We'd be done now, but..........

This is the TORO Procore 660.  It is a tractor mounted aerifier capable of punching many different kinds of holes in any turf area.  It really is an awesome machine but we've really run ours beyond its normal life expectancy.  Our machine was purchased in 2000 and since then it has puched millions of holes and run for thousands of hours.  In preparation for this weeks fairway aerification, we overhauled it by replacing most of the bearings to insure dependable performance.  Unfortunately this week we have been plagued with unforseeable problems related to the main gear box which is its direct connection point to the tractor PTO shaft.  This means we will have to order parts if we want to repair the machine.  By the time the parts would arrive here, our window of opportunity considering the golf schedule and weather would be lost.  That is why you see us today using a walk behind type of machine on the fairways.  This pic shows Kevan punching the 18th fairway with our TORO Procore 648.

 We have two of these machines but one of them is an older model that dosn't do a very nice job because it doesn't hold down the turf as well as the newer model.  So we are going to finish fairways this friday with this one machine, but we would already be done now if the TORO 660 wouldn't have had problems.  Thank goodness the weather is going to hold out for us.  We need dry weather for the fairway aerification process and this past week has been perfect.  Looks like rain coming in for next week so I am very happy we're going to get this done before the weekend.  I can remember vividly the nightmare last year when we had over 2" of rain between September 15th and the 20th.  That resulted in a muddy aerification and a long recovery period.  This year it's really going well.  Everything is dragging in nicely.  The rain thats coming next week will wash it all in and the course will recover rapidly meaning great late fall and winter conditions can be expected.  At this point, I'm not sure if I will repair the old TORO 660 since our new fairway aerator has been ordered and should be here soon.  Our new machine is the TORO Procore 864 and it is amazing.  Expect a blog post explaining the benefits of the new machine when it arrives.