November 19, 2025 • 44 mins
In this episode of the Reel Turf Techs Podcast, we sit down with Tanner Knudsen, CTEM, Equipment Manager at North Oaks Golf Club in Minnesota. Tanner talks through his path from working on small engines to running the shop at a private 18-hole club, and how much of what he knows started in his grandpa’s garage. His grandpa was the first person to teach him engines, and Tanner still calls him whenever he hits a snag.
We get into what it takes to keep things running smoothly with a seasonal crew, how Tanner approaches training without letting the stress get to him, and what winterizing looks like in a Minnesota shop. Tanner also shares what he learned during recent facility upgrades and through attaining his CETM designation, and why mentorship and technician education matter so much to him.
It’s a practical, down-to-earth conversation packed with tips, stories, and lessons from Tanner’s time in the industry.
- Tweet us @ReelTurfTechs and @MTrentManning
- Email us at ReelTurfTechs@gmail.com
- Check out our YouTube Channel
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Trent Manning (00:52):
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 thisepisode are real turf techs on
golf course industriesSuperintendent radio network is
(01:15):
presented by Foley county astrong supporter of equipment
technicians and golf coursemaintenance departments
everywhere Foley county offers aproven solution for above and
below the turf for turfprofessionals To learn more
about Foley company's line ofreal grinders bed knife grinders
(01:36):
and the air to G2 family ofproducts or to find a
distributor visit www dot FoleyC o.com Foley Ready for play
Welcome to The Reel Turf TechsPodcast, episode 1 55.
Today we're talking to TannerKnudsen, CTEM, equipment Manager
(02:01):
at North Oaks Golf Club in NorthOaks, Minnesota.
North Oaks is a private 18 holegolf club.
Tanner's the sole mechanic inthe shop.
They primarily have Toroequipment.
Let's talk to Tanner.
Tanner Knudsen (02:14):
Let's go.
Trent Manning (02:15):
Welcome, Tanner to the Real Turf Text podcast.
Thanks for coming on.
Tanner Knudsen (02:19):
Thanks for having me.
Trent Manning (02:21):
We already talked for 20 minutes, I think before
we got started here.
Tanner Knudsen (02:25):
Yeah, it's been a little bit.
We got to get to know each othera little bit better.
Trent Manning (02:29):
That's right.
You made the mistake of askingme a question that you didn't
really care about, so I justspent 20 minutes telling you a
long, boring story, but it wasfun for me.
Tanner Knudsen (02:39):
I love hearing every story, Trent.
Trent Manning (02:41):
All right.
Okay.
Good.
Good.
We're gonna get along.
Great.
Tanner Knudsen (02:44):
Perfect.
Trent Manning (02:45):
Tell us how you got into the turf industry.
Tanner Knudsen (02:47):
so I kind of fell into the turf industry.
My goal kind of growing up wasto be a small engine repair guy,
and my grandpa owned a shop.
Out of outskirts little town inWisconsin called Ellsworth.
So my goal is just to work withhim.
I went to school for marine andsmall engine repair and worked
for him for about seven yearsand then transferred to Hennepin
(03:09):
County for a sentence to serviceprogram.
So just a big landscapingprogram.
But one of the towns they workedfor was the city of Golden
Valley.
And the city of Golden Valleyowns a municipality golf course
called Brookview.
And after working for HennepinCounty for about three years and
opening at the Brookview GolfCourse came up and I just
(03:31):
applied for it.
Didn't really think anything ofit.
I played golf, so I thought it'dbe a cool change of pace instead
of working on 600 plus pieces ofequipment that were just weed
whips and push mowers to getinto something more.
Detail oriented, I guess wouldbe the path I was aiming for.
And they hired me.
(03:51):
I worked there for about fiveyears and the rest is history.
Now I'm at North Oaks Golf Clubprivate facility out of the
northeastern side of the TwinCities.
Trent Manning (04:00):
Oh, that's awesome.
So cool.
No, that's a really good.
Story.
So did you spend a lot of timein the shop with your grandpa
growing
Tanner Knudsen (04:11):
I worked for him for six or seven years and it
was very strictly like farmersbring in broken stuff, you know,
a lot of welding, fabricating.
So, and he kind of got into it.
Out of his garage and he grew itinto, you know, a shed that he
built on his property.
You know, never anything huge,but I mean, he is one of the
(04:34):
smartest guys I know.
I mean, he was big into dirtbike racing, so he would bore
out and create his own twostroke engines.
And it is just amazing the storyhe has and one of the biggest
fab projects he did.
Back in the day, they had theseKawasaki 750 cc triple two
stroke engines, and you couldbuy like a drag pipe kit that
(04:55):
went underneath while in hillclimbing that gets smashed while
he redesigned and fabricated andcut and twisted the pipes, and
really came out the frame upabove.
And he was really proud of that.
he still has a picture of it inthe shop, actually, but, so that
I don't know, I just kind ofgrew up watching him, you know,
go over, he'd see all the.
(05:16):
Used equipment sitting outthat's broken down in front of
his shop and it'd just be aconstant changeover.
And I just fell in love with theidea of fixing used old stuff, I
guess.
Trent Manning (05:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that's awesome.
And it's so cool and you get tospend, you know, extra time with
your grandpa
Tanner Knudsen (05:32):
Yeah.
Spent a lot of days with him.
It's great memories.
Trent Manning (05:36):
yeah.
I mean, that's so, so cool.
Just this yesterday we had apump company out a well company,
and they're pulling out a wellpump and it's this older guy and
a younger guy that, I mean, helooked like he was, I don't
know, early twenties orwhatever.
And, so anyway, I'm just talkingto him and the older guy's yeah,
(05:59):
I've been doing this, you know,whatever, 35 years or something.
And he says, this is my grandsonthat was working with him.
And I'm like, man, this grandsonis so lucky, you know, that
he's, and I watched him work.
I mean, they get along goodtogether.
And you know, the, it is funnythe grandpa he was doing all the
technical stuff.
(06:20):
But he was not straining himselfat all.
The grandson was doing all thework, but, you know, and I mean,
he's earned it, right?
Tanner Knudsen (06:28):
Oh Yeah, for sure.
Trent Manning (06:29):
yeah, of course.
So, I mean, I totally get it.
But it was really awesome to, toget to watch that that made my
heart happy for sure.
Do you have a least favoritepart of the job, or you just
love it all?
Tanner Knudsen (06:42):
I mean, everybody hates sand, right?
But.
I understand the reasons why ofit, you know, and we're not a
place right now where we aredumping loads and loads.
And if we do, I got two reallygood.
I have a superintendent and adirector of grounds, and they're
both very good about wateringand heavy.
So I would say the my leastfavorite part.
(07:04):
There's gotta be the thechangeover of seasonal
employees.
We get a lot of guys that don'tstick around.
We have a good year round staff.
We keep about seven guys on yearround, so they're solid.
But the changeover of seasonalsgets tough, the constant
training them in and get a lotof high school kids.
So they start a little bit laterand they end a little earlier.
(07:25):
Versus the college kids who getin here and they kind of stick
around through the whole season,but.
I would say that's the toughestpart is the retraining and then
if somebody works their way up,you know, kind of keeping'em
attentive to everything thatthey're working on so they're
not going out and breaking stuffor, you know, scalping the crap
out of something because they'renot paying attention.
Trent Manning (07:47):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that's, I don't, it's alwaysa struggle,
Tanner Knudsen (07:51):
is really is.
Trent Manning (07:52):
try training new people and yeah.
Do you have any I special tipsfor training new
Tanner Knudsen (08:00):
I mean, you don't ever get anything outta
yelling at somebody.
So I would say just try to stayas absolutely calm.
Even if they make a reallyboneheaded mistake, take it as a
learning experience.
I mean, that's all they're gonnado.
99% of these seasonals that arecoming in have zero interest of
doing this the rest of theirlife.
There's no reason of houndingthem and making'em feel terrible
(08:23):
about a mistake that, and it'sgrass, it's gonna grow back.
You know, it's, I would just saystay calm, be persistent, and
don't blow up on somebody justbecause you're having a bad day
either, you know?
Trent Manning (08:36):
Yeah, no, that's great advice for sure.
Easier said than done
Tanner Knudsen (08:40):
much easier said than done.
Trent Manning (08:42):
all depends on what else is breaking around
you.
But yeah, I mean a lot of us areguilty of it, but yeah, try to
keep a cool head in thosesituations.
What's your favorite tool?
Tanner Knudsen (08:56):
it depends on the day.
Later in the season like this,we get these cold overnights.
Right now, I love my littleMilwaukee portable air
compressor for filling tires.
Trent Manning (09:05):
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (09:06):
The greatest thing of all time beets, filling
up those portable air tanks anddraining'em down on one tire,
this thing is just a lifesaver.
So right now that's it.
I'm sure in the next comingmonths it'll be.
Either my grease gun for doingall my winterizing of everything
and making sure everything'sgood, but I would say right now
(09:27):
is that portable air compressoris amazing.
Trent Manning (09:31):
Those are super handy and.
So we got one, I don't know howlong we've had it, and it's it's
the 12 volt, so it takes aminute, you know, it's not yeah.
Which one are you using?
Tanner Knudsen (09:43):
have the 18?
Trent Manning (09:44):
18?
I probably should upgrade to the18.
Luckily we don't have a ton ofissues, but it's so much easier
than the stupid air tank.
If I could tell you how manytimes I've filled an air tank
up, drug it across the shop, oryou know, out to cold storage
and yeah, that's
Tanner Knudsen (10:05):
Yeah.
And the greatest feature on thisis you set your PSI on it, and
then you hit start and itdoesn't stop until it hits.
So if you have a bead that'sbroken.
You can start jacking up,playing with the beat and it's
still constantly filling.
It's just, it's great.
And that air tank, as soon asit's out, I mean, you're just
SOL
Trent Manning (10:22):
Oh, right, right.
Yeah.
You're going back to the shop.
I'm filling it back up.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah, whoever thought of thatwas a great invention.
Tanner Knudsen (10:31):
Absolutely.
Trent Manning (10:32):
all do y'all do for winter maintenance or you
know, to winterize equipment?
Tanner Knudsen (10:39):
so I'm lucky enough now we just got a brand
new facility built.
Got the keys April 1st, Ibelieve, of this year.
So we're kind of in a good spotnow.
We can probably fit everythinginside of a climate control.
But before it was kind of bad.
You had to make sure everything,either Kant was gonna hold.
Really check on gas and makesure it was either filled or
(11:01):
stabilize it.
But for the most part, it's justgoing through washing
everything, getting everythingclean, and then filling every
single possible crevice withgrease or something to prevent
rust.
That's a huge one.
That fluctuation and building ofhumidity when stuff is heating
up and cooling down, it justseems to kill any form of raw
(11:21):
metal.
Trent Manning (11:23):
Yeah, when I noticed when I was up there
driving around like Chad Brown,I'm pretty sure Austin had it at
Sand Valley, like indoorpressure washer areas where you
could really clean stuff and hotpressure washer,
Tanner Knudsen (11:38):
Yeah.
So we,
Trent Manning (11:39):
that at your new
Tanner Knudsen (11:40):
that was a key component to building.
Yeah, we, so we have an electricmount pressure washer.
Kind of a smaller PSI 1200 to1400.
But it's high gallon per minute,so it'll throw a lot of water at
it with quite a bit of pressure.
But then for fine d detailing,we do have a 3,600 PSI heated
hot seat
Trent Manning (11:59):
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (11:59):
washer.
Trent Manning (12:01):
Yeah, I've seen in my travels quite a few of the
hot seats.
I think that's a popular brand.
Tanner Knudsen (12:06):
they're amazing.
Trent Manning (12:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very cool.
What do you do to relax or findyour balance?
Tanner Knudsen (12:13):
this time of the year, I love to hunt, do a lot
of deer hunting.
Being in Wisconsin, we havethree seasons now.
It's kind of obnoxious, butwe'll get the week before
Thanksgiving and then they do aholiday hunt that's just
antlerless.
And then just after the first ofthe year is another one.
We're all rifle.
Otherwise, I don't archery hunt.
I don't have the time for it.
Being at a golf course.
(12:35):
But yeah, I love to hunt.
And then middle of summer I doplay golf.
I'm one of the suckers, so I tryto hit the ball around as many
times or as least as many timesas I can and one round of golf.
But yeah, those are kind ofthings.
And I got three kids, so I'malways chasing them around too,
Trent Manning (12:51):
yeah, that's that'll keep you
Tanner Knudsen (12:53):
and that's very busy
Trent Manning (12:54):
three kids for sure.
But I do think, you know, Idon't play personally, I mean,
the.
I mean, the last like year ortwo, I've thought more and more
maybe you should try this again.
But I just, I hadn't bit it off.
But I do think it's good to playand to play your own course.
Tanner Knudsen (13:14):
Yep.
Trent Manning (13:14):
you know, you see it from almost a different set
of eyes
Tanner Knudsen (13:18):
yeah, absolutely.
When you're playing, you'll.
I mean, when you're drivingaround and not, you'll notice
like blemishes and be like, ohman, that looks terrible or
whatever.
Oh, you can really see the aftercut effect.
And I hate the way that mower'scutting.
You'll spend hours, you know,trying to fine tune it.
And when you're playing golf,you don't notice any of it.
The only
Trent Manning (13:37):
Oh, really?
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (13:38):
So it's kind of good to have that secondary, I
mean, obviously we'll noticelike slow greens or stuff like
that and be like, ah, we betterlook at either lowering cut or
roll it again or something.
Maybe.
But you definitely don't notice.
The little things that whenyou're just driving around
checking everything you, I mean,that's the only thing your eyes
are glued to.
So it is good to have thatsecondary view.
Trent Manning (14:01):
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Yep.
been one of your biggestchallenges?
Tanner Knudsen (14:05):
I mean, with the new facility, I guess changing
over and getting reorganized wasa pretty big challenge.
It took a little while to dothat.
And then fine tuning.
So I took this place over from aguy who's here for, I think it
was 46 years.
So he was set in his ways aboutthe way he fixed stuff and stuff
like that.
(14:26):
So the last couple of yearsbeing here, really going through
and making things the way I wantthem and producing a product
that, that I'm proud of hasprobably been my biggest
challenge here.
Trent Manning (14:37):
No, that's awesome though.
I mean that, how involved wereyou with the design of the new
facility and all that kind ofstuff?
Tanner Knudsen (14:44):
so we actually my director grounds John
Cameron.
He kind of got the blueprintsfrom the Town and Country Club
down where Chad Brown's at, andthen we just expanded it.
So we made it 10 feet deeper.
Might be a hair longer, but Ithink we're the same.
So we just kinda roughed it offof that.
And then I got to really designthe layout of the shop area.
(15:05):
So I got two new lifts, a lifttable put in two new grinders,
fully grinders, and then I founda bridge crane off of eBay.
And we put that up just in the,yeah, in the grinding room.
So the grinding room, I can shutthe door, fully isolate myself
and it's awesome area.
Really.
It'll be really nice thiswinter.
First year
Trent Manning (15:25):
Yeah.
No, that is so cool.
How much was the bridge crane?
I'm just curious.
Tanner Knudsen (15:29):
I think we got it shipped to our door for
$4,000.
Trent Manning (15:34):
no way.
Tanner Knudsen (15:35):
Yeah, so I can't remember the company.
It was out of Indiana, but Ifound it off of eBay and I
messaged the guy and I was like,Hey, I just need to know the
dimensions to see if it'll fitin here.
And it was a hair too wide.
And I said, oh, it's not gonnawork.
Unfortunately, it's six inchestoo wide.
And he goes, oh, you can justtake a saw and cut those down.
It won't ever affect it.
(15:56):
I was like, oh, would do youhave any room for a little
discount if I order it throughyou?
He goes, oh yeah, I'll knock1500 bucks off of it for you and
I'll figure out shipping andwe'll just go from there.
It'll be like 4,000 bucks.
I was like, perfect.
Trent Manning (16:08):
That is awesome.
Yeah.
And yeah, if for the listenersGoogle it, if you don't know
what a bridge crane is and
Tanner Knudsen (16:19):
best tool when it comes to moving reels around.
You'll ever have.
Trent Manning (16:24):
yeah.
No, it is so handy and it isfunny.
So I've really pushed it with mydirector and we got one.
For the mechanic there.
He's, well I think he justturned 60 this year.
But you know, he is had a badback, you know, for the last 10
years and reels are not good foryour back
Tanner Knudsen (16:45):
No.
Trent Manning (16:46):
So anyway, I was pushing this thing and it got
approved and we installed it andhe was a little leery about it.
He was like, yeah, that's cool.
You know, whatever.
And I'm trying to think how longhe's had it.
He's had it for probably six orseven years.
And you asked him today, that'shis favorite
Tanner Knudsen (17:05):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (17:06):
I mean, he just loves it.
He's I use this thing for allkind of stuff.
I seen him he had a fly mo, hehad it hooked on the handle of
the fly mo and then picked thefly mo up to set it on the
table.
Tanner Knudsen (17:19):
Sure.
Trent Manning (17:20):
yeah, hey, why not?
You know, you got it.
Use it.
So, yeah, I mean this isawesome.
So you can get pretty creativeon all the things you can pick
up with a bridge
Tanner Knudsen (17:29):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (17:31):
Yeah.
Good stuff.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
Tanner Knudsen (17:36):
Not, I mean, my grandpa has been a huge mentor.
He is not in the industry, but Istill call him if I have any
sort of an engine question.
He's just a wealth of knowledge.
Trent Manning (17:45):
That's awesome.
Tanner Knudsen (17:47):
being in Minnesota I have met Austin,
right?
He's been amazing.
I get to bounce a lot ofquestions off of him and Chad
Braun here too.
I've called Chad about a ton ofstuff.
So in the industry, those twoare probably the two greatest
assets I know of.
And then Tyler Lewellen atSpring Hill, I've gotten to know
(18:07):
him the last year.
We, him, Chad Austin and myselfare actually start or have
started a EM committee throughour local GCSA chapter.
Trent Manning (18:18):
Oh, nice.
Awesome.
Tanner Knudsen (18:19):
them three guys have been amazing.
For any sort of questions I havethat they're, all three of'em
are a wealth of knowledge forsure.
Trent Manning (18:30):
Yeah, I mean, definitely the three of them is,
yeah, like there's not, probablynot a whole lot.
They don't know.
Tanner Knudsen (18:36):
Right, exactly.
Trent Manning (18:37):
Yeah.
So yeah.
That's awesome.
I don't know.
I just love, I mean, obviously Ilove it, but that's why I'm
doing this podcast, I guess.
But I love surrounding myselfwith these other individuals in
our industry that I consider atthe top of their game, and I
(18:58):
mean, it's just really fun totalk to and, you know, even if
you're having a bad day youknow, just.
Hey, can you believe whathappened here today?
And they're like, oh, I know.
I, yeah, that drives me crazy.
You know, Howard Horn, I've hadhim on before and he's a close
friend of mine and we talk, Imean, once a week probably.
(19:22):
Yeah.
And most of the time that's whatit was.
Like, you believe what thisknucklehead did today?
It's I don't know.
But I mean, just like you'resaying, you go back to training.
And you've trained how manypeople over the last, you know,
for like me and him, you've beendoing this for 30 years or going
on it, you know, how many peoplehave we trained to do this and
(19:46):
this guy or person did not getthe memo, you know, and messed
it up?
I mean, I don't, you know, itdefinitely can be frustrating at
times, but that's when we go outand ride around on the course.
Tanner Knudsen (19:59):
Yep, exactly.
Trent Manning (20:02):
And take a deep breath.
What would be your dream job oropportunity?
Tanner Knudsen (20:07):
I mean, I love where I'm at right now, so I
haven't even thought about thefuture to be honest with you.
To work at a facility that's inthe midst of doing some sort of
huge event, I think would be funjust to try it out or to go
south and maybe this is a reallybad answer, but go south, my
last superintendent's down atJohn's Islands Club.
(20:27):
And he's sent me pictures whenthey're aerating that golf
course and it's, you look at it,it looks like a war zone and I
think it'd be cool to go andexperience it once.
So I would guess maybe it's nota dream, but to go and see what
an operation at, like a major ora really high end facility looks
like compared to where I'm at.
(20:47):
And to see what a truedemolition of a golf course does
would be kind of.
Trent Manning (20:54):
Yeah.
Going to TPC Sawgrass and what?
And volunteering at the playersor something.
I mean, that is a machine down
Tanner Knudsen (21:04):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (21:05):
and they have, I don't, probably 200 volunteers.
Tanner Knudsen (21:08):
Oh, that would be insane.
Trent Manning (21:09):
and the amount of equipment they had, I mean, it
is crazy to see what all theydo.
You know, and not saying they'rebetter than anybody else, but it
is truly amazing to see all themoving parts in that operation.
Tanner Knudsen (21:26):
And to have it be successful with all those
moving parts is
Trent Manning (21:29):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know how they pull itoff.
Yeah.
Every year.
Every year, you know, I remembertalking to Ralph Keppel when he
was at East Lake and they werehaving the tour Championship
every year, and at one point, Idon't know if it was late
nineties, early two thousands,they were having it every other
(21:50):
year.
And then they went to a pointwhere they were having it every
year and he said, well, I reallywould like to go back to having
it every other year doing thisevery year.
I mean, because soon as.
over, you start preparing fornext year.
Tanner Knudsen (22:06):
Right.
Trent Manning (22:06):
You know, it's just a constant grind.
Yeah.
But the guys down in Florida,they don't really get a
Tanner Knudsen (22:14):
Never
Trent Manning (22:14):
I mean, they're wide open all the time.
Tommy Richie said one time thatthey work 13 months outta the
year in Florida,
Tanner Knudsen (22:23):
yeah.
Trent Manning (22:23):
I believe it.
I mean, it's crazy the amount ofwork they do down there.
Do you have a technician youwould like to work with for a
day?
Tanner Knudsen (22:32):
I had the honor of working with Austin Wright at
the US Amateur when he hosted atHazelton.
That was really fun experience.
I've been over to Chad Brounshop while he is grinding, and I
mean, how meticulous that guy issomething everybody needs to
experience, honestly.
Trent Manning (22:47):
huh.
Tanner Knudsen (22:49):
yeah I met JR Wilson at Phoenix.
I mean, the stuff he works onoutside of the golf, like the
robotic stuff and stuff likethat, would be awesome to go out
and
Trent Manning (22:59):
Oh Yeah.
Tanner Knudsen (23:00):
and do everything he does.
So, I would say JR Wilson BrianLin, I met him.
He came and visited the shopwith Chad.
I'd love to go down and spend acouple days with him.
Brian's a sweet dude.
Trent Manning (23:11):
Oh yeah.
Yep.
Tanner Knudsen (23:12):
So those would probably be the two guys I
haven't got to deal with.
That'd be really fun.
Trent Manning (23:17):
Yeah, that'd be so much fun.
JR.
He is always into something too.
It's just crazy because he wasmaking his own sub air, like
making the fan motors get,sending'em off, getting'em
balanced.
he had, I don't, whatever youwould call it, a mold or
something to do the fiberglasscover that went over.
(23:40):
The precision air units orwhatever.
I mean, it's just crazy.
Dude what do you not do
Tanner Knudsen (23:47):
my, my mind doesn't work that way, so it'd
be cool to watch somebody elsedo it.
Trent Manning (23:51):
I, yeah.
Well, I remember seeing in hisshop, he had, and maybe I've
told this story again, but so ifI tell too many of the same
stories over and over again,maybe somebody will call me out
on it.
And if they call me out, I'llstop telling the story.
But he had a drill press with abench grinder mounted to the
drill press, and I'm like, whatis this contraption for?
(24:15):
And he said, oh, this is forsharpening green teeth.
So it's a round stump grindertooth.
Tanner Knudsen (24:22):
Okay.
Trent Manning (24:23):
And so you put it in the drill press and you get
it turning slow, and then youuse the quill and pull it down
to the grinding stone, and thebench grinder's set up at the
right angle and it grinds thestone, or, you know, res
sharpens the tooth, which is,you know, I'm like, how'd you
come up with this?
(24:44):
You know?
I don't know.
This is crazy.
but yeah, he would be a gooddude to spend some time with.
I hope to be able to I'msupposed to go speak in New
England in March, so I'm gonnatry to get by Jr's and spend a
little time on Long Island.
Not in the busy season
Tanner Knudsen (25:03):
Not,
Trent Manning (25:04):
and yeah, in the winter
Tanner Knudsen (25:05):
bring a jacket.
Trent Manning (25:07):
Yeah.
Yep, for sure.
What do you know now you wishyou'd known on day one?
Tanner Knudsen (25:14):
probably touching back to training in
just staying more level headedand calm.
It's just grass.
Everything we're dealing with isjust grass.
It grows back one way, shape orform.
So there's no reason to loseyour cool about stuff or get
angry and.
And don't, definitely don't holdanything in against somebody,
you know, don't hold or stufflike that.
Just let it go and move on andmove forward.
Trent Manning (25:38):
Yeah, talk it out.
You know, if you're havingfriction with somebody, just
yeah, talk about it.
And I mean it, I guess maybeit's cliche or maybe it sounds
crazy, but open, honestcommunication is the best way to
communicate with somebody andyou know, and you would think,
(26:00):
oh, well that's so obvious.
Everybody knows that.
And maybe everybody does knowthat, but everybody doesn't do
that.
Tanner Knudsen (26:08):
Right.
Trent Manning (26:09):
And it'd be just a whole lot easier.
And I mean, I'm guilty just, youknow, as much as anybody else.
And always thinking thatsomebody's reaction has
something to do with me andtaking that personal.
(26:29):
That they reacted in a negativeway or whatever it is.
And it might not have anythingto do with me.
Tanner Knudsen (26:37):
Right.
Trent Manning (26:38):
You know, it might be something they're
dealing with, right?
Because we're all dealing withpersonal stuff, you know, who
knows what's going on or what'sgoing through.
Especially my mind.
I'm as bad as JR likesquirreling around.
Who knows what I'm thinkingabout when you ask me a
question.
So if I don't give you theresponse that you're,
anticipating that might be why.
(26:59):
'cause I'm thinking about whoknows what, maybe I'm thinking
about sharpening green teeth ona drill press with a bench
grinder.
Who knows?
Tanner Knudsen (27:08):
Or figuring out how he ever thought about that.
Trent Manning (27:10):
Right?
Yeah, exactly.
How do you deal with thatperson?
Tanner Knudsen (27:14):
Oh, I mean,
Trent Manning (27:16):
way to deal with somebody like that.
Tanner Knudsen (27:18):
just walk'em through and try to have every
moment be a teachable moment.
If they're really that person,then maybe just sit'em down side
away from everybody and figureout what their.
Mindset was in the moment that'scausing them to be that person,
if you know what I mean.
Just get down to the basics ofit.
If they're not knowing what'sthey're supposed to do or if
(27:42):
they're misunderstood on whatthey're supposed to be doing,
just talk.
That's all you gotta do is justtalk to anybody and be cool as a
cucumber and figure out how toresolve the situation with him
and just move forward.
Trent Manning (27:58):
No, that's good.
Get ready for tips and tricksWhat kind of tips or tricks you
got, you wanna share?
Tanner Knudsen (28:05):
Oh man.
Trent Manning (28:06):
What's some of your favorite ones here?
Tanner Knudsen (28:09):
I mean, one of the favorite ones I always use
is whenever you get a tire inthat's been all morphed or
whatever, they all send tiresnow just completely squashed.
Keep an old crappy tube layingaround that doesn't have a bunch
of pinhole leaks in it, and youthrow it inside there and
inflate it up, and then put aratchet strap around the center
of that tire and throw it out inthe sun and let it bake for a
(28:31):
little while.
It should come back to life.
That's a pretty good tip I'velearned.
Another one nasty hydrauliclines.
If you can't get'em bust loose.
I use a brass hammer and I justbang on it a couple times.
If you can't, then an air hammerworks too.
Just make sure you don't mar itup Too bad.
But those are the two ones thatI've kind of learned along the
way that some people don't knowabout.
Trent Manning (28:53):
Yeah.
No, I think that's a really goodone.
I saw this.
I still.
Can't hardly believe what I saw,but it was a rusted bolt and
nut.
And this guy, I don't, I meanthis was in The Bahamas and they
do stuff a little different inThe Bahamas, but the guy, he had
(29:15):
to be 70, maybe 75.
Garfield was his name.
Austin?
Yeah.
But he started taking a chiselthat, I mean, it was not a sharp
chisel by any means, but he waschiseling the nut and finally
got it to break loose.
Basically what you're saying, Ithink with the air hammer,
(29:35):
that's what made me think ofthis with an air hammer or
taking a brass hammer andhitting the nut of the fitting.
Right.
Just that friction to, or theshock, I guess.
To get it to jar loose.
Back to my story with the, wellguys.
So when they pull, you know, thesticks of pipe are 20 feet long,
(29:58):
they go down in the well.
So they pull it up and they gois a coupler there.
They'll take a sledgehammer andthey'll beat that coupler about
five times before they try tobreak it loose.
And it's, you know, that shockof hitting it with a hammer
kinda loosens everything inthere.
You know, and freeze it up.
So just to your point of ahammer or an air hammer or
(30:22):
whatever,
Tanner Knudsen (30:23):
Yeah.
Any, yeah, like you said, the,just the pure shock will bust a
lot of stuff loose.
And saving a lot of time.
Trent Manning (30:30):
yep.
Just to jar it loose.
So anyway, good.
Good stuff good tips and tricks.
Do you wanna talk about gettingyour C 10
Tanner Knudsen (30:38):
Yeah, we can.
Trent Manning (30:39):
was like?
Tanner Knudsen (30:40):
Yeah.
It was actually very smooth.
Being in a new facility reallyhelped stuff.
Trent Manning (30:45):
Oh yeah, I'm
Tanner Knudsen (30:46):
Yeah.
I got the rubric from Dianabefore we kind of got in the
door of this facility, so wekind of actually.
I should say more or less reallymade a lot of decisions about
where stuff would be placed andthe organization and the safety
stuff based around the rubricitself.
So I kind of built the place inmy area, I should say laid out
(31:11):
the stuff according to the CE.
So all the signage, ventilation,anything like that was on the
rubric was knocked out before weeven started building.
Trent Manning (31:22):
Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No smart too.
Very good.
Tanner Knudsen (31:27):
I mean that being the goal in mind, I had my
level two already completedbefore we broke ground, so I
knew I was gonna try for itwithin the next year or so
anyways, so it made it veryhelpful.
Building a new facility, and Imean, it opened our eyes.
We got new fuel tanks and younever really think about
emergency shutoff or.
What code would be on it.
(31:48):
You just kinda ask either theelectrician or the builder who's
putting it in.
And both of'em were kind ofdumbfounded.
So I called over to the localfire department and just asked
what they needed and then theelectrician didn't even think
about it either, and he was justgonna put straight conduit in to
power it.
And he found it had to bebombproof conduit even to wire
Trent Manning (32:08):
wow.
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (32:09):
pumps.
So he kinda learned some stuffand then I kinda learned some
stuff too.
So it was.
An eyeopening experience goingthrough CTE, definitely worth
it.
Even if you don't have the goal,you know, doing the CT EM at the
end goal, but doing level oneand two is really informative,
(32:30):
to say the least.
I would for sure look into doinglevel one and two at the bare
minimum.
Trent Manning (32:35):
Yeah, for sure.
And I think even, yeah, even ifyou don't care anything about
getting your CT a m, go to thewebsite, print off the rubric,
and just go through it.
Because it's gonna make yourfacility better and safer for
you and everybody else workingin there,
Tanner Knudsen (32:55):
Yep.
Trent Manning (32:55):
you know?
And if you can't afford to doevery single thing on there,
fine you know, but you can, wedid design that so you don't
have to be at an A level clubwith a super high end budget to
be able to pass that part ofthe, you know, the testing.
(33:16):
So a lot of stuff you know, youcan do for on the cheap, but
yeah, you might need to buy somemoney and get a s spill kit.
But the other thing
Tanner Knudsen (33:26):
That's normally the most expensive stuff, is the
little things.
I mean, You can go out andsource 80 to 90% of it either
through a Facebook marketplaceor eBay or something like that,
and get something used.
That's gonna work for likeflammable cabinets.
That was, we found three of'em,two or three of'em for sale on
Facebook.
Marketplace for dirt cheap.
(33:48):
They don't need to look pretty,I don't care.
As long as they're holding stuffand if it catches fire, it's
gonna contain it.
And it's all about how the thingworks.
It doesn't matter how it looks.
Yeah, the most, I think the most
Trent Manning (33:59):
the other thing.
Tanner Knudsen (34:00):
on was the spill kit.
Trent Manning (34:01):
The other thing with that is we had a flammable
cabinet that looked terrible andwe repainted it,
Tanner Knudsen (34:09):
Oh
Trent Manning (34:10):
and then I bought, you know, and I bought
the stickers and put, you know,fresh stickers on it.
And I mean, it looks great, youknow, I mean, so especially if
you have some time in thewinter, like a lot of clubs do.
I mean, you can knock some ofthat stuff out.
Tanner Knudsen (34:29):
Yeah, for sure.
Trent Manning (34:30):
So, yeah, highly recommend it for sure.
And I think that's super coolthat you use the rubric to help
you design the maintenancefacility.
I mean, smart on you for doingthat too.
And I, we should find out GCSAprobably has the number of how
many man hours slash Kayla wason some of those calls.
(34:54):
So.
You know what I'm saying?
How many hours was spentdeveloping the rubric?
Because, you know, I mean, Idon't know.
There was probably 15 of us,maybe,
Tanner Knudsen (35:09):
Okay.
Trent Manning (35:10):
I mean, maybe even a few.
You know, there was definitely,you know, probably seven or
eight that carried most of theload, but there was, you know,
another seven or eight that was.
Dipping in and out of some ofthe meetings and coming up with
ideas and I mean, it was a superfun process developing that.
(35:33):
And I mean, it's just like anyother thing that I've went
through you know, I learned justas much as anybody else probably
through that process
Tanner Knudsen (35:44):
Oh yeah, I believe
Trent Manning (35:44):
get to hear, you know, different viewpoints.
Well, just for instance, like JRwas on a lot of the calls and
he's a volunteer firefighter onLong Island and the other thing
on Long Island, the staterequires them to have fire
suppression over any fuel pump.
So even the fuel pump?
Tanner Knudsen (36:05):
even if it's outdoors.
Trent Manning (36:07):
Yeah.
Outdoors and what?
It was crazy.
So when I went to visit him, allthe gas stations, they have fire
suppression over the fuel pumps.
Tanner Knudsen (36:17):
Wow.
Trent Manning (36:18):
I mean, it's, you know, I don't know.
I thought that was kind ofcrazy.
But you know, getting to justlearn about that and how that
works and, you know, everythingelse is it was a fun process for
sure.
You wanna do some rapid fire?
Tanner Knudsen (36:37):
Yeah, let's go for it.
Trent Manning (36:40):
What's your favorite movie?
Tanner Knudsen (36:42):
I love Happy Gilmore Movies.
I or Adam Sandler movies, Ishould say Happy Gilmore is
number one.
Billy Madison's number two.
Even like big Daddy, all theAdam
Trent Manning (36:51):
Oh yeah.
He is great.
Really good.
What would be your last meal?
Tanner Knudsen (36:56):
I love media or yeah, medium rare filet, some
potatoes, asparagus.
Carrots and I love my grandma'smashed potatoes.
Probably it has to be in there.
She leaves just a little bit oflumps in'em.
She'd kill me if I said that andshe heard it, but I just love
the way she makes mashedpotatoes is just the best.
Trent Manning (37:15):
that's awesome.
Good stuff.
Nothing like grandma's cooking,
Tanner Knudsen (37:18):
Nothing like grandma's cooking.
Trent Manning (37:21):
What are you most proud of besides your family?
Tanner Knudsen (37:24):
I gotta brag about the facility that we
created over here.
Having a brand new facility, Imean, gracious, that the members
were willing to fork out themoney for the bill, but the way
it turned out got a lot ofcompliments about everything.
We're really proud of how thisplace turned out.
Trent Manning (37:41):
No, that's super cool.
That's awesome.
Have you had people coming byand checking it out since y'all
opened up other
Tanner Knudsen (37:47):
did a full.
Champagne toast, open House,probably four or five months
after we opened up.
So at first, first Deep Cleanfor the shop too.
It was kind of nice.
But yeah, they, a lot of membersdidn't see the old place.
So our golf course was built in1949, opened in 1951, and
(38:08):
there's a photo up in theclubhouse of opening day,
looking back on one of theholes.
And you can see the shop that Iwas working out of in the
background.
Trent Manning (38:16):
Oh, no way.
Tanner Knudsen (38:17):
Yeah, it was probably a maybe 2000 square
foot heated area and thenanother 2000 square foot cold
storage, and it was terriblemouse infested insulation
falling off the thing.
Asbestos in the windows, thewhole nine yards.
Terrible facility.
So to go from that to this isjust amazing morale booster.
(38:38):
It's just awesome.
Trent Manning (38:40):
Oh, for sure.
No, that is, yeah.
Super cool.
I was thinking too, do, have youhad any industry people, other
golf course mechanics or
Tanner Knudsen (38:49):
We, we've had two or three facilities, I think
swing in just their E two EMShave come by.
And Chad Braun and Brian Lincame in before we really got the
keys.
Yeah, but one other golf coursewhere the superintendent
assistant came in to kind of getan idea of how they wanted to
build theirs.
And then our local chapter, theMinnesota Golf Course
(39:11):
Superintendent's Association,they do shop tours every winter.
So we'll have the fir, or thelast stop of this year's shop
tours will be coming here thisyear.
Trent Manning (39:19):
Ah, sweet.
Tanner Knudsen (39:21):
a big tour sometime in February, maybe
January or February or somethingin there.
Trent Manning (39:26):
Okay.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Is your chapter, or you and Chadand Austin, are y'all getting
multiple things set upthroughout the year for
Tanner Knudsen (39:40):
Yeah, so we have actually the 20th of November
we're doing an autonomous mowerclass.
Chad is actually hosting, it'llbe down at Town and Country.
So that'll be an EM based eventthat we're kind of building off
of.
And then this year you spoke atour mega seminar last year, I
believe.
Trent Manning (39:59):
Yes.
Tanner Knudsen (40:00):
so that kind of fed off after you came.
We're really adding on to the EMportion of the mega seminar.
So we're gonna do kind of ahands-on learning class the
first half of the first day, andthen Mike Rollins is supposed to
come in and teach.
Later that day as well.
So we'll have
Trent Manning (40:20):
Okay, cool.
Tanner Knudsen (40:22):
him talking.
And then the first half of themorning session is just gonna be
real managing practices, thebest managing practices for
real.
So we'll have a rep from JohnDeere, a rep from Toro, and a
rep from Jacobson come in andteach everybody the nitty
gritty.
Not so much the in depth stuff,but you know how to mount a bed
bar properly.
Torque specs, just areas ofthat, and do a kind of a broad
(40:44):
teaching class.
Trent Manning (40:46):
Okay.
Yeah, that'll be super fun.
Tanner Knudsen (40:49):
Yeah, Austin coming over from Wisconsin and
how in depth they were throughtheir chapter has really been
helpful in growing the littlecommunity that we have right
now.
Trent Manning (40:59):
That's so cool.
I mean, I don't, it just warmsmy heart every time I hear about
these groups, like y'all'sgetting together.
I mean, Brian Lin when he was inNebraska, him and Jordan Roth, I
got some stuff going withtechnicians down there and I
mean, it's just really coolthat's happening all over the
country.
I don't know if the ColoradoRockies, you know, or the Rocky
(41:24):
Mountains, you know, block stufffrom coming this way and we just
don't hear about it, or they'renot doing anything, you know, on
west of the Rockies.
I, you know, I don't know what'shappening out there.
And I do know you know, Montanaand Wyoming and those places,
it's just so spread out, youknow, and there's so few
courses.
(41:44):
It's hard for.
Those guys to get together.
But us over here on the eastside of the Rockies, we're
making strides.
And they're doing stuff in Texastoo, like Tony and some of the
guys down there gettingtogether.
I mean, it's really good what'shappening all over the country.
I love to hear it.
Well, tell the listeners howthey can get ahold of you an
(42:06):
email or
Tanner Knudsen (42:08):
Yeah, my email is.
Trent Manning (42:09):
Twitter or
Tanner Knudsen (42:10):
I do have a Twitter.
I don't even know what my handleis but my email is tanner at
north oaks golf club.com.
I'll reply to anybody that getsahold of me.
I throw out my number, but Idon't know if you want that or
not.
Trent Manning (42:22):
Nah, I don't,
Tanner Knudsen (42:24):
I'll try to
Trent Manning (42:25):
yeah I get enough spam calls already.
I don't want, you know, I, notthat people listening to this
would do that, but yeah whoknows?
I put out.
Tanner Knudsen (42:36):
at Tanner Knutson one.
Then my name is Tanner KnutsonCEM.
So it'll be pretty hard to missthat one.
Trent Manning (42:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool man.
Well awesome.
Thank you so much for being on.
This has been a blast as always.
Tanner Knudsen (42:49):
thanks a ton for having me.
Hopefully we can catch up downin Orlando.
Trent Manning (42:55):
For sure.
I think Orlando is gonna besomething really special.
And I'm getting older and Ican't remember numbers as good,
but I know we had the most EMsigned up last year in San
Diego.
And San Diego is not mostpopular show.
Tanner Knudsen (43:15):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (43:15):
You know, especially for all the East
Coast people, because it'sreally expensive to get out
there.
The hotels are expensive.
Everything's expensive.
So a lot of people from the Eastcoast don't go to San Diego for
that reason, but they go toOrlando, so I'm, I mean, I think
it was 176 or something likethat, em signed up for San
(43:38):
Diego.
I think we'll be well over 200this time.
Tanner Knudsen (43:42):
Sweet.
I can't wait.
Trent Manning (43:44):
Yeah.
I can't wait.
It's gonna be so good.
Tanner Knudsen (43:47):
Awesome.
Trent Manning (43:48):
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 thisepisode are real turf techs on
golf course industriesSuperintendent radio network is
(01:15):
presented by Foley county astrong supporter of equipment
technicians and golf coursemaintenance departments
everywhere Foley county offers aproven solution for above and
below the turf for turfprofessionals To learn more
about Foley company's line ofreal grinders bed knife grinders
(01:36):
and the air to G2 family ofproducts or to find a
distributor visit www dot FoleyC o.com Foley Ready for play
Welcome to The Reel Turf TechsPodcast, episode 1 55.
Today we're talking to TannerKnudsen, CTEM, equipment Manager
(02:01):
at North Oaks Golf Club in NorthOaks, Minnesota.
North Oaks is a private 18 holegolf club.
Tanner's the sole mechanic inthe shop.
They primarily have Toroequipment.
Let's talk to Tanner.
Tanner Knudsen (02:14):
Let's go.
Trent Manning (02:15):
Welcome, Tanner to the Real Turf Text podcast.
Thanks for coming on.
Tanner Knudsen (02:19):
Thanks for having me.
Trent Manning (02:21):
We already talked for 20 minutes, I think before
we got started here.
Tanner Knudsen (02:25):
Yeah, it's been a little bit.
We got to get to know each othera little bit better.
Trent Manning (02:29):
That's right.
You made the mistake of askingme a question that you didn't
really care about, so I justspent 20 minutes telling you a
long, boring story, but it wasfun for me.
Tanner Knudsen (02:39):
I love hearing every story, Trent.
Trent Manning (02:41):
All right.
Okay.
Good.
Good.
We're gonna get along.
Great.
Tanner Knudsen (02:44):
Perfect.
Trent Manning (02:45):
Tell us how you got into the turf industry.
Tanner Knudsen (02:47):
so I kind of fell into the turf industry.
My goal kind of growing up wasto be a small engine repair guy,
and my grandpa owned a shop.
Out of outskirts little town inWisconsin called Ellsworth.
So my goal is just to work withhim.
I went to school for marine andsmall engine repair and worked
for him for about seven yearsand then transferred to Hennepin
(03:09):
County for a sentence to serviceprogram.
So just a big landscapingprogram.
But one of the towns they workedfor was the city of Golden
Valley.
And the city of Golden Valleyowns a municipality golf course
called Brookview.
And after working for HennepinCounty for about three years and
opening at the Brookview GolfCourse came up and I just
(03:31):
applied for it.
Didn't really think anything ofit.
I played golf, so I thought it'dbe a cool change of pace instead
of working on 600 plus pieces ofequipment that were just weed
whips and push mowers to getinto something more.
Detail oriented, I guess wouldbe the path I was aiming for.
And they hired me.
(03:51):
I worked there for about fiveyears and the rest is history.
Now I'm at North Oaks Golf Clubprivate facility out of the
northeastern side of the TwinCities.
Trent Manning (04:00):
Oh, that's awesome.
So cool.
No, that's a really good.
Story.
So did you spend a lot of timein the shop with your grandpa
growing
Tanner Knudsen (04:11):
I worked for him for six or seven years and it
was very strictly like farmersbring in broken stuff, you know,
a lot of welding, fabricating.
So, and he kind of got into it.
Out of his garage and he grew itinto, you know, a shed that he
built on his property.
You know, never anything huge,but I mean, he is one of the
(04:34):
smartest guys I know.
I mean, he was big into dirtbike racing, so he would bore
out and create his own twostroke engines.
And it is just amazing the storyhe has and one of the biggest
fab projects he did.
Back in the day, they had theseKawasaki 750 cc triple two
stroke engines, and you couldbuy like a drag pipe kit that
(04:55):
went underneath while in hillclimbing that gets smashed while
he redesigned and fabricated andcut and twisted the pipes, and
really came out the frame upabove.
And he was really proud of that.
he still has a picture of it inthe shop, actually, but, so that
I don't know, I just kind ofgrew up watching him, you know,
go over, he'd see all the.
(05:16):
Used equipment sitting outthat's broken down in front of
his shop and it'd just be aconstant changeover.
And I just fell in love with theidea of fixing used old stuff, I
guess.
Trent Manning (05:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that's awesome.
And it's so cool and you get tospend, you know, extra time with
your grandpa
Tanner Knudsen (05:32):
Yeah.
Spent a lot of days with him.
It's great memories.
Trent Manning (05:36):
yeah.
I mean, that's so, so cool.
Just this yesterday we had apump company out a well company,
and they're pulling out a wellpump and it's this older guy and
a younger guy that, I mean, helooked like he was, I don't
know, early twenties orwhatever.
And, so anyway, I'm just talkingto him and the older guy's yeah,
(05:59):
I've been doing this, you know,whatever, 35 years or something.
And he says, this is my grandsonthat was working with him.
And I'm like, man, this grandsonis so lucky, you know, that
he's, and I watched him work.
I mean, they get along goodtogether.
And you know, the, it is funnythe grandpa he was doing all the
technical stuff.
(06:20):
But he was not straining himselfat all.
The grandson was doing all thework, but, you know, and I mean,
he's earned it, right?
Tanner Knudsen (06:28):
Oh Yeah, for sure.
Trent Manning (06:29):
yeah, of course.
So, I mean, I totally get it.
But it was really awesome to, toget to watch that that made my
heart happy for sure.
Do you have a least favoritepart of the job, or you just
love it all?
Tanner Knudsen (06:42):
I mean, everybody hates sand, right?
But.
I understand the reasons why ofit, you know, and we're not a
place right now where we aredumping loads and loads.
And if we do, I got two reallygood.
I have a superintendent and adirector of grounds, and they're
both very good about wateringand heavy.
So I would say the my leastfavorite part.
(07:04):
There's gotta be the thechangeover of seasonal
employees.
We get a lot of guys that don'tstick around.
We have a good year round staff.
We keep about seven guys on yearround, so they're solid.
But the changeover of seasonalsgets tough, the constant
training them in and get a lotof high school kids.
So they start a little bit laterand they end a little earlier.
(07:25):
Versus the college kids who getin here and they kind of stick
around through the whole season,but.
I would say that's the toughestpart is the retraining and then
if somebody works their way up,you know, kind of keeping'em
attentive to everything thatthey're working on so they're
not going out and breaking stuffor, you know, scalping the crap
out of something because they'renot paying attention.
Trent Manning (07:47):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that's, I don't, it's alwaysa struggle,
Tanner Knudsen (07:51):
is really is.
Trent Manning (07:52):
try training new people and yeah.
Do you have any I special tipsfor training new
Tanner Knudsen (08:00):
I mean, you don't ever get anything outta
yelling at somebody.
So I would say just try to stayas absolutely calm.
Even if they make a reallyboneheaded mistake, take it as a
learning experience.
I mean, that's all they're gonnado.
99% of these seasonals that arecoming in have zero interest of
doing this the rest of theirlife.
There's no reason of houndingthem and making'em feel terrible
(08:23):
about a mistake that, and it'sgrass, it's gonna grow back.
You know, it's, I would just saystay calm, be persistent, and
don't blow up on somebody justbecause you're having a bad day
either, you know?
Trent Manning (08:36):
Yeah, no, that's great advice for sure.
Easier said than done
Tanner Knudsen (08:40):
much easier said than done.
Trent Manning (08:42):
all depends on what else is breaking around
you.
But yeah, I mean a lot of us areguilty of it, but yeah, try to
keep a cool head in thosesituations.
What's your favorite tool?
Tanner Knudsen (08:56):
it depends on the day.
Later in the season like this,we get these cold overnights.
Right now, I love my littleMilwaukee portable air
compressor for filling tires.
Trent Manning (09:05):
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (09:06):
The greatest thing of all time beets, filling
up those portable air tanks anddraining'em down on one tire,
this thing is just a lifesaver.
So right now that's it.
I'm sure in the next comingmonths it'll be.
Either my grease gun for doingall my winterizing of everything
and making sure everything'sgood, but I would say right now
(09:27):
is that portable air compressoris amazing.
Trent Manning (09:31):
Those are super handy and.
So we got one, I don't know howlong we've had it, and it's it's
the 12 volt, so it takes aminute, you know, it's not yeah.
Which one are you using?
Tanner Knudsen (09:43):
have the 18?
Trent Manning (09:44):
18?
I probably should upgrade to the18.
Luckily we don't have a ton ofissues, but it's so much easier
than the stupid air tank.
If I could tell you how manytimes I've filled an air tank
up, drug it across the shop, oryou know, out to cold storage
and yeah, that's
Tanner Knudsen (10:05):
Yeah.
And the greatest feature on thisis you set your PSI on it, and
then you hit start and itdoesn't stop until it hits.
So if you have a bead that'sbroken.
You can start jacking up,playing with the beat and it's
still constantly filling.
It's just, it's great.
And that air tank, as soon asit's out, I mean, you're just
SOL
Trent Manning (10:22):
Oh, right, right.
Yeah.
You're going back to the shop.
I'm filling it back up.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah, whoever thought of thatwas a great invention.
Tanner Knudsen (10:31):
Absolutely.
Trent Manning (10:32):
all do y'all do for winter maintenance or you
know, to winterize equipment?
Tanner Knudsen (10:39):
so I'm lucky enough now we just got a brand
new facility built.
Got the keys April 1st, Ibelieve, of this year.
So we're kind of in a good spotnow.
We can probably fit everythinginside of a climate control.
But before it was kind of bad.
You had to make sure everything,either Kant was gonna hold.
Really check on gas and makesure it was either filled or
(11:01):
stabilize it.
But for the most part, it's justgoing through washing
everything, getting everythingclean, and then filling every
single possible crevice withgrease or something to prevent
rust.
That's a huge one.
That fluctuation and building ofhumidity when stuff is heating
up and cooling down, it justseems to kill any form of raw
(11:21):
metal.
Trent Manning (11:23):
Yeah, when I noticed when I was up there
driving around like Chad Brown,I'm pretty sure Austin had it at
Sand Valley, like indoorpressure washer areas where you
could really clean stuff and hotpressure washer,
Tanner Knudsen (11:38):
Yeah.
So we,
Trent Manning (11:39):
that at your new
Tanner Knudsen (11:40):
that was a key component to building.
Yeah, we, so we have an electricmount pressure washer.
Kind of a smaller PSI 1200 to1400.
But it's high gallon per minute,so it'll throw a lot of water at
it with quite a bit of pressure.
But then for fine d detailing,we do have a 3,600 PSI heated
hot seat
Trent Manning (11:59):
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (11:59):
washer.
Trent Manning (12:01):
Yeah, I've seen in my travels quite a few of the
hot seats.
I think that's a popular brand.
Tanner Knudsen (12:06):
they're amazing.
Trent Manning (12:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very cool.
What do you do to relax or findyour balance?
Tanner Knudsen (12:13):
this time of the year, I love to hunt, do a lot
of deer hunting.
Being in Wisconsin, we havethree seasons now.
It's kind of obnoxious, butwe'll get the week before
Thanksgiving and then they do aholiday hunt that's just
antlerless.
And then just after the first ofthe year is another one.
We're all rifle.
Otherwise, I don't archery hunt.
I don't have the time for it.
Being at a golf course.
(12:35):
But yeah, I love to hunt.
And then middle of summer I doplay golf.
I'm one of the suckers, so I tryto hit the ball around as many
times or as least as many timesas I can and one round of golf.
But yeah, those are kind ofthings.
And I got three kids, so I'malways chasing them around too,
Trent Manning (12:51):
yeah, that's that'll keep you
Tanner Knudsen (12:53):
and that's very busy
Trent Manning (12:54):
three kids for sure.
But I do think, you know, Idon't play personally, I mean,
the.
I mean, the last like year ortwo, I've thought more and more
maybe you should try this again.
But I just, I hadn't bit it off.
But I do think it's good to playand to play your own course.
Tanner Knudsen (13:14):
Yep.
Trent Manning (13:14):
you know, you see it from almost a different set
of eyes
Tanner Knudsen (13:18):
yeah, absolutely.
When you're playing, you'll.
I mean, when you're drivingaround and not, you'll notice
like blemishes and be like, ohman, that looks terrible or
whatever.
Oh, you can really see the aftercut effect.
And I hate the way that mower'scutting.
You'll spend hours, you know,trying to fine tune it.
And when you're playing golf,you don't notice any of it.
The only
Trent Manning (13:37):
Oh, really?
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (13:38):
So it's kind of good to have that secondary, I
mean, obviously we'll noticelike slow greens or stuff like
that and be like, ah, we betterlook at either lowering cut or
roll it again or something.
Maybe.
But you definitely don't notice.
The little things that whenyou're just driving around
checking everything you, I mean,that's the only thing your eyes
are glued to.
So it is good to have thatsecondary view.
Trent Manning (14:01):
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Yep.
been one of your biggestchallenges?
Tanner Knudsen (14:05):
I mean, with the new facility, I guess changing
over and getting reorganized wasa pretty big challenge.
It took a little while to dothat.
And then fine tuning.
So I took this place over from aguy who's here for, I think it
was 46 years.
So he was set in his ways aboutthe way he fixed stuff and stuff
like that.
(14:26):
So the last couple of yearsbeing here, really going through
and making things the way I wantthem and producing a product
that, that I'm proud of hasprobably been my biggest
challenge here.
Trent Manning (14:37):
No, that's awesome though.
I mean that, how involved wereyou with the design of the new
facility and all that kind ofstuff?
Tanner Knudsen (14:44):
so we actually my director grounds John
Cameron.
He kind of got the blueprintsfrom the Town and Country Club
down where Chad Brown's at, andthen we just expanded it.
So we made it 10 feet deeper.
Might be a hair longer, but Ithink we're the same.
So we just kinda roughed it offof that.
And then I got to really designthe layout of the shop area.
(15:05):
So I got two new lifts, a lifttable put in two new grinders,
fully grinders, and then I founda bridge crane off of eBay.
And we put that up just in the,yeah, in the grinding room.
So the grinding room, I can shutthe door, fully isolate myself
and it's awesome area.
Really.
It'll be really nice thiswinter.
First year
Trent Manning (15:25):
Yeah.
No, that is so cool.
How much was the bridge crane?
I'm just curious.
Tanner Knudsen (15:29):
I think we got it shipped to our door for
$4,000.
Trent Manning (15:34):
no way.
Tanner Knudsen (15:35):
Yeah, so I can't remember the company.
It was out of Indiana, but Ifound it off of eBay and I
messaged the guy and I was like,Hey, I just need to know the
dimensions to see if it'll fitin here.
And it was a hair too wide.
And I said, oh, it's not gonnawork.
Unfortunately, it's six inchestoo wide.
And he goes, oh, you can justtake a saw and cut those down.
It won't ever affect it.
(15:56):
I was like, oh, would do youhave any room for a little
discount if I order it throughyou?
He goes, oh yeah, I'll knock1500 bucks off of it for you and
I'll figure out shipping andwe'll just go from there.
It'll be like 4,000 bucks.
I was like, perfect.
Trent Manning (16:08):
That is awesome.
Yeah.
And yeah, if for the listenersGoogle it, if you don't know
what a bridge crane is and
Tanner Knudsen (16:19):
best tool when it comes to moving reels around.
You'll ever have.
Trent Manning (16:24):
yeah.
No, it is so handy and it isfunny.
So I've really pushed it with mydirector and we got one.
For the mechanic there.
He's, well I think he justturned 60 this year.
But you know, he is had a badback, you know, for the last 10
years and reels are not good foryour back
Tanner Knudsen (16:45):
No.
Trent Manning (16:46):
So anyway, I was pushing this thing and it got
approved and we installed it andhe was a little leery about it.
He was like, yeah, that's cool.
You know, whatever.
And I'm trying to think how longhe's had it.
He's had it for probably six orseven years.
And you asked him today, that'shis favorite
Tanner Knudsen (17:05):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (17:06):
I mean, he just loves it.
He's I use this thing for allkind of stuff.
I seen him he had a fly mo, hehad it hooked on the handle of
the fly mo and then picked thefly mo up to set it on the
table.
Tanner Knudsen (17:19):
Sure.
Trent Manning (17:20):
yeah, hey, why not?
You know, you got it.
Use it.
So, yeah, I mean this isawesome.
So you can get pretty creativeon all the things you can pick
up with a bridge
Tanner Knudsen (17:29):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (17:31):
Yeah.
Good stuff.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
Tanner Knudsen (17:36):
Not, I mean, my grandpa has been a huge mentor.
He is not in the industry, but Istill call him if I have any
sort of an engine question.
He's just a wealth of knowledge.
Trent Manning (17:45):
That's awesome.
Tanner Knudsen (17:47):
being in Minnesota I have met Austin,
right?
He's been amazing.
I get to bounce a lot ofquestions off of him and Chad
Braun here too.
I've called Chad about a ton ofstuff.
So in the industry, those twoare probably the two greatest
assets I know of.
And then Tyler Lewellen atSpring Hill, I've gotten to know
(18:07):
him the last year.
We, him, Chad Austin and myselfare actually start or have
started a EM committee throughour local GCSA chapter.
Trent Manning (18:18):
Oh, nice.
Awesome.
Tanner Knudsen (18:19):
them three guys have been amazing.
For any sort of questions I havethat they're, all three of'em
are a wealth of knowledge forsure.
Trent Manning (18:30):
Yeah, I mean, definitely the three of them is,
yeah, like there's not, probablynot a whole lot.
They don't know.
Tanner Knudsen (18:36):
Right, exactly.
Trent Manning (18:37):
Yeah.
So yeah.
That's awesome.
I don't know.
I just love, I mean, obviously Ilove it, but that's why I'm
doing this podcast, I guess.
But I love surrounding myselfwith these other individuals in
our industry that I consider atthe top of their game, and I
(18:58):
mean, it's just really fun totalk to and, you know, even if
you're having a bad day youknow, just.
Hey, can you believe whathappened here today?
And they're like, oh, I know.
I, yeah, that drives me crazy.
You know, Howard Horn, I've hadhim on before and he's a close
friend of mine and we talk, Imean, once a week probably.
(19:22):
Yeah.
And most of the time that's whatit was.
Like, you believe what thisknucklehead did today?
It's I don't know.
But I mean, just like you'resaying, you go back to training.
And you've trained how manypeople over the last, you know,
for like me and him, you've beendoing this for 30 years or going
on it, you know, how many peoplehave we trained to do this and
(19:46):
this guy or person did not getthe memo, you know, and messed
it up?
I mean, I don't, you know, itdefinitely can be frustrating at
times, but that's when we go outand ride around on the course.
Tanner Knudsen (19:59):
Yep, exactly.
Trent Manning (20:02):
And take a deep breath.
What would be your dream job oropportunity?
Tanner Knudsen (20:07):
I mean, I love where I'm at right now, so I
haven't even thought about thefuture to be honest with you.
To work at a facility that's inthe midst of doing some sort of
huge event, I think would be funjust to try it out or to go
south and maybe this is a reallybad answer, but go south, my
last superintendent's down atJohn's Islands Club.
(20:27):
And he's sent me pictures whenthey're aerating that golf
course and it's, you look at it,it looks like a war zone and I
think it'd be cool to go andexperience it once.
So I would guess maybe it's nota dream, but to go and see what
an operation at, like a major ora really high end facility looks
like compared to where I'm at.
(20:47):
And to see what a truedemolition of a golf course does
would be kind of.
Trent Manning (20:54):
Yeah.
Going to TPC Sawgrass and what?
And volunteering at the playersor something.
I mean, that is a machine down
Tanner Knudsen (21:04):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (21:05):
and they have, I don't, probably 200 volunteers.
Tanner Knudsen (21:08):
Oh, that would be insane.
Trent Manning (21:09):
and the amount of equipment they had, I mean, it
is crazy to see what all theydo.
You know, and not saying they'rebetter than anybody else, but it
is truly amazing to see all themoving parts in that operation.
Tanner Knudsen (21:26):
And to have it be successful with all those
moving parts is
Trent Manning (21:29):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know how they pull itoff.
Yeah.
Every year.
Every year, you know, I remembertalking to Ralph Keppel when he
was at East Lake and they werehaving the tour Championship
every year, and at one point, Idon't know if it was late
nineties, early two thousands,they were having it every other
(21:50):
year.
And then they went to a pointwhere they were having it every
year and he said, well, I reallywould like to go back to having
it every other year doing thisevery year.
I mean, because soon as.
over, you start preparing fornext year.
Tanner Knudsen (22:06):
Right.
Trent Manning (22:06):
You know, it's just a constant grind.
Yeah.
But the guys down in Florida,they don't really get a
Tanner Knudsen (22:14):
Never
Trent Manning (22:14):
I mean, they're wide open all the time.
Tommy Richie said one time thatthey work 13 months outta the
year in Florida,
Tanner Knudsen (22:23):
yeah.
Trent Manning (22:23):
I believe it.
I mean, it's crazy the amount ofwork they do down there.
Do you have a technician youwould like to work with for a
day?
Tanner Knudsen (22:32):
I had the honor of working with Austin Wright at
the US Amateur when he hosted atHazelton.
That was really fun experience.
I've been over to Chad Brounshop while he is grinding, and I
mean, how meticulous that guy issomething everybody needs to
experience, honestly.
Trent Manning (22:47):
huh.
Tanner Knudsen (22:49):
yeah I met JR Wilson at Phoenix.
I mean, the stuff he works onoutside of the golf, like the
robotic stuff and stuff likethat, would be awesome to go out
and
Trent Manning (22:59):
Oh Yeah.
Tanner Knudsen (23:00):
and do everything he does.
So, I would say JR Wilson BrianLin, I met him.
He came and visited the shopwith Chad.
I'd love to go down and spend acouple days with him.
Brian's a sweet dude.
Trent Manning (23:11):
Oh yeah.
Yep.
Tanner Knudsen (23:12):
So those would probably be the two guys I
haven't got to deal with.
That'd be really fun.
Trent Manning (23:17):
Yeah, that'd be so much fun.
JR.
He is always into something too.
It's just crazy because he wasmaking his own sub air, like
making the fan motors get,sending'em off, getting'em
balanced.
he had, I don't, whatever youwould call it, a mold or
something to do the fiberglasscover that went over.
(23:40):
The precision air units orwhatever.
I mean, it's just crazy.
Dude what do you not do
Tanner Knudsen (23:47):
my, my mind doesn't work that way, so it'd
be cool to watch somebody elsedo it.
Trent Manning (23:51):
I, yeah.
Well, I remember seeing in hisshop, he had, and maybe I've
told this story again, but so ifI tell too many of the same
stories over and over again,maybe somebody will call me out
on it.
And if they call me out, I'llstop telling the story.
But he had a drill press with abench grinder mounted to the
drill press, and I'm like, whatis this contraption for?
(24:15):
And he said, oh, this is forsharpening green teeth.
So it's a round stump grindertooth.
Tanner Knudsen (24:22):
Okay.
Trent Manning (24:23):
And so you put it in the drill press and you get
it turning slow, and then youuse the quill and pull it down
to the grinding stone, and thebench grinder's set up at the
right angle and it grinds thestone, or, you know, res
sharpens the tooth, which is,you know, I'm like, how'd you
come up with this?
(24:44):
You know?
I don't know.
This is crazy.
but yeah, he would be a gooddude to spend some time with.
I hope to be able to I'msupposed to go speak in New
England in March, so I'm gonnatry to get by Jr's and spend a
little time on Long Island.
Not in the busy season
Tanner Knudsen (25:03):
Not,
Trent Manning (25:04):
and yeah, in the winter
Tanner Knudsen (25:05):
bring a jacket.
Trent Manning (25:07):
Yeah.
Yep, for sure.
What do you know now you wishyou'd known on day one?
Tanner Knudsen (25:14):
probably touching back to training in
just staying more level headedand calm.
It's just grass.
Everything we're dealing with isjust grass.
It grows back one way, shape orform.
So there's no reason to loseyour cool about stuff or get
angry and.
And don't, definitely don't holdanything in against somebody,
you know, don't hold or stufflike that.
Just let it go and move on andmove forward.
Trent Manning (25:38):
Yeah, talk it out.
You know, if you're havingfriction with somebody, just
yeah, talk about it.
And I mean it, I guess maybeit's cliche or maybe it sounds
crazy, but open, honestcommunication is the best way to
communicate with somebody andyou know, and you would think,
(26:00):
oh, well that's so obvious.
Everybody knows that.
And maybe everybody does knowthat, but everybody doesn't do
that.
Tanner Knudsen (26:08):
Right.
Trent Manning (26:09):
And it'd be just a whole lot easier.
And I mean, I'm guilty just, youknow, as much as anybody else.
And always thinking thatsomebody's reaction has
something to do with me andtaking that personal.
(26:29):
That they reacted in a negativeway or whatever it is.
And it might not have anythingto do with me.
Tanner Knudsen (26:37):
Right.
Trent Manning (26:38):
You know, it might be something they're
dealing with, right?
Because we're all dealing withpersonal stuff, you know, who
knows what's going on or what'sgoing through.
Especially my mind.
I'm as bad as JR likesquirreling around.
Who knows what I'm thinkingabout when you ask me a
question.
So if I don't give you theresponse that you're,
anticipating that might be why.
(26:59):
'cause I'm thinking about whoknows what, maybe I'm thinking
about sharpening green teeth ona drill press with a bench
grinder.
Who knows?
Tanner Knudsen (27:08):
Or figuring out how he ever thought about that.
Trent Manning (27:10):
Right?
Yeah, exactly.
How do you deal with thatperson?
Tanner Knudsen (27:14):
Oh, I mean,
Trent Manning (27:16):
way to deal with somebody like that.
Tanner Knudsen (27:18):
just walk'em through and try to have every
moment be a teachable moment.
If they're really that person,then maybe just sit'em down side
away from everybody and figureout what their.
Mindset was in the moment that'scausing them to be that person,
if you know what I mean.
Just get down to the basics ofit.
If they're not knowing what'sthey're supposed to do or if
(27:42):
they're misunderstood on whatthey're supposed to be doing,
just talk.
That's all you gotta do is justtalk to anybody and be cool as a
cucumber and figure out how toresolve the situation with him
and just move forward.
Trent Manning (27:58):
No, that's good.
Get ready for tips and tricksWhat kind of tips or tricks you
got, you wanna share?
Tanner Knudsen (28:05):
Oh man.
Trent Manning (28:06):
What's some of your favorite ones here?
Tanner Knudsen (28:09):
I mean, one of the favorite ones I always use
is whenever you get a tire inthat's been all morphed or
whatever, they all send tiresnow just completely squashed.
Keep an old crappy tube layingaround that doesn't have a bunch
of pinhole leaks in it, and youthrow it inside there and
inflate it up, and then put aratchet strap around the center
of that tire and throw it out inthe sun and let it bake for a
(28:31):
little while.
It should come back to life.
That's a pretty good tip I'velearned.
Another one nasty hydrauliclines.
If you can't get'em bust loose.
I use a brass hammer and I justbang on it a couple times.
If you can't, then an air hammerworks too.
Just make sure you don't mar itup Too bad.
But those are the two ones thatI've kind of learned along the
way that some people don't knowabout.
Trent Manning (28:53):
Yeah.
No, I think that's a really goodone.
I saw this.
I still.
Can't hardly believe what I saw,but it was a rusted bolt and
nut.
And this guy, I don't, I meanthis was in The Bahamas and they
do stuff a little different inThe Bahamas, but the guy, he had
(29:15):
to be 70, maybe 75.
Garfield was his name.
Austin?
Yeah.
But he started taking a chiselthat, I mean, it was not a sharp
chisel by any means, but he waschiseling the nut and finally
got it to break loose.
Basically what you're saying, Ithink with the air hammer,
(29:35):
that's what made me think ofthis with an air hammer or
taking a brass hammer andhitting the nut of the fitting.
Right.
Just that friction to, or theshock, I guess.
To get it to jar loose.
Back to my story with the, wellguys.
So when they pull, you know, thesticks of pipe are 20 feet long,
(29:58):
they go down in the well.
So they pull it up and they gois a coupler there.
They'll take a sledgehammer andthey'll beat that coupler about
five times before they try tobreak it loose.
And it's, you know, that shockof hitting it with a hammer
kinda loosens everything inthere.
You know, and freeze it up.
So just to your point of ahammer or an air hammer or
(30:22):
whatever,
Tanner Knudsen (30:23):
Yeah.
Any, yeah, like you said, the,just the pure shock will bust a
lot of stuff loose.
And saving a lot of time.
Trent Manning (30:30):
yep.
Just to jar it loose.
So anyway, good.
Good stuff good tips and tricks.
Do you wanna talk about gettingyour C 10
Tanner Knudsen (30:38):
Yeah, we can.
Trent Manning (30:39):
was like?
Tanner Knudsen (30:40):
Yeah.
It was actually very smooth.
Being in a new facility reallyhelped stuff.
Trent Manning (30:45):
Oh yeah, I'm
Tanner Knudsen (30:46):
Yeah.
I got the rubric from Dianabefore we kind of got in the
door of this facility, so wekind of actually.
I should say more or less reallymade a lot of decisions about
where stuff would be placed andthe organization and the safety
stuff based around the rubricitself.
So I kind of built the place inmy area, I should say laid out
(31:11):
the stuff according to the CE.
So all the signage, ventilation,anything like that was on the
rubric was knocked out before weeven started building.
Trent Manning (31:22):
Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No smart too.
Very good.
Tanner Knudsen (31:27):
I mean that being the goal in mind, I had my
level two already completedbefore we broke ground, so I
knew I was gonna try for itwithin the next year or so
anyways, so it made it veryhelpful.
Building a new facility, and Imean, it opened our eyes.
We got new fuel tanks and younever really think about
emergency shutoff or.
What code would be on it.
(31:48):
You just kinda ask either theelectrician or the builder who's
putting it in.
And both of'em were kind ofdumbfounded.
So I called over to the localfire department and just asked
what they needed and then theelectrician didn't even think
about it either, and he was justgonna put straight conduit in to
power it.
And he found it had to bebombproof conduit even to wire
Trent Manning (32:08):
wow.
Okay.
Tanner Knudsen (32:09):
pumps.
So he kinda learned some stuffand then I kinda learned some
stuff too.
So it was.
An eyeopening experience goingthrough CTE, definitely worth
it.
Even if you don't have the goal,you know, doing the CT EM at the
end goal, but doing level oneand two is really informative,
(32:30):
to say the least.
I would for sure look into doinglevel one and two at the bare
minimum.
Trent Manning (32:35):
Yeah, for sure.
And I think even, yeah, even ifyou don't care anything about
getting your CT a m, go to thewebsite, print off the rubric,
and just go through it.
Because it's gonna make yourfacility better and safer for
you and everybody else workingin there,
Tanner Knudsen (32:55):
Yep.
Trent Manning (32:55):
you know?
And if you can't afford to doevery single thing on there,
fine you know, but you can, wedid design that so you don't
have to be at an A level clubwith a super high end budget to
be able to pass that part ofthe, you know, the testing.
(33:16):
So a lot of stuff you know, youcan do for on the cheap, but
yeah, you might need to buy somemoney and get a s spill kit.
But the other thing
Tanner Knudsen (33:26):
That's normally the most expensive stuff, is the
little things.
I mean, You can go out andsource 80 to 90% of it either
through a Facebook marketplaceor eBay or something like that,
and get something used.
That's gonna work for likeflammable cabinets.
That was, we found three of'em,two or three of'em for sale on
Facebook.
Marketplace for dirt cheap.
(33:48):
They don't need to look pretty,I don't care.
As long as they're holding stuffand if it catches fire, it's
gonna contain it.
And it's all about how the thingworks.
It doesn't matter how it looks.
Yeah, the most, I think the most
Trent Manning (33:59):
the other thing.
Tanner Knudsen (34:00):
on was the spill kit.
Trent Manning (34:01):
The other thing with that is we had a flammable
cabinet that looked terrible andwe repainted it,
Tanner Knudsen (34:09):
Oh
Trent Manning (34:10):
and then I bought, you know, and I bought
the stickers and put, you know,fresh stickers on it.
And I mean, it looks great, youknow, I mean, so especially if
you have some time in thewinter, like a lot of clubs do.
I mean, you can knock some ofthat stuff out.
Tanner Knudsen (34:29):
Yeah, for sure.
Trent Manning (34:30):
So, yeah, highly recommend it for sure.
And I think that's super coolthat you use the rubric to help
you design the maintenancefacility.
I mean, smart on you for doingthat too.
And I, we should find out GCSAprobably has the number of how
many man hours slash Kayla wason some of those calls.
(34:54):
So.
You know what I'm saying?
How many hours was spentdeveloping the rubric?
Because, you know, I mean, Idon't know.
There was probably 15 of us,maybe,
Tanner Knudsen (35:09):
Okay.
Trent Manning (35:10):
I mean, maybe even a few.
You know, there was definitely,you know, probably seven or
eight that carried most of theload, but there was, you know,
another seven or eight that was.
Dipping in and out of some ofthe meetings and coming up with
ideas and I mean, it was a superfun process developing that.
(35:33):
And I mean, it's just like anyother thing that I've went
through you know, I learned justas much as anybody else probably
through that process
Tanner Knudsen (35:44):
Oh yeah, I believe
Trent Manning (35:44):
get to hear, you know, different viewpoints.
Well, just for instance, like JRwas on a lot of the calls and
he's a volunteer firefighter onLong Island and the other thing
on Long Island, the staterequires them to have fire
suppression over any fuel pump.
So even the fuel pump?
Tanner Knudsen (36:05):
even if it's outdoors.
Trent Manning (36:07):
Yeah.
Outdoors and what?
It was crazy.
So when I went to visit him, allthe gas stations, they have fire
suppression over the fuel pumps.
Tanner Knudsen (36:17):
Wow.
Trent Manning (36:18):
I mean, it's, you know, I don't know.
I thought that was kind ofcrazy.
But you know, getting to justlearn about that and how that
works and, you know, everythingelse is it was a fun process for
sure.
You wanna do some rapid fire?
Tanner Knudsen (36:37):
Yeah, let's go for it.
Trent Manning (36:40):
What's your favorite movie?
Tanner Knudsen (36:42):
I love Happy Gilmore Movies.
I or Adam Sandler movies, Ishould say Happy Gilmore is
number one.
Billy Madison's number two.
Even like big Daddy, all theAdam
Trent Manning (36:51):
Oh yeah.
He is great.
Really good.
What would be your last meal?
Tanner Knudsen (36:56):
I love media or yeah, medium rare filet, some
potatoes, asparagus.
Carrots and I love my grandma'smashed potatoes.
Probably it has to be in there.
She leaves just a little bit oflumps in'em.
She'd kill me if I said that andshe heard it, but I just love
the way she makes mashedpotatoes is just the best.
Trent Manning (37:15):
that's awesome.
Good stuff.
Nothing like grandma's cooking,
Tanner Knudsen (37:18):
Nothing like grandma's cooking.
Trent Manning (37:21):
What are you most proud of besides your family?
Tanner Knudsen (37:24):
I gotta brag about the facility that we
created over here.
Having a brand new facility, Imean, gracious, that the members
were willing to fork out themoney for the bill, but the way
it turned out got a lot ofcompliments about everything.
We're really proud of how thisplace turned out.
Trent Manning (37:41):
No, that's super cool.
That's awesome.
Have you had people coming byand checking it out since y'all
opened up other
Tanner Knudsen (37:47):
did a full.
Champagne toast, open House,probably four or five months
after we opened up.
So at first, first Deep Cleanfor the shop too.
It was kind of nice.
But yeah, they, a lot of membersdidn't see the old place.
So our golf course was built in1949, opened in 1951, and
(38:08):
there's a photo up in theclubhouse of opening day,
looking back on one of theholes.
And you can see the shop that Iwas working out of in the
background.
Trent Manning (38:16):
Oh, no way.
Tanner Knudsen (38:17):
Yeah, it was probably a maybe 2000 square
foot heated area and thenanother 2000 square foot cold
storage, and it was terriblemouse infested insulation
falling off the thing.
Asbestos in the windows, thewhole nine yards.
Terrible facility.
So to go from that to this isjust amazing morale booster.
(38:38):
It's just awesome.
Trent Manning (38:40):
Oh, for sure.
No, that is, yeah.
Super cool.
I was thinking too, do, have youhad any industry people, other
golf course mechanics or
Tanner Knudsen (38:49):
We, we've had two or three facilities, I think
swing in just their E two EMShave come by.
And Chad Braun and Brian Lincame in before we really got the
keys.
Yeah, but one other golf coursewhere the superintendent
assistant came in to kind of getan idea of how they wanted to
build theirs.
And then our local chapter, theMinnesota Golf Course
(39:11):
Superintendent's Association,they do shop tours every winter.
So we'll have the fir, or thelast stop of this year's shop
tours will be coming here thisyear.
Trent Manning (39:19):
Ah, sweet.
Tanner Knudsen (39:21):
a big tour sometime in February, maybe
January or February or somethingin there.
Trent Manning (39:26):
Okay.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Is your chapter, or you and Chadand Austin, are y'all getting
multiple things set upthroughout the year for
Tanner Knudsen (39:40):
Yeah, so we have actually the 20th of November
we're doing an autonomous mowerclass.
Chad is actually hosting, it'llbe down at Town and Country.
So that'll be an EM based eventthat we're kind of building off
of.
And then this year you spoke atour mega seminar last year, I
believe.
Trent Manning (39:59):
Yes.
Tanner Knudsen (40:00):
so that kind of fed off after you came.
We're really adding on to the EMportion of the mega seminar.
So we're gonna do kind of ahands-on learning class the
first half of the first day, andthen Mike Rollins is supposed to
come in and teach.
Later that day as well.
So we'll have
Trent Manning (40:20):
Okay, cool.
Tanner Knudsen (40:22):
him talking.
And then the first half of themorning session is just gonna be
real managing practices, thebest managing practices for
real.
So we'll have a rep from JohnDeere, a rep from Toro, and a
rep from Jacobson come in andteach everybody the nitty
gritty.
Not so much the in depth stuff,but you know how to mount a bed
bar properly.
Torque specs, just areas ofthat, and do a kind of a broad
(40:44):
teaching class.
Trent Manning (40:46):
Okay.
Yeah, that'll be super fun.
Tanner Knudsen (40:49):
Yeah, Austin coming over from Wisconsin and
how in depth they were throughtheir chapter has really been
helpful in growing the littlecommunity that we have right
now.
Trent Manning (40:59):
That's so cool.
I mean, I don't, it just warmsmy heart every time I hear about
these groups, like y'all'sgetting together.
I mean, Brian Lin when he was inNebraska, him and Jordan Roth, I
got some stuff going withtechnicians down there and I
mean, it's just really coolthat's happening all over the
country.
I don't know if the ColoradoRockies, you know, or the Rocky
(41:24):
Mountains, you know, block stufffrom coming this way and we just
don't hear about it, or they'renot doing anything, you know, on
west of the Rockies.
I, you know, I don't know what'shappening out there.
And I do know you know, Montanaand Wyoming and those places,
it's just so spread out, youknow, and there's so few
courses.
(41:44):
It's hard for.
Those guys to get together.
But us over here on the eastside of the Rockies, we're
making strides.
And they're doing stuff in Texastoo, like Tony and some of the
guys down there gettingtogether.
I mean, it's really good what'shappening all over the country.
I love to hear it.
Well, tell the listeners howthey can get ahold of you an
(42:06):
email or
Tanner Knudsen (42:08):
Yeah, my email is.
Trent Manning (42:09):
Twitter or
Tanner Knudsen (42:10):
I do have a Twitter.
I don't even know what my handleis but my email is tanner at
north oaks golf club.com.
I'll reply to anybody that getsahold of me.
I throw out my number, but Idon't know if you want that or
not.
Trent Manning (42:22):
Nah, I don't,
Tanner Knudsen (42:24):
I'll try to
Trent Manning (42:25):
yeah I get enough spam calls already.
I don't want, you know, I, notthat people listening to this
would do that, but yeah whoknows?
I put out.
Tanner Knudsen (42:36):
at Tanner Knutson one.
Then my name is Tanner KnutsonCEM.
So it'll be pretty hard to missthat one.
Trent Manning (42:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool man.
Well awesome.
Thank you so much for being on.
This has been a blast as always.
Tanner Knudsen (42:49):
thanks a ton for having me.
Hopefully we can catch up downin Orlando.
Trent Manning (42:55):
For sure.
I think Orlando is gonna besomething really special.
And I'm getting older and Ican't remember numbers as good,
but I know we had the most EMsigned up last year in San
Diego.
And San Diego is not mostpopular show.
Tanner Knudsen (43:15):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (43:15):
You know, especially for all the East
Coast people, because it'sreally expensive to get out
there.
The hotels are expensive.
Everything's expensive.
So a lot of people from the Eastcoast don't go to San Diego for
that reason, but they go toOrlando, so I'm, I mean, I think
it was 176 or something likethat, em signed up for San
(43:38):
Diego.
I think we'll be well over 200this time.
Tanner Knudsen (43:42):
Sweet.
I can't wait.
Trent Manning (43:44):
Yeah.
I can't wait.
It's gonna be so good.
Tanner Knudsen (43:47):
Awesome.
Trent Manning (43:48):
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.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!