Benton Hodges on when turf tech goes wrong

In my previous columns, I’ve introduced the idea of turf tech and how it can maximize the efficiency of agronomy operations and improve the lives of superintendents. While both of these things are true, there is a caveat — tech will go wrong — and it will likely be at the worst time possible. Here’s a personal story about when technology threw a wrench in the final plans of the season.

While the Mountain West region doesn’t apply a ton of fungicides, the last spray on every superintendent’s schedule is a preventive snow mold application. With snow coverage lasting for well over 100 days at times and a shortened growing season, this application is critical to prevent damaged grass that can last well into the summer.

I always felt like an athlete getting ready for a big game when it was time to spray snow mold. Our director and superintendent would check in on me like I was the QB for a playoff game. The spray operation had been my baby since we made the switch to GPS-guided spraying in my first few years at the course. I was the only one who had the entire playbook memorized.

It was Oct. 20th in Wyoming, and the forecast was shifting — winter weather was on the way … fast. My bosses mulled over the decision to spray or hold off. Would this snowstorm be the “one,” or would it melt off by next week? There’s a saying in mountaineering: “It’s hard to be too early, but very easy to be too late.”

I showed up with my mind right, prepared for two or three marathon spray days. We mixed up the initial tanks, and our two sprayers headed out to the practice facility. Everything was moving smoothly. I checked in with my co-sprayer, Mark, and confirmed his machine was working. However, as I finished my first fairway, I noticed my signal started dropping from RTK to GPS.

Sh*t.

When picking up an RTK signal, our accuracy was sub-inch, but under a normal GPS signal, we were only able to achieve accuracy to multiple feet. That difference is a big deal in the world of fine turfgrass management. Thankfully, my sprayer picked up the superior RTK signal within minutes. No harm, no foul — until the signal dropped in the middle of a pass on the third fairway. For the next eight hours, my eyes were glued to the signal indicator on my screen, and I made calls to my dealer as I sprayed.

Even with a new modem overnighted to our shop, the problem wasn’t solved. Like most agronomy departments, we figured it out, and the snow mold spray was completed with only one reliable GPS sprayer while my machine did it the old-fashioned manual way. The root of the issue ended up causing months of troubleshooting in the dealer shop. It was ultimately tied to cell phone carriers phasing out 3G towers across the nation. Once updated to a modem with a new carrier, the issue was solved.

This was nearly five years ago, and the technology was not completely understood by our dealer. Dealers are now dedicating staff to learning this new technology so they can better service this equipment.

This is not to dissuade anyone from trying turf tech, but rather paint an honest picture of the growing pains that come with it. By setting realistic expectations when incorporating technology, you will have a less frustrating time when things inevitably go wrong.

Remember, if all else fails, just unplug it for a few minutes and plug it back in.

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