Daniel Heinze, CTEM, Equipment Manager at Kansas City Country Club in Mission Hills KS, found a love for turf equipment from his dad, who was Toro salesman. Daniel went to K State where he found that being an engineer was not for him. He switched majors to agronomy and started down the path to become a superintendent. He transitioned to the shop after their mechanic left. He has always been a tinkerer and thought why not work on turf equipment. Daniel achieved CTEM last summer. He recently had his first child, which he loves spending time with.
Transcript
Trent Manning: 0:05
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we’ll learn tips and tricks. I’m your host, Trent. Manning let’s have some this episode are real turf techs on golf course industries Superintendent radio network is presented by Foley county a strong supporter of equipment technicians and golf course maintenance departments everywhere Foley county offers a proven solution for above and below the turf for turf professionals To learn more about Foley company’s line of real grinders bed knife grinders and the air to G2 family of products or to find a distributor visit www dot Foley C o.com Foley Ready for play Welcome to the real turf text podcast, episode 88. Today, we’re talking to Daniel. Heinze. CTEM equipment manager. At Kansas city country club. And mission Hills, Kansas. Kansas city country club is a private 18 hole facility. Daniel has 98% Toro equipment. Daniel is the loan tech in his shop. But he just hired. Uh, female assistant mechanic. Let’s talk to Daniel. Welcome Daniel to the Real Turf Text podcast. How you doing today?
Daniel Heinze: 1:38
I’m doing just fine. Thank you very much for having me
Trent Manning: 1:41
Thank you so much for being here and for the listeners. Daniel has just had his first child and he’s not getting a whole lot of sleep now, so we really appreciate him taking time out of his day, because he could be sleeping right now, getting a little nap.
Daniel Heinze: 1:58
It’d be nice.
Trent Manning: 1:59
It would be, tell us how you got into the turf industry.
Daniel Heinze: 2:03
my dad, uh, worked for Toro for 25 plus years. Uh, so growing up, you know, he would bring home equipment on trailers and my sisters and I would play on it. And, you know, I’ve been around golf, you know, my whole life. And then I went to college at Kansas State. Engineering actually, cuz I, I’ve always been a tinkerer and I like to see how things work and take things apart and, the thing I found out about engineering is you have to be really good at math. And on my best day, I am okay at math. So couple years in, I, I needed. Transitioned to a new major and I was trying to think what made me happy. And I just remember, you know, those watching the sun come up, you know, early in the morning, you know, we got like a 7:00 AM tee time or something. And you know, Kansas State had a, a good turf program. And so, uh, I made the switch over there and I actually. Seven plus years or so as an assistant superintendent, uh, after getting my degree before making the switch to, uh, being a mechanic after, ours left at the current course I’m at, and it’s been, been turning wrenches ever since.
Trent Manning: 3:24
awesome. So was that what kind of got you to the mechanic side? Was this the need?
Daniel Heinze: 3:30
Yeah. My, my super at the time, had asked me, cuz I, after our mechanic left, I had always worked with my mechanics in the past, during winter when it was slow. I was out in Colorado after college and so I was doing the oil changes and checking stuff. He’s like, Hey, you want to make a switch? We can make you, cause at the time we had three assistants and, uh, I was the third assistant. So he’s like, well, you know, there’s this opening and a little bit more money. You know, there’s, you know, The shop to yourself. And I’ve always, like I said, I’ve always been a tinkerer and I, so I was like, I knew, I saw at the time that there weren’t enough technicians and I’m like, this could be an opportunity for something good. And
Trent Manning: 4:18
Oh yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 4:19
yeah, the, the, the need arose and I jumped on it.
Trent Manning: 4:23
Awesome. Well, for sure. Yeah, there’s definitely a a big need for technicians and we all know that, or most of our listeners would anyway. So what did your dad do for the Toro distributor? Was he in sales or service?
Daniel Heinze: 4:38
uh, he was in sales, for the distributor. And then, uh, I think when I was maybe 10 years old. We moved from Kansas City up to Minnesota and he worked, for Toro itself and, had a bunch of different jobs, but he was director of sales and training, uh, for the commercial division for, I don’t even know how many years. But, uh, yeah, he’s, he, he’s been around and now, you know, I’ll, I’ll go places and people hear my last name and they’ll go, do you know Jim Heinze?
Trent Manning: 5:09
Oh, that’s awesome.
Daniel Heinze: 5:11
that’s my dad.
Trent Manning: 5:12
That’s awesome. So is he still working with them?
Daniel Heinze: 5:15
No, he retired right before the pandemic.
Trent Manning: 5:19
Okay.
Daniel Heinze: 5:19
and so it worked out for him. Cause my, my older sister had some kids and so he took some time to my mom just just to be grandparents and so
Trent Manning: 5:29
Awesome. No, that was very good. I think there was, uh, a few of those Toro people that took that opportunity to retire. I talked to Eric Bow, a while back and I didn’t know that he had retired and he, I think he worked through the pandemic and then. He had a house in Florida or something. Him and his wife had went down there and he was working through the pandemic. And after, you know, the things started opening back up. They’re like, okay, you can come back in the office. And he said, I think I’ll just take retirement now,
Daniel Heinze: 6:03
Yep, that sounds about right.
Trent Manning: 6:05
He said he, he was, he did not want to do another Minnesota winner. And I, I can’t, I can’t blame him there.
Daniel Heinze: 6:12
Now my parents are still there, but you know, they’re, they’re, I, it was my, my nephews and my older sister, so they’re, they’re living the, the grandparents’ life. And now that we have my kid, they, uh, they’ve been coming down here quite a bit cuz it’s, the
Trent Manning: 6:25
Nice.
Daniel Heinze: 6:26
much nicer.
Trent Manning: 6:28
That’s awesome. Do you notice how your parents could care less about you now that you have a child?
Daniel Heinze: 6:35
Uh, it’s interesting you say that. it’s kind of like a, you know, my, my mom, I, I, cause I’m, I’ve got two sisters. I’m the only boy my mom, you know, would always do on me. And, uh, I’m pushed to the side now,
Trent Manning: 6:47
Yeah. Yep. No, I’m, I’m familiar with that. I remember, you know, like I’m still standing here, you know, when I’d bring the kids over to the grandparents’ house, it was good stuff. Do you relief, grind.
Daniel Heinze: 7:00
Yes, I do. I do it, you know, I find it really hard. People always tell me it’s possible, but I find it really hard on those like 14 blade reels where it’s real tight. But, if I can get a, if I can get something in there, then I definitely relief, grind. Cause I find it holds the, uh, holds the edge. I mean, just stay sharper longer.
Trent Manning: 7:20
Mm-hmm. Yep. Exactly right. What kinda grind are you?
Daniel Heinze: 7:25
uh, I’ve got a, I’ve got Foleys, which one is 6 48 I think. I’m trying to remember. It’s, uh,
Trent Manning: 7:33
Uh, 6 32,
Daniel Heinze: 7:35
maybe, I don’t know. It’s,
Trent Manning: 7:37
6 53, 6 30.
Daniel Heinze: 7:41
I
Trent Manning: 7:41
It’s all good.
Daniel Heinze: 7:42
No, I should, we, it was it was brand new to me, maybe six years ago. It’s, I mean, it’s a great grinder. I love it. I’ve got bed, Foley bed knife, uh, reel and rotary blade grinder, so,
Trent Manning: 7:56
Awesome. Yeah. I don’t talk to or see many of the rotary blade grinders. Uh, what do you think about that machine?
Daniel Heinze: 8:03
I don’t want my fully rep to get mad at me, but, uh, it does, it does like give you a, a truer, grind all the way across and keeps it straight. Um, as opposed to, I noticed when you’re, when a hand grind on the inside edge, it kind of always dips in a little bit more, uh, if you’re getting a little heavy. And so you definitely get a truer grind, but, I mean, in high school I worked at hardware stores where I learned how to grind lawnmower blades and doing it by hand is just a lot faster. Uh, but it, I mean, it’s, it is a great machine and it gives you a true straight edge and extend the life. It just takes a long, a little bit longer than I’d like, so.
Trent Manning: 8:44
Gotcha. Yeah, and I’d heard other people say, and I think the other guy I talked to that was using it, he just had one set of blades that he was using it on, so there’s not really any, it just stayed set up all the time, so he wouldn’t change an in between the blades, and he really liked it
Daniel Heinze: 9:03
Yeah. And I mean, for, for our, like our 45 hundreds that we used to have, and no 4,500 s, 4,300. They’re great. When it gets into the like 3,500 blades side winders where it’s at, the real long blade, it gets, you gotta, you gotta move a bunch of stuff around and it takes a lot longer. So I kind of solely use it for one, like, I mean I have a lot of these blades, so I keep it just set up for those cuz it’s just, it’s much faster that way.
Trent Manning: 9:35
Yeah. No. Sweet. Awesome. Tell us something you fabricated lately.
Daniel Heinze: 9:39
So the most recent thing I’ve fabricated is I’ve got these, and this came from my, my new superintendent, uh, his, his old mechanic at his last course built ’em. It’s like a, it’s like a ramp you’d see for, you know, driving your car up onto, uh, for, you know, and I, I would drive my, I use it to roll my, uh, my greens mow. Cause I don’t have a lift.
Trent Manning: 10:01
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 10:02
it’s basically just a little, little ramp. I can run my walk mow and my walk greens mowers or any of my mowers. And then I can sit on my stool and I’m not kneeling down on the concrete, trying to check heights and stuff.
Trent Manning: 10:17
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yep.
Daniel Heinze: 10:19
gets it up off the ground, flips it back. Other than that, the before that it was, we had some Toro 56, 10 ferry units and. We didn’t have enough people to mow fairways and blow fairways, so I, fabricated something onto the rear bumper. Uh, basically just a trailer hitch that we could hook up a, a pro force blower to so that we could mow and blow at the same time with one person and not have to have multiple people on one job.
Trent Manning: 10:47
That’s awesome. So after, so they’re mowing fairways, they got the blower running behind them
Daniel Heinze: 10:53
Yep.
Trent Manning: 10:54
as they’re mowing, and then I guess after they’re done mowing, they could hit the clean up if they needed to do that.
Daniel Heinze: 11:02
Yeah. I
Trent Manning: 11:02
Or is it just pointed straight down?
Daniel Heinze: 11:05
well, so when we run our mowers, I mean, we’ve got, well, we either run three to five ferry mowers at the time, and in the summer when the zoia is really, really growing, you just, you’re just bailing. So the first guy will do a pass on the middle and his will be blowing straight down. And then everyone’s stagger, cuz we’ll do like a half moon, half and
Trent Manning: 11:29
Okay.
Daniel Heinze: 11:29
Everyone behind him will be angled out, so he’ll go down, blow it all out and everyone behind him is, and they’re just blowing it out, out and out and they just, they just do loops
Trent Manning: 11:40
Okay. Yeah. Awesome.
Daniel Heinze: 11:42
out great.
Trent Manning: 11:43
Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. And that saves, uh, another person being out there just blowing.
Daniel Heinze: 11:50
Can’t say the crew was too happy cuz that, you know, if you’re not, if you’re not blowing, then you’re on bunker crew and
Trent Manning: 11:56
Right, right.
Daniel Heinze: 11:56
they’d rather be sitting on a cart blowing
Trent Manning: 11:59
Yeah, for sure. What do you mean blow rake bunkers? Hmm. Yeah. I’ll take the blowing job any day of the week. The, you know, just like fairways. Yeah. I, I want that fairway job. That’s something that I’ve talked about with, uh, especially my director of agronomy because the autonomous mowers and that kind of stuff, and they’re coming up with autonomous fairway mowers and he said, why do you want to take away the best job on the golf? You know, I mean, that’s the gravy job that most people like doing.
Daniel Heinze: 12:33
I’ve always said that after I retire, I’m just gonna find a, a local course that I’m like, Hey, I’ll come in three days a week and I’m just gonna mow fairways. And that’ll be, that’ll be my retirement job.
Trent Manning: 12:44
Well, and I’ve heard that story from, I don’t know how many people that want to do that. So if we got an autonomous mower, mowing fairways, there goes all these retirees, potential jobs. What’s your favorite tool?
Daniel Heinze: 12:57
So my favorite tool is the, actually the very first tool that I bought for myself when I started this nine years ago. I think. I started out and I was using just normal shop tools and we had a guy, come in from our distributor to kind of work on stuff, and I followed him around for a little bit. It’s actually, uh, Mark Williams, the, I think he won. M v t this year, most valuable technician from Foley. he was the technician and he had these really nifty gear wrench, uh, ratcheting wrenches.
Trent Manning: 13:34
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 13:35
And before that I was just using your standard open-ended wrench and you turn, you take it off turn. And so, I’m, while I love my. My impacts and all my other, my lift and all that stuff. Uh, nothing’s ever gonna beat my ratcheting wrenches. Love them.
Trent Manning: 13:53
Yeah. No, those are so handy. And especially getting into tight spots and all that stuff, and there’s not enough room for a ratchet and Yeah. No. Hands down you if, if you don’t have a set, you need a set.
Daniel Heinze: 14:05
Oh, a hundred percent. I just need to, I’ve got the normal set now and I’m, I’m slowly building up the, the ones that had the, have the flex head, so.
Trent Manning: 14:15
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are super handy. Actually, I remember when I was working for Jerry Pay the Toyota distributor down here in the south that taking the gear box off of Flex 21. I bought a 13 millimeter flexed head boxed in ratchet and gear wrench just for doing that because you could get a wrench in there, but you could only get, you know, it would move a 16th of a turn and then you’d have to put it back on. It was, yeah, such a pain, and that thing saved me so much time. Just that one wrench. It was worth, worth the price.
Daniel Heinze: 14:53
Well, I just, and I’ve, I’ve just recently seen, They’ve got like the, so the open-ended side. Now they have some that, that side ratchets.
Trent Manning: 15:02
Oh no, I hadn’t seen that. Cool.
Daniel Heinze: 15:05
they’re not, they’re not cheap
Trent Manning: 15:07
Uh, well, yeah. Yep. Probably not. what do you do to relax or find your balance?
Daniel Heinze: 15:13
So I do, uh, a couple of things. One, I, uh, I love to read, when I’m in the shop, a lot of times if I’m by myself, then I will, uh, I have audiobooks going. know, I,
Trent Manning: 15:27
Real Turf Text podcast going,
Daniel Heinze: 15:29
absolutely a hundred percent
Trent Manning: 15:31
I’m kidding. I’m kidding.
Daniel Heinze: 15:33
No, uh, like I, I, I love baseball, so, I’ll listen to baseball games. But I, I just love books and so I’ll read, the pandemic brought two things into my life. one of ’em. It’s hard to get to now that I have a kid cause I have to come home. But have you ever heard of magnet fishing?
Trent Manning: 15:51
No, I have not.
Daniel Heinze: 15:52
Okay, so, uh,
Trent Manning: 15:54
educate me on magnet fishing.
Daniel Heinze: 15:57
So I’ve nev I was never really big on just regular fishing, but magnet fishing is something I saw like on YouTube during, you know, all people were doing during a pandemic is you have this really powerful magnet and you’ve got like a hundred feet of, uh, heavy duty like, Uh, rope and you just, you just throw it out into the water, like around bridges or docks or heavily populated areas, and you just, you just, you just pull up stuff, you know, people drop stuff off boats. And so I think that’s fun. And, uh, you, you never know what you’re gonna find. I haven’t really found anything fun, just mainly junk, but,
Trent Manning: 16:35
Yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 16:36
it’s, I like it. And then,
Trent Manning: 16:38
And so as you’re pulling that magnet in, does the magnet pull back and fight like a fish?
Daniel Heinze: 16:47
I mean, when you catch on something, it, uh, you notice it’s a tug. And then not only are you fighting what you. but you’re trying to pull it out of the mud and then all the seaweed and then,
Trent Manning: 16:58
Yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 16:59
you gotta get some leverage on it. But luckily, I’m a big, I’m a big guy, so,
Trent Manning: 17:03
Gotcha.
Daniel Heinze: 17:04
the other thing that really I got into, that I can do at home and be with the kid and is, uh, lock picking.
Trent Manning: 17:12
Oh no. That sounds fun. Yeah, for
Daniel Heinze: 17:14
It is. So I got this, I got this little kit that, uh, comes with a, a see-through lock to, you know, train you on and you get all your picks and I can just sit there in front of the TV with the kid next to me and I can just tinker and play with this lock and try and try and pop it open. And, uh, it’s fun. I like it.
Trent Manning: 17:35
I don’t, where’d you get it?
Daniel Heinze: 17:37
I just got it on Amazon. I mean, there’s a, there’s a, whole community, like on the internet, Reddit and other places like lock picking. And they’ll kind of make their own, like they’ll take the pins out and mess with them to make it harder. And they call ’em chall, they call ’em challenge locks and they’ll, they’ll, they’ll mail ’em out to each other and, and then you try and pick this stuff and, I don’t know. It’s, it’s one of those things,
Trent Manning: 18:01
crazy.
Daniel Heinze: 18:02
Yeah, like when you’re, uh, being a mechanic, you’re like, I like, I like tinkering, I like solving problems. And this is one of those things where it’s like, I, I’m, I’m gonna figure this out, I’m gonna get it. And it takes you a while, but eventually when you get it, you get that, that feeling like after you fix a hard problem that you’ve been tracing for a while, it’s like, ah, Yeah. I got it.
Trent Manning: 18:21
That’s awesome, man. That’s so cool. Yeah. I’m gonna check into that. Uh, uh, for sure, because I could, I could see myself sitting in the recliner picking a lock while there’s something boring on TV or whatever that I wasn’t interested in. Yeah, no. All right. Note to self, I’m gonna go to Amazon soon as we get off this. what’s one of the strangest things you’ve, uh, seen around the shop?
Daniel Heinze: 18:45
Oh man. honestly, I think the strangest thing it was, so we came in one morning and. had gotten a call from somebody that we’ve got a couple of stone bridges around, right? And somebody was driving in, they’re like, I think there’s a car stuck on one of the bridges. And so me and one of the assistants we’re walking out over to where that is, and we see this guy just walking up and he, he’s got his hands up in the air, and he’s like, I, I surrender. I give up. And I’m like, what are you? And he’s like, are you guys not the cops? And we’re like, no. And he’s like, okay. And he starts walking off. I’m like, no, no. The cops are coming. What do you? And apparently he had been running or something, and he found his way onto the golf course, couldn’t find his way out, and then decided to go across this six foot bridge with his car and just wedged it right into the, into the thing. Jumped out and just. He started just walking off and, but he was ready. It seems like he’d been going for a while cause he was ready to give up. But, uh, that was trying to get that, trying to get that car off that bridge. That was a, that was a wild experience cuz it was wedged in there and
Trent Manning: 20:01
How’d y’all get it out?
Daniel Heinze: 20:02
uh, we took a, we had a tractor on one side, loader on the other side. And so we had. We had to lift up the back end of the cause. We were trying not to dam, they’re limestone bridges, trying not to damage ’em. So we lifted up the back end and then, on the other side, we kind of tilted the front end and so one of the tires was like on the edge and then we kind of just rolled it back. But I mean, there obviously there was damage, but, uh, it, it was.
Trent Manning: 20:33
That’s crazy. Yep. You never know what you’re gonna see on the golf course. one of your pet peeves around the shop?
Daniel Heinze: 20:39
So my two biggest pet peeves, one is not much I can control, especially with the shipping delays and all the stuff pandemic brought is, waiting on parts.
Trent Manning: 20:49
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 20:50
when you’ve got a five, like something that can be a five minute fix and you don’t have the part and then it turns in, it just sits in your shop for three days. drives me crazy, but, the biggest thing that, and I, I’ve been trying for years, and it never can’t seem to fix it, is on rain days. the assistance will get everyone and they’re like, here, they start all these projects, right? they’ll get, they’ll be working on these projects. They’re halfway through the projects. The rain stops, the assistance. Run and gather everybody up. I’m like, Hey, the rains stop. We’re going out into the course, so everyone just drops everything they’re doing and they just leave. And then there’s like five different projects cluttering up my shop and I can’t just leave it alone like I have to go then clean up after them and I’m just, Clean up after yourself, before you go out into the golf course. And so I don’t have a bunch of half finished projects just cluttering up everywhere, but, uh, nine years and I still haven’t figured out a way to get it through.
Trent Manning: 21:53
That’s super frustrating though. I mean, I, yeah, I, I feel your pain there. and I know you’re not the only one struggling with that, but, uh, yeah, it happens because they gotta get the golf course ready. You gotta drop everything at the shop, go get the golf course ready,
Daniel Heinze: 22:08
I mean, that’s why
Trent Manning: 22:08
looks like you could, well, you could leave somebody back to clean up the messes instead of making you deal with it. Do you have a mentor in the industry?
Daniel Heinze: 22:19
YouTube No, I, I mean, so with my dad being in the industry for as long as he did, like professionally, you know, I have asked him a lot of questions. uh, I worked for my old super for a, a long time, and he was at our course for 42 years. So he had a lot of knowledge. my new super is actually the one who pushed me to get my cem, you know,
Trent Manning: 22:46
Awesome. Yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 22:47
my, the old super, I mean, he was, I don’t know, it wasn’t a huge priority, but, Patrick Rose is my new super here at Kansas City Country Club. And, uh, he was very, very vo you know, just very supportive about me getting it. And so, it kind of pushed me to do that. But then the great thing about the Kansas City area is we’ve got a lot of people, who are just willing to help. Like there’s a, a golf course literally across the. From mine. I can see it from the back of my shop if I open the door. And there’s a guy there, uh, his name’s Todd Young, and when I first started, I’d reach out to him because he’s got a similar golf course, a similar fleet. He’s been doing this longer than I’d been in the industry, uh, working for distributors and, uh, you know, automotive and, and he was, over overwhelmingly willing to help. and then there’s another guy, Mark Price, country Club Leewood, who, uh, had actually worked at my club like 10 years before me. And so he knew, and at the time we still had some of the same equipment that he he had worked on.
Trent Manning: 24:01
Oh, wow. Yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 24:02
so, you know, it was, it was, I could be like, ask him questions. And, I’ve had a lot of people just to, to bounce ideas off of.
Trent Manning: 24:11
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 24:12
you know, I, early on, I, I was trying to like prove myself and just YouTube everything. And, it was, once I reached out and started asking for help, those guys were just, I mean, they’re just, oh yeah, we got you. Don’t worry. And just.
Trent Manning: 24:26
That’s awesome, man. This, that’s what I love about this industry because I mean, just about everybody you meet is just like that. You need help with this. Oh yeah, I’ll help you out. No big deal. Yeah. What can I do for you? You
Daniel Heinze: 24:39
yeah. And like even, uh, so Todd Young, I, he’s over at Mission Hills Country Club and, there’s so many times where he’ll call me or I’ll call him and be like, Hey, I need this part. I know you have this piece of equipment. Do you have a spare? And I’ll, you know, I’ll get it back to you. And then, I’ll literally just drive down to like the fence line and hand it to him and he’ll
Trent Manning: 25:01
Oh wow. Yeah. Yeah. That’s super cool having
Daniel Heinze: 25:05
to borrow. Yeah, and he, he borrowed one of our sod cutters not too long ago. unfortunately it was not in great condition cuz they parked it without telling me that it was broken. So I gave it to him thinking it was fine.
Trent Manning: 25:19
Oh, no.
Daniel Heinze: 25:20
and it made me, I felt bad, but now he, it’s one of those things where it’s, uh, yeah, the community, between technicians is just fantastic. So,
Trent Manning: 25:30
It is, it’s, it is great. I, I couldn’t, uh, couldn’t imagine. And everything I’ve heard from like the automotive people and stuff, they just say it’s cutthroat. Nobody will help anybody. And it’s all, you know, trade secrets and they don’t want to help you out because it’s taking money out of their pocket. we’re not that way and it, it’s
Daniel Heinze: 25:52
No, not at all.
Trent Manning: 25:54
What would be your dream job or opportunity?
Daniel Heinze: 25:57
So I was saying about this, I think my dream opportunity or job, it would be the same if I, like, let’s say I won the Powerball or the Mega Millions,
Trent Manning: 26:06
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 26:07
I would buy a really big rv. I would load my family up and then I would just zig-zag across America and spend time in certain places. And then, because I love to read, Take my shot at being a, an author of horror novels like Stephen King, Joe Hill, like, but I, I have a really hard time sitting in front of like a computer, just not doing anything. So that’s why I’d want to travel the country and live in a place for a while, get the feel for it, and then, kind of write it, try and write my novel off of my experience there. So,
Trent Manning: 26:48
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s awesome.
Daniel Heinze: 26:51
That’s what I would do if I, I mean, I don’t have the, the chops to, to write, uh, but I’d love to give it a shot.
Trent Manning: 26:59
I hope. Yeah. Why not? Just put it out there.
Daniel Heinze: 27:02
Yep.
Trent Manning: 27:03
What technician would you like to work with for a day?
Daniel Heinze: 27:08
Actually, so the, the very first technician I ever worked with when I was an assistant, I was at a club called Ironbridge Golf Course in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. a guy named John Wek. I don’t know where he is now. I actually spoke to him maybe a year or two ago. he was a whiz at just fabricating, coming up with stuff. Like he would just invent things and, to be able to go back and work with him Now. coming back from the, the journey that I’d been on, you know, being from, from an assistant to now being a mechanic, and just to be able to pick his brain. That’s, uh, that’d be an honor. I, I’d love to, I’d love to work side by side with him for just, you know, just day.
Trent Manning: 27:54
That’s awesome. You’re gonna have to reach out to him and hook it up.
Daniel Heinze: 27:57
Oh, I have
Trent Manning: 27:57
Uh, yeah. I’m, I’m, I’m sure he’d be glad to have you. And I think that’s a good point too, that, I mean, it’s one thing to work with somebody when you’re green in the industry, but I think it’s even better after you’ve been in the industry for a little while. because I think you can learn just as much if not more. You know when you’re so green, you don’t even know what questions to ask.
Daniel Heinze: 28:21
Exactly. And it’s funny cuz he, uh, he used to have this, uh, this wall of. at the shop. So all the assistance, I mean, it was never, you’re never not gonna break something. And so when you broke something or did something, he would, he would take it and he would make a little trophy out of it. and mine mine was, I had a, a walk mower, uh, attached to a trailer. I didn’t secure it properly, it fell off, and I broke the drive drum. So then he took a picture of me standing next. and then took the broken drive drum and made it into this little trophy, and I still have it in my office to stay.
Trent Manning: 28:58
That’s awesome. Very cool. Good stuff. What do you know now you wish you’d known on day?
Daniel Heinze: 29:04
Uh, one, don’t be afraid to ask for help. And two,
Trent Manning: 29:08
one.
Daniel Heinze: 29:09
take care of your body. I, uh, I, you know, I, when I was younger, I. I thought I was invincible. I’d crawl around on the concrete or me out in the golf course. You know, I’d do all kinds of stuff and you know, I’m, I’m a heavyset guy and I’m paying for it now. And even in the shop now, I, I’ll have guys on rainy days or snow days helping me out and, you know, they’re in their twenties and I’m like, Hey, you know, I’ve got some foam knee pads that you want those. And they’re like, no, I’m good. I’m like, yeah, you’re not gonna be good in 10 years.
Trent Manning: 29:41
Right. Right.
Daniel Heinze: 29:42
Or you know, now that I got a son, like I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve smashed my, my hands with a hammer and I, you know, I wish I had had padded gloves and I got plenty of them now, but I didn’t back then. So we’ll see. Should have taken better care of myself.
Trent Manning: 30:01
And I think we can all take something from that because we’ve all used our hand as a hammer and we know we shouldn’t, but it’s right there. It makes a good hammer sometimes, but you end up paying for it down the road. So I think that’s excellent advice.
30:18
Get ready for tips and tricks
Trent Manning: 30:22
What are some of the latest tips and tricks you wanna share with?
Daniel Heinze: 30:26
I mean, I’ll admit I’m not the best welder, but I, I, I saw this, I don’t know if it was Twitter or where I saw it, but. if you got a, like what I’ve been using is, so you got a broken off bolt and y you know, I would, I would always try and like weld a, a nut to the top of it.
Trent Manning: 30:44
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 30:45
Wouldn’t always work out cuz you’re trying to hold the nut and get the, I have a MG welder and trying to get that in there. and I saw this guy, he would take a washer and he would super glue it to the top of the broken off. and then he would be able to weld the nut to the washer, and then once that’s there, then he could weld it to the bolt itself and then get after it. Um, and
Trent Manning: 31:09
okay.
Daniel Heinze: 31:10
that, that was a neat trick that, I mean, I’ve used a couple times, uh, I’ve liked it. Uh, only other one I could think of. Uh, we’ve got these, uh, Toro Trans Pro. tr like tow, you know, trailers with the rail
Trent Manning: 31:24
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 31:25
and our guys, our crew would always have a hard time with those rubber donuts on the side trying to get ’em up those rails. They’d, it’s Dewey in the morning, it’s wet, they slip and we’ve tried everything. I’ve put, you know, bed liner, you know, I’ve put, Sand. I mean even just, you know, adhesive strips and they’ve all worn off. And so I just got to the point where since we own ’em, we just welded a bunch of like angled, strips up those
Trent Manning: 31:57
Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 31:59
the, the rubber grips it now and they fly right up and there’s, there’s no issues of. You know, everyone’s different. You know, some, some people can push more than others, but when you’re trying to get, you know, that up that rail and it’s slip and it’s just sliding back down, it just,
Trent Manning: 32:12
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 32:13
it catches and it goes and onto the next green.
Trent Manning: 32:16
No, that’s awesome. That was a great. I did the same thing on my equipment lift on the tray side, getting a triplex up there with the smooth wheels. I just put some beads of weld and I stole that idea from Bob Perino, Bob Shop, cuz there’s not very many original ideas. So we just steal ideas and
Daniel Heinze: 32:37
Oh
Trent Manning: 32:37
maybe improve on them, but, that’s, uh, that’s a great thing about Twitter and the WhatsApp group and the networking that we do, and we’re all, uh, willing to share ideas. It’s good stuff. Did you want to say anything else about, uh, taking care of your body a little bit better?
Daniel Heinze: 32:55
I just, I mean, I, I know a lot of. The older guys, it’s, it’s either too late for them or, you know, they wish they could go back. But if there’s any of the younger guys out there that are getting into it, you might feel indestructible now. but it’s gonna catch up with you and I, you know, I’m paying for it now. I mean, I’m 38 and I just had a, a kid and, I can’t, you know, if, if he wants to get on my back and ride around like a horse, I’m gonna, I’m, I have to stay in the, the carpet cause I can’t get on the, the tile cause my knees will swell up and you know, my back will hurt and it’s just, it’s not worth it to, I, earlier on, I, you know, I think there was, there, there was always those really macho guys, like, oh, I don’t need to do this. Like, oh, what do you, what are you wearing gloves for? And I’m like, because I wanna be able to use my hands when I’m older. I don’t want arthritis. And uh, so I don’t care how tough you think you are, just take care of yourself. And I know when, I wish I could remember his name, there was a guy. Did, he actually did a, a talk at the, gis, uh, during 2020 when the pandemic hit and, you know, it was all virtual and his whole thing was about using gloves and it’s one, it’s. Not just about, you know, you know, knocking your knuckles and hitting the hammer or using the palm of your hand, like you said, and just trying to pop something and bruising it. But, you get cuts on your hands and then you’re, you’re handling chemicals, that gets in your blood and it’s just eventually stuff’s gonna catch up to you and so get ahead of it now. cuz in health insurance and the cost of healthcare is not getting any cheap.
Trent Manning: 34:35
Oh no, it’s, it’s ridiculous. How many times do you wish you would’ve asked for help picking up something that was heavy? Even though, yeah, you can pick it up yourself, you know? Yeah, I can pick up this cutting unit, but there’s somebody standing right here. Why don’t I get them to set? Help me set it on this table. I know my back would be in better shape if I would’ve asked for help a few more times.
Daniel Heinze: 34:57
Yeah, I know my, my, my Super Now. Wishes I ask for help every time, cuz there’s been a few times where I have to call in the next day. I’m like, Hey, I, I can barely get outta bed. And he is like, well, ask for help next time. But, you know, your, your pride gets in the way. And
Trent Manning: 35:15
Oh yeah. Yep.
Daniel Heinze: 35:16
you know, me being a big guy, I’m like, oh, this is nothing. Like, for some reason in my head, I still think I’m 22. Uh, I’m 38 and I, I can’t do what I used to be able.
Trent Manning: 35:27
Yeah, I got, uh, Joel that he’s worked with me for a long time now and he’s early fifties and he had a bad back before he ever started working with me, and just this past year we installed a bridge crane in his shop for him, and it is the best thing ever. So I’m like, all right Joel, no excuses for blowing your back out because you, when you got a crane, you can roll around anywhere in this shop and pick something up. But it’s, uh, I think that’s important too for our managers, superintendents, directors or whoever, know to take care of us, you know, and get us stuff like that, that. Will keep us around longer, and that was one of the main reasons we wanted to get this for Joel is he is such a good employee and he does a great job and we wanna make his life easier, so why not
Daniel Heinze: 36:21
Yeah. And that’s, that’s amazing. I mean, I know like, you know, currently I, I’m in the shop by myself, but, actually we’re, my boss has been pushing and we were able to find somebody. So I actually have an assistant starting on Wednesday.
Trent Manning: 36:36
Congratulations.
Daniel Heinze: 36:38
thank you. and I, I’ve seen a lot of the, like, Kayla, in the industry. And so this is my first female hire. Uh, This, this young woman came in and, you know, she grew up on a farm and she’s, uh, she’s gungho, she’s in, uh, metal fabrication, school right now. But, I know my boss was pushing to get somebody in just to have somebody else in the shop to, you know, whether it’s pick stuff up or just, you know, she’s, I think early twenties. So, uh, I’ll be relying on her to do some of the, the other stuff, but I’ve got some chain hoist and. stuff to, to make it easy and make sure that sh she doesn’t do the mistakes that I made. But it’s gonna be nice. It’s gonna be nice to have somebody else in the shop for W for once.
Trent Manning: 37:23
That’s awesome. So good. And yeah, another female in the industry. I love to hear it. And the few females I know in the industry, they can work circles around. Most of the dudes I know.
Daniel Heinze: 37:35
a hundred
Trent Manning: 37:35
it, bring it on ladies. Yeah,
Daniel Heinze: 37:38
I’m not, there’s no discrimination. If you, if you’re willing to put in the, if you’re willing to show up and put in the work, absolutely. Bring it
Trent Manning: 37:45
Bring it on. Yes. I love it. you ready to do some rapid fire question?
Daniel Heinze: 37:54
Let’s do it.
Trent Manning: 37:55
What’s your favorite movie?
Daniel Heinze: 37:57
Boondock Saints.
Trent Manning: 37:59
All right, good one. What would be your last meal?
Daniel Heinze: 38:02
See, I was torn about this one. Uh, there’s a place here in Kansas City called Gates Barbecue. Uh, if, if there’s anyone listening in Kansas City, it’s kind of a, it’s a, it’s a split. You either really love it or you’re like, well, it’s, I love it. It’s either that, it’s either that or I’m in just a full slab of ribs with all the sides. but at the same time, A really good, like New Orleans Cajun seafood platter.
Trent Manning: 38:32
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 38:33
but so
Trent Manning: 38:35
about language. I love it, man. That’s good stuff.
Daniel Heinze: 38:38
it’s so good. I mean, I think I’d probably have to go with the hometown barbecue, but I mean, my, my mouth’s watering, just thinking about the Cajun seafood.
Trent Manning: 38:48
Well, we’re gonna, we’re gonna have to pause on this rapid fire cuz I gotta know where is Gates Barbecue in Kansas City?
Daniel Heinze: 38:55
They’ve got a couple of different locations. Uh, the one I go to is I dunno, you know, Kansas City? Well,
Trent Manning: 39:03
I mean, not great, but I’ve been there, I’ve been to Q 39. I’ve been, uh, to, I’ve been to the original one, I guess, or the first location, and then I’ve been the one in Overland Park.
Daniel Heinze: 39:17
Okay. so Gates has a couple of locations kind of spread around Kansas City. The one I go to is, it’s off of, 4 35 and state line,
Trent Manning: 39:28
Okay.
Daniel Heinze: 39:29
it’s on, it’s on the Kansas side of state line, but they’ve got, they’ve got a couple downtown and. But yeah,
Trent Manning: 39:36
I’m, I’m gonna check it out then the, the next time I’m there for sure, because I, I love barbecue. Yeah. I’ve done Z-Man. or what, what is it?
Daniel Heinze: 39:45
Joe’s? Casey. Yep.
Trent Manning: 39:46
Joe’s KC got the Z-man, that, that, was good. And then, uh, Scott’s. Is it like Scott Yards barbecue? It’s really close to the airport and I don’t think a lot of people know about it, but it is really good.
Daniel Heinze: 40:03
Okay.
Trent Manning: 40:03
Yeah, it’s right there at the airport. But anyway, hopefully the listeners enjoy barbecue as much as me and Daniel does.
Daniel Heinze: 40:11
Yeah,
Trent Manning: 40:13
If not, you can fast forward through this section. What are you most proud?
Daniel Heinze: 40:17
my son, I mean. Now, I mean, I had all this, I had all these thoughts about, you know, like professionally, you know, when I, when I graduated college and then, you know, doing my assistant I worked, was on the assistant superintendent committee for a while, and then I became a mechanic and it got, you know, just recently got my c t e and I was super proud of that. And none of that compares to, uh, to being a dad and have, you know, looking at my, you know, holding my son. So,
Trent Manning: 40:46
For sure.
Daniel Heinze: 40:47
proudest thing is being a dad.
Trent Manning: 40:50
That’s awesome, man. I’m so happy for you.
Daniel Heinze: 40:52
Thank you.
Trent Manning: 40:53
let me back up and let’s talk about C Tim for a minute. I’m sorry, we kind of totally brushed over that, but what was it like getting the C Tim and doing the testing, the whole process?
Daniel Heinze: 41:07
it was, it was great. I mean, there was a lot of stuff, That I learned that I didn’t really think about before. You know, it made me kind of focus on some things that I kind of overlooked. but I was on the, as the equipment manager’s committee this last year, and we, you know, I had been talking about stuff and when my super had said, you know, I, I really want you to look into this cuz you know, it’s, it’s. it’s gonna do nothing but help you and make, you know, make you look better to the membership and all that kind of stuff. And so I started going through the, you know, Level one, level two. And, all that was, I mean, it was great. Every time I passed I was like, yeah, there we go. Got another one down. And I, you know, I felt great and then I was super nervous more my, my testing, even though I’d gone through the rubrics so many times. but, uh, finally getting. All accomplished. it, it felt great and then just being able to throw those magnets on my toolbox and,
Trent Manning: 42:11
Yeah, it’s
Daniel Heinze: 42:12
uh, it, it was, it was a great experience and I, I try and like, so we have a, an equipment manager’s group here in Kansas City, that actually was originally like, started by Austin Wright.
Trent Manning: 42:27
Okay. Yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 42:28
So when he was still in Kansas City, he kind of got the ball rolling, but then he left to go to Sand Valley and he had, he had called me and he is like, Hey, will you, I don’t want to just leave this and have it fall apart. Will you help me out? And so I took it over and I, you know, I, I ran that for about three years before, you know, passing it on to somebody else. And we go, we have our meetings every year and we’ve. we’ve grown it to where we have a, uh, we even have a Equipment Manager of the year for the Heart, heart of America Golf Course, superintendents Association of America.
Trent Manning: 43:06
Okay. Awesome.
Daniel Heinze: 43:07
and so I try and preach to everyone there how important it is or how, how, how, much it can help you.
Trent Manning: 43:14
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Heinze: 43:15
Some of, I feel bad, some of the older guys, you know, they’re, they’ve been around so long. I’m like, well, I don’t know. That’s gonna do much for me. And I’m like, ah, I can’t argue with that. I mean, I, we, I got a guy who’s at another course who was a, uh, retired helicopter mechanic from the, you know, the military. And I’m like, yeah, I don’t know. If you could top that. You know, C 10 looks great. He was a helicopter mechanic. Uh, but all of the new guys, all the younger guys are coming in. I’m, I’m just trying to push because it really, like, it’s not gonna do anything except for help your brand and help you and, make you, make you more valuable.
Trent Manning: 43:56
Oh yeah, for sure. And how much better and safer is your facility now after going through that?
Daniel Heinze: 44:04
Quite a bit
Trent Manning: 44:05
Yeah.
Daniel Heinze: 44:06
There were a lot of things that, I will say before that I was lacking, and then I look at ’em like, yeah, we should probably, we should probably address this issue.
Trent Manning: 44:12
Well, yeah, and I think it’s great because it does make us a lot safer, but it helps our superiors supervisors understand a little bit more on why we need it to be safe. You know, it’s one thing if you just go to your boss and say, I want to put this in for safety reasons. And they’re like, okay, but you take ’em a document and say, this is what everybody is doing. This is what they have, you know, this is what we need to do to get with the program. I think that helps.
Daniel Heinze: 44:45
Yeah, absolutely. I agree a hundred percent.
Trent Manning: 44:49
Well congratulations on getting your C Tim. That’s awesome.
Daniel Heinze: 44:53
for Thank you,
Trent Manning: 44:54
And congratulations on being a new father, cuz That is killer. That’s, that’s the best thing ever.
Daniel Heinze: 45:01
it’s the best feeling man. Unless it’s two in the morning and he is screaming his head off, then it’s, doesn’t feel so great. Cause I just wanna sleep
Trent Manning: 45:11
Well, you know what? In three years you won’t even remember that.
Daniel Heinze: 45:15
Ugh,
Trent Manning: 45:16
You know,
Daniel Heinze: 45:17
Everyone Everyone keeps telling me that and I’m like, Ugh,
Trent Manning: 45:20
Yep. You won’t. Yeah. I mean, my kids are 15 and 18 and. I remember not getting a lot of sleep when they were little, but doesn’t phase me at all cuz to see what little humans they’re growing into now, it’s just, it’s unbelievable.
Daniel Heinze: 45:40
That’s
Trent Manning: 45:41
So, I’m so proud of both of ’em. Couldn’t be prouder.
Daniel Heinze: 45:45
Yeah. I know. I, I got a, a guy on the cruise in his early twenties who had a kid just after me. And, you know, I was, I don’t know if I could have handled a kid when I was his age, but, you know, God gives you what you need when you need it. And,
Trent Manning: 45:59
That’s right.
Daniel Heinze: 46:00
How, how I react is 38 years old to no sleep and how he reacts totally different.
Trent Manning: 46:07
Oh yeah. Yep. No, that’s true. Yep,
Daniel Heinze: 46:09
when I was 20 I could be out until two in the morning, uh, get a couple hours of sleep, uh, be up in the morning, mowing greens, wrecking bunkers, no problem. Now I’m, it’s tough getting outta bed to walk. The dog
Trent Manning: 46:22
Yeah. Right. That’s funny. Yep. Things we learn as we get older. Tell the listeners how they can get ahold of you.
Daniel Heinze: 46:29
so my email is d heinze, so it’s d h E I n Z E KC cc.com. And, uh, I’m Daniel Heinze on Facebook. And I, it’s d d Heinze Turf on Twitter. And yeah. D Heinze turf. Uh, and that’s, that’s really all the social media stuff that I do.
Trent Manning: 47:00
Yeah. Yeah. No. Awesome. Good. thank you so much, Daniel, for being on the podcast. I’ve, this has been a blast. It always is.
Daniel Heinze: 47:09
yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Trent. I really appreciate it. I will say when you, uh, when you first asked me, I was actually still in the hospital. it was like maybe a day or two after my son had been born when he reached out to me and I was like, yeah, this will be great. And then I was scheduling, the time to come on and I’m like, what’s the farthest date away that I can get? Cause I’m, I’m like, I’m gonna need some time. So that’s why, that’s why I picked, uh, middle of January.
Trent Manning: 47:37
Yeah, no that to totally understand. I just appreciate you, uh, answering the email. That’s better than some do. So and yeah, honestly, I would’ve not sent you an email if I knew you were in the hospital. I won’t need you on the podcast, but I’m not that desperate
Daniel Heinze: 47:53
No,
Trent Manning: 47:53
but thank you so much for being.
Daniel Heinze: 47:55
Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Trent Manning: 47:57
I hope you enjoyed hearing from Daniel. I might’ve really good point. Take care of your body. I know, I wish I had definitely sounded like he wish he had. And assembling all do. just have to stop being so stubborn. And I know that’s easier said than done. Especially for me anyway. If you have any ideas for episodes. If you’re interested in being a guest. Reach out to us, please. We’re always looking for gas. We just got back from conference and trade show in Orlando. Wonderful, wonderful time. I met so many people. I can’t keep track so many people. But really, really good time. A lot of people attending the show for the first time. Which makes my heart happy. So great to be there in person. Shaking hands. And meeting everybody. We just had a really, really good time. So definitely plan on next year, Phoenix. We’ll see you there. Make sure. And tell a friend about the podcast. would really help us out. We’re doing great things here. I hear it all the time. And it’s so rewarding. I’m just happy to be here and spread the word. And help each of you any way I can. Until next time. See you. Bye. 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.