Episode 145: Jeff Rockhold and Jacob Rockhold, CGCS

Today we’re talking to Jeff Rockhold, Equipment Manager at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Blue Springs, MO, and his son, Jacob Rockhold, CGCS, Director of Agronomy.

Stone Canyon is a public 18-hole course with mostly John Deere and Toro equipment.

After a long career in HVAC (and one too many crawl spaces), Jeff made the switch to turf when Jacob hired him on to mow fairways in a semi-retired gig. We talk about what Jeff has discovered in his second career, how turning wrenches on the course compares to HVAC work, what he enjoys about the golf industry, and how this father-son duo makes it work (at quitting time, roles go right back to normal)!

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Transcript

Trent Manning 0:56

Welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we'll learn tips and tricks. I'm your host, Trent. Manning let's have some this episode are real turf techs on golf course industries Superintendent radio network is presented by Foley county a strong supporter of equipment technicians and golf course maintenance departments everywhere Foley county offers a proven solution for above and below the turf for turf professionals To learn more about Foley company's line of real grinders bed knife grinders and the air to G2 family of products or to find a distributor visit www dot Foley C o.com Foley Ready for play Welcome to The Reel Turf Techs Podcast, episode 1 45. Today we're talking to Jeff Rockhold, equipment Manager at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Blue Springs, Missouri. And his son, director of Agronomy, Jacob Rockhold. CGCS. Stone Canyon is a public 18 hole course. They have mostly deer and Toro equipment. Welcome to a Special Father's Day episode. We're talking to our first father and son duo with a certified golf course superintendent son and his equipment manager dad, who's new to the industry. Find out how Jacob got his dad, Jeff, into the shop, and what Jeff thinks about his second career in the turf industry after a long career in HVAC and maybe one too many crawlspaces. Let's get into the interview. Welcome Jeff and Jacob to the Real Turf Text podcast. Thank you both for being on this episode's gonna be a little bit different but I think it's gonna be cool and fun and interesting and I appreciate you both being here. I. And we're gonna start with Jeff, tell us how you got into the turf industry.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 3:11

Oh I worked at HVAC. I did air conditioning for like 11 years and got to be too old to be crawling around in crawl spaces. So somebody offered me a better opportunity.

Trent Manning 3:22

Okay.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 3:22

I.

Trent Manning 3:23

But you're still young enough to crawl around on turf equipment.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 3:28

Yeah. Yeah. I'm not in a crawl space

Trent Manning 3:31

No I understand. Yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 3:32

where it's 110 degrees.

Trent Manning 3:35

Yeah, I don't wish that on anybody. My dad has a crawlspace and yeah, I have to change his filter. Yeah. Not fun.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 3:42

That's where his furnace is at in the crawl space. Yeah. Those are not fun.

Trent Manning 3:46

No, it, yep. Yeah, the last one they got put in is a friend of mine that done the work and he put in one of the super thick filters, so I only gotta change it once a year versus doing that once a month.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 3:59

Once a month. Yeah. Then five inch filters are, they're good filters.

Trent Manning 4:02

Okay. That's good to know. That's good to know. So it was it, Jacob, that gave you your start in

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 4:09

Yes.

Trent Manning 4:10

the turf industry. So let's hear that story. How'd that come about?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 4:16

He, he just offered me a job. He thought I didn't need to be crawling around in crawl spaces anymore. Then when he, the guy that trained me has been doing it for 30 years. So I had a good mentor. I'd always wanted to have him come work for me eventually. He is kind of just always been a goal of mine when I became a superintendent. and we had. Opportunity, a spot on our staff that opened up a full-time position and at the time it wasn't for mechanic. It was just, I wanted him to be my rough mower, you know, kind of semi-retired job, a lot easier on him for his health and all that. But just so happened that the course that we were at the time, the mechanic Mark Williams, he is one of my mentors, but he's a really good guy, but he was having some health issues and over the winter my dad was helping him in the shop. And when he went down with some health issues, he kind of just stepped up to the plate and was filling in for him and. Mark ended up being gone for pretty much the whole summer and my dad took over and did a fantastic job. Just so that's where it all kind of started. Yep.

Trent Manning 5:33

Well, if you can get one summer under your belt you're official and then, like we were talking about, you've experienced top dressing. So yeah, welcome to the club man. You're here, you're doing it. You're doing it. Living the dream with the rest of us. Well, what is what's one of your favorite parts of the job since you're relatively new to this? I

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 5:57

Oh I like to get out of the shop and actually go run the equipment after I've worked on'em. It gives me satisfaction to know that I knew what I was doing when I put'em together. I.

Trent Manning 6:06

Oh yeah. No, it can definitely be very rewarding. Is your least favorite part of the job? Top dressing?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 6:13

Yeah,

Trent Manning 6:14

Yeah. Okay. All right. Does,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 6:18

He loves to help out. So it's really interesting'cause I, like, I told him the other day, I was like, Hey man, you're, they'll take this wrong way, but it's time for you to start turning some wrenches. I know you want to help us mow and stuff, but we got some work that we gotta get some mowers back going and stuff like that. So. I always gotta get him back in the shop, so

Trent Manning 6:36

Well, that's good too. I mean, I think it's a good trade and that's what most of the people that I interview say, is. It's the variety of what we get to do, you know, no. Two days is the same. We're not standing on an assembly line, putting, you know, part A and slot B and all that, just all day long. Yeah, we have some stuff we have to do over and over again, but. It's not too monotonous.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 7:02

I've done the, I've done the factory thing. I've built seats and I've built radiators, so I know what that's like

Trent Manning 7:08

Oh, wow. Yeah. No

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 7:10

in my younger days.

Trent Manning 7:11

yeah. No, that's good stuff. What's what's your favorite tool?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 7:17

My favorite tool. Speed wrenches.

Trent Manning 7:20

okay. Speed wrench. So yeah, what is the speed wrench?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 7:24

Huh. It's a wrench. That's instead of an open end wrench or a boxing wrench. It's ratted, so you don't have to keep working your bolts. It's like having a socket.

Trent Manning 7:36

Okay. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Nice.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 7:38

tool.

Trent Manning 7:39

Yeah, no su super handy. And I don't, I'm trying to remember. I wanna say the first one of those I bought was probably late nineties or something when those came out, or, I mean, maybe they come out before then, but that was. First time I was introduced and it was a traveling salesman that would come by once a month or whatever. And he worked for fosters I think, which is similar to Lawson or Kimball Midwest or something like that. I don't know. I don't know if they're still around or not, but he had a set and they weren't very much either. And I still got that same set, you know, whatever, 25 years later still going. Yeah. Made by Gear Wrench too.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 8:19

Yeah. That's gear wrench. Yeah, that's what we have. Gear wrenches. They're good sets. Snap-on makes a good set too, but they're a little more pricey.

Trent Manning 8:26

they're a lot more pricey. Let's don't, you know, sugarcoat that they're a lot

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 8:30

must keep the superintendents and stuff outta your toolbox.'cause

Trent Manning 8:34

yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 8:35

we're always grabbing stuff outta his. So,

Trent Manning 8:38

Yep. No I definitely have my toolbox with my tools and the guys that help me in the shop, I let them use it. The stuff outta my toolbox, but I still, you know, gripe at them each day. Like, you didn't put this back in the right spot. There is a

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 8:52

You got a checklist on your toolbox. Keep a checklist on your toolbox.

Trent Manning 8:55

That's, that would be a really good idea for sure. Well, what do you do to relax or find your balance?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 9:03

spend time with the grandkids.

Trent Manning 9:05

Okay. That's a smart answer. Since, you're there at their house. Right. You gotta be doing that.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 9:10

and I have motorcycle, so I de-stress riding my bike.

Trent Manning 9:14

okay. Nice. Do you get to bring the grandkids to the golf course?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 9:21

I do every once in a while. I they're getting to the age now where it's getting a little bit easier to bring'em, and it's not so much of a chore that they can kind of go play and we could still be productive. But the last couple years it's been kind of tough bringing'em because it's just, you gotta give all their attention to them. So, or someone does. Yeah, someone does. Yeah. Yeah. I normally, he brings them and then I have to watch him in the shop while he goes work,

Trent Manning 9:43

Well, you know, that's okay. That's all right. That's a fair trade off though.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 9:49

thank God for TV and videos.

Trent Manning 9:51

yeah. Right. I remember, so I got two girls and yeah, they're almost grown now, so 17 and 20. But when they were little, you know, and I, yeah, I probably waited till they were at least five before I started bringing them. And the youngest one, she would go with me like every weekend almost, and hang out, set mowers up. I mean, I got pictures of her doing that, you know, riding the equipment, lift up and down. Driving a golf cart around, you know, just all the things. And I think it's really cool that kids can grow up that way.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 10:26

Yeah. Yeah, they love it. They love it for sure.

Trent Manning 10:29

Yep. Well, I met my sister. Go ahead.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 10:33

he's into monster trucks and excavators and all that, so it's a heyday when he comes to the course, so.

Trent Manning 10:40

Well, my sister brought my nephew to the course a few years ago. He was, I think five at the time. And, you know, he's a typical boy, end up all that stuff and he jumps out of her car and he's just like looking around like tractors, diggers, you know, I mean, naming all this stuff off. He like, didn't know which way to go. He was so excited. He is like, you know, go around in a circle trying to see what he wanted to get on first. Well, what's been one of your biggest challenges to date?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 11:10

Challenges to From on equipment, you

Trent Manning 11:13

yeah. Or just in working at the golf course in general, it's Jacob putting out too much sand. What, you know, whatever the challenge is.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 11:22

Oh, we hadn't had any challenges to this golf course. Not like we've had before. I mean, this is a little different golf course than we were at before, so the challenges aren't as strong as we were before, but. Just maintenance in, in general?

Trent Manning 11:37

So just the day-to-day stuff can be kind of.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 11:41

We still got, he's, I mean, we come up with different stuff every day. Like, you know, like the 3,500 right now we're dealing with, it's cutting. It's cutting weird. So we think we got some issues with the hydraulic, so it's. It's been kind of, you know, I'm growing with him too. We're you know, to go through the equipment and we, something new comes up other than a reel going out or something like that. I mean, that's kind of, we haven't had anything pretty dramatic, but we kinda have to work through it together. And I'm really good at taking stuff apart. He's got the patience to put it all back together, so it's a, he takes it apart pretty quick. You gotta be watching her. Maybe he don't remember the way it went back together.

Trent Manning 12:19

Yeah. Yep. That's I mean, that's one of the things that, that you have to learn too though, is Yeah, getting stuff apart. So when you do face a challenge, like you're talking about with a 3,500 and you're not sure exactly what the problem is, where do you go?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 12:36

I call Mark

Trent Manning 12:38

Okay. Yeah. Fair

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 12:39

our local sales rep's really good. So we try to call them to see if we can bounce off any ideas. So I. But We've called Mark to our previous mechanic. Yeah, so we've called him quite a bit. He's got, I mean, he's probably 35 years of experience now, so he's he's a good resource to have too. So, and he's been, he's always worked on red, so that's what we have problems with as a red sometimes. He knows all the tricks on what to fix on the Toros.

Trent Manning 13:06

Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 13:07

he's about done everything there is to do on any Toro.

Trent Manning 13:11

It's it's always good to have those resources handy, and from my experience, most of the people in our industry are more than willing to help,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 13:24

Oh yes. Always. Yeah. Yeah.

Trent Manning 13:26

down the road, or you know, or whatever. You can call about anybody, and they'll help you out any way they can. And I see it every day. We got the WhatsApp group, so big group of technicians, there's like 150 of us in there. And that's what happens every day. Somebody, Hey, have you seen this before? And the, you know, there's another guy that says, yeah, I've seen that like 10 times. You know, but I mean, it's just, it's common problems that happen with equipment a lot. I. And you know, every once in a while you get a head scratcher, but most of the time somebody else out, that many people has seen it before.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 14:03

Yeah,

Trent Manning 14:03

You know, it's not new. Any strange things at the golf course? What's some of the strangest things you've run across?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 14:11

well, I've had to learn that equipment don't float.

Trent Manning 14:15

It doesn't, so it needs more little more. We've talked to Toro and Deer and Jacobson and see if they can add some ancy

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 14:22

Yeah, some. Yeah. We've had a few operators that

Trent Manning 14:25

yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 14:26

tried to see if they would float and they don't float.

Trent Manning 14:28

They don't float. Yeah. John BSOs, he was one of the guests early on, and I've never. F forget him saying this, that it's amazing what an operator will do for one blade of grass. You know, they're just trying to get just a little bit closer to that lake and then there they go. Yeah, we've definitely probably all seen that if you've been in the industry more than a year, you've seen a piece of equipment in the lake. I can almost guarantee it. I mean, it just, it

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 14:57

been lucky. Ours had, ours didn't go totally in the water, but they rode it out and they were pretty close both times.

Trent Manning 15:04

Right. Yeah. Well, while I'm thinking about it on your 3,500 let's talk it through here. What, what's happening with it?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 15:13

Well, I've switched all the motors out thinking that maybe it was hydraulic or a motor was going out.'cause those are supposed to be in series, so that one motor's weak. Then you don't get the other deck to turn. We have one deck not cutting. It's like the front left deck. Everything else is but the motor's spinning. The blades turn on normal, but it's like once it gets under a load. It stops cutting,

Trent Manning 15:39

And

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 15:40

it's

Trent Manning 15:40

you said which deck?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 15:44

The front, left, front, left, front, right, front, right. If you're sitting in seat, it's front, right?

Trent Manning 15:50

front, right. Is that the, it's been a minute. Is that the last one to get flow?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 15:57

I think it goes, that's what we think. I think it goes rear left right? I think that's what it does.

Trent Manning 16:03

Yeah. I don't it's been too long since I've been into one of those, but and you've replaced the motor.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 16:09

I've rotated three motors out. And you put a new one on too. Yeah, and it still does it. I've rotated'em all the way around. I've checked bearings, I've checked hoses. So we're, I think, down to

Trent Manning 16:22

how old a machine is it?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 16:24

2009 or 10? Probably. Yeah. It's one of our original, it's got a lot of hours on it

Trent Manning 16:30

I mean, I would definitely pull out the cartridge valves and see if the O-rings are on there. And

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 16:36

because I just put new hoses. I just put brand new hoses on it this winter. All new hoses all the way around and we used it probably 10 times and it never missed a beat and it just started doing this. Something's gotten a week. Yeah. There's somebody, mark, not the mechanic, but he said there's a check valve in there, and sometimes if the check valve goes bad, that last motor will not get enough fluid for it to turn.

Trent Manning 17:01

Yeah, and that's why I was getting that with the cartridge valve. So that's the valve that turns it on and off. There's a series of O rings on that valve and also the check valve. There's an O-ring on it that where it can leak internally and.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 17:16

Because there's no external leaks on

Trent Manning 17:19

Right. Right, right, right. So yeah, all that happens in the valve block. But do y'all have mobile service out there in from a distributor or anybody

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 17:29

not really. We got PTP Professional Turf Products but I think most of their mobile stuff's down in Texas. So.

Trent Manning 17:36

Okay. I don't, when I work for. The Toro distributor here in the south, we had, I had a flow meter on the van and all the stuff, so you could roll right up and hook it up and test it out and see where, if you wouldn't get in flow or if you were, or you know, what the deal was because

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 17:54

kind of

Trent Manning 17:54

the Go ahead.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 17:56

that's kinda like Mark, our old mechanic at the old course. He said, take the, take everything off and then plug that return line and there shouldn't be any fluid coming out of it. If there is, then it's blow by and then it's either a motor or a check valve. But you shouldn't have hardly anything in that one return line.

Trent Manning 18:14

Right, right, right. Yeah. Just, yeah, barely kind of dribbling out has been my experience on the return line like that. Do you have The service manual?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 18:25

Yes.

Trent Manning 18:26

Okay. All right. Just

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 18:27

I haven't dug that far. I've tried everything I know, but,

Trent Manning 18:30

yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 18:31

yeah, it, I'm scratching my head just a little bit on this one.

Trent Manning 18:34

Okay. Well, and I mean, there is a lot of valuable information in the service manual, and that's why I asked, just to make sure. And I do appreciate Toro sharing all that stuff on their website and make it pretty easy to get to. where other manufacturers do not, and it is a pain you know, to try to troubleshoot stuff without a map. So you talked about it a little bit. You got a mentor in the industry? I,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 19:00

Me. Yeah. Mark. Mark would be the, yeah. Yeah. But I've only known him for two years, but I mean, he knows his stuff,

Trent Manning 19:09

So, yeah, I mean, what's some of the coolest stuff that he's taught you?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 19:13

taught me how to sharp, sharpen reels and all that stuff. That was my first experience with sharpening reels.'cause I never knew how to do it, but. He had it down to a pretty good science and they had a pretty good machine. There's just little newer than what we have, but ours still works really good.

Trent Manning 19:29

Okay. Awesome. Yeah. What kind, are you a grind only type of place or do you back lap?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 19:38

Well, we, I back lapped with Mark, but I didn't back LA this year'cause I was just having a little trouble setting the old machine up compared to the one I had at Lionsgate. It was a lot easier to set up. It's all computerized and. This one's all digi. Not that one was digital, but this one's all manual. You have to do a lot more to it. So you're talking about the relief grind? Yeah. Yeah. But we back lap. Oh yeah. We back lap in, in between grinds. Yes. Yes. Yeah. We try to yeah,

Trent Manning 20:04

Yeah. Yeah, I was just, yeah, just curious. I mean, there's all kind of different, you know, trains of thought and we're not gonna e explore those two

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 20:12

Back lap. Back lap will last a little while, but that don't normally fix your problem. It'll last a while, but it. They basically go dull again, then you have to take'em off and put'em in a grinder.

Trent Manning 20:22

Right,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 20:22

We do have a little older, I mean, we have a Foley grinder. It's a little bit older. But it's still nice having that. I mean, kind of like what you're talking about, it's getting a lot easier to grind them now. So back laps becoming, you know, just kind of a temporary thing, it seems like. Yeah, it's just as easy to take'em off, put'em in the machine, and. They're, you're back to square one and they're gonna stay sharp for two or three months instead of back lapping, and you might get three weeks out of it and then you start leaving streaks again.

Trent Manning 20:51

Right, right, right. Yeah. How often do you check. Reel to bed knife and that kind of stuff.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 20:58

I know I put the machines on a lift every day before they go out and make sure they're still cutting paper or whatever, and check height. I try to check height at least once a month,

Trent Manning 21:07

yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 21:08

it is. John Deeres go out a little quicker than Toros.

Trent Manning 21:11

I don't, I mean, it is true. It is. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna argue. That's been my experience too. And yeah. Not to to bash on anybody, but that's definitely,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 21:22

You can edit that out, right?

Trent Manning 21:23

yeah. Yeah. We could, but we probably won't.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 21:26

future sponsors here, so

Trent Manning 21:27

Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 21:28

cut that out.

Trent Manning 21:30

that's, I mean, there, there's no secrets, right? I, we don't keep any secrets. Not on our side of the industry anyway. Well, what would be your dream job or opportunity? Is this it? You living the dream

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 21:44

I'm living the dream. Yeah, I am.

Trent Manning 21:46

work, working with your son and get, getting the grandkids,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 21:51

yep. Just, he just has to remember that after two 30, I'm dad.

Trent Manning 21:56

ah,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 21:57

six to two 30, he's my boss. But after that, I'm dad.

Trent Manning 22:00

uhhuh. Yep. Yep. I'm sure that's could be struggles at times. Yeah. I mean, what's the.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 22:06

It's really weird. It's'cause I was just telling a my superintendent today saying like, I'm probably a really bad example of how to talk to your mechanic because like with him being my dad, you know. Someone will come to me and say something, you know, broke down or something's wrong on the course, and it doesn't bother me. But when he comes to me and say, well, you know, the mower's down, I'm like, what do you mean the mower's down? what it is, but it's just a trigger. And I growl at him. I don't even growl at anybody else but him when it comes to anything. So it's funny.

Trent Manning 22:41

Well, I don't, I mean it, I mean, yeah, I've never worked in a job with my dad. I don't know that I could. I mean, we get along fine if I'm not working on something, but when he is standing over my shoulder telling me, you know, how to take something apart and I'm like, dad, really? You know, so

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 23:02

yeah, it's definitely weird.

Trent Manning 23:04

Yeah, there's definitely some challenges there. For sure. I mean, I'm still trying to figure out how to hold the flashlight where my dad can see whatever he's

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 23:13

Oh yes. Why are you holding it there? Yeah. I remember those days when I grew up as on a farm, so yeah, dad was always yelling, why are you holding the light there? Get it outta my face.

Trent Manning 23:23

huh. Hold it so I can see. Not so you can see that's the one I remember hearing the most. Yep. Good stuff. Well, do you have a technician you would like to work with for a day?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 23:36

Do I have a technician that I'd like to work with for day? Why are you going? You going? You coming?

Trent Manning 23:40

I will, I'll be more than happy to come next time.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 23:43

I appreciate that. I'd love to

Trent Manning 23:45

I make a trip.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 23:47

By

Trent Manning 23:48

is it, you got verification next week or something? What?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 23:52

Bo did that.

Trent Manning 23:53

You already did that. Okay. Got all the sand

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 23:55

tell you what, if I can't figure that 3,500 out I'll have Jake call you and you can come and help me sort that out.

Trent Manning 24:02

Well, I mean, I all jokes aside, you got my number, you call me. I'm happy to help any way I can on that kind of stuff. And if I don't, if I can't help you figure it out, I might know somebody that can. And I mean, that

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 24:16

a guy for that,

Trent Manning 24:17

Yeah, I do. I,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 24:17

You got a guy for that.

Trent Manning 24:19

I got a guy for that for sure. And it's not Jake at State Farm. It will not be him. Do y'all have that person on your crew?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 24:29

That person? What do you mean?

Trent Manning 24:30

the person that has really bad luck. The person that always

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 24:35

Not we did last year, but not this year.

Trent Manning 24:39

All right. Congratulations

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 24:41

I think

Trent Manning 24:42

con congratulations.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 24:44

We got a really good staff, so we are training a new rough mower in jj, so we're gonna, we will find out if he's that guy. But so far so good. Yeah, the guy last year that we had was a little hard on things, so, but he'd been in the business for a long time and setting his ways couldn't get him to do what you wanted to. So JJs kind of green. He's been one of our part-time helpers, but I think he's gonna be fine. He's a little more cautious. That's what I want.

Trent Manning 25:12

Oh yeah. Yeah, for sure. And to I guess that guy, it's not always their fault, I don't think. I don't know if some of it was their upbringing, if it's, you know, lack of attention sometimes. You know, I don't know. I don't think they do stuff intentionally, you know, may, maybe it's just pure luck that they're the one on the mower the day that it breaks. I don't know.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 25:43

I did have a kid flip a cart on his first day last year. Yeah, that was fun. So.

Trent Manning 25:49

why don't, yeah, it was a few years ago. Our superintendent let. The younger person on, I mean, it was his first summer and he let him use the superintendent's cart and he flipped it on his side and he wasn't there much longer after that. It's like, you know, come on kid. Get with it. And I mean, that was the other thing. It wasn't just like an accident. He was like horsing around with the cart and like trying to turn the donut and flipped it over on his side. And so it's like you're

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 26:21

just parked on an incline. We got one hole that to stop and check. The tee just got him an incline and it was his second day and he thought he set the brake and when he turned around to find the cart, it'd already launched off. The rocks flipped and it was Mike Art,

Trent Manning 26:33

of course. It was the mechanic's card.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 26:35

So it's, I'm still, it's a work in progress. It still drives sideways. Yeah, but it's drivable. It's drivable, yeah. Needs a few new shackles and stuff like that, but it's drivable.

Trent Manning 26:45

yep. Yep. That's good stuff. Get ready for tips and tricks. Tips and tricks. What do you got you wanna share with us? And it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be, you know, straight from like golf course stuff. Maybe it was something you learned in HVAC on how to test a condenser or, you know, I don't know.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 27:08

Now you are putting me on the spot. Tips and tricks. I haven't really learned any tricks yet. I'm kind of a stickler on pm. Preventing maintenance. That's one of my pet peeves. I'm always. I'm a little, last year I was really aggressive on greasing and I got my butt chewed for that because I kept leaving streaks on the greens.

Trent Manning 27:28

huh. Yep. Yep.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 27:29

Can't, you can't over grease, but you can when you're in the golf industry. Well, we just watched one of your YouTube videos today on like that steel blower. I'm just in the carburetor. You know, just simple stuff like that. Like

Trent Manning 27:44

Oh yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 27:45

That's YouTube has become really handy as far as, you know, a quick, you know, Hey, I can't figure out this, you know, b being a younger guy, but I feel like you use it a lot too. Oh, I use, I, I use it a lot. If I'm trying to take something apart, I just watch the video real quick or trying to hook a piece of equipment up that we've never had watched the video and said, oh, that's how you do it. Yep. It, we didn't have that when I was growing up.

Trent Manning 28:10

Right.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 28:10

yourself.

Trent Manning 28:12

Yeah. Or try to find a book on it or something like that. I remember those days going to the library. Geez. I don't miss that. I mean, I really, the internet has changed a lot of things for sure.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 28:23

Books. Micro Fish. You probably

Trent Manning 28:25

oh yeah. Definitely. Remember Microfish. Yeah. The guy at the parts counter, you know, pulling

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 28:30

Yeah. Get the Micro Fish book. Yep. Get the cards out. Yep.

Trent Manning 28:34

Yeah. Has changed a lot. Yeah, I remember going into, I'm trying to remember what it was. It was my dryer kept tripping the temperature overload sensor. And this was me when I was young, being really naive and being sexist honestly. So I walk in this appliance house and that somebody recommended like, oh, go there. They got they know what's going on. So I walk in and I see two ladies behind the counter, and you know, like I said, really naive. I put my head down and I'm like, okay, great. Couple women in here. And I have the part in my hand and I get halfway to the counter. I'm still 25 feet away. And she said, that's awful. Maytag. Such and such. Such and such. That's part number, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. How many of those you need? And I mean, I ain't even made it to the counter yet, so I mean, she totally blew my mind. I'm like, okay, yeah, okay, this is legit. They know what's going on in here. Like, yeah, I'll take one of those. Yeah, I mean, just, it's amazing, you know, once you're in the industry for a while and all the experience you pick up and all that knowledge that stays in your brain. It's, you know, it's cool stuff. So how do you test a capacitor on a condenser unit?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 30:05

What, how do you text a capacitor A meter?

Trent Manning 30:09

What? Right, right. Volt meter. And then you turn it to what? What do

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 30:14

turn it to s

Trent Manning 30:15

you turn it to? Ohms. And you're just checking continuity.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 30:20

how many micro farrows are on it?

Trent Manning 30:23

Okay. All right. I'm with you. I've done it before, but like, how many of these golf course technicians know how to do that?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 30:30

Does get quite a bit of calls up to the clubhouse to work on AC or Yeah.

Trent Manning 30:35

sure. Oh, yeah. Yep.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 30:36

Yeah. I've worked on air conditioners and stuff. Ice machines, cooler. Yeah. Cooler lines and yeah,

Trent Manning 30:43

yeah. Yep. Yeah I mean it happens I think all over the place, but it's probably shame on you for letting them know that you had HVAC

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 30:53

his fault, not

Trent Manning 30:54

Yeah. Okay. Not your fault. Yeah, I don't, and

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 30:58

if I.

Trent Manning 31:00

the older I get the more I kind of try to hide that from random people. Like what I do know what to do. You know, when they're like, yeah, my lawnmower. Okay. Yeah, your lawnmower. What? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Good luck with that.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 31:15

neighbor ask me tonight about the sprinkler system in their yard. I was like,

Trent Manning 31:19

Well, right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 31:21

getting around. It's.

Trent Manning 31:22

yep. You gotta be careful with that stuff you do. Because I mean, ti honestly, time is really valuable and before you know it, you know, you've volunteered your whole life away. To your neighbor or you know, the person down the road or whoever it might be,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 31:37

But what is it about in our industry, we all like to help too. You know, we say that, but then it's like, we're not, we're never gonna say no,

Trent Manning 31:45

Well, and that's, I mean, that's something I guess I've really been working on the last 5, 6, 10 years is like, just say no. It's really okay to say no, but like you said, it's so hard. So hard to say no.'cause you just wanna say, yeah, I'll help you. And yeah, a week later you still got stuff to do,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 32:07

Yeah.

Trent Manning 32:07

you know? And that's,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 32:09

Yeah. Words travel fast. Yeah.

Trent Manning 32:11

yes, it does.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 32:12

Once it, once they find out, yes. Well then the wife goes, well, you help everybody else. Why don't you help? Help around the house, you know?

Trent Manning 32:18

Yeah. Yep. No I understand that too. You know. It's just like, yeah, like both my girls driving and Yeah. Or am I doing everything on their cars? I probably should be. No, sorry. Sorry girls. You know, I'm not gonna leave you stranded somewhere. I'll come pick you up, but I, you know, I don't wanna be your personal mechanic either. I mean, that's been, you know, that's been some fun, funny stories too. Like it costs that much to get a tire fixed. Yeah, it does, honey.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 32:49

And it does.

Trent Manning 32:50

Yeah, it sure does.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 32:50

Yep.

Trent Manning 32:52

Yeah. What'd you start to say there?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 32:54

I said, no shade cube mechanics no more like it used to be.

Trent Manning 32:58

Right, right, right.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 32:59

could fix everything. There wasn't no computers. It was easy to fix. Yep.

Trent Manning 33:03

True. True. And like you said with the YouTube thing, I mean, if I am working on my personal vehicle or one of my girls. Vehicles. That's the first place I go YouTube. I'm like, is there a video on how to do this? Or, you know, whatever. I pulled a engine out of a Honda Civic, basically would buy a YouTube video, you know, and I mean, obviously I've been turning wrenches a while and have some knowledge, but I did watch the video you know, to get a little insight on what all's involved in getting this thing out. And I actually, I watch multiple videos and every one of them. Said, pull it out the bottom. But me being the person I am, I said, no, I'm taking it out the top. And I did I did cut the firewall a little bit, but it came out so you know, I mean, yeah, live and learn. I guess the next one will come out of the bottom. Yeah, they don't give you very much room there.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 34:04

No, and you got everything else underneath there, rack and pin and steering. Gotta move, all that stuff. if you come out the top, there's nothing to block you but a hood.

Trent Manning 34:12

Right. Well, I had the hood off, so anyway, it was not fun. Not fun. Anything else y'all wanna talk about before we get to some rapid fire? No. Anything?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 34:24

No. No, not really.

Trent Manning 34:26

Not really. Nothing. Nothing come up. Nothing. Do you want, do you wanna call Jacob out right now on,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 34:34

Not really. No.

Trent Manning 34:35

a podcast? Where he can't really defend himself? No, I think it, I mean, honestly, I think it's great that y'all's relationship, obviously, you get along well enough to work together, and I'm sure it's not peaches all day long, every day. But super cool experience. And I would think you'll get to look back on that at some point and say, man, how lucky was I to, you know, to work with somebody like that? You know, a family member that you get along with and all the memories you'll be making,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 35:09

Yeah, right now we're just, you know, you live day to day. We don't think about, don't think about the sentimental of it all that much, but you know, now that you say that, it's like, yeah, kind of chokes you up a little bit. But yeah. But,

Trent Manning 35:24

not trying to choke anybody up, but I think one day you'll both really appreciate the time you gotta spend together. For sure.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 35:31

Talk about the wrench, the wrenches that we've thrown and not at each other.

Trent Manning 35:35

Yeah, hopefully not. Hopefully not at

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 35:37

We've both had our little hissy fits.

Trent Manning 35:40

Well, yeah, I mean it, yeah, it's, it happens, and I don't, I've been, I've said this for a long time, nobody can make you more angry than a family member. I don't know why. You know, perfect stranger could say whatever to me and be all right, whatever.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 35:55

Whatever, right?

Trent Manning 35:57

yeah. But you let a family member, especially, you know, like my dad says, just the right thing. I mean, and it's not even that bad, but it just gets under my skin so deep you know, I can't let it go. So anyway, y'all wanna do some rapid fire? Yeah we'll do we'll tag team it. So I'll ask the question, Jeff can answer and then Jacob answers and let's see

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 36:26

what's

Trent Manning 36:27

how close you are.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 36:28

we, you picking the category or do we get to pick the category?

Trent Manning 36:31

Well, no the, there's three questions and they're the same for everybody. So what's your favorite movie? First or last?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 36:39

First

Trent Manning 36:40

First? All right, love it. Jacob.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 36:43

ca

Trent Manning 36:44

Ah, you gotta say it right? You gotta go with Caddy Sack and, I mean, it's such a classic. It really is. I mean, it is a great movie and I loved Caddy Shack before I ever started working at a golf course. You know, that was good stuff. What would be your last meal?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 36:58

rib steak.

Trent Manning 37:00

A, anything to go with that? Ribeye steak. How are we getting it cooked?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 37:04

fresh green beans.

Trent Manning 37:06

All right. I love, yeah. Some homemade green beans.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 37:09

Oh, yes. That don't get no better.

Trent Manning 37:12

That's right. Exactly right. Jacob.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 37:14

grandma Spaghetti, it's famous.

Trent Manning 37:17

Oh, all right. Spaghetti. Yes. I love it.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 37:20

gotta make it though. You know, she al she makes it special.

Trent Manning 37:24

Okay. Yeah, that's good stuff. What are you most proud of, besides your family, but I feel like this is kind of a family episode, so can we just talk about family then you can

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 37:35

Just proud of, I'm proud of both of my kids. My other son's in the air guard, so

Trent Manning 37:40

Awesome.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 37:41

he's a flight engineer.

Trent Manning 37:43

Cool. Cool.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 37:45

Yeah, I know. I'm proud of, I guess, and where I'm at right now, I'm just proud of my two young kids, you know, raising'em up and just seeing'em grow. You're already seeing stuff that you're instilling in'em. It's just cool to see.

Trent Manning 37:58

No, it's, yeah, it's so good. And I don't know how many people told me when my kids were little, like they grow up so fast, they grow up so fast. And I thought, well, you know, there's been a bunch of people tell me that. I'm sure they're right, but you still don't realize it until they grow up and then you're like, dang, they were right. They grew up so fast. Like, where did all the time go?

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 38:23

my daughter, my youngest daughter, she's she'll be two this summer, but it's like, I saw a picture the other day from when we delivered her and I was like, it feels like five years ago,

Trent Manning 38:34

Yeah, I know. You just wait, man. Yeah. Wait till they turn. 15 or 20.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 38:39

Like I was pretty tired in that delivery room, but I, that was fuzzy

Trent Manning 38:44

yeah. Right, right. No, that's crazy, man. Crazy. Crazy. Well, thank you both for for joining me tonight. And yeah, we had a little trial and error, but we finally got here. I was sick and then I don't remember what happened the next time we couldn't make it. And then here we are, though. Third time's the charm,

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 39:04

I appreci. I appreciate everything. Yes.

Trent Manning 39:06

Yeah. And honestly, if I can ever help in the future you got my number. I'm happy to help. And like I said. If I don't know the answer I might know somebody that does. And that, that goes, you know, for anybody listening too, I think my phone number's on the website, I know I get random text all the time. Like, hello dear. like, yeah who sends that? Right? come on, you could come up with something better than that. Yeah. So anyway but yeah, I'm here for you. Thank you. I appreciate you. And y'all have a good evening.

Jeff and Jacob Rockhold 39:41

You too.

Trent Manning 39:47

thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf techs podcast. I hope you learned something today. Don't forget to subscribe. If you have any topics you'd like to discuss, or you'd like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at Reel turf techs.