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| Top and Middle Picture: Walk-behind aerification equipment combined with tractor mounted aerifier gets the job done fast Bottom Picture: Pull behind drag mats are used to break the soil away from the thatch. Soil drops back into the holes while the spongy thatch stays on top of the fairway which is then removed. |
This week we began our in-house fairway aerification process. For many years this process had been contracted out to a company who had the equipment necessary for such a big job. Although this sounds good to have somebody else do the aerification, there are many negatives to it. With our recent upgrade to our equipment, we obtained the equipment necessary to handle the fairway aerification process in-house with our own staff!
The benefits of this include:
1. Approx. $12,000 annual savings (based on not contracting this job out)...$24,000 annual savings if we aerify twice.
2. Flexible timing and schedule (not having to schedule around the company and the other 100 golf courses they aerify each year)
3. A better quality job done by the staff in house as attention to detail is much higher.
4. Closer spacing of holes that removes more unwanted thatch material without an increase in cost. (Contracted companies charge more for closer hole spacing due to labor time and wear on their machines)
5. Overall quicker completion with rotating staff shifts that keep the aerification program running dawn till dusk.
