lathe bandsaw. I mean, there wasn’t much that we couldn’t make or do there. I mean,
Trent Manning: 11:36
Could, could we talk about the MIG welder for just a minute, because I’ve seen a lot of MIG welders. This has to be the nicest MIG welder I’ve ever seen. And I don’t know how much it cost, but it wasn’t just your average little MIG welder.
Mike Elliott: 11:51
the, the Miller,
Trent Manning: 11:55
I think, I don’t remember if it was a Miller or a Lincoln, but it, it was huge and it was in the back corner.
Mike Elliott: 12:00
that was the TIG weld there.
Trent Manning: 12:02
Oh, okay. The TIG welder. All right.
Mike Elliott: 12:04
That was TIG and stick. I wanted to start making spray Hawks because the ones we bought were, thousand to 1500 bucks a piece they’re steel, they’re heavy, they’re cumbersome. And I told Rick, I wanted to make spray Hawks, but I wanted to make him out of aluminum.
Trent Manning: 12:21
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 12:22
he’s like, you’re gonna need a new welder. Aren’t you? I was like, yeah.
Trent Manning: 12:26
yep.
Mike Elliott: 12:28
So I, I picked that one out. And honestly that was a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be too. we, we went to pick it up and I went in the back room and I was like, so where’s my welder. And they’re like, that’s it right there. I’m like, what do you mean? Like, this is like a refrigerator. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 12:43
Yeah, it was huge.
Mike Elliott: 12:44
but yeah, it was, uh, it was awesome, so I taught myself how to run the lake, taught myself how to run the mill. The TIG taught myself how to weld aluminum, watching a couple videos and a lot of frustration and a lot of tongues in at the beginning, but I got pretty good at it at the end. And it was, uh, it was a, it was a fun time. So,
Trent Manning: 13:05
very cool.
Mike Elliott: 13:06
but, the union league, I didn’t really know much about ’em, but they had bought a golf course right near my in-law’s house at the Jersey shore
Trent Manning: 13:17
mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 13:18
it’s it was called sand Barrons, and I remember when sand Barrons first opened in like 2000 and it was a great little course to play 27 holes. and then all of a sudden this union league buys it and I’m like, what kind of a union buys a golf course, because being in the Philly area, there’s unions everywhere. So I did a little research and figured out what the union league was and, I guess, a quick little backstory on that the union league was started in 1862, as a way to raise campaign funds for president Lincoln’s reelection bid.
Trent Manning: 13:50
oh,
Mike Elliott: 13:51
And they’ve been around ever since it’s the top city club in the country
Trent Manning: 13:56
Mm.
Mike Elliott: 13:57
they bought their first golf course, the union league golf club at tours sale in 2014. Then they bought Sam Barrons in 2015 and did a massive reconstruction on it. we’re actually up for best new course of 2023, I think. So. We’ll see what
Trent Manning: 14:16
So they’re, they’re really new to golf relatively. Yeah.
Mike Elliott: 14:20
In the grand scheme of things, And then when they bought the ACE club in, I guess it was early 2021. That’s when I started thinking about it a little bit more and realized, Hey, they’ve got three courses now, and maybe this deserves a phone call,
Trent Manning: 14:38
Mm.
Mike Elliott: 14:39
And Scott B who’s, the director of agronomy had left Chicago golf club to come to the east coast. He was a Marion guy, uh, came back to the east coast to run the union league. And I had a good buddy, pat hockey, who used to be the super at the east course at Marion. And he left Marion to work at the union league. So I knew some people and it sounded like a pretty good opportunity. And, I made a phone call and I vetted Scott. He vetted me and we came to an agreement and that’s what got me to Lee pine valley. So I don’t, uh, yeah. You know, and. I never, I finally made it to Augusta for the final round of the masters in 2017, but it’s, uh, never, I still haven’t seen the shop yet, but one of these days, maybe
Trent Manning: 15:27
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I don’t even know if, uh, Fred is still there or not. I hadn’t seen him or heard from him in a long time. that’s another thing and, and not talking bad about Augusta, but the, the people there, they’re so secretive about what they do and they can’t really talk and help others too much.
Mike Elliott: 15:50
right. Yeah. And the union league is a complete opposite, pine valley was kind of the same way as far as like posting pictures of the course and stuff like that. I mean, we are encouraged to post pictures on social media, bring people out to play, it’s, it’s nice to be able to have a place where. You can post pictures because you’re proud of what you do. You want to be able to show off your place of work and,
Trent Manning: 16:14
oh yeah, for
Mike Elliott: 16:15
Plus it, it’s nice to be able to bring people out to play golf every once in a while. So I do, I do enjoy that. So
Trent Manning: 16:21
so do you still play much golf?
Mike Elliott: 16:23
yeah, I do. I, I play quite a bit I’m um, yeah, I’m about a five and a half handicap, so I play fairly regularly. I try to hit balls after work a couple days a week and it’s a, it’s a good time.
Trent Manning: 16:37
No, that was very good. So work life balance. Stuff’s really good there too. Sounds like.
Mike Elliott: 16:42
It’s fantastic.
Trent Manning: 16:44
Yeah, that’s really good.
Mike Elliott: 16:46
yeah, definitely. No, I love it. Like no regrets. It’s, uh, probably the best job I’ve ever had. Maybe, maybe pouring beer at red rocks for six years. That was, that was a pretty good job too, out in Colorado,
Trent Manning: 17:01
yeah. Yep. I got, do you relief grind?
Mike Elliott: 17:05
I haven’t really relieved ground with the union league yet. I had, I’ve been a Burnhard guy, my entire life. I’ve never worked in a shop that has had a fo grinder until I got to Liberty hell as fully grinders. but I don’t think the old mechanic of a relief ground because I can’t get the head to move right now. So we’ll see about that. But, um, at pine valley I had like the rapid relief that kind of like
Trent Manning: 17:36
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 17:37
grinder on the angle frame section or whatever. And, uh, I used that quite a bit, uh, at least for the fairway reels, it was hard enough to get that into the seven blade reels, much less trying to get a smaller one. it was pretty easy to smoke a blade with that thing. So I didn’t even try the thinner ones, but. As far as just thinning a blade and allowing me to grind a lot faster, then I definitely like the process. it definitely held an edge a little bit better, So I’m hoping in the next few years we’re gonna be building a new maintenance facility down at union league national. And I would love to be able to, incorporate a relief grinder of some sort into that setup, whether it gets taken to all three courses or whether we end up getting something for each course, but in the future, it’s something I’d like to get back into a little bit more. So
Trent Manning: 18:25
very
Mike Elliott: 18:25
see how that goes.
Trent Manning: 18:26
Well, we kinda already touched on, uh, fabrication, but you got another fabrication story you wanna share with us. I really like making your own spray Hawks. That is awesome.
Mike Elliott: 18:36
Oh yeah. They were great. And I, I made those for about $30 in aluminum and all in, I think it was about 200 bucks, they were, they worked out really well, but. Uh, I haven’t made too much for the union league yet. I did make some cup pulls, so that’s, uh, that’s pretty important. Um,
Trent Manning: 18:54
Yeah, you gotta have those.
Mike Elliott: 18:55
yep.
Trent Manning: 18:56
I made one just the other day and I don’t know why, but the director agronomy comes out and he says, I can’t find a cup puller in this building. Will you make me one so I’m like, okay,
Mike Elliott: 19:08
that’s,
Trent Manning: 19:08
give me a minute.
Mike Elliott: 19:09
that’s pretty much what we said. Like where are all the cup
Trent Manning: 19:12
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 19:13
Like, I’ll make you a few. but some of the things I have made in the past, I don’t know if you’re familiar with those core Buster drag mats, the big ones from Powerade, the big, like black plastic ones that have like the little squares. Well, those things are pretty heavy and awkward and they’re like eight feet wide, and especially if they get you’re trying to drag wet plugs with them and they get off full and they’re heavy and awkward. So I ended up making three frames that would Mount on the back of a golf cart and I had a win attached to it. So when you got. Done dragging. You would just raise the bed up, hook the winch up to the mat, winch it up onto the frame, lower the bed back down, and then you can go to the next hole. Uh, we ended up, we used to replace those things every year or two, because hanging off the side of the cart, they would always crack and break. And once I made those frames, I, I think they’re going on seven or eight years now. Yeah. So it was a, that was a, a really good, really good little thing we made there.
Trent Manning: 20:14
Do they fold up too? So you can get down a cart path or it’s still eight feet wide.
Mike Elliott: 20:20
it’s still eight feet wide. Yeah. Cuz the frames, the, uh, the mats don’t fold. So they’re, they’re pretty rigid. So you just needed something to be able to hold them steady, yeah. work benches, layout tables. I even made, we made fiberglass inserts for all the golf carts. cause when you’re top dressing with dry sand, it always finds a little crack to fall through and having to wash the carts out to get the dirt out and then dry it. So you can duct tape everything up. I made a wooden box that fit the inside of the cart and we got a, a bunch of fiberglass mat, the one and a half ounce chop strand, Matt and I made fiberglass inserts for all the carts,
Trent Manning: 21:00
oh, that’s so cool.
Mike Elliott: 21:02
Yeah. So it was, I always liked playing with fiberglass. We used to fix a lot of carts at Boulder Greene club. And that was one of the things that I was able to learn from Bob, the old mechanic there that, just some body work and fiberglass work and stuff like that. And it’s just a fun project to be able to break up the monotony sometimes. And it was also, it saved a lot of time. You could just grab the insert, throw it in the back of the cart, fill it with dry sand and you’re good to go. So,
Trent Manning: 21:27
Hmm. That’s awesome. Very cool.
Mike Elliott: 21:30
yeah, I love fabrication reels pay the bills, but the fabrication is what kind of keeps it coming back to work. So hopefully, uh
Trent Manning: 21:38
yeah, exactly. And I mean, honestly, that’s why the questions in here because reels and cutting units set up can be pretty monotonous sometimes. And I think a lot of us really enjoy the fabrication aspect of the job cuz we get to be creative and really use our brains.
Mike Elliott: 21:57
Yeah. That’s exactly it. Mm-hmm you trailers we’ve made just about everything. That’s what I’ve always said. If you can think of it, we could probably figure out a way to make it, so,
Trent Manning: 22:06
Mm.
Mike Elliott: 22:07
and then you can customize it to what you want for your application. you’re not relying on something, something that somebody else has made that might work.
Trent Manning: 22:17
Well, a lot of this stuff is designed for a certain application and a lot of times directors of agronomy and superintendents want to take this machine and use it for another application. So that way it needs to be redesigned or modified in some way.
Mike Elliott: 22:36
That’s exactly it. If you’re gonna redesign it and modify it, you might as well just make it the right way. The first time
Trent Manning: 22:42
Exactly. Well, what’s your favorite tool?
Mike Elliott: 22:45
there’s a lot of ’em out there. I like, uh, I love my multi meter. The smartphone’s a great tool, as far as being able to look something up, if you need to, I mean, we’ve even to try to slow things down sometimes. I mean, we’ve been able to, we’ve taken a slow motion video and then taken a slow motion video of the slow motion video to be able to get it slow enough. You can actually see like, A Bendix shooting out on the starter and making sure it’s spinning correctly and things like
Trent Manning: 23:13
oh, wow. Super cool.
Mike Elliott: 23:15
but the flying drive plus wrenches are great, but I guess if I had to pick one, it’s a snap on 32 ounce, like the dead blow balling hammer and an Amal, you need a good Amal too, you use a hammer for just about everything quite a bit. And, I find, I don’t really need much of a bigger one than that and they just feel great in your hand. I love that hammer
Trent Manning: 23:39
I’m with you on that. And I don’t have the 32, but I have the, I know I got the 16, the 24 and then the one smaller than the 16. I don’t remember if it’s an eight or not, but I love I’m with you. I love those hammers. They are the best hammers. They’re not cheap, but they are the best hammers.
Mike Elliott: 23:56
no, they’re not. But I bought my first one in 2001 and just. a year and a half ago, they replaced it under warranty, but they’re brand new one. So you really can’t go wrong with that.
Trent Manning: 24:10
Yeah. I don’t know how long I had my 24 ounce, but it was replaced a couple years ago. It finally bit the dust and the cap come off and still shot went everywhere and it was fun times.
Mike Elliott: 24:23
yep. You gotta love that.
Trent Manning: 24:25
but yeah, you get on the truck. No questions asked. They hand you another one.
Mike Elliott: 24:29
that’s exactly it.
Trent Manning: 24:30
Yeah. No, very good. Well, what do you do to relax and find your balance?
Mike Elliott: 24:36
I do like to play golf, which sometimes that’s not always relaxing depending on how the ball’s flying that day. But, I guess the best thing I like to do is just sit on the beach. I like to read a book, take a nap. There’s nothing better than taking a nap on the beach, listening to the ocean crash. and for some reason, once I get across that bridge and I get over to the beach, I just give myself permission to do nothing for the weekend. And it’s a, it’s a great place to be and just kind of recuperate and catch up on some much needed rest.
Trent Manning: 25:11
mm-hmm awesome. What’s one of the strangest things you’ve seen at.
Mike Elliott: 25:18
I mean, being in this industry for 25 years, I mean, you’ve, you see just about everything from skid steers, almost completely buried into the mud, to where you wonder how they could even gotten it there. Where I did dig it out with a backhoe. we had a construction project at pine valley a few years ago, and one of the guys flipped a 30 ton haul truck, so I had to take a cat 3 86 excavator and write it again.
Trent Manning: 25:45
3 86. That’s that’s a big excavator. Isn’t it?
Mike Elliott: 25:48
it’s yeah, it was, it was pretty low. It was fun. I liked running that thing.
Trent Manning: 25:53
That was cool.
Mike Elliott: 25:55
Sam pros and ponds and things like that. But I guess one of the strangest things that I still shake my head about sometimes is when I was at Applewood. And I don’t remember, I don’t know if you remember these it’s an old air Raider. It was like a, this little yellow thing. It was like a eco, maybe a core master or something like that, but it was a little tiny walk behind air Raider that kind of looked similar to the old Toro air Raiders, just like pre PROCO, uh, with the wheels on the outside, had a little Honda engine that sat on top that ran it and it pulled an amazing core, super lightweight. So I come around the corner up to eight green where the operator was running it, and there was a little, a little Creek that kind of ran in front of the. the green there. And as I pull up, I, I see these tire tracks that were through the Creek. And then I look up and I see the operator and he’s soaking wet from his thighs down and he’s still aerating the green. And I ask him what happened. And as he came off the front of the green, he went to turn and the whole thing just slid and he ended up just walking it straight through this little Creek, he got a guy to help him push it out. And he went across the bridge and kept going with it. And it’s still to this day, I wonder how that thing kept going, but it’s, uh,
Trent Manning: 27:21
Yeah. Did it have a snorkel on it or what?
Mike Elliott: 27:23
well, it just, it wasn’t that deep, the way that little Honda engine just sat up on top, it just, the engine stayed out of the water and it just ran right through and gave it a quick little bath. And that was it. So
Trent Manning: 27:36
run it through the car wash in the middle of airification. That’s good.
Mike Elliott: 27:39
Pretty much
Trent Manning: 27:41
Very good.
Mike Elliott: 27:42
oh,
Trent Manning: 27:43
What’s one of your pet peeves around the shop.
Mike Elliott: 27:47
I got a few of ’em. one of ’em is when you have to go to change a fuel filter and that fuel clamp is just pointed in the back direction and you just can’t get to it
Trent Manning: 27:57
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 27:58
like That bothers me when people don’t put hose clamps in the, the right spot, whether they’ll assemble it on a bench and then just jam it in. And you got clamps that you can’t get to. That’s frustrating, sweeping the shop and then leaving the piles, sitting around and not picking a pile up, because then somebody drives through it, the wind blows through and it’s all over the shop again. I hate work benches that only get used as catchalls, little things like that. Putting nuts and bolts in the wrong bin. but for the most part, I’m
Trent Manning: 28:29
Oh, yeah. Yep. Nuts and bolts and wrong bend. Drives me crazy.
Mike Elliott: 28:33
yeah, that’s
Trent Manning: 28:34
Yeah. Yeah. It’s like, come on, pick the right bend.
Mike Elliott: 28:39
And there is a correct way to roll up an extension cord. So if everybody could learn that, that would be fantastic. But
Trent Manning: 28:46
Why don’t do you want, do you wanna explain what the correct way is?
Mike Elliott: 28:50
no, um, there’s
Trent Manning: 28:52
All right.
Mike Elliott: 28:54
oh
Trent Manning: 28:55
I thought we were gonna give all the listeners something really good on how to roll up an extension cord. You, you don’t, you don’t just put it in a pile
Mike Elliott: 29:03
Yeah,
Trent Manning: 29:04
and throw it in the bag of the cart.
Mike Elliott: 29:06
Yeah. That’s something my grandfather taught me growing up just a little half twist into each hand, half twist every time it
Trent Manning: 29:13
Uhhuh Uhhuh. What would you do without grandpa though? And honestly, there need to be more grandpas out there teaching their grandkids how to roll up an extension cord, how to call it up.
Mike Elliott: 29:26
Yep. No. I learned a lot from that man. So,
Trent Manning: 29:30
Very good. What, what did he do for a living?
Mike Elliott: 29:33
he actually worked for NSA.
Trent Manning: 29:35
Okay.
Mike Elliott: 29:36
Yeah. So I don’t really know what he did.
Trent Manning: 29:39
All right. All right. Fair enough. Fair enough. He was probably a pretty smart guy though.
Mike Elliott: 29:44
yeah. He was
Trent Manning: 29:46
And not just because he knew how to roll up a extension cord.
Mike Elliott: 29:49
exactly. We lost him way too early, but he was
Trent Manning: 29:52
Mm I’m sorry to hear that.
Mike Elliott: 29:54
yeah, he was fantastic. So,
Trent Manning: 29:56
Well, you already talked about this a little bit, but I can guess who your mentor was, but who is your mentor in the, in.
Mike Elliott: 30:04
well I guess, Robert Reichert was the first mechanic I learned from, he taught me pretty much. I mean, everything I needed to know to get a good start. I thought I knew everything at the time. It turns out there was a lot, I still needed to learn, but,
Trent Manning: 30:18
Mm-hmm well, and so how old were you when you left him?
Mike Elliott: 30:23
uh, 24.
Trent Manning: 30:27
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
Mike Elliott: 30:28
So I started at 21 as a mechanic. First time picking up a wrench. Uh, within 10 years I was at red sky and after 13 years I was at pine valley. So it was
Trent Manning: 30:41
that’s yeah, that’s pretty quick. pretty quick Way up the yeah, up the ladder to the top,
Mike Elliott: 30:47
yep.
Trent Manning: 30:47
for sure. Well, do you have any other, mentors and what’s some of the most valuable lessons you learned from.
Mike Elliott: 30:55
I guess just to basically take your time and not to get frustrated, you see a lot of mechanics out here that will get angry and, they can yell and throw things and stuff like that. every once in a while everybody’s gonna ha it’s gonna happen. But, just to. Take your time and give everybody the respect that they deserve. treat everybody the same. everybody has a voice and everybody needs to get heard and you just need to be able to connect with everyone. And know, the last thing you want is to have that person just hide something broken in the back corner, cuz they’re afraid to come into the shop.
Trent Manning: 31:33
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 31:34
I guess, Rick Christian at pine valley even has been a pretty good mentor for me over the years. Uh, I’ve learned a lot from him. Um, Jim Edden has become a pretty good friend of mine over the years. Uh, I, I still call him up once a month at least. And we chitchat or, I can ask him some random question and the man is a wealth of knowledge. He can tell me that, go to the back and check a OID. And if it’s not between 2.2 or 3.4 OHS and it needs to be replaced.
Trent Manning: 32:04
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 32:05
The knowledge that he can just pull out of his head at a whim is it’s impressive. So
Trent Manning: 32:10
it is very impressive. Yeah. He’s like a walking encyclopedia for turf equipment and not just turf equipment, but turf.
Mike Elliott: 32:18
right. No, that’s exactly it. I mean, he’s saved in my contacts is the man who knows everything. So
Trent Manning: 32:24
Oh, wow. Okay. that’s, that’s that’s a strong, uh, reputation to uphold, but
Mike Elliott: 32:29
yeah, he doesn’t like it when I say that, but he’s, he’s pretty good. So
Trent Manning: 32:33
Yeah. Now he is. So I hadn’t talked to Jim in quite a while. Is he doing okay?
Mike Elliott: 32:39
yeah, he’s doing really well. He was out, just last week he spent probably four hours with us going over the GPS sprayer. That’s the, that’s the first GPS sprayer I I’ve had. So it was, uh, kind of new to me a little bit. And
Trent Manning: 32:54
Toro product.
Mike Elliott: 32:55
yeah. It’s we have the Toro 5,800.
Trent Manning: 32:58
Okay. Awesome.
Mike Elliott: 32:59
So it was nice to be able to catch up with them and, plus pick his brain a little bit, so makes it nice.
Trent Manning: 33:05
Well, what would be your dream job or opportunity? Are you living it?
Mike Elliott: 33:10
I mean, I’d say I’m, I’m pretty close to it. Yeah. I don’t, uh, I don’t see much else I could do. I mean, other than, if for some reason I really figure my swing out and I can make it on the senior tour, that would, uh, that’d probably be the dream job, but you know, obviously that that’s not gonna happen because those guys just play a different game than the rest of us. But, yeah, I’d, uh, I’d say what I’m doing right now is pretty fantastic. So
Trent Manning: 33:34
that was an awesome place to be for sure. In your dream job, what technician would you like to work with for a day
Mike Elliott: 33:42
it’s hard to pick one tech that I would like to work with, what I really enjoy is. When I am able to go volunteer for tournament, I like working with a different tech and see how they plan and strategize and handle their preparation for a tournament, And how they run their crew and things like that. I mean, you pick up things to do you pick up things not to do if anybody has a chance to go volunteer somewhere and shop, whether it’s a, big event or even just a smaller little event, I would have volunteers come out for the Crump cup with me at pine valley. I’ve done BMW volunteers. They just volunteered for, uh, the Curtis cup over at Marion. so it’s, it’s great. It’s nice to just be able to pick somebody else’s brain a little bit and not to mention, when you are working for a tournament and you get to meet a whole bunch of other volunteers that. You end up making very good friends with over the years. So,
Trent Manning: 34:42
oh, for sure. Yeah. I, I can’t say enough on how important it is to volunteer at somewhere else. And like you said, it doesn’t have to be a really big tournament. It would be something small, but the other volunteers, you. The people that work there, you will gain some knowledge from. And like you said, maybe you gain what not to do, but most of the time you can gain a lot of stuff that you can do and take back to your operation and make your life easier. And then,
Mike Elliott: 35:12
it.
Trent Manning: 35:13
like you’re saying the, the people that you meet become your friends. And so my case in point this past weekend was the tour championship at east lake. And I believe this is my 12th year going there. I did miss the, I did miss the COVID year, but I’ve got so many friends just from volunteering at that tournament and Howard horn. I’ve had him on the podcast before. Really good friend. He lives close by and we got a lot of the same interest and stuff, but I really got to know him volunteering at east lake. And he came down this year, on Friday. So we got to hang out all day. And then Tommy Richey, that’s at pine valley. Now he’s been on the podcast too. He volunteers at east lake every year and great guy, really funny too, by the way, if any, the listeners don’t know Tommy Richie, you hang out with him for a little while. You will laugh. And then, uh, I met last year. I met Chad Kenzer and he’s at the dunes and Myrtle beach and we just hit it off and we still text and talk from time to time. And he was back down again this year. And then another guy that I met, I had him on the podcast too. He worked for one of my ex superintendents. Michael Shelton. he came and volunteered this year and it was just so fun. I mean, a good group of guys and just hanging out and checking reels out and making sure stuff cuts grinding. And of course, Mike Rollins is there and he’s another one in the industry that I become friends with just from volunteering and meeting him at east lake last year.
Mike Elliott: 37:00
Yeah, I think it’s a great opportunity. And not only for. Seasoned mechanic, but definitely for the younger guys, if you had the opportunity to go volunteer for a tournament, just to see how everybody else does it, then you would definitely walk away with a lot of insight and a lot of knowledge and, uh, definitely things that you can take back to your operation.
Trent Manning: 37:20
Yeah, for sure. And yeah, the, the younger people probably will get, more knowledge out of it. What it does for me is a kinda. Gives me a, a boost of energy, if you will, a renewed spirit, because when you’re at your own shop and you’re in the literal daily grind of getting stuff done every single day, it can get overwhelming at times. So you take a break, you go to another course, you get to hang out with some really good people, see some different things, different operations on how they do stuff from turf maintenance to real maintenance or what, whatever it is. And I don’t know, it gives me a, a renewed spirit a little bit.
Mike Elliott: 38:06
Well, there’s something be sad for just being told what to do every once in a while, not having to not having to be the one, making all the calls. So. Just
Trent Manning: 38:18
yeah. For sure. Yeah. We had, uh, a leak in greens mower. So the side case on a little Honda engine on the walking greens mower was leaking. And I think they had a, a recall, but they hadn’t, they had the kits, but the service tech hadn’t come out to do it under warranty or whatever. And anyway, one was leaking a little bit. So, Chris Lewis asked me and Howard’s, can you ride out there and look, see if it’s still leaking? Cuz we had tighten the bolts up and all that good stuff. So we ride out there, we look at it. Yep. It’s still leaking. So we get a call Chris and say, Hey Chris, what, what do you wanna do with this? Not my decision. So it was kind of nice. put it on somebody else.
Mike Elliott: 39:05
exactly.
Trent Manning: 39:07
Yeah. So I can definitely, uh, relate to that. Well, what do you know now? You wish you’d known on day one.
Mike Elliott: 39:15
I’ve been lucky that pretty much every place I’ve worked, I’ve been able to have an assistant mechanic, whether it’s a part-time guy in the shop or a full-time guy in the shop. but I guess what, I know what I know now that it’s, it’s even still a little bit hard for me, but it’s okay to delegate. Like I don’t have to do everything myself and there are a hundred different ways to do something. So, what, somebody may choose to do on their own, to fix something in their way. know, As long as the end result is the same, I guess it really doesn’t matter, but I’ve, uh, I could have caused myself a lot less stress over the years. If I had just sat back, let somebody do it their way. Even if it took a little longer. And kind of let it go afterwards. So
Trent Manning: 40:00
Now I think that is really good advice and that’s something I wish I would’ve realized earlier in my career. And I’m ashamed to. I’m probably just now really realizing that. And it is been, it is been a struggle for me because if I see an assistant doing a job and they’re taking apart, 10 different things that they don’t need to take apart to do the job, it’s always bothered me and I have trouble just letting it happen. But that’s what I need to do is just let it happen.
Mike Elliott: 40:38
that’s exactly it. I mean, nobody learns from their successes, you have to just let, ’em make those mistakes and if it takes three hours to do it, and then they realized, wait a minute, I, I didn’t need to do all this. Like
Trent Manning: 40:51
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 40:52
you. The first time. I, first time I split a Kubota tractor to put a clutch in it. If anybody had been watching me, they would’ve said, what are you doing?
Trent Manning: 41:01
mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 41:02
because, I mean, I took every bit of R and drop that Kubota tractor. I mean, I took the loader off. I took the hood off. I took the fenders and the seat. I took it down to pretty much nothing. and then I took it up and then I put it back together and I’m like, why didn’t need to do all that?
Trent Manning: 41:18
Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 41:19
you know, and it took me about eight hours and, uh, now I can do it about four. So I, uh, it’s a little bit, little bit quicker and easier, but you have to go through that process, and to be able to just let somebody go through it on their own. It’s it’s not the easiest thing to do. Just hop in the cart and take a driver on the course, come back in a half hour and see where they are then
Trent Manning: 41:43
Yep. Exactly. What kind tips and tricks you wanna share with.
Mike Elliott: 41:53
I got a few that I’d like, we used to use the old Jacobson mowers at pine valley. We had the, a lot of the PGM 20 twos, but we also had like the four eighteens and five eighteens, and anybody that’s used, those mowers knows how many different bearings are on there and grease ’em and everything else. And I was able to outsource everything except for the real bearing the cone bearing with a sealed bearing. And, I, I like to try to replace any greasable bearing with a seal bearing. I can, especially on a greens feller, and then I don’t have to worry about grease getting anywhere, blobs like that. so that was, that was a good one there, get the right tool for the job. You’re gonna save yourself a lot of headache and stress and long run. It may be a little more expensive right away, but you know, most of the time, if it’s a specialty thing, then you can kind of get the shop to buy it for you as well. And I’ve been lucky in the last, 20, some years of working for a course, they’ve all supplied tools for me. So I haven’t had to even bring mine in. So that hasn’t even been an issue.
Trent Manning: 42:59
well, I remember a guy telling me one time and I was helping him on a job. And I said, where’s your snap ring flyers. And he said, I don’t have any snap ring flyers. I just always use a screwdriver. Those snap ring, flyers don’t work. I’m like, if you buy a good set of snap ring pliers, it will make your life a lot easier.
Mike Elliott: 43:20
oh my gosh.
Trent Manning: 43:21
yeah.
Mike Elliott: 43:23
I did have to make a set of snapping pliers one time, cause I needed a bigger set and I took a couple of nails and welded ’em to a pair of channel locks
Trent Manning: 43:32
Oh nice.
Mike Elliott: 43:33
it worked
Trent Manning: 43:34
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It might have been crude, but it worked
Mike Elliott: 43:37
I still have it in my toolbox here at the house. So it’s, uh, I don’t, I don’t use it anymore, but you gotta keep it for nostalgia purposes.
Trent Manning: 43:45
Yeah, exactly.
Mike Elliott: 43:46
and then the frame oil filters, you know how those have the little grip on the end of them?
Trent Manning: 43:53
Yeah.
Mike Elliott: 43:54
I was wonder why all filters don’t have that. So I just, I buy a roll of grip tape and when I put a new filter on something, I always cut a piece of grip tape and I stick it to the side of a new filter. Sometimes you can get it off by hand. Sometimes you still need a wrench, but you know, those bigger hydraulic filters, especially once the hydraulic fluid starts to flow everywhere, you can’t hold onto that. You can’t hold onto that, but with the grip tape on it, then, you can get it off pretty easy. So,
Trent Manning: 44:22
no, that’s a really good one. I hadn’t thought about that. That’s awesome.
Mike Elliott: 44:26
yeah. I try to put that on just about everything. I guess that’s a bit. tricks. Uh, I have a couple tips as well, I guess. the big thing is you can have something broken in the shop for 11 months outta the year, as long as it works for that month that they need it, so just make sure that everything’s ready to go when the superintendent wants to use it. I like to have a grinding schedule. I think that would work for a lot of people. especially if you’re a bigger operation where you have 90 to a hundred reels that you’re dealing with, if I didn’t have a grinding schedule to sharpen things when they were scheduled, then next thing you know, you’ve got 70 reels to sharpen and it’s Friday afternoon. So, I’m a big proponent of that.
Trent Manning: 45:10
I don’t, can you speak to that a little bit on, and I know it varies from turf grass type and all that stuff, but just a general rule of thumb on say fairway units or something like that. And I know several guys in the industry that they might say every hundred hours, I’m grounding a fairway unit or every 50 hours or 150 hours.
Mike Elliott: 45:33
Yeah, I wouldn’t even go that long. when I was right now, it’s, I’m still trying to figure things out in three courses, with national, we’re going through a growin and reconstructions. So that’s a little bit different. everybody has different machines and different top dressing schedules and whatever, but, like we’ll say at pine valley, I would sharpen the fairway units every three weeks and just give them a quick touch up. I used to push it to a month. but I found if I did it at three weeks, it would save me about two and a half hours, because what I could do in eight to 10 passes on the grinder, wouldn’t take, maybe 16 passes on the grinder, Which it doesn’t seem like a lot, but you know, that little bit adds up when you’re trying to grind, 24 to 30 reels in a day, which we would do often, especially with three or four guys in the shop, you have somebody take the, pull the triplex in, take the reels off, somebody takes it apart and starts grinding it and then somebody else puts it together, and having a big enough shop to where you could get, three or four triplexes in at one time and have the reels off then that really helps as well. But, and then I would just start out the year with our biggest tournament and I would go a week prior to that, to sharpen fairways and then just go back every three weeks from there, communicate with the superintendent, if we’re gonna grind. You know this week, are you gonna top dress? Should we push it a week? Should we bump it up a little bit? And you have to be fluid with the schedule a little bit, but you know, if you try to try to stick to it, then you know, it just, it saves you a lot of hassle in the long run, and like I said, what works for me may not work for somebody else? It’s the way I do it. And that’s, that works great. But, I was finding that grinding fairway units, every three weeks, I was able to get four years out of a set of reels,
Trent Manning: 47:20
Awesome.
Mike Elliott: 47:21
year lease on a mower, then you’re not rebuilding cutting units, get a good quality grease, keep the bearings greased, and they’ll save you a lot of headache in the long run. So,
Trent Manning: 47:30
gotcha. Yeah.
Mike Elliott: 47:31
I guess it’s most of them, everybody, I think we’ve heard the laying a beat around a race. To knock it out with the welder. Well, sometimes they just in a spot where you can’t just knock it out. so if you get a big washer and weld the washer into the race, then you’ve got something to beat on with a hammer. So
Trent Manning: 47:50
okay. Yep.
Mike Elliott: 47:51
that’s another nice one there.
Trent Manning: 47:53
That is a good one.
Mike Elliott: 47:54
dry erase tape, I found that on Amazon,
Trent Manning: 47:58
okay.
Mike Elliott: 47:59
3m makes it, and if you work for a place that, you know, especially in the spring where you’re changing Heights quite a bit, and when you have, 18 to 30 walk mowers for greens, that you’re changing Heights on, I hate pulling a piece of tape off and having to put a new piece of tape on every time I want to change the height. So I found this dry erase tape, and you can write it on it with a Sharpie, little choking, carb cleaner, it’ll wipe it right off, and then you can write the new height on. And again, all these are little things to just save you, 20 seconds, 30 seconds here or there, but. Over a season or a career of changing Heights, that’s it saves quite a bit of time. So
Trent Manning: 48:35
No, no, I, I really, really like that. I’m writing it down. and I’m gonna I’m I’m gonna find, I’m gonna find some of that for sure, because I don’t, I’ve kinda, I never like, and I know a lot of people do it and it works and that’s. But duct tape is not for me. I don’t want a piece of duct tape on the machine and write the height on there. Don’t like it, I don’t like the way it looks and all that stuff. So I got the little brother labor maker, but like you’re saying, I mean, we just went through airification here, so we bumped our Heights up and then now we’re bumping ’em down. So we’re changing the stickers like every two days or something,
Mike Elliott: 49:13
right. And trying to peel the back off those little stickers is the pain in the butt too. So it’s yeah. The dry erase tape has been a, a God. And just Amazon dry erase tape, it’ll pop up pretty quick. it’s pretty good stuff. And I guess the one last thing is to wear earplugs or some kind of hearing protection.
Trent Manning: 49:34
What’d you say?
Mike Elliott: 49:35
Exactly. I spent, the first, five years of my career at a golf course, back in the early nineties where, I was running weed whackers and tractors and I didn’t wear ear plugs, and then grinding for the first couple years, sitting behind a grinder with no ear plugs. And it’s just do yourself a favor, especially for the younger guys and use hearing protection and safety glasses. You can always reattach a finger, but eyes and ears are a little bit tougher to
Trent Manning: 50:04
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. For sure. No great advice. let’s talk about the union league and your intern program that you’re getting up and going.
Mike Elliott: 50:15
So we are creating an apprenticeship program to try to get younger guys interested in the industry. this is something that I’ve done for years now throughout pine valley, all my other careers. if I can find somebody that’s a little bit younger, especially if I can find somebody on the crew that has an aptitude and you already know they have a good work ethic and they wanna learn it, then bring ’em into the shop and see what they see, how they do. Sometimes they’ll work out great. Sometimes it won’t, but you know, if you’re willing to give a kid a career, then you know, I know people are struggling with workers nowadays and how we’re gonna get guys in. But you know, there’s a lot of young kids now that they do wanna work. If you find the right person and you give them the right tutorial, then they. do wonders for you. And I’ve had really good success going to the local vocational high schools. And, normally there’s, you’ll finally one gem a year. If you can get one senior that wants to do the co-op program, I call it work release. It’s not quite work release, but, um, They go to school in the morning and they go to work in the afternoon. If I can get a kid at 11 o’clock and get three or four hours, five hours with ’em in the afternoon, then you know, it’s amazing what you can do. You get them through their senior year. And then if they’re interested, then they work that summer. And after three years, two, three years, depending on how much aptitude the person has, I mean, they could be running their own shop, I’ve got four guys over the years that I’ve placed an equipment manager positions at this. and now what we’re doing with the union league, I have, Nick Ette, who’s gonna be, I think, on your podcast in a week or so. he is 19 years old and he is running the shop at tour sale and doing a
Trent Manning: 52:05
awesome. So good.
Mike Elliott: 52:07
I’ve got Dominic, pinger who he worked at Marion for a couple years with, Robert Smith, who is another fantastic mechanic that I’m lucky to know and work with. He might be better than me too, but that’s a, that’s a side joke as well, but and Dom’s 23 and he’s running the shop at Liberty hill, and I’ve got a, a kid, Nick MCCA, Cardell, who is 21 years old, and this kid has got an amazing future ahead of him. And it’s nice to see these younger guys that want to take their reins and they want to. Learn and, I have a little, I think it’s, I’m getting to dial them, but like a three year plan of what I want to kind of teach them throughout the years. And as they progress a little bit faster, you know, if I can get ’em to where they can kind of do their normal daily operations, grinding reels and setting mowers and things like that. And then I can kind of leave ’em alone for a day or two while I go to another course, then, and I talk to all of them almost every day or I text and, if somebody has a problem, they can call me, but that’s the beauty of this position now is I can get a guy that’s 21 years old or 19 years old running a shop, and I’m a phone call away, if it really hits the fan, call me up, I can be there in an hour and a half, Or what are the parts of either tomorrow. and my goal is to, I would love for these guys to stick around for maybe four or five years or so help train the replacement. And then I would love for them to be able to move on to bigger and better things. There’s gonna be a lot of, a lot of top 100 clubs that are gonna be looking for mechanics here in the next five or 10 years, I think. And if we can start helping it out a little bit and training the next generation, then you know, there’s a, it’s a good career. This is why I’ve been doing it since I was 14,
Trent Manning: 54:02
yeah, exactly.
Mike Elliott: 54:03
And I figure that’s the way I learned and that’s how I got in the industry. So if I can help give a little bit back then, it’s the least I can do.
Trent Manning: 54:10
Well, good on you for doing that. And, um, honestly, hope a lot more people can. Do stuff, and it all depends on your operation and your club. And I know if you’re a small mom and pop course, that’s probably not an option for you, but what you got going on there at union league and that’s awesome. Plus it sets you up better for the future too, to keep good talent in there.
Mike Elliott: 54:37
Yeah, that’s exactly it. I mean, my goal within the next three years is to have somebody that’s ready to move on and someone ready to move up at every course, and then have younger kids in the wings. I’ve got a couple kids that are 16 years old right now that, one kid I’m gonna get in the shot this week. And, we’ll start, ’em out just changing oil and push mowers and sharpening blades. But, he likes to go home and work on his motorcycles and things like that. So, if I can. Start him young enough and it’s what he wants and what he likes to do. Then it’s a, it’s a good opportunity for him, so, and a good opportunity for me. So
Trent Manning: 55:14
right, right. And that’s what I’ve seen with the, the younger kids is if they are into motorcycles or dirt bike, I mean, whatever it is, some, something like that. And they have to work on it on their own a lot of times, or maybe they don’t have to, but they enjoy working on it. I wanna modify this, I wanna make it go faster. I want to change the Springs on, I mean, whatever it is, you’re making modifications this stuff and they learn a lot by doing that kind of stuff. So it gives ’em some of the basic skills. And if we can get ’em in and show, ’em how to set up a cutting unit as.
Mike Elliott: 55:53
that’s exactly it. And if I get ’em at 17, then they don’t have too many bad habits yet. And. The ones they do have, you can break pretty easily. So
Trent Manning: 56:01
Yeah, true. That’s a good point too. Mm-hmm
Mike Elliott: 56:03
key,
Trent Manning: 56:04
and I think for a lot of us in the industry, maybe I shouldn’t say a lot, but I know it happened to me. I created a lot of bad habits because I didn’t know any better when I got in the industry and I don’t blame it on the guy that taught me the bad habits. He didn’t know any better either. We’re all just like figuring it out on our own kind of thing back then. And with all the technology we have now with YouTube videos and podcasts and. Being able to pick a phone up and call somebody easily. You’re not using a rotary phone.
Mike Elliott: 56:42
Exactly.
Trent Manning: 56:43
All that stuff. yeah. If any of the listeners can relate to rotary phones, it’s easier now. I mean, there’s a lot more information out there and it’s free flowing a little bit better.
Mike Elliott: 56:53
That’s exactly it. no, it’s a, it’s a good time we’re in right now.
Trent Manning: 56:56
for sure. Well, I’m so excited about what you’re doing up there. I can’t say enough. Good stuff about that. That’s awesome.
Mike Elliott: 57:04
You We’re pretty excited about it as well.
Trent Manning: 57:10
are you ready for some rapid fire questions?
Mike Elliott: 57:12
I am,
Trent Manning: 57:14
What was your favorite movie?
Mike Elliott: 57:15
I’m gonna have to go with pulp fiction.
Trent Manning: 57:18
Oh, yes.
Mike Elliott: 57:19
I love it. It’s one of my favorites. I’m gonna have to give a quick nod for a tri of close seconds with caddy shack, the blues brothers and true romance.
Trent Manning: 57:30
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike Elliott: 57:33
I dunno, but yeah, pulp fiction takes it. So
Trent Manning: 57:35
all right. Check out the brain on Brad. I don’t, I mean, I, I could quote that whole movie pretty much. I
Mike Elliott: 57:40
off.
Trent Manning: 57:41
that movie.
Mike Elliott: 57:42
All four of those movies. I think I could quote, pretty much
Trent Manning: 57:45
no, that that’s good stuff.
Mike Elliott: 57:47
and if you haven’t seen caddy shack then, and you’re gonna be in the turf industry, it’s a must watch. So
Trent Manning: 57:53
no, it is, it is, uh, a must, must watch first year. What would be your last meal?
Mike Elliott: 58:01
Maryland steamed blue crabs
Trent Manning: 58:04
okay.
Mike Elliott: 58:05
growing up on the Eastern shore of Maryland. There’s nothing better than a hot bushel of crabs. There’s definitely an art to picking ’em, but once you figure it out, then that’s, I I’d put that up against anything. King crab, lobster, anything any day. So,
Trent Manning: 58:19
Gotcha. What are you most proud of?
Mike Elliott: 58:21
I’d say my family and the life that we’ve made, I guess, and that is, goes along with me and my entire career as well. just the strides that we’ve made to be able to get where we are at this point. my son is 17. He’s gonna be a senior in high school this year, going off to college next year. So, we’ve raised him well, and he’s a good kid and family’s everything. So
Trent Manning: 58:45
It really is. It really is. No, that, that was awesome. Nothing more important than family.
Mike Elliott: 58:51
Nope, not at all.
Trent Manning: 58:52
And, and I am glad a lot of these places in the turf industry is kind of figuring that out the work life balance. So you can have more time with your.
Mike Elliott: 59:01
Yeah. That’s exactly it. The days of people wanting to work 60, 70 hours a week are, we’re kind of coming to an end. And I think with the technology we have now with moisture meters and in-ground sensors and things like that, then, I think everybody’s starting to figure it out a little bit more. How they can prep greens in the morning to be able to make them last a little bit longer throughout the day and, newer technology and grinders and equipment, and everything’s just becoming more efficient and I think we can all just try to do it a little better.
Trent Manning: 59:33
And it’s a good time to get into the turf industry cuz we’re, we’re kind of figuring all that stuff out.
Mike Elliott: 59:38
Exactly.
Trent Manning: 59:39
Thank you so much, Mike, for being on. It’s been a pleasure. It’s been great. I can’t thank you enough.
Mike Elliott: 59:45
No, thanks for having me. I, and thanks for doing what you do. I mean, I definitely sheds the light on the equipment manager a little bit and, uh, things that we do and just helps, uh, helps showcase everybody a little bit. So I, my hat off to you for taking the time outta your day, the talk and get it all edited and posted and. I definitely appreciate it. And I know everybody else does as well.
Trent Manning: 1:00:11
Well, thank you for that. I do appreciate it. Tell the listeners how they can get ahold of you. I, I seen the other day. You’re on Twitter now.
Mike Elliott: 1:00:18
I am on Twitter now. I haven’t been in the past, but I figured I should probably get up with the times a little bit. So I’m, it’s M underscore Elliot, that’s two LS and two Ts underscore golf. and then my email is Elliot, M E L L I OTT, M union league.org. so reach out whatever you want, always available and, uh, happy to help anybody with anything I can. I really appreciate that. Thank you. I appreciate it. And I hope to, uh, get back up that way sometime I so much fun touring your facility and that, that was a Yeah, definitely. I’d love to have you.
1:01:04
Hope you enjoyed hearing What a great person. And I’m so thankful for what he’s doing for Getting an apprenticeship program going. And we need more people. And our industry. And this is a great opportunity. And hopefully they spread the word far and wide. I can get as many people into the program as they can. And I think you made a great point about finding your local vocational. School in your area. And talking to the teacher. And saying, if you can get somebody from there. I think a lot of us could benefit from that. And I think the whole industry could benefit from that. And I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. I think it starts with us. On the grassroots level. That’s something we got to do to get more people in the industry. And most of us really love what we’re doing. And this can be a great career. So why not turn somebody else onto it? Another thing is go volunteer. I know I say it all the time. Hopefully a. The people in the back. We’ll hear it this time. If you hadn’t volunteered somewhere, just go volunteer. Even if it’s a member guest tournament. At. The course down the road. Just see if you can volunteer. You’re going to make connections. It’s a great networking opportunity. Any time you’ve visited another shop, you’re going to learn something. If you walk in with an open mind. And see how. Other people do Like the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Now that I know why you would want us kind of cat. I hope everybody’s been doing good as almost the end of the season for me. Down here. We’re getting ready to put her ryegrass out. The end of September. And that’s when I take a deep And I hope a lot of you is already been able to take a deep breath. And if not, hopefully it’s right around the corner. You people in Florida, I feel And, uh, south of there. ’cause you all seasons probably just really going to get going. I really appreciate the downtime. That I have not that it’s downtime. Because we stay plenty busy year round. But it is nice to. Relax a little bit and take some of the pressure off. If I can ever do anything for any of you. Don’t hesitate to reach out. You can find me on You can send me an email. That real turf tax@gmail.com. I’d be happy to hear from And thank you to everyone that has reached out It really means the world to me. I’ve had quite a few emails from people saying how much they enjoyed the podcast. And I really appreciate them taking the time out of their day. To say that the podcast has helped them. And that’s why I’m doing If I can have one person on each episode, it was worth doing. So, thank you all for listening. Until next time. See you. Bye.
Trent Manning: 1:04:03
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.