UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION ^ GREEN SECTION EASTERN REGION 814 RARITAN AVENUE + HIGHLAND PARK, NEW JERSEY Telephone CHarter 9-0225 EASTERN DIRECTOR A L E X A N D ER M. R A D KO AGRONOMISTS C H A R L ES E. C R O L EY R A Y M O ND E. H A R M AN L EE R E C O RD N o. 6 EASTERN TURFLETTER December 1962 G A D G E TS I* T H I N GS Two Jobs Accomplished In One Operation Elmer Michael, who holds the dual responsibility of Superintendent of Oak Hill Country Club and Mayor of the town of Pittsford, also likes to use the dual purpose principle in getting things done. At Oak Hill Country Club he has 36 holes of championship calibre to maintain and every short cut that he can institute is helpful and a savings• To control weeds and to mow roughs in one operation, he mounted a spray tank on the tractor with controls within easy access of the operator, and set the booms in front of the mowing units. The power is supplied by the tractor motor by means of a double VEE-BEI/P hook up ... as drawn below. To mow tees and to remove clippings at the same time Elmer affixed a box approximately 1-cubic yard in size to ride tandum behind his triplex cutting unit. The cutting units have catchers affixed and as clippings ac- cumulate the operator simply dumps them into the trailing box. Increasing The Greensward Sweeping Swath Bamboo poles are used by many to whip greens to remove the dew, earth- woiro casts, and to scatter grass clippings. Willis and Roland White, father and son team at the Lake Placid Club, Lake Placid, N. Y., decided that the "knuckles" on the bamboo poles were a problem ... clippings and dew escaped the whip because of the unevenness caused by the bamboo "knuckles". To correct this they fasten a fibre glass casting rod at the end of a bamboo pole which becomes the business end of the whip ... it whips everything smoothly and uniformly in its path, it cuts a wider swath, it is light and easy to maneuver, and it is durable. Fairway Roller Scraper - Variation #2 Our Nov. - Dec. 1961 issue of the Eastern Turfletter carried an idea by Bill Dest, Supt., Vfethersfield Country Club, Wethers field, Conn., which helped alleviate the problem of wet clippings bunching on the rollers. This roller scraper was designed by Bill for his mowing units. S C R A P B L A D E Jimmy DeBottis, of the Country Club of Rochester, Rochester, N. Y., liked Bill's idea, but his fairway mowing units were of another make so Jim went to work and de- vised the variation drawn for each of his units. The roller scraper is 1/4" x 2" strap iron set at the rear bottom of the roller outside the frame with l/4" x 1" "L" brackets. The bolts he uses are l/2" x 2-1/2", Save It For A Rainy Day I Dave Miller, Supt., Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pa., be- lieves in this old adage when it comes to fertilizing fairways. Dave believes in fertilizing lightly several times yearly ... he uses a rotary type spreader and granular or pelletelized fertilizers. Often times he will wait for a light rain to apply the fertilizer. To keep the fertilizer and hopper dry, he had a heavy duty plastic cover made up to fit snugly over the hopper — at cost of $5.00 ... this enables him to fertilize on rainy days to the obvious benefit of the efficient use of labor as well as the benefit of having the fertilizer watered in immediately by Mother Nature. Sod Slicer - Hand Model Same power sod-cutters come equipped with an automatic device to cut the sod into equal lengths at the time the sod is "being stripped. Those that do not have the automatic device may be interested in the hand sod slicer designed by Gus Chicarelli. Supt., Briar Hall Country Club, Briarcliff Manor, N. Y. Made with the handle of a discarded hand sod cutter, Gus cut off the original blade and welded l/k" x 1" flat stock to the handle base as shown in the diagram. The slicing blade is then bolted to the flat stock. The blade is tapered to a point on a grindstone and it slices through stripped sod beauti- fully. ,f To guide the slicer, Gus made up a guide board of 12" x 1" stock with l/8 angle iron on either side. TURFGRASS CONFERENCES - 1963 Mid-Atlantic Lord Baltimore Hotel Rutgers University USGA Green Section Educational Program Hotel Biltmore, New York City W Virginia Hotel John Marshall, Richmond Golf Course Supts. Assoc. of America El Cortez Hotel - San Diego, Calif. Penn State University University of Massachusetts Ontario Agricultural College Guelph, Canada January 7 -8 January Ik - 18 January 25 January 30 - 31 February 10 - 15 February 1 8 - 21 March 7 -8 March 27 - 29 BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON BULK RATE U. S. POSTAGE P A ID PERMIT No. 366 NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. irn Turfletter USGA GREEN SECTION m. CHARLES G. WILSOtl SEWERAGE COMMISSION P. 0. BOX 2079 MILWAUKEE l WISCONSIN f