Matt Harrison-Engwell, a golf course mechanic, explains that greenkeepers aren’t idle in winter. It is the time of year when, for example, machinery gets fully stripped down and serviced, with careful judgement needed over what to replace now versus what can wait to avoid costly breakdowns later. The piece highlights the importance of experience in managing parts stock, organising repairs efficiently and deciding the right order for maintenance tasks — all of which make winter a crucial period for keeping equipment reliable during the playing season.  

“Are you busy then if the grass isn’t growing?” That’s what people often ask in winter, when they learn that I work in the greenkeeping team on a golf course. Presumably they have visions of cups of tea in a warm shed, the odd bunker being raked here and there, until the spring comes.

We, of course, know that at this time of year we’re busy with a whole range of renovation tasks that can’t be done during the warmer months. And nowhere is this more the case than in the workshop, where machines are having a thorough strip-down, to check all those pins, bearings and bushes that haven’t seen the light of day since last winter.

Key to this endeavour are the technical and practical skill to undertake the repairs necessary to keep a fleet of machines in good condition. There are, however, some more subtle aspects to machinery care that aren’t always apparent on first glance, and that are only really learned through experience on the job.

One of the trickier aspects of winter servicing is making a judgement on the trade-offs that inevitably arise. For example, we could choose to tolerate more play in bearings and more wear on pins in order to get the machine turned around more quickly. This would, of course, reduce the parts bill, too. However, if we push our luck too much and leave one worn bush too many, we risk a costly breakdown, and having the machine out of action for long periods during the cutting season. In addition, we might have to replace more expensive parts than if we’d just replaced that bush sooner. The ability to be able to tell which part needs to be replaced now – aside from the obviously damaged – and which can last another year, is a highly valuable one, and is only learned through experience.

Another trade-off is between having a large stock of spare parts so that repairs can be made quickly, versus relying on swift delivery by suppliers and not having to have an expensive inventory of parts lying around. When ordering a part, it is helpful to try and anticipate how likely it is that we’ll need one again in the near future. Is there another machine that also uses that part? Is it something that needs replacing regularly? If so, we’ll order a couple. But this can lead to a situation where we have a box (or several) of spare parts that can be time consuming to search through whenever you need something, and can quickly add up to thousands of pounds worth of equipment. On the other hand, it seems inevitable that the part that we didn’t order a spare of is the one that has nil stock in the country when we need it, and we end up having to wait weeks to finish the machine and get it out of the workshop. Good practices such as religiously labelling parts bags, storing parts in boxes allocated to each machine, or even better having an up-to-date inventory certainly help with this issue. Such organisation, though, can sometimes feel like a job in its own right – it can be very time consuming. With each season we learn more about which parts it pays to keep in stock, and which can be ordered when the need for them arises.

A third consideration is the order in which maintenance tasks on a machine are undertaken. For example, there’s no point draining and refilling the rear axle oil on a machine only to realise later that a bearing in the axle needs replacing, so that the oil needs to be drained again. Whilst it is common sense to perform jobs in a sensible order, so that we’re not duplicating work, it is not always easy to anticipate which tasks to perform first, or which checks to carry out, without having gone through the service numerous times in the past. Put another way, experience once again helps to develop efficient working practices.

So, if you are currently working your way through a seemingly endless list of machinery that needs a thorough going over, I hope for two things: Firstly, that you are reaping the benefit of past experience to help you. And secondly, you are learning new things and gaining more experience to help the process become even smoother next year.