January 1, 2025 • 50 mins
Welcome to the Reel Turf Techs Podcast, Episode 134! Today, we’re chatting with Zach Spence, Equipment Manager at The Landings Golf and Athletic Club in Savannah, GA. The Landings features six championship courses, and Zach oversees equipment for the Palmetto and Terrapin Point layouts.
Zach shares his journey from tinkering in Florida to managing a fleet in Georgia, where he’s transitioning from aged Toro equipment to a new John Deere lease. Tune in as we discuss the value of schematics for all techs, the crucial role of safety switches (never bypass them!), and why taking your time is key to success in this field.
Whether you’re new to the industry or a seasoned pro, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss!
- Tweet us @ReelTurfTechs and @MTrentManning
- Email us at ReelTurfTechs@gmail.com
- Check out our YouTube Channel
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Trent Manning (00:05):
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the
technician that wants to getreel follow along.
As we talk to industryprofessionals and address hot
topics that we all face alongthe way we'll learn tips and
tricks.
I'm your host, Trent.
Manning let's have some welcometo the Real Turf Techs podcast
(00:27):
episode 134.
Today we're talking to ZachSpence, equipment manager at the
Landings Golf and Athletic Clubin Savannah, Georgia.
The Landings is a private golfcommunity with six championship
courses.
Zach oversees the equipment atPalmetto and the Terrapin Point
courses.
(00:47):
He has mainly an aging fleet ofToro equipment that they're in
the process of transitioningover to John Deere.
He is currently looking for helpin the shop.
If anyone is interested, let'stalk to Zach.
Welcome Zach to the RealTurfTechs podcast.
Thanks for being here, man.
And you,
Zach Spence (01:06):
me, man.
Trent Manning (01:07):
yeah, absolutely.
So we've been we met, was itlast year?
Zach Spence (01:12):
Yes.
It was last year.
Trent Manning (01:14):
Last year at the Carolinas get together T TAC and
you weren't able to make it thisyear because you were having a
baby or your wife was having ababy.
Zach Spence (01:26):
Right.
Trent Manning (01:27):
Yeah not you.
Just so the listeners are clear.
It was not you.
No, congratulations on that.
And baby's doing good.
Is it sleeping through thenight?
Zach Spence (01:37):
Yeah.
As much as you can be for abreastfed baby.
So,
Trent Manning (01:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, good deal.
That's awesome.
Well, tell us how you got intothe turf industry.
Zach Spence (01:48):
One of the, one of my good friends from high school
that was where he startedworking at and got me a job out
there and I've been in it eversince.
Trent Manning (01:57):
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Zach Spence (01:58):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (01:59):
I'll always at the landings.
Zach Spence (02:02):
No, I started it because I, this was in Southwest
Florida
Trent Manning (02:06):
Okay.
Okay.
Zach Spence (02:07):
where there is no off season.
Trent Manning (02:10):
Yes.
Yeah.
Another friend of mine fromFlorida said it's hot and really
effing hot in Florida.
That's the two seasons orsomething like that.
When I was surprised, so I wasdown there back first of
September and got to hang outwith Chris Johnson and Haas and
(02:33):
a bunch of the guys down there.
But anyway, it's 1st ofSeptember and they're all
getting ready for the season tostart.
And I'm like, man, we're gettingready to shut down.
You know, hopefully anothermonth we'll be taking a break.
Yeah.
So I couldn't imagine that'sthat's too much.
So did you have I mean, what gotyou on the mechanics side of
(02:53):
things?
Zach Spence (02:55):
I've worked on stuff ever since I was a kid.
I had a really big interest intaking stuff apart and seeing if
I could put it back together andthen it just never stopped.
Trent Manning (03:03):
No, I hear you.
I can totally relate to that.
Taking stuff apart and maybegetting it back together.
Maybe not.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You never know.
You
Zach Spence (03:12):
yeah, the mechanic approached me and asked one day
if I had interest.
Brought me in there for a fewdays.
After morning jobs and that wasthat.
Trent Manning (03:22):
Okay.
Awesome.
Did you go straight to like asystem mechanic or were you a
little back and forth like onthe crew some in the shop some?
Zach Spence (03:31):
Yeah, I was full straight into being a system
mechanic.
Trent Manning (03:35):
Okay.
And was that at the landings or
Zach Spence (03:38):
No, that
Trent Manning (03:40):
the course in Florida?
Zach Spence (03:41):
That was at the time it was called gateway golf
and country club.
I believe it changed since, but
Trent Manning (03:47):
Well, how did you get up to Savannah?
Zach Spence (03:50):
so my dad moved from.
Where we lived in North ForkPires up to Guyton, which is
about an hour outside.
More inland.
And I was ready for a change.
My wife and I were, and moved uphere.
Trent Manning (04:08):
Awesome.
And you're in Richmond Hill,right?
Yeah.
How are you liking it there?
Zach Spence (04:13):
It's really quiet.
Well, not so much now since thiswhole mega plant has been built,
but
Trent Manning (04:19):
What's the mega
Zach Spence (04:20):
It's a Hyundai plant.
It's what I think it's thebiggest Hyundai plant in the
country.
Trent Manning (04:25):
Oh, wow.
Zach Spence (04:26):
It's huge, but that's out.
That's about 20 minutes away,but every people got to live.
Trent Manning (04:33):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Yeah, do you ever go over to themilitary base Fort Stewart?
Zach Spence (04:40):
Yeah.
Every now and
Trent Manning (04:41):
right, right through there.
Zach Spence (04:42):
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning (04:43):
Yeah, one of my biggest or I don't know, I
shouldn't say biggest but one ofmy customers when I worked for
Jerry Pate was the Ash facilityand they helped maintain inside
the gate and it was crazy.
The guy had I think it was likea 30 man weed eater crew that
would go out and yeah, we'deaten roadsides and so he was
(05:08):
just constantly working on redmax string tremors.
He had a whole stack of them andI'm down there one time and he's
like, you need one of these.
I'm like, well, it doesn't runright.
And he's like, oh, I'll get youenough parts.
So I mean, he had, you know,cylinder heads and pistons and
everything anyway.
fun times.
I always enjoyed working withthat guy down there.
Zach Spence (05:31):
There's a lot to see in that area of Fort
Stewart.
Trent Manning (05:36):
Well, and that was crazy.
So we're out there working onit.
So he also had think four orfive, five 80 DS.
Do you know what a five 80 DS?
All right.
So for the listeners, if youdon't know what a five 80 D is,
it was a Toro bat wing mower andit had three 72 inch decks.
(05:58):
so two wing decks and one in thecenter so you can do the math 16
foot what cut or whatever it wason this thing yeah massive
machine so anyway that was a lotusually if you called me i was
down there working on a 580d nota string trimmer So anyway i'm
down there working on a 580d AndI hear something that sounds
(06:20):
like thunder.
And, you know, I'm looking up atthe sky.
It's bluebird skies.
So I asked Terry, I'm like, Isit supposed to rain today?
He's like, I don't know.
That's the big guns going offover there.
Shooting the tanks off.
I'm like, that's cool.
That's some cool stuff.
Zach Spence (06:38):
Crazy enough, I can, whenever they're doing
their exercises, I can hear thatfrom my house.
Trent Manning (06:43):
Oh, I'm, yeah, I'm sure.
Yeah, and that's probably what,20 miles?
Zach Spence (06:48):
Yeah, easily.
Trent Manning (06:49):
yeah, something like that.
Yeah, it's something else.
All right.
Well, we got on a tangent there.
What's your least favorite partof the job?
Is it sand?
That
Zach Spence (07:01):
Being, starting down in Florida, we top dress
twice a week, every week.
Almost year round.
So, you got used to sand realquick and understood that it's
just a, from our side it's anevil, but it's a necessity at
the same time, so.
My least favorite part is tryingto communicate with the crew
(07:25):
that doesn't really speakEnglish,
Trent Manning (07:28):
can be a challenge.
Zach Spence (07:30):
it's a challenge.
We both make our best footforward with Google Translate
and usually gets a lost, but,
Trent Manning (07:38):
Well, I think that's pretty good too, though,
with the Google Translate,because I 90s when we went to a
primarily Latino crew.
We didn't have Google Translate.
So, I mean, we, you know, wewere drawing pictures on the
board, you know, and trying toexplain things.
So that is a handy thing.
(07:59):
And I've noticed we've beenlucky enough the last two years
to have HTB workers and they allhave phones, so they have the
Google Translate on their phoneand our managers are using it.
So pretty handy set
Zach Spence (08:14):
Yep.
Trent Manning (08:15):
The other thing has been great for me is one of
the technicians that works withme in the shop.
He's a Latino too.
And so, yeah, and it is reallyawesome.
So, I mean, they avoid me likethe plague and our other
assistant mechanic and gostraight to Francisco cause they
(08:37):
speak any, I get it.
I don't care.
I speak the same language.
And it's really good to have.
somebody that is fluent in theirnative language to train them on
equipment because it's reallyhard to get some of the nuances
that we want an operator to knowacross to an individual.
Zach Spence (08:59):
and then when they when that can't happen, the only
time that gets brought up isafter they've already had that
problem.
Trent Manning (09:07):
Yeah, true.
Yep.
That's a good point there.
What would be your favoritetool?
Zach Spence (09:13):
Besides the coffee pot, probably my air hammer.
Trent Manning (09:18):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Good one.
Zach Spence (09:22):
I, so didn't have one for the longest time,
borrowed one from one of theother mechanics from one of the
other shops twice.
And was like, all right.
Time to get one.
Trent Manning (09:34):
Okay.
Zach Spence (09:34):
And now I pull that thing out for so much stuff.
Trent Manning (09:39):
That's yeah, that's a good one because I
would say earlier in my career,I used it a lot and it seems
like I don't use it as much nowand I don't know, you know, I
think it's one of those things.
I just don't think about it asmuch as maybe I once did.
Do you have a particular brand?
Zach Spence (10:01):
This, the one I have is an Ingersoll
Trent Manning (10:04):
Okay.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (10:09):
fantastic.
I never liked them a whole lotjust because they're so on loud,
Trent Manning (10:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
They are.
They are loud.
Zach Spence (10:19):
protection.
Trent Manning (10:20):
Huh.
Yup.
Yup.
They are loud for sure.
Zach Spence (10:23):
But it definitely one big thing.
It saves a lot of time on withhaving three 4, Is those front
roller bearings
Trent Manning (10:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (10:37):
Just right.
Trent Manning (10:39):
So, with that, you can just knock them right
out.
Zach Spence (10:42):
It zips them right out quick.
Gotta make sure there's nobodystanding around
Trent Manning (10:46):
Right.
Right.
Zach Spence (10:47):
flying out.
But
Trent Manning (10:48):
Yeah, that's all right.
You put a towel over it orsomething to keep it from
projectile coming out of a 45,3, 500 roller.
Yeah.
I'd back to the top.
It is, you said barrel mount orwhat would long barrel, right?
Zach Spence (11:07):
yeah, so they make ones that have a barrel.
It's like about this one, likethat short.
Think maybe automotive industryuses that a lot more, but this
one's about like this.
It's just got a longer
Trent Manning (11:18):
All right.
Cause I'm thinking I've used onelike the little pistol grip
style and it has the spring dealthat holds the punch in.
And I don't think those arequite as good as my original is
a Mac and it's got a quickrelease for changing the thing
(11:40):
out, man.
It is, yeah, it is nice.
Zach Spence (11:43):
It's a lot easier than messing with that spring.
Trent Manning (11:45):
Great.
I don't know why it's so awkwardto get it to turn around there
or whatever.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
What do you do to relax or findyour balance?
Zach Spence (11:55):
really just spend time with the family.
Luckily I've got asuperintendent that is big on
work life balance.
So he understands that work isgoing to be there tomorrow.
The grass isn't going anywhere.
Trent Manning (12:09):
Yeah, it ain't.
Yeah, we had a whole pandemicand the grass didn't stop
growing.
Zach Spence (12:15):
no, it didn't at least at our club.
In fact, we did absolutelyfantastic.
During COVID.
Trent Manning (12:21):
We had, I mean, yeah, record rounds during COVID
because that was the only thingyou could do.
Nobody was working.
And even after people went backto work or they were working
from home, I think on the golfcourse.
Yeah, we had a lot of peopleenjoying the course.
I mean, it's great.
Good exercise.
Get outside, enjoy
Zach Spence (12:42):
Yeah.
The four year old keeps uspretty on our toes.
Trent Manning (12:45):
Do y'all do any camping or
Zach Spence (12:48):
Not
Trent Manning (12:48):
spot?
You beach person, a mountainperson?
Zach Spence (12:52):
So it's going to sound crazy living in Florida,
20, almost.
20 some years.
I can count on one hand theamount of times I've been to a
beach.
Trent Manning (13:05):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (13:06):
Never really liked it.
If I went to the beach, I wasgoing to the pier to go fishing.
Trent Manning (13:11):
Right, right.
No that's cool.
I understand that.
I'm trying to, so I was talkingto, I think it was Tyler Barrett
and he's in South Florida and hesaid, yeah, him and his family
go to the beach maybe.
Maybe once a year, you know,live in Florida 365 days out of
(13:32):
the year and they go to thebeach maybe once.
That's honestly one more timethan I care to go to the beach.
I'm like you if I was going tofish or like, I see Haas, he
posts all these pictures, allthese fish he's catching, you
know, surf fishing.
Now I could go to the beach todo that.
But just to go be hot.
(13:54):
And no not my thing, not at all,
Zach Spence (13:57):
not mine either.
Trent Manning (13:58):
but to each his own for sure.
Zach Spence (14:00):
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning (14:01):
What's been one of your biggest challenges to
date?
Zach Spence (14:05):
Biggest challenge.
It's having to learn on the fly.
Before I knew that Toro had allof their service manuals
Trent Manning (14:14):
Yep.
Zach Spence (14:15):
me.
Line easily accessible like whenI moved up here I don't know if
they was if it wasn't one of themechanics that worked on island
I didn't know anybody until Iget listen to the podcast and
got on in to all this had noclue
Trent Manning (14:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't, I mean, that's actuallymaybe we can talk about it more
in tips and tricks, but Justknowing the resources that are
available out there for a newperson in the industry you know
if you're working on especiallyelectrical system or Hydraulic
system and you don't have thatroadmap of the schematic on what
(14:55):
does what and how you get herefrom there I mean, you know,
you're going at it blind
Zach Spence (15:01):
Oh yeah,
Trent Manning (15:02):
So
Zach Spence (15:03):
gonna take you 10 times longer than if you have an
actual map.
Trent Manning (15:08):
Oh, yeah.
And I mean, I've worked on, youknow, old junk that I don't
couldn't find a schematic forand I end up drawing my own.
You know, like with this redwire is over here and it's I
think this is the same one.
You know, and you end up drawingyour own schematic if you have
to.
Zach Spence (15:26):
Yeah, like some of the like peripheral stuff.
Like if any, if you guys haveany like tree stuff, trying to
find manuals for like stumpgrinders or the man lifts that's
like pulling teeth.
Trent Manning (15:38):
Do y'all still so I know this cuz yeah, working
with Jerry Peyton, y'all wereone of my customers too at the
Landon's.
Do y'all still have a man liftthat mounts on a workman?
Zach Spence (15:52):
So we had two when I started working there and one
was at the marwood shop and theone was at the shop I met.
And when we got the, when we gotthe last run of new.
HDXs, I think three years ago orfour years ago, I don't remember
exactly.
They got rid of the one, luckilywe kept the one at the Palmetto
(16:15):
shop, because the Trion liftthat was there up until last
year kept having problems.
And that thing came in handy towork on the lift.
Trent Manning (16:27):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
I wasn't even thinking aboutworking on an equipment lift
with it.
Zach Spence (16:32):
well, there was a 7, 700 stuck up there for a week
Trent Manning (16:35):
Oh, okay.
Well,
Zach Spence (16:37):
big cylinder up top it pulled the end out of the
cylinder.
It just pulled the threads rightout.
Trent Manning (16:42):
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (16:47):
thankfully the stops worked
Trent Manning (16:49):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (16:49):
because that would've been a bad day.
Trent Manning (16:52):
Oh man.
Yeah.
That's terrible.
Do you have any idea how old thelift was?
Zach Spence (16:56):
Yeah, it's from, it was from the late nineties, I
believe.
Trent Manning (17:01):
Okay.
And then that environment downthere on an Island.
Yeah.
Not the most favorableconditions.
Zach Spence (17:09):
Yeah, we got a new golf lift, GL 9, last year.
it.
Trent Manning (17:13):
Okay.
That's good stuff.
What's been the strangest thing?
Was it the 4, 700 stuck on thelift?
That's up there for a strange.
Zach Spence (17:24):
When I was working at the Municipal Course for the
City of Cape Coral.
Myself and another guy thatworked there were mowing rough
with 4500s.
And we got, we were mowing onnumber 7, I'll never forget
this.
We're going along, and I feltsomething crawling on me, didn't
think much of it, until I feltit all over the back of my neck.
(17:47):
There was bees all over me.
So, I get off, I quickly getoff, after the other guy stopped
and, like, getting my attentionto tell me, I try to swat him
off, whatever, throw my jacketoff, my radio goes flying.
So, the only, my first instinctwas just pull my shirt up over
my head.
Now, golf is going on at thistime, because it's mid morning,
(18:09):
and the other guys also gotthem all over him.
Well, we get off the 4500s, andthe mechanic apparently had
bypassed the C switch, becausethey were, they kept going until
they finally stopped moving andreached their neutral.
And just kept mowing the samespot for six hours until the
beekeeper got there.
And it ended up being a swarm ofEuropean honeybees in a nest
(18:32):
that had 30, 60, 000 bees.
And I had, I think they pulledlike 20 stingers out of me and
the other guy had a lot more.
I think it was 30 or 40.
Trent Manning (18:49):
Wow, that's crazy.
Zach Spence (18:51):
Yeah.
And the,
Trent Manning (18:53):
Sorry, I'm laughing.
That's not nothing funny aboutit.
That's yeah, serious
Zach Spence (18:56):
no.
Okay.
And at that point, I had neverbeen stung by a bee, so I didn't
know if I was allergic.
Thankfully, I wasn't.
Figured that out the hard way.
Unfortunately for the other guy,he was allergic to bees.
when he threw his jacket off,his phone went with it and
everything.
And when the super, theassistant super drove us to the
(19:18):
urgent care the only reason hiswife was able to find out is
because of his Apple watch
Trent Manning (19:23):
Oh, huh.
Zach Spence (19:24):
and met us there.
Trent Manning (19:26):
Yeah, did he have an EpiPen or something he kept
with him?
Zach Spence (19:30):
didn't.
He started to swell up on thedrive there.
Thankfully it was like fiveminutes up the road and they
were able to give him a shotwhen we got there
Trent Manning (19:37):
Yeah, man,
Zach Spence (19:38):
he was okay,
Trent Manning (19:40):
Yeah.
Yeah, that'll go down in historyfor sure for you.
Zach Spence (19:45):
Oh yeah.
I've still got the video becauseI had lost all spatial
awareness.
I ended up in the middle of thefairway, walking towards
golfers, teeing off with myshirt over my head because I
couldn't see anything, couldn'thear anything because the two 4,
500s are still mowing with thedecks on still
Trent Manning (20:05):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (20:07):
the homeowner where the tree was.
Sent the video to me.
So I still have it to this day.
Trent Manning (20:15):
Wow.
That's, yeah, that's nuts.
Yeah.
And yeah.
Friendly reminder.
Don't bypass your safetyswitches.
Zach Spence (20:23):
They're there for a reason.
Trent Manning (20:24):
they are there for a reason.
And how dangerous is that?
A 4500, you know, mowing byitself.
Zach Spence (20:32):
Yeah
Trent Manning (20:33):
Yeah, that's yeah, enough said.
Don't do it, please.
Zach Spence (20:37):
That from that moment on that stuck with me
something I still uphold to thisday.
Trent Manning (20:43):
Yeah.
And I mean, right, you know, andI'm sorry that Maybe it didn't
have to happen, but sorry thathappened to you, but the, it
drives the point home for surethat, Hey, I shouldn't do that.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
Zach Spence (20:59):
Do his name is Troy Schneider.
Trent Manning (21:02):
Okay.
Tell me about Troy.
Zach Spence (21:05):
So he I started working with him when I started
working at the landings
Trent Manning (21:10):
Okay.
Zach Spence (21:11):
he taught me more in the three or four years I
worked with him than I probablycould have in, say, ten years
working by myself.
Trent Manning (21:21):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (21:22):
That introduced this thing.
This is super handy, too, forpeople that don't know the
website.
McMasterCar, he's the one thatintroduced me to that.
Trent Manning (21:32):
Oh,
Zach Spence (21:33):
Though the wide variety of stuff that you can
get from there
Trent Manning (21:37):
Yep.
Zach Spence (21:38):
Fastener anything you can imagine.
It's like a Granger.
Trent Manning (21:40):
Yes, it's just like a Granger, but it's
definitely my go to.
And if for some reason theydon't have it and I go to
Granger, I get so frustratedwith Granger's website.
Zach Spence (21:55):
Oh, it's so hard to use.
Trent Manning (21:57):
Yeah, you have to be the biggest, you know,
Granger's got is the brand,right?
They're the biggest ones.
Why do they have such a terriblewebsite?
I don't understand.
Zach Spence (22:08):
know and another good website is it's called
Zorro.
Z O R O
Trent Manning (22:13):
Yep.
Yep.
Okay.
Zach Spence (22:15):
It's also
Trent Manning (22:16):
I've seen that.
Zach Spence (22:17):
their websites a little hinky and sometimes
there's problems with it Butanything over, I don't remember
if it's 50 or 75 of freeshipping, no matter what it is,
Trent Manning (22:27):
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
What's the shipping like withMcMaster car at your place?
Zach Spence (22:33):
I get everything up until now, which I chalking this
up to this time of year, I geteverything next day.
Trent Manning (22:41):
Okay.
Yeah, I was just curious.
I mean in Atlanta because thewhere one of the warehouses is
there if I order and yeah peoplecan say what they want to about
me but I want to brag because ifI order before noon I get it
that afternoon and I've orderedstuff as late as 9 p.
m and had it at nine o'clock thenext morning.
(23:03):
You know I mean it's just it'snuts how quick they get you
stuff.
Zach Spence (23:07):
That's where I got the traversal shaft for my Foley
grinder.
That was on back order
Trent Manning (23:13):
okay,
Zach Spence (23:13):
for, I think, I don't remember what Jerry Peyton
said, if it was two or threemonths, but I had it next day
from them.
Trent Manning (23:20):
Yeah, I mean, it's crazy.
Yeah, all kind of stuff you canget from McMaster car.
They're not a sponsor but Ireally need to reach out to them
and see cuz in my tips andtricks class that I do, I talk
about McMaster car a lot becausethey're just, I mean, a good
company to, to get stuff fromand if I've ever had any kind of
(23:42):
issue, I make a phone call andright away it's solved.
Fixed.
No problem.
You know, they take care of it.
If I order the wrong stuff theysay, just send it back.
Like you don't have to putnothing in the box.
You just send it back and theyfigure it out somehow where it
goes.
Yeah.
Really good customer service.
(24:03):
What I love about task trackeris they're constantly innovating
and listening to their users.
They've added dozens of updatesto make our job easier.
One new feature is the abilityto upload manuals to the
equipment.
All you have to do is scan theequipment.
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And you have the manual and allother information at the tip of
your fingers.
(24:24):
You can even create links tothose manuals and the work
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And it goes directly to the pagethat you need.
Make your life a lot easier andcheck them out at AASB task.
tracker.com.
Let's get back to the episodeYeah.
Do you, you want to talk aboutyour mentor anymore?
Zach Spence (24:43):
Yeah.
So he's been in the industry.
I think it's 13 or 14 years,maybe 15.
I can't remember exactly.
Like when it comes to justspecifically fasteners, he'll
look at something and it'srattle off just like that, and
he'll be able to tell you whatit is, doesn't matter what.
Trent Manning (25:00):
No, that's cool.
Yep.
Five sixteenths by 18
Zach Spence (25:03):
yeah.
Trent Manning (25:04):
grade five, you know, so yeah, I get it.
Zach Spence (25:08):
and he's the one that taught me how to weld.
Trent Manning (25:12):
Okay.
Zach Spence (25:12):
I knew how to stick two pieces of metal together
before I started working thereand getting down to like the
fabrication side of things.
He taught me a lot.
Trent Manning (25:21):
Okay.
Yeah, that's awesome.
He had a friend that he saidevery time he tried to MIG weld,
all he could accomplish waspiling up wire.
But if you think about it,that's all you're really doing
anyway, but hopefully that wiremelts into the puddle and you
weld some stuff together insteadof just pop, piling it up on the
(25:45):
top.
What would be your dream job oropportunity?
Zach Spence (25:51):
So I really wanted to do.
Was I wanted to be on a NASCARpit crew
Trent Manning (25:58):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (25:59):
Not sure why I always liked watching cars.
I don't know.
No, it's boring.
Some people watching cars turnleft for hours and hours, I was
always fascinated with the pitcrew side of things.
Trent Manning (26:11):
No, yeah.
It'd be fun.
Zach Spence (26:13):
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning (26:14):
Yeah, I don't think there's a whole lot of
work life balance with the,that, that type stuff.
But yeah, that would be a lot offun.
I was fortunate enough andthrough a friend of a friend in
2005, I got to crew at theDaytona 24 hour with a Porsche
gt three car.
(26:36):
And it was Baldwin Tafel Racingwas the race team.
And they were only together forthe one year.
Jack Baldwin, he's been aroundracing forever.
And Tafel, his grandfather ownedor was in horses and horse
racing.
(26:57):
And he was a very wealthygentleman.
I think he financed this raceteam, but anyway, it was a super
fun, cool experience.
We went down, I think onThursday, the race started at
noon on Saturday, it goes tonoon on Sunday and yeah, we
pitted every hour and my job, Ihad a really important job of
(27:22):
taking a 55 gallon drum to theSunoco station.
Which was, I mean, it wasprobably a hundred yards and
filling that up every other pitstop, because every pit stop, we
were putting about 25 gallons inthe car every hour.
One of the cool things that theydid is, So you get the engine
(27:44):
from Porsche and it's sealed andyou can't open it, you know,
part of the rules, right?
So you can't go in and make anymodifications.
And this engine was burningabout a quart of oil every two
hours.
So every other pit stop, theycome up with this thing.
And I don't know exactly whatit's called.
(28:04):
It looked like a fireextinguisher.
That's what it reminded me of.
You know, a tank.
and they would put a quarter oilin it and they would pressurize
this tank and then they had aquick connect fitting on the car
so every other pit stop theywould put an oil a quarter oil
in the car and they didn't checkthe oil they just they knew
(28:26):
about how much it was burning soso we don't want it to run out
so we're just going to keepadding oil maybe we get too much
at some point I don't rememberhow we finished.
Obviously, we did not win.
But the experience was a lot offun.
A whole lot of fun.
And I would kind of rack it up alot like volunteering at a golf
(28:50):
tournament.
So, you know, you start early inthe morning, you go late at
night, you know, because we werepractice rounds, testing,
qualifying, all that stuff onThursday and Friday.
So, you get there at 7 a.
m.
and you don't leave till 11 p.
m.
So, I mean, it's some long daysand long hours.
But a whole lot of fun.
And my buddy that I went with,somehow, He slept through a pit
(29:14):
stop.
I don't know how because thosecars, I mean, they're so loud.
I know I damaged my hearing forsure.
Not having headphones on one ofthe pit stops.
Yeah, he slept through a pitstop.
So I don't know.
But anyway you got a technicianyou would like to work with for
a day?
Zach Spence (29:34):
It would have to be between Corey Phillips or John
Patterson, I think.
Trent Manning (29:39):
Oh, well, they're both in Atlanta.
So come on up and we can make ithappen.
I'm sure.
Yeah, I mean they're both reallygood dudes.
Are you, speaking of which theflyer just went out today for
the Georgia seminar and I shouldremember it off the top of my
(29:59):
head, but I don't.
It's the 16th or 17th of Januaryand it's gonna be at John
Patterson's shop.
So you need to talk to yoursuperintendent and your other
techs and see if they can getyou up here.
And if they can definitely letme know.
Zach Spence (30:17):
I will definitely come.
I already talked to the superabout it.
About one to go this year again.
He's got no problem with
Trent Manning (30:25):
Oh, awesome.
Zach Spence (30:26):
with me in the shop.
It's a three person shop, butI'm the only one there.
Trent Manning (30:32):
Well, at least they're going to let you come
up.
That is that's awesome.
So yeah, definitely.
Yeah, it just, I just saw ittoday.
And I don't know if you know,David Precop.
He's starts with an S it's allit's in the, it's Hilton head
(30:56):
area, secession or somethinglike that.
Zach Spence (30:58):
Oh yeah, I think it is to session.
Trent Manning (31:00):
yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway, super nice guy.
He's a nice guy.
out and sent me a text a coupleweeks ago, wanting to know when
ours was going to be because Idon't remember why something
come up and he wasn't able tomake it to the Carolinas.
So he was going to try to cometo ours.
So yeah, I look forward toseeing you and we can we can
(31:22):
talk off air here.
And if you're coming up early orwhatever we'll get a little
visit lined up or something.
That'd be awesome.
Zach Spence (31:29):
Yeah, I could definitely do that.
Trent Manning (31:31):
Yeah, for sure.
What do you know now?
You wish you'd known on day one.
Zach Spence (31:36):
Slow down.
Trent Manning (31:38):
Ah, that's a good one.
Yeah, slow down.
Zach Spence (31:42):
Everything is not an emergency in the moment.
Now yes, there are actualemergencies.
And to just take your time.
I could have saved myself somuch time if I would have just
slowed.
Trent Manning (31:56):
That's, I mean, that's really good advice.
And I think it's somethingthat's pretty easy to do, or
not, it's not necessarily easyto slow down.
But I think it's really easy toget wrapped up in the moment and
put more pressure on yourselfthan is needed.
And I don't remember who told methis, but somebody said, don't
(32:20):
let somebody else's problembecome your emergency.
Zach Spence (32:25):
Yes, absolutely.
Trent Manning (32:26):
That really resonated with me.
It might be their emergency, butit don't have to be your
emergency.
So, yeah.
Zach Spence (32:35):
have to catch myself doing that even still to
this day.
Trent Manning (32:38):
Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's easy to
think like that and say, okay,yeah, I mean, I've been doing
this a long time.
I still do it, you know, I mean,I don't, maybe that's part of
the fun, the excitement orwhatever to, you know, like, oh,
gotta get this fixed, gotta getthis going.
They really need this, you know,whatever the, yeah, they're just
cutting grass.
(32:59):
You know, but it does not feelthat way, you know, in the heat
of the moment.
Zach Spence (33:05):
No.
Especially when it's along thelines of, Oh, Hey, can you get
this going?
We want to use it today when ithasn't been used in six or eight
months.
Trent Manning (33:12):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (33:13):
So, you know, it's not going to start or anything.
It's got to be set up.
It's going to be problems Andthen you use it and then oh,
yeah, we decided not to use thattoday We probably won't even use
it again for the next six monthsand then it just
Trent Manning (33:27):
That, yeah, right, right.
That's frustrating for sure.
And I think a lot of us dealwith that.
Yeah.
Do you have that person on yourcrew?
Zach Spence (33:38):
I do
Trent Manning (33:39):
Okay.
How do you deal with them?
Zach Spence (33:41):
When I first got to this shop used to get really
angry But something I worked onis not getting angry because I
noticed I get a little bitfarther with these guys With
this one He just knows That ifhe messes up, he doesn't come
tell me.
He comes to the assistant superor the super, and then they come
to me.
Trent Manning (34:02):
Okay.
I mean, you know, you got towork it out however you can work
it out, right?
You know, I get that.
Yeah.
So at least you have a system inplace where he still can't
communicate and everybody cankeep their cool.
Zach Spence (34:17):
He anything he touches, it's either going to
end up in a lagoon or it's goingto get broke.
It never fails.
Trent Manning (34:24):
And I mean, it's a shame and I doubt that
individual shows up and says,oh, I want to destroy something
today.
I don't know if they just, youknow, like pure luck like that
old movie, you know, if it'sjust, you know, that's their
luck.
Yeah, I don't know.
Get ready for tips and tricks.
(34:45):
What kind of tips and tricks yougot you want to share with us?
Some of your favorite onesanyway.
Zach Spence (34:51):
I think the only tip that I have wrote down is
just to.
If you're not familiar withMcMaster car to, to at least go
on the website and see what theyhave, because you'd be surprised
what you can get cheaper fromthere than you can from anywhere
locally.
And it's going to be betterquality.
Trent Manning (35:12):
One.
Yeah.
And that is another thing thatwe didn't mention before with
them.
Everything they sell is qualitystuff.
It's they don't sell any kind ofcheap Chinese crap that is out
there on the market.
Everything they sells high.
I ain't gonna say high end butdefinitely quality stuff and
(35:34):
then I don't know.
what their deal is either, butit's something to do because
they don't advertise for brandslike the wall or rigid or any,
you don't really know whatyou're getting sometimes, you
know, if you were to buy a powertool or something.
Zach Spence (35:50):
Yeah.
I do think that they sell acouple of different brands of
power tools now.
Trent Manning (35:56):
Yes.
And I think on some of that,they say what it may be, but
it's not like where Granger, youknow, that's all it is one big
advertisement for whatevercompany that they're promoting.
That way at all.
And it's funny, like all themeasuring stuff that I buy from
them, it's either high qualitymeasuring stuff or stare it like
(36:21):
that's your two options ofstuff.
So they do have the stare atname brand there.
Which if you don't, if you'renot for the listeners, if you're
not familiar with stare it's thesnap on, if you will, of
measuring instruments.
And if you're not familiar withsnap on, I don't know why you're
(36:43):
listening to this podcast.
No that's not fair either.
I'm only tease.
So snap on is a big toolsupplier and probably my
personal favorite.
I don't know.
I just had better luck at a snapon.
I had to get quite a bit of Mactools and the tools were fine,
but all the dealers went away.
(37:05):
I don't have any Mac dealers andsame thing like Cornwell.
I had a few Cornwell things, butI don't see a Cornwell guy
driving around and
Zach Spence (37:14):
ones I see are Macco and Snap On.
I don't even know if there is aMac dealer for the Savannah
area.
I'm sure there is, but I
Trent Manning (37:20):
yeah, I don't know.
Yeah, I do see the macro.
And Matco makes some good stuff,but I think it's more expensive
than Snap on and I didn't evenknow that was possible
Zach Spence (37:31):
Right.
Trent Manning (37:32):
you know, I like my Snap on stuff, but it's rare.
If I buy something new, that'snot on promo, you know, if
they're running some kind ofpromotion on it, maybe I'll get
it off the truck.
If not Facebook marketplace oreBay, you know, and, you know,
And my experience anyway, withsnap on tools, basically 50
(37:56):
percent of new value is what thetool is worth.
And it's, you know, it's hardto, uh, maybe I lie to myself
and say that's an investment forme with my money is I can invest
in snap on tools and my kids.
(38:16):
My girls are going to inheritsome nice stuff, hopefully one
day, and then it'll be up tothem to figure out what to do
with it.
Zach Spence (38:26):
Another thing too, like with McMaster car, back to
that we'll get some of ourirrigation stuff from there,
like the nineties and elbows,stuff like that.
T's just because the supplierhere a lot of times won't have
it.
So they'll just have me order itfrom there.
Trent Manning (38:44):
Yeah.
No, I mean, I do the same thingand yeah, anything around the
shop, it doesn't, not evenequipment related, but you know,
if I'm working on plumbing orwhatever, and I mean, it's
crazy.
I don't.
I used to go to Home Depot a lotand since I started using
McMaster car, I do not go toHome Depot.
(39:05):
I couldn't tell you the lasttime I went to Home Depot for
work.
I've went occasionally for thehouse, you know, to get
something, but for work, I don'tgo.
If I need some spray paint, Iorder it from McMaster car and
have it there that afternoon.
Zach Spence (39:18):
Our, we get our spray paint from, I think Kimble
Midwest, but that's just becausethey like it, so fine.
I don't use spray paint veryoften unless I'm fabricating,
which is also not superfrequent, but as long as I got
some primer and some black, it'sokay.
Trent Manning (39:34):
Well, so, that's yeah.
Satin black is my go to colorand so I paint it satin black or
satin black.
That's the only two colors I'musing is satin black or satin
black.
And so Sutton Down Creek GolfClub is the club that I work at.
(39:54):
It's owned by Ansley but anyway,I call it Sutton Down Black.
So everything gets painted, satdown black.
If it's coming out of my shopand every once in a while I get
an assistant tech and they wantto spice it up and throw in a
different color, but I just haveto say, nope, sorry, guys.
So now I'm black.
That's the color it's going tobe while we're still kind of
(40:18):
here on tips and tricks.
I want to do want to go revisit.
Toro and being able to get anymanual you want, operators,
parts and service.
One thing with Toro to be awareof is Toro has a manual for
every specific thing.
(40:40):
So, if you have a Toro walkinggreens mower, there's a manual
for that.
Then there's a manual for thereel on the same walking greens
mower.
Then there is a manual for thegroomer on that walking greens
mower.
Then there is a manual for theroller on the, you know, and I
made, I could go on and on.
(41:00):
It's crazy the amount ofmanuals, but the cool thing is
it's all there.
So yeah, kudos to Toro for doingthat.
I wish other manufacturers woulddo that.
You know, I think everybody putsout their operator's manual,
but.
And John Deere, it's not hard toget parts, but if you want a
(41:22):
service manual, you're going topay for it from John Deere.
Zach Spence (41:25):
Yes.
Yes.
Trent Manning (41:28):
Or you're going to borrow it from your friend
Zach Spence (41:31):
Right.
Trent Manning (41:33):
called RealTurf Techs and the WhatsApp group.
I've seen somebody share a clubcar manual, service manual in
the WhatsApp group today.
You know, and that's a greatresource.
And
Zach Spence (41:45):
Oh
Trent Manning (41:46):
sometimes dealers will, you know, send you a
manual for this or that, and,you know, try to help you out.
And obviously we can't just gospreading that everywhere
because of copyrights and thosekinds of things.
But the, to pass it along toyour neighbor, I don't see the
harm in that.
You know, you're not.
Benefiting, you know, nopersonal gain is, you know,
(42:08):
coming from that.
You're just trying to help outyour neighbor or your friend
down the road.
Zach Spence (42:12):
100%.
Trent Manning (42:13):
Any other tips and tricks they can think of?
Zach Spence (42:18):
Not really offhand.
Trent Manning (42:19):
Yeah, I don't it's it's late for me.
It's about my bedtime, man.
You keep giving me up too late.
Zach Spence (42:25):
Oh, no.
Gettin there early for thisGeorgia Senior, the GSGA Senior
Championship that we're hostingright now,
Trent Manning (42:33):
I know.
Yeah.
When is it over?
Zach Spence (42:37):
tomorrow's the last
Trent Manning (42:38):
Tomorrow.
Okay.
Nice.
Zach Spence (42:40):
was supposed to be September, the end of September,
but that hurricane came throughand they rescheduled.
Trent Manning (42:48):
Okay.
Gotcha.
We're going to do some rapidfire.
Zach Spence (42:58):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (43:00):
What's your favorite movie?
Zach Spence (43:03):
So that maximum overdrive,
Trent Manning (43:06):
I don't, I know I've heard the name, but yeah.
What is maximum overdrive?
Zach Spence (43:11):
it said, I don't know if it's from the late
eighties or early nineties,where all of the, everything
comes alive and starts gettingpeople.
Trent Manning (43:21):
Yes.
Yes.
I do remember.
What's the actor's name?
I'm blanking on it.
Emilio Estevez.
Yes, Emilio Estevez, yes.
And the lady sticks her hand inthe blender and then it turns
on.
Yeah, yep, totally rememberwatching that as a kid,
Zach Spence (43:39):
Sick and twisted.
I know, but I
Trent Manning (43:40):
That's,
Zach Spence (43:41):
I love that that Joker truck.
I love that thing.
Trent Manning (43:44):
Oh yeah, oh, awesome, good memories.
What would be your last meal?
Zach Spence (43:51):
Super basic man.
A good ribeye and some potatoes.
Trent Manning (43:55):
All right, best cut of meat there is, in my
opinion.
What are you most proud ofbesides your family and your
newborn there?
Zach Spence (44:04):
Yeah.
Probably with my progress in mycareer in such a short time,
Trent Manning (44:10):
Yeah.
So how long have you been in
Zach Spence (44:13):
10 years next
Trent Manning (44:14):
10 years?
Okay.
Yeah.
I mean, that's, yeah, it's doingsomething and you need to find
some assistance, right?
Yeah.
Zach Spence (44:25):
knocking on the door.
Trent Manning (44:27):
Yeah.
I don't, it's tough, man.
It is so, so tough findingpeople.
Yeah, I don't know.
I just been fortunate over thelast few years, you know, right
place, right time kind of Likeone of the, well, the guy was
telling you about Francisco, theway I came across him is his dad
actually a stepdad was myassistant mechanic in the late
(44:51):
nineties.
Zach Spence (44:52):
Oh, okay.
Trent Manning (44:53):
And he calls me up and he's, I don't know, he
calls me I don't know exactlywhat that means, but he said,
Hey, you need somebody?
So, I said, yeah, I'm lookingfor somebody.
So, and he's been with me forlike three years.
So yeah, it's awesome.
And then the other guy that'sworking with me Jake, his dad is
(45:16):
the head mechanic at Ansley GolfClub in Midtown.
So.
Keeping it in the family andJake's, I don't know, he's 22,
21, 22.
So anyway, good kid, good headon his shoulders and I don't
know, it's exciting.
And I would say that's probablythe most rewarding part for me
(45:36):
is trying to train these guysand teach them a thing or two
and super rewarding seeing themdo their thing.
You know, they make me proud.
Zach Spence (45:47):
The assistant superintendent wants to learn
this side, our side of things,so he's going to start coming to
the shop in the afternoons.
Just to learn, he's really, hewants to learn how to set up a
reel.
Trent Manning (46:00):
No, that's good stuff.
Zach Spence (46:01):
learned briefly in college, but just wants to, I
mean, also help give me a handat, but,
Trent Manning (46:09):
Yeah, no, that'll be super good.
And honestly I think I would notwant to be a superintendent that
had no idea on any of themechanical stuff.
Because if you're asuperintendent and your mechanic
walks out or they get injuredor, you know, whatever the case
(46:29):
is.
Somebody still got to do that.
Right.
So, and, you know, the directorthat I work for, he knows, I
mean, he would not want to do myjob.
And that's why he has me.
But if, you know, if it hit thefan, he could hop in there and,
(46:50):
you know, fix some stuff too.
And I think it's also importantto be able to, to Talk.
I mean, it is for me anyway, isI like to be able to have a
conversation on cutting units atmy level with my director of
agronomy, you know, and I don'tthink that's the case at a lot
(47:15):
of places
Zach Spence (47:17):
No.
Trent Manning (47:18):
and I, maybe I'm off.
If I'm off, leave me a comment,send me a text, send me an email
or something and tell me howwrong I am.
I'm fine with hearing that.
But that's just been myexperience.
And it's just like, forinstance, when I had Michael
Woods on, I mean, he is abrilliant person, right?
(47:39):
I mean, PhD, I mean, super smartguy and I ain't taking anything
away from him, but he has noidea on cutting unit geometry
and what's happening, you know,in the cutting unit and as far
as cutting grass.
Zach Spence (47:55):
Right.
Trent Manning (47:56):
And not that he needs to know or has to know any
of that stuff, but I don't know.
There's a lot for all of us tolearn.
Zach Spence (48:05):
Oh, yeah.
And it goes a long way, too, forthem to know, because you know
that whenever something looks alittle funny out there, they're
real quick to say, oh, there's aproblem with the mower.
Whether it truly is a mowerissue or if it's a agronomical
issue, you know, that's unseen.
But if they understand thatpart, then that conversation may
(48:27):
not even happen.
Trent Manning (48:28):
Very true.
Well, good stuff, man.
I appreciate you being on.
Zach Spence (48:33):
Yeah, man.
Trent Manning (48:35):
Are you on any of the socials?
Zach Spence (48:37):
I just do Facebook.
Trent Manning (48:39):
Yeah.
Nothing.
Yeah, nothing wrong with that.
Well, thank you again so much.
And,
Zach Spence (48:45):
It was a pleasure.
Glad you had me.
Trent Manning (48:47):
yeah, no, thanks for being on and we'll see you
around the WhatsApp group forsure.
Zach Spence (48:51):
Yes, sir.
Trent Manning (48:57):
thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf
techs podcast.
I hope you learned somethingtoday.
Don't forget to subscribe.
If you have any topics you'dlike to discuss, or you'd like
to be a guest, find us onTwitter at Reel turf techs.
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the
technician that wants to getreel follow along.
As we talk to industryprofessionals and address hot
topics that we all face alongthe way we'll learn tips and
tricks.
I'm your host, Trent.
Manning let's have some welcometo the Real Turf Techs podcast
(00:27):
episode 134.
Today we're talking to ZachSpence, equipment manager at the
Landings Golf and Athletic Clubin Savannah, Georgia.
The Landings is a private golfcommunity with six championship
courses.
Zach oversees the equipment atPalmetto and the Terrapin Point
courses.
(00:47):
He has mainly an aging fleet ofToro equipment that they're in
the process of transitioningover to John Deere.
He is currently looking for helpin the shop.
If anyone is interested, let'stalk to Zach.
Welcome Zach to the RealTurfTechs podcast.
Thanks for being here, man.
And you,
Zach Spence (01:06):
me, man.
Trent Manning (01:07):
yeah, absolutely.
So we've been we met, was itlast year?
Zach Spence (01:12):
Yes.
It was last year.
Trent Manning (01:14):
Last year at the Carolinas get together T TAC and
you weren't able to make it thisyear because you were having a
baby or your wife was having ababy.
Zach Spence (01:26):
Right.
Trent Manning (01:27):
Yeah not you.
Just so the listeners are clear.
It was not you.
No, congratulations on that.
And baby's doing good.
Is it sleeping through thenight?
Zach Spence (01:37):
Yeah.
As much as you can be for abreastfed baby.
So,
Trent Manning (01:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, good deal.
That's awesome.
Well, tell us how you got intothe turf industry.
Zach Spence (01:48):
One of the, one of my good friends from high school
that was where he startedworking at and got me a job out
there and I've been in it eversince.
Trent Manning (01:57):
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Zach Spence (01:58):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (01:59):
I'll always at the landings.
Zach Spence (02:02):
No, I started it because I, this was in Southwest
Florida
Trent Manning (02:06):
Okay.
Okay.
Zach Spence (02:07):
where there is no off season.
Trent Manning (02:10):
Yes.
Yeah.
Another friend of mine fromFlorida said it's hot and really
effing hot in Florida.
That's the two seasons orsomething like that.
When I was surprised, so I wasdown there back first of
September and got to hang outwith Chris Johnson and Haas and
(02:33):
a bunch of the guys down there.
But anyway, it's 1st ofSeptember and they're all
getting ready for the season tostart.
And I'm like, man, we're gettingready to shut down.
You know, hopefully anothermonth we'll be taking a break.
Yeah.
So I couldn't imagine that'sthat's too much.
So did you have I mean, what gotyou on the mechanics side of
(02:53):
things?
Zach Spence (02:55):
I've worked on stuff ever since I was a kid.
I had a really big interest intaking stuff apart and seeing if
I could put it back together andthen it just never stopped.
Trent Manning (03:03):
No, I hear you.
I can totally relate to that.
Taking stuff apart and maybegetting it back together.
Maybe not.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You never know.
You
Zach Spence (03:12):
yeah, the mechanic approached me and asked one day
if I had interest.
Brought me in there for a fewdays.
After morning jobs and that wasthat.
Trent Manning (03:22):
Okay.
Awesome.
Did you go straight to like asystem mechanic or were you a
little back and forth like onthe crew some in the shop some?
Zach Spence (03:31):
Yeah, I was full straight into being a system
mechanic.
Trent Manning (03:35):
Okay.
And was that at the landings or
Zach Spence (03:38):
No, that
Trent Manning (03:40):
the course in Florida?
Zach Spence (03:41):
That was at the time it was called gateway golf
and country club.
I believe it changed since, but
Trent Manning (03:47):
Well, how did you get up to Savannah?
Zach Spence (03:50):
so my dad moved from.
Where we lived in North ForkPires up to Guyton, which is
about an hour outside.
More inland.
And I was ready for a change.
My wife and I were, and moved uphere.
Trent Manning (04:08):
Awesome.
And you're in Richmond Hill,right?
Yeah.
How are you liking it there?
Zach Spence (04:13):
It's really quiet.
Well, not so much now since thiswhole mega plant has been built,
but
Trent Manning (04:19):
What's the mega
Zach Spence (04:20):
It's a Hyundai plant.
It's what I think it's thebiggest Hyundai plant in the
country.
Trent Manning (04:25):
Oh, wow.
Zach Spence (04:26):
It's huge, but that's out.
That's about 20 minutes away,but every people got to live.
Trent Manning (04:33):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Yeah, do you ever go over to themilitary base Fort Stewart?
Zach Spence (04:40):
Yeah.
Every now and
Trent Manning (04:41):
right, right through there.
Zach Spence (04:42):
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning (04:43):
Yeah, one of my biggest or I don't know, I
shouldn't say biggest but one ofmy customers when I worked for
Jerry Pate was the Ash facilityand they helped maintain inside
the gate and it was crazy.
The guy had I think it was likea 30 man weed eater crew that
would go out and yeah, we'deaten roadsides and so he was
(05:08):
just constantly working on redmax string tremors.
He had a whole stack of them andI'm down there one time and he's
like, you need one of these.
I'm like, well, it doesn't runright.
And he's like, oh, I'll get youenough parts.
So I mean, he had, you know,cylinder heads and pistons and
everything anyway.
fun times.
I always enjoyed working withthat guy down there.
Zach Spence (05:31):
There's a lot to see in that area of Fort
Stewart.
Trent Manning (05:36):
Well, and that was crazy.
So we're out there working onit.
So he also had think four orfive, five 80 DS.
Do you know what a five 80 DS?
All right.
So for the listeners, if youdon't know what a five 80 D is,
it was a Toro bat wing mower andit had three 72 inch decks.
(05:58):
so two wing decks and one in thecenter so you can do the math 16
foot what cut or whatever it wason this thing yeah massive
machine so anyway that was a lotusually if you called me i was
down there working on a 580d nota string trimmer So anyway i'm
down there working on a 580d AndI hear something that sounds
(06:20):
like thunder.
And, you know, I'm looking up atthe sky.
It's bluebird skies.
So I asked Terry, I'm like, Isit supposed to rain today?
He's like, I don't know.
That's the big guns going offover there.
Shooting the tanks off.
I'm like, that's cool.
That's some cool stuff.
Zach Spence (06:38):
Crazy enough, I can, whenever they're doing
their exercises, I can hear thatfrom my house.
Trent Manning (06:43):
Oh, I'm, yeah, I'm sure.
Yeah, and that's probably what,20 miles?
Zach Spence (06:48):
Yeah, easily.
Trent Manning (06:49):
yeah, something like that.
Yeah, it's something else.
All right.
Well, we got on a tangent there.
What's your least favorite partof the job?
Is it sand?
That
Zach Spence (07:01):
Being, starting down in Florida, we top dress
twice a week, every week.
Almost year round.
So, you got used to sand realquick and understood that it's
just a, from our side it's anevil, but it's a necessity at
the same time, so.
My least favorite part is tryingto communicate with the crew
(07:25):
that doesn't really speakEnglish,
Trent Manning (07:28):
can be a challenge.
Zach Spence (07:30):
it's a challenge.
We both make our best footforward with Google Translate
and usually gets a lost, but,
Trent Manning (07:38):
Well, I think that's pretty good too, though,
with the Google Translate,because I 90s when we went to a
primarily Latino crew.
We didn't have Google Translate.
So, I mean, we, you know, wewere drawing pictures on the
board, you know, and trying toexplain things.
So that is a handy thing.
(07:59):
And I've noticed we've beenlucky enough the last two years
to have HTB workers and they allhave phones, so they have the
Google Translate on their phoneand our managers are using it.
So pretty handy set
Zach Spence (08:14):
Yep.
Trent Manning (08:15):
The other thing has been great for me is one of
the technicians that works withme in the shop.
He's a Latino too.
And so, yeah, and it is reallyawesome.
So, I mean, they avoid me likethe plague and our other
assistant mechanic and gostraight to Francisco cause they
(08:37):
speak any, I get it.
I don't care.
I speak the same language.
And it's really good to have.
somebody that is fluent in theirnative language to train them on
equipment because it's reallyhard to get some of the nuances
that we want an operator to knowacross to an individual.
Zach Spence (08:59):
and then when they when that can't happen, the only
time that gets brought up isafter they've already had that
problem.
Trent Manning (09:07):
Yeah, true.
Yep.
That's a good point there.
What would be your favoritetool?
Zach Spence (09:13):
Besides the coffee pot, probably my air hammer.
Trent Manning (09:18):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Good one.
Zach Spence (09:22):
I, so didn't have one for the longest time,
borrowed one from one of theother mechanics from one of the
other shops twice.
And was like, all right.
Time to get one.
Trent Manning (09:34):
Okay.
Zach Spence (09:34):
And now I pull that thing out for so much stuff.
Trent Manning (09:39):
That's yeah, that's a good one because I
would say earlier in my career,I used it a lot and it seems
like I don't use it as much nowand I don't know, you know, I
think it's one of those things.
I just don't think about it asmuch as maybe I once did.
Do you have a particular brand?
Zach Spence (10:01):
This, the one I have is an Ingersoll
Trent Manning (10:04):
Okay.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (10:09):
fantastic.
I never liked them a whole lotjust because they're so on loud,
Trent Manning (10:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
They are.
They are loud.
Zach Spence (10:19):
protection.
Trent Manning (10:20):
Huh.
Yup.
Yup.
They are loud for sure.
Zach Spence (10:23):
But it definitely one big thing.
It saves a lot of time on withhaving three 4, Is those front
roller bearings
Trent Manning (10:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (10:37):
Just right.
Trent Manning (10:39):
So, with that, you can just knock them right
out.
Zach Spence (10:42):
It zips them right out quick.
Gotta make sure there's nobodystanding around
Trent Manning (10:46):
Right.
Right.
Zach Spence (10:47):
flying out.
But
Trent Manning (10:48):
Yeah, that's all right.
You put a towel over it orsomething to keep it from
projectile coming out of a 45,3, 500 roller.
Yeah.
I'd back to the top.
It is, you said barrel mount orwhat would long barrel, right?
Zach Spence (11:07):
yeah, so they make ones that have a barrel.
It's like about this one, likethat short.
Think maybe automotive industryuses that a lot more, but this
one's about like this.
It's just got a longer
Trent Manning (11:18):
All right.
Cause I'm thinking I've used onelike the little pistol grip
style and it has the spring dealthat holds the punch in.
And I don't think those arequite as good as my original is
a Mac and it's got a quickrelease for changing the thing
(11:40):
out, man.
It is, yeah, it is nice.
Zach Spence (11:43):
It's a lot easier than messing with that spring.
Trent Manning (11:45):
Great.
I don't know why it's so awkwardto get it to turn around there
or whatever.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
What do you do to relax or findyour balance?
Zach Spence (11:55):
really just spend time with the family.
Luckily I've got asuperintendent that is big on
work life balance.
So he understands that work isgoing to be there tomorrow.
The grass isn't going anywhere.
Trent Manning (12:09):
Yeah, it ain't.
Yeah, we had a whole pandemicand the grass didn't stop
growing.
Zach Spence (12:15):
no, it didn't at least at our club.
In fact, we did absolutelyfantastic.
During COVID.
Trent Manning (12:21):
We had, I mean, yeah, record rounds during COVID
because that was the only thingyou could do.
Nobody was working.
And even after people went backto work or they were working
from home, I think on the golfcourse.
Yeah, we had a lot of peopleenjoying the course.
I mean, it's great.
Good exercise.
Get outside, enjoy
Zach Spence (12:42):
Yeah.
The four year old keeps uspretty on our toes.
Trent Manning (12:45):
Do y'all do any camping or
Zach Spence (12:48):
Not
Trent Manning (12:48):
spot?
You beach person, a mountainperson?
Zach Spence (12:52):
So it's going to sound crazy living in Florida,
20, almost.
20 some years.
I can count on one hand theamount of times I've been to a
beach.
Trent Manning (13:05):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (13:06):
Never really liked it.
If I went to the beach, I wasgoing to the pier to go fishing.
Trent Manning (13:11):
Right, right.
No that's cool.
I understand that.
I'm trying to, so I was talkingto, I think it was Tyler Barrett
and he's in South Florida and hesaid, yeah, him and his family
go to the beach maybe.
Maybe once a year, you know,live in Florida 365 days out of
(13:32):
the year and they go to thebeach maybe once.
That's honestly one more timethan I care to go to the beach.
I'm like you if I was going tofish or like, I see Haas, he
posts all these pictures, allthese fish he's catching, you
know, surf fishing.
Now I could go to the beach todo that.
But just to go be hot.
(13:54):
And no not my thing, not at all,
Zach Spence (13:57):
not mine either.
Trent Manning (13:58):
but to each his own for sure.
Zach Spence (14:00):
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning (14:01):
What's been one of your biggest challenges to
date?
Zach Spence (14:05):
Biggest challenge.
It's having to learn on the fly.
Before I knew that Toro had allof their service manuals
Trent Manning (14:14):
Yep.
Zach Spence (14:15):
me.
Line easily accessible like whenI moved up here I don't know if
they was if it wasn't one of themechanics that worked on island
I didn't know anybody until Iget listen to the podcast and
got on in to all this had noclue
Trent Manning (14:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't, I mean, that's actuallymaybe we can talk about it more
in tips and tricks, but Justknowing the resources that are
available out there for a newperson in the industry you know
if you're working on especiallyelectrical system or Hydraulic
system and you don't have thatroadmap of the schematic on what
(14:55):
does what and how you get herefrom there I mean, you know,
you're going at it blind
Zach Spence (15:01):
Oh yeah,
Trent Manning (15:02):
So
Zach Spence (15:03):
gonna take you 10 times longer than if you have an
actual map.
Trent Manning (15:08):
Oh, yeah.
And I mean, I've worked on, youknow, old junk that I don't
couldn't find a schematic forand I end up drawing my own.
You know, like with this redwire is over here and it's I
think this is the same one.
You know, and you end up drawingyour own schematic if you have
to.
Zach Spence (15:26):
Yeah, like some of the like peripheral stuff.
Like if any, if you guys haveany like tree stuff, trying to
find manuals for like stumpgrinders or the man lifts that's
like pulling teeth.
Trent Manning (15:38):
Do y'all still so I know this cuz yeah, working
with Jerry Peyton, y'all wereone of my customers too at the
Landon's.
Do y'all still have a man liftthat mounts on a workman?
Zach Spence (15:52):
So we had two when I started working there and one
was at the marwood shop and theone was at the shop I met.
And when we got the, when we gotthe last run of new.
HDXs, I think three years ago orfour years ago, I don't remember
exactly.
They got rid of the one, luckilywe kept the one at the Palmetto
(16:15):
shop, because the Trion liftthat was there up until last
year kept having problems.
And that thing came in handy towork on the lift.
Trent Manning (16:27):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
I wasn't even thinking aboutworking on an equipment lift
with it.
Zach Spence (16:32):
well, there was a 7, 700 stuck up there for a week
Trent Manning (16:35):
Oh, okay.
Well,
Zach Spence (16:37):
big cylinder up top it pulled the end out of the
cylinder.
It just pulled the threads rightout.
Trent Manning (16:42):
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (16:47):
thankfully the stops worked
Trent Manning (16:49):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (16:49):
because that would've been a bad day.
Trent Manning (16:52):
Oh man.
Yeah.
That's terrible.
Do you have any idea how old thelift was?
Zach Spence (16:56):
Yeah, it's from, it was from the late nineties, I
believe.
Trent Manning (17:01):
Okay.
And then that environment downthere on an Island.
Yeah.
Not the most favorableconditions.
Zach Spence (17:09):
Yeah, we got a new golf lift, GL 9, last year.
it.
Trent Manning (17:13):
Okay.
That's good stuff.
What's been the strangest thing?
Was it the 4, 700 stuck on thelift?
That's up there for a strange.
Zach Spence (17:24):
When I was working at the Municipal Course for the
City of Cape Coral.
Myself and another guy thatworked there were mowing rough
with 4500s.
And we got, we were mowing onnumber 7, I'll never forget
this.
We're going along, and I feltsomething crawling on me, didn't
think much of it, until I feltit all over the back of my neck.
(17:47):
There was bees all over me.
So, I get off, I quickly getoff, after the other guy stopped
and, like, getting my attentionto tell me, I try to swat him
off, whatever, throw my jacketoff, my radio goes flying.
So, the only, my first instinctwas just pull my shirt up over
my head.
Now, golf is going on at thistime, because it's mid morning,
(18:09):
and the other guys also gotthem all over him.
Well, we get off the 4500s, andthe mechanic apparently had
bypassed the C switch, becausethey were, they kept going until
they finally stopped moving andreached their neutral.
And just kept mowing the samespot for six hours until the
beekeeper got there.
And it ended up being a swarm ofEuropean honeybees in a nest
(18:32):
that had 30, 60, 000 bees.
And I had, I think they pulledlike 20 stingers out of me and
the other guy had a lot more.
I think it was 30 or 40.
Trent Manning (18:49):
Wow, that's crazy.
Zach Spence (18:51):
Yeah.
And the,
Trent Manning (18:53):
Sorry, I'm laughing.
That's not nothing funny aboutit.
That's yeah, serious
Zach Spence (18:56):
no.
Okay.
And at that point, I had neverbeen stung by a bee, so I didn't
know if I was allergic.
Thankfully, I wasn't.
Figured that out the hard way.
Unfortunately for the other guy,he was allergic to bees.
when he threw his jacket off,his phone went with it and
everything.
And when the super, theassistant super drove us to the
(19:18):
urgent care the only reason hiswife was able to find out is
because of his Apple watch
Trent Manning (19:23):
Oh, huh.
Zach Spence (19:24):
and met us there.
Trent Manning (19:26):
Yeah, did he have an EpiPen or something he kept
with him?
Zach Spence (19:30):
didn't.
He started to swell up on thedrive there.
Thankfully it was like fiveminutes up the road and they
were able to give him a shotwhen we got there
Trent Manning (19:37):
Yeah, man,
Zach Spence (19:38):
he was okay,
Trent Manning (19:40):
Yeah.
Yeah, that'll go down in historyfor sure for you.
Zach Spence (19:45):
Oh yeah.
I've still got the video becauseI had lost all spatial
awareness.
I ended up in the middle of thefairway, walking towards
golfers, teeing off with myshirt over my head because I
couldn't see anything, couldn'thear anything because the two 4,
500s are still mowing with thedecks on still
Trent Manning (20:05):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (20:07):
the homeowner where the tree was.
Sent the video to me.
So I still have it to this day.
Trent Manning (20:15):
Wow.
That's, yeah, that's nuts.
Yeah.
And yeah.
Friendly reminder.
Don't bypass your safetyswitches.
Zach Spence (20:23):
They're there for a reason.
Trent Manning (20:24):
they are there for a reason.
And how dangerous is that?
A 4500, you know, mowing byitself.
Zach Spence (20:32):
Yeah
Trent Manning (20:33):
Yeah, that's yeah, enough said.
Don't do it, please.
Zach Spence (20:37):
That from that moment on that stuck with me
something I still uphold to thisday.
Trent Manning (20:43):
Yeah.
And I mean, right, you know, andI'm sorry that Maybe it didn't
have to happen, but sorry thathappened to you, but the, it
drives the point home for surethat, Hey, I shouldn't do that.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
Zach Spence (20:59):
Do his name is Troy Schneider.
Trent Manning (21:02):
Okay.
Tell me about Troy.
Zach Spence (21:05):
So he I started working with him when I started
working at the landings
Trent Manning (21:10):
Okay.
Zach Spence (21:11):
he taught me more in the three or four years I
worked with him than I probablycould have in, say, ten years
working by myself.
Trent Manning (21:21):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (21:22):
That introduced this thing.
This is super handy, too, forpeople that don't know the
website.
McMasterCar, he's the one thatintroduced me to that.
Trent Manning (21:32):
Oh,
Zach Spence (21:33):
Though the wide variety of stuff that you can
get from there
Trent Manning (21:37):
Yep.
Zach Spence (21:38):
Fastener anything you can imagine.
It's like a Granger.
Trent Manning (21:40):
Yes, it's just like a Granger, but it's
definitely my go to.
And if for some reason theydon't have it and I go to
Granger, I get so frustratedwith Granger's website.
Zach Spence (21:55):
Oh, it's so hard to use.
Trent Manning (21:57):
Yeah, you have to be the biggest, you know,
Granger's got is the brand,right?
They're the biggest ones.
Why do they have such a terriblewebsite?
I don't understand.
Zach Spence (22:08):
know and another good website is it's called
Zorro.
Z O R O
Trent Manning (22:13):
Yep.
Yep.
Okay.
Zach Spence (22:15):
It's also
Trent Manning (22:16):
I've seen that.
Zach Spence (22:17):
their websites a little hinky and sometimes
there's problems with it Butanything over, I don't remember
if it's 50 or 75 of freeshipping, no matter what it is,
Trent Manning (22:27):
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
What's the shipping like withMcMaster car at your place?
Zach Spence (22:33):
I get everything up until now, which I chalking this
up to this time of year, I geteverything next day.
Trent Manning (22:41):
Okay.
Yeah, I was just curious.
I mean in Atlanta because thewhere one of the warehouses is
there if I order and yeah peoplecan say what they want to about
me but I want to brag because ifI order before noon I get it
that afternoon and I've orderedstuff as late as 9 p.
m and had it at nine o'clock thenext morning.
(23:03):
You know I mean it's just it'snuts how quick they get you
stuff.
Zach Spence (23:07):
That's where I got the traversal shaft for my Foley
grinder.
That was on back order
Trent Manning (23:13):
okay,
Zach Spence (23:13):
for, I think, I don't remember what Jerry Peyton
said, if it was two or threemonths, but I had it next day
from them.
Trent Manning (23:20):
Yeah, I mean, it's crazy.
Yeah, all kind of stuff you canget from McMaster car.
They're not a sponsor but Ireally need to reach out to them
and see cuz in my tips andtricks class that I do, I talk
about McMaster car a lot becausethey're just, I mean, a good
company to, to get stuff fromand if I've ever had any kind of
(23:42):
issue, I make a phone call andright away it's solved.
Fixed.
No problem.
You know, they take care of it.
If I order the wrong stuff theysay, just send it back.
Like you don't have to putnothing in the box.
You just send it back and theyfigure it out somehow where it
goes.
Yeah.
Really good customer service.
(24:03):
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(24:24):
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Let's get back to the episodeYeah.
Do you, you want to talk aboutyour mentor anymore?
Zach Spence (24:43):
Yeah.
So he's been in the industry.
I think it's 13 or 14 years,maybe 15.
I can't remember exactly.
Like when it comes to justspecifically fasteners, he'll
look at something and it'srattle off just like that, and
he'll be able to tell you whatit is, doesn't matter what.
Trent Manning (25:00):
No, that's cool.
Yep.
Five sixteenths by 18
Zach Spence (25:03):
yeah.
Trent Manning (25:04):
grade five, you know, so yeah, I get it.
Zach Spence (25:08):
and he's the one that taught me how to weld.
Trent Manning (25:12):
Okay.
Zach Spence (25:12):
I knew how to stick two pieces of metal together
before I started working thereand getting down to like the
fabrication side of things.
He taught me a lot.
Trent Manning (25:21):
Okay.
Yeah, that's awesome.
He had a friend that he saidevery time he tried to MIG weld,
all he could accomplish waspiling up wire.
But if you think about it,that's all you're really doing
anyway, but hopefully that wiremelts into the puddle and you
weld some stuff together insteadof just pop, piling it up on the
(25:45):
top.
What would be your dream job oropportunity?
Zach Spence (25:51):
So I really wanted to do.
Was I wanted to be on a NASCARpit crew
Trent Manning (25:58):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Zach Spence (25:59):
Not sure why I always liked watching cars.
I don't know.
No, it's boring.
Some people watching cars turnleft for hours and hours, I was
always fascinated with the pitcrew side of things.
Trent Manning (26:11):
No, yeah.
It'd be fun.
Zach Spence (26:13):
Oh yeah.
Trent Manning (26:14):
Yeah, I don't think there's a whole lot of
work life balance with the,that, that type stuff.
But yeah, that would be a lot offun.
I was fortunate enough andthrough a friend of a friend in
2005, I got to crew at theDaytona 24 hour with a Porsche
gt three car.
(26:36):
And it was Baldwin Tafel Racingwas the race team.
And they were only together forthe one year.
Jack Baldwin, he's been aroundracing forever.
And Tafel, his grandfather ownedor was in horses and horse
racing.
(26:57):
And he was a very wealthygentleman.
I think he financed this raceteam, but anyway, it was a super
fun, cool experience.
We went down, I think onThursday, the race started at
noon on Saturday, it goes tonoon on Sunday and yeah, we
pitted every hour and my job, Ihad a really important job of
(27:22):
taking a 55 gallon drum to theSunoco station.
Which was, I mean, it wasprobably a hundred yards and
filling that up every other pitstop, because every pit stop, we
were putting about 25 gallons inthe car every hour.
One of the cool things that theydid is, So you get the engine
(27:44):
from Porsche and it's sealed andyou can't open it, you know,
part of the rules, right?
So you can't go in and make anymodifications.
And this engine was burningabout a quart of oil every two
hours.
So every other pit stop, theycome up with this thing.
And I don't know exactly whatit's called.
(28:04):
It looked like a fireextinguisher.
That's what it reminded me of.
You know, a tank.
and they would put a quarter oilin it and they would pressurize
this tank and then they had aquick connect fitting on the car
so every other pit stop theywould put an oil a quarter oil
in the car and they didn't checkthe oil they just they knew
(28:26):
about how much it was burning soso we don't want it to run out
so we're just going to keepadding oil maybe we get too much
at some point I don't rememberhow we finished.
Obviously, we did not win.
But the experience was a lot offun.
A whole lot of fun.
And I would kind of rack it up alot like volunteering at a golf
(28:50):
tournament.
So, you know, you start early inthe morning, you go late at
night, you know, because we werepractice rounds, testing,
qualifying, all that stuff onThursday and Friday.
So, you get there at 7 a.
m.
and you don't leave till 11 p.
m.
So, I mean, it's some long daysand long hours.
But a whole lot of fun.
And my buddy that I went with,somehow, He slept through a pit
(29:14):
stop.
I don't know how because thosecars, I mean, they're so loud.
I know I damaged my hearing forsure.
Not having headphones on one ofthe pit stops.
Yeah, he slept through a pitstop.
So I don't know.
But anyway you got a technicianyou would like to work with for
a day?
Zach Spence (29:34):
It would have to be between Corey Phillips or John
Patterson, I think.
Trent Manning (29:39):
Oh, well, they're both in Atlanta.
So come on up and we can make ithappen.
I'm sure.
Yeah, I mean they're both reallygood dudes.
Are you, speaking of which theflyer just went out today for
the Georgia seminar and I shouldremember it off the top of my
(29:59):
head, but I don't.
It's the 16th or 17th of Januaryand it's gonna be at John
Patterson's shop.
So you need to talk to yoursuperintendent and your other
techs and see if they can getyou up here.
And if they can definitely letme know.
Zach Spence (30:17):
I will definitely come.
I already talked to the superabout it.
About one to go this year again.
He's got no problem with
Trent Manning (30:25):
Oh, awesome.
Zach Spence (30:26):
with me in the shop.
It's a three person shop, butI'm the only one there.
Trent Manning (30:32):
Well, at least they're going to let you come
up.
That is that's awesome.
So yeah, definitely.
Yeah, it just, I just saw ittoday.
And I don't know if you know,David Precop.
He's starts with an S it's allit's in the, it's Hilton head
(30:56):
area, secession or somethinglike that.
Zach Spence (30:58):
Oh yeah, I think it is to session.
Trent Manning (31:00):
yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway, super nice guy.
He's a nice guy.
out and sent me a text a coupleweeks ago, wanting to know when
ours was going to be because Idon't remember why something
come up and he wasn't able tomake it to the Carolinas.
So he was going to try to cometo ours.
So yeah, I look forward toseeing you and we can we can
(31:22):
talk off air here.
And if you're coming up early orwhatever we'll get a little
visit lined up or something.
That'd be awesome.
Zach Spence (31:29):
Yeah, I could definitely do that.
Trent Manning (31:31):
Yeah, for sure.
What do you know now?
You wish you'd known on day one.
Zach Spence (31:36):
Slow down.
Trent Manning (31:38):
Ah, that's a good one.
Yeah, slow down.
Zach Spence (31:42):
Everything is not an emergency in the moment.
Now yes, there are actualemergencies.
And to just take your time.
I could have saved myself somuch time if I would have just
slowed.
Trent Manning (31:56):
That's, I mean, that's really good advice.
And I think it's somethingthat's pretty easy to do, or
not, it's not necessarily easyto slow down.
But I think it's really easy toget wrapped up in the moment and
put more pressure on yourselfthan is needed.
And I don't remember who told methis, but somebody said, don't
(32:20):
let somebody else's problembecome your emergency.
Zach Spence (32:25):
Yes, absolutely.
Trent Manning (32:26):
That really resonated with me.
It might be their emergency, butit don't have to be your
emergency.
So, yeah.
Zach Spence (32:35):
have to catch myself doing that even still to
this day.
Trent Manning (32:38):
Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's easy to
think like that and say, okay,yeah, I mean, I've been doing
this a long time.
I still do it, you know, I mean,I don't, maybe that's part of
the fun, the excitement orwhatever to, you know, like, oh,
gotta get this fixed, gotta getthis going.
They really need this, you know,whatever the, yeah, they're just
cutting grass.
(32:59):
You know, but it does not feelthat way, you know, in the heat
of the moment.
Zach Spence (33:05):
No.
Especially when it's along thelines of, Oh, Hey, can you get
this going?
We want to use it today when ithasn't been used in six or eight
months.
Trent Manning (33:12):
Yeah.
Zach Spence (33:13):
So, you know, it's not going to start or anything.
It's got to be set up.
It's going to be problems Andthen you use it and then oh,
yeah, we decided not to use thattoday We probably won't even use
it again for the next six monthsand then it just
Trent Manning (33:27):
That, yeah, right, right.
That's frustrating for sure.
And I think a lot of us dealwith that.
Yeah.
Do you have that person on yourcrew?
Zach Spence (33:38):
I do
Trent Manning (33:39):
Okay.
How do you deal with them?
Zach Spence (33:41):
When I first got to this shop used to get really
angry But something I worked onis not getting angry because I
noticed I get a little bitfarther with these guys With
this one He just knows That ifhe messes up, he doesn't come
tell me.
He comes to the assistant superor the super, and then they come
to me.
Trent Manning (34:02):
Okay.
I mean, you know, you got towork it out however you can work
it out, right?
You know, I get that.
Yeah.
So at least you have a system inplace where he still can't
communicate and everybody cankeep their cool.
Zach Spence (34:17):
He anything he touches, it's either going to
end up in a lagoon or it's goingto get broke.
It never fails.
Trent Manning (34:24):
And I mean, it's a shame and I doubt that
individual shows up and says,oh, I want to destroy something
today.
I don't know if they just, youknow, like pure luck like that
old movie, you know, if it'sjust, you know, that's their
luck.
Yeah, I don't know.
Get ready for tips and tricks.
(34:45):
What kind of tips and tricks yougot you want to share with us?
Some of your favorite onesanyway.
Zach Spence (34:51):
I think the only tip that I have wrote down is
just to.
If you're not familiar withMcMaster car to, to at least go
on the website and see what theyhave, because you'd be surprised
what you can get cheaper fromthere than you can from anywhere
locally.
And it's going to be betterquality.
Trent Manning (35:12):
One.
Yeah.
And that is another thing thatwe didn't mention before with
them.
Everything they sell is qualitystuff.
It's they don't sell any kind ofcheap Chinese crap that is out
there on the market.
Everything they sells high.
I ain't gonna say high end butdefinitely quality stuff and
(35:34):
then I don't know.
what their deal is either, butit's something to do because
they don't advertise for brandslike the wall or rigid or any,
you don't really know whatyou're getting sometimes, you
know, if you were to buy a powertool or something.
Zach Spence (35:50):
Yeah.
I do think that they sell acouple of different brands of
power tools now.
Trent Manning (35:56):
Yes.
And I think on some of that,they say what it may be, but
it's not like where Granger, youknow, that's all it is one big
advertisement for whatevercompany that they're promoting.
That way at all.
And it's funny, like all themeasuring stuff that I buy from
them, it's either high qualitymeasuring stuff or stare it like
(36:21):
that's your two options ofstuff.
So they do have the stare atname brand there.
Which if you don't, if you'renot for the listeners, if you're
not familiar with stare it's thesnap on, if you will, of
measuring instruments.
And if you're not familiar withsnap on, I don't know why you're
(36:43):
listening to this podcast.
No that's not fair either.
I'm only tease.
So snap on is a big toolsupplier and probably my
personal favorite.
I don't know.
I just had better luck at a snapon.
I had to get quite a bit of Mactools and the tools were fine,
but all the dealers went away.
(37:05):
I don't have any Mac dealers andsame thing like Cornwell.
I had a few Cornwell things, butI don't see a Cornwell guy
driving around and
Zach Spence (37:14):
ones I see are Macco and Snap On.
I don't even know if there is aMac dealer for the Savannah
area.
I'm sure there is, but I
Trent Manning (37:20):
yeah, I don't know.
Yeah, I do see the macro.
And Matco makes some good stuff,but I think it's more expensive
than Snap on and I didn't evenknow that was possible
Zach Spence (37:31):
Right.
Trent Manning (37:32):
you know, I like my Snap on stuff, but it's rare.
If I buy something new, that'snot on promo, you know, if
they're running some kind ofpromotion on it, maybe I'll get
it off the truck.
If not Facebook marketplace oreBay, you know, and, you know,
And my experience anyway, withsnap on tools, basically 50
(37:56):
percent of new value is what thetool is worth.
And it's, you know, it's hardto, uh, maybe I lie to myself
and say that's an investment forme with my money is I can invest
in snap on tools and my kids.
(38:16):
My girls are going to inheritsome nice stuff, hopefully one
day, and then it'll be up tothem to figure out what to do
with it.
Zach Spence (38:26):
Another thing too, like with McMaster car, back to
that we'll get some of ourirrigation stuff from there,
like the nineties and elbows,stuff like that.
T's just because the supplierhere a lot of times won't have
it.
So they'll just have me order itfrom there.
Trent Manning (38:44):
Yeah.
No, I mean, I do the same thingand yeah, anything around the
shop, it doesn't, not evenequipment related, but you know,
if I'm working on plumbing orwhatever, and I mean, it's
crazy.
I don't.
I used to go to Home Depot a lotand since I started using
McMaster car, I do not go toHome Depot.
(39:05):
I couldn't tell you the lasttime I went to Home Depot for
work.
I've went occasionally for thehouse, you know, to get
something, but for work, I don'tgo.
If I need some spray paint, Iorder it from McMaster car and
have it there that afternoon.
Zach Spence (39:18):
Our, we get our spray paint from, I think Kimble
Midwest, but that's just becausethey like it, so fine.
I don't use spray paint veryoften unless I'm fabricating,
which is also not superfrequent, but as long as I got
some primer and some black, it'sokay.
Trent Manning (39:34):
Well, so, that's yeah.
Satin black is my go to colorand so I paint it satin black or
satin black.
That's the only two colors I'musing is satin black or satin
black.
And so Sutton Down Creek GolfClub is the club that I work at.
(39:54):
It's owned by Ansley but anyway,I call it Sutton Down Black.
So everything gets painted, satdown black.
If it's coming out of my shopand every once in a while I get
an assistant tech and they wantto spice it up and throw in a
different color, but I just haveto say, nope, sorry, guys.
So now I'm black.
That's the color it's going tobe while we're still kind of
(40:18):
here on tips and tricks.
I want to do want to go revisit.
Toro and being able to get anymanual you want, operators,
parts and service.
One thing with Toro to be awareof is Toro has a manual for
every specific thing.
(40:40):
So, if you have a Toro walkinggreens mower, there's a manual
for that.
Then there's a manual for thereel on the same walking greens
mower.
Then there is a manual for thegroomer on that walking greens
mower.
Then there is a manual for theroller on the, you know, and I
made, I could go on and on.
(41:00):
It's crazy the amount ofmanuals, but the cool thing is
it's all there.
So yeah, kudos to Toro for doingthat.
I wish other manufacturers woulddo that.
You know, I think everybody putsout their operator's manual,
but.
And John Deere, it's not hard toget parts, but if you want a
(41:22):
service manual, you're going topay for it from John Deere.
Zach Spence (41:25):
Yes.
Yes.
Trent Manning (41:28):
Or you're going to borrow it from your friend
Zach Spence (41:31):
Right.
Trent Manning (41:33):
called RealTurf Techs and the WhatsApp group.
I've seen somebody share a clubcar manual, service manual in
the WhatsApp group today.
You know, and that's a greatresource.
And
Zach Spence (41:45):
Oh
Trent Manning (41:46):
sometimes dealers will, you know, send you a
manual for this or that, and,you know, try to help you out.
And obviously we can't just gospreading that everywhere
because of copyrights and thosekinds of things.
But the, to pass it along toyour neighbor, I don't see the
harm in that.
You know, you're not.
Benefiting, you know, nopersonal gain is, you know,
(42:08):
coming from that.
You're just trying to help outyour neighbor or your friend
down the road.
Zach Spence (42:12):
100%.
Trent Manning (42:13):
Any other tips and tricks they can think of?
Zach Spence (42:18):
Not really offhand.
Trent Manning (42:19):
Yeah, I don't it's it's late for me.
It's about my bedtime, man.
You keep giving me up too late.
Zach Spence (42:25):
Oh, no.
Gettin there early for thisGeorgia Senior, the GSGA Senior
Championship that we're hostingright now,
Trent Manning (42:33):
I know.
Yeah.
When is it over?
Zach Spence (42:37):
tomorrow's the last
Trent Manning (42:38):
Tomorrow.
Okay.
Nice.
Zach Spence (42:40):
was supposed to be September, the end of September,
but that hurricane came throughand they rescheduled.
Trent Manning (42:48):
Okay.
Gotcha.
We're going to do some rapidfire.
Zach Spence (42:58):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (43:00):
What's your favorite movie?
Zach Spence (43:03):
So that maximum overdrive,
Trent Manning (43:06):
I don't, I know I've heard the name, but yeah.
What is maximum overdrive?
Zach Spence (43:11):
it said, I don't know if it's from the late
eighties or early nineties,where all of the, everything
comes alive and starts gettingpeople.
Trent Manning (43:21):
Yes.
Yes.
I do remember.
What's the actor's name?
I'm blanking on it.
Emilio Estevez.
Yes, Emilio Estevez, yes.
And the lady sticks her hand inthe blender and then it turns
on.
Yeah, yep, totally rememberwatching that as a kid,
Zach Spence (43:39):
Sick and twisted.
I know, but I
Trent Manning (43:40):
That's,
Zach Spence (43:41):
I love that that Joker truck.
I love that thing.
Trent Manning (43:44):
Oh yeah, oh, awesome, good memories.
What would be your last meal?
Zach Spence (43:51):
Super basic man.
A good ribeye and some potatoes.
Trent Manning (43:55):
All right, best cut of meat there is, in my
opinion.
What are you most proud ofbesides your family and your
newborn there?
Zach Spence (44:04):
Yeah.
Probably with my progress in mycareer in such a short time,
Trent Manning (44:10):
Yeah.
So how long have you been in
Zach Spence (44:13):
10 years next
Trent Manning (44:14):
10 years?
Okay.
Yeah.
I mean, that's, yeah, it's doingsomething and you need to find
some assistance, right?
Yeah.
Zach Spence (44:25):
knocking on the door.
Trent Manning (44:27):
Yeah.
I don't, it's tough, man.
It is so, so tough findingpeople.
Yeah, I don't know.
I just been fortunate over thelast few years, you know, right
place, right time kind of Likeone of the, well, the guy was
telling you about Francisco, theway I came across him is his dad
actually a stepdad was myassistant mechanic in the late
(44:51):
nineties.
Zach Spence (44:52):
Oh, okay.
Trent Manning (44:53):
And he calls me up and he's, I don't know, he
calls me I don't know exactlywhat that means, but he said,
Hey, you need somebody?
So, I said, yeah, I'm lookingfor somebody.
So, and he's been with me forlike three years.
So yeah, it's awesome.
And then the other guy that'sworking with me Jake, his dad is
(45:16):
the head mechanic at Ansley GolfClub in Midtown.
So.
Keeping it in the family andJake's, I don't know, he's 22,
21, 22.
So anyway, good kid, good headon his shoulders and I don't
know, it's exciting.
And I would say that's probablythe most rewarding part for me
(45:36):
is trying to train these guysand teach them a thing or two
and super rewarding seeing themdo their thing.
You know, they make me proud.
Zach Spence (45:47):
The assistant superintendent wants to learn
this side, our side of things,so he's going to start coming to
the shop in the afternoons.
Just to learn, he's really, hewants to learn how to set up a
reel.
Trent Manning (46:00):
No, that's good stuff.
Zach Spence (46:01):
learned briefly in college, but just wants to, I
mean, also help give me a handat, but,
Trent Manning (46:09):
Yeah, no, that'll be super good.
And honestly I think I would notwant to be a superintendent that
had no idea on any of themechanical stuff.
Because if you're asuperintendent and your mechanic
walks out or they get injuredor, you know, whatever the case
(46:29):
is.
Somebody still got to do that.
Right.
So, and, you know, the directorthat I work for, he knows, I
mean, he would not want to do myjob.
And that's why he has me.
But if, you know, if it hit thefan, he could hop in there and,
(46:50):
you know, fix some stuff too.
And I think it's also importantto be able to, to Talk.
I mean, it is for me anyway, isI like to be able to have a
conversation on cutting units atmy level with my director of
agronomy, you know, and I don'tthink that's the case at a lot
(47:15):
of places
Zach Spence (47:17):
No.
Trent Manning (47:18):
and I, maybe I'm off.
If I'm off, leave me a comment,send me a text, send me an email
or something and tell me howwrong I am.
I'm fine with hearing that.
But that's just been myexperience.
And it's just like, forinstance, when I had Michael
Woods on, I mean, he is abrilliant person, right?
(47:39):
I mean, PhD, I mean, super smartguy and I ain't taking anything
away from him, but he has noidea on cutting unit geometry
and what's happening, you know,in the cutting unit and as far
as cutting grass.
Zach Spence (47:55):
Right.
Trent Manning (47:56):
And not that he needs to know or has to know any
of that stuff, but I don't know.
There's a lot for all of us tolearn.
Zach Spence (48:05):
Oh, yeah.
And it goes a long way, too, forthem to know, because you know
that whenever something looks alittle funny out there, they're
real quick to say, oh, there's aproblem with the mower.
Whether it truly is a mowerissue or if it's a agronomical
issue, you know, that's unseen.
But if they understand thatpart, then that conversation may
(48:27):
not even happen.
Trent Manning (48:28):
Very true.
Well, good stuff, man.
I appreciate you being on.
Zach Spence (48:33):
Yeah, man.
Trent Manning (48:35):
Are you on any of the socials?
Zach Spence (48:37):
I just do Facebook.
Trent Manning (48:39):
Yeah.
Nothing.
Yeah, nothing wrong with that.
Well, thank you again so much.
And,
Zach Spence (48:45):
It was a pleasure.
Glad you had me.
Trent Manning (48:47):
yeah, no, thanks for being on and we'll see you
around the WhatsApp group forsure.
Zach Spence (48:51):
Yes, sir.
Trent Manning (48:57):
thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf
techs podcast.
I hope you learned somethingtoday.
Don't forget to subscribe.
If you have any topics you'dlike to discuss, or you'd like
to be a guest, find us onTwitter at Reel turf techs.
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