Each season our equipment manager (Paul) finds himself spending numerous hours standing over the grinders sharpening mower reels. As discussed in a previous blog, we have many mowers that require grinding to give us that perfect cut on greens, tees, approaches, and fairways. With the amount of time that is needed to complete each set, it always seems that the grinders are running non-stop.
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| The beginning |
When not in use, the backup reels are kept in the shop off to the side, which can get disorganized very quick. When Paul starts grinding, the chaos grows even worse. This is how the decision was made to build a separate grinding room for reel sharpening only.
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| Walls completed, about ready to start building trusses |
The new room is still in construction phase, but is moving along nicely. All of us have been working on the project when possible to get it completed before any real bad storms move in. The room is now completely enclosed, which will allow us to start in on electrical and getting up our interior sheeting.
Many of the reels are very heavy and it can be a challenge for Paul to maneuver them around while grinding. The fairway reels weigh over 100 pounds and it can get exhausting moving them so many times while grinding. The fix to this problem was adding a beam with a chain hoist in the new grinding room. Now Paul can bring the reel and hook it up to the hoist and it will lift it up to the grinder. After the grinding is complete, he can then hook it back up to the hoist and slide it down to the work bench where he puts the finishing touches on it. Paul will then be able to lower it back to the ground and reassemble it to the mower without ever having to pick it up. If I would have known how happy this little part would make Paul, we would have done it long ago.
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| An inside look at I-beam for lifting reels |
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| About totally enclosed, perfect timing because we got snow that evening |
With the way the whole project has been going, we hope to be done within a week and have the grinders and reels moved in and set up. This is a project that has been in plan mode for many years, and it is awesome to see the plans come to life. There will be a quick blog on the finished product as well!
