Photo illustration by
Roger Billings
Custom Utility Vehicles:
More and more
equipment manag-
ers are turning to
custom-built utility
vehicles to ensure
they have the right
tool for the right job
at any time on the golf
course.
BUILDING THE PERFECT
BEAST
The days of equipment manag-
ers getting away with inefficien-
cies in the way they work are
long gone in golf course man-
agement. This tightening-up
of operations requires them
to have the tools needed to do
the job in any situation — both
in the shop and, maybe more
importantly, on the go — so
they can keep equipment run-
ning in the field. Helping reduce
downtime helps everyone, but
in order to do that, equipment
managers need to outfit their
utility vehicles properly to min-
imize the need to run back and
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forth to
the shop.
Over the years, dedicated
carts for equipment managers
have not just become popular,
they’ve almost become a ne-
cessity. The reality for most is
they have less time available to
get the job done, so having the
tools in the field to get equip-
ment back up and running while
decreasing trips back to the
shop is key.
As an equipment manager my-
self, the evolution of these carts
has been really fun to watch.
There are many vehicles that
are
simple, designed to get just
the equipment manager and a
few of his tools from point A to
point B. Others sport custom
hydraulic lifts that have turned
them into miniature tow trucks.
Personally, I have had a com-
bination of different types of
vehicles during my career, rang-
ing from just a regular Club Car
golf cart to a fully customized
Toro Workman, both of which
had their place. Obviously, the
fully outfitted Workman was a
great tool for doing repairs in
the field, but the electric Club
Car made it much easier to get