Don Cotton is the owner of Turf Pride LLC, a turf equipment research and development facility with manufacturing and distribution located in Andalusia, Alabama. Don’s father was a Ford tractor dealer who went into business in 1949, so Don grew up working on equipment, ‘piddling,’ and later selling, researching and developing new equipment. Don takes us through his long career from the first time a customer shared his idea to plant Zoysiagrass and sell his turf to landscapers, through the earliest days of relief grinding reels as a new concept, up to the innovations of today’s turf equipment.
Transcript
Trent Manning:
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. Manny let’s have some Welcome to the real turf text podcast, episode 32. This week, we’re stepping outside the shop as part of our series highlighting guests. Who don’t wrench on turf equipment, but these support our profession. In a variety of ways. Our guest, Don cotton is the owner of turf pride, LLC. Located in Andalusia, Alabama. Turf pride is an equipment research and development center. With manufacturing and distribution. Don has a lifetime of experience and the real grounding business. And he shares a lot of that story with us today. Let’s hear from Don. All right. Welcome Don to the real turf Tex podcast. you doing today?
Don Cotton:
I’m Doing good. How about you?
Trent Manning:
Doing great. I’m glad to have you on that’ll be a lot of fun and man, Don stock before, and really enjoy his stories.
Don Cotton:
Well, let me take transplant privilege and honor for me to be with you on your podcast. And I want to thank you, for what you’re doing for the industry. I mean, this is just, it’s just outstanding. And man, if we’d have had this 40 years ago, okay. Now where we would all be and that’s
Trent Manning:
Barbara. I really appreciate that. us how you got into the turf industry.
Don Cotton:
My daddy was a poor tractor baler and he went into business in 49. So he was in business when I was born. So I was always around equipment and I loved every aspect of equipment from working on it, to piddling on it selling it later on in my career and actually sailing. I had a really good customer at the time that bought all of his equipment from us and he planted 10, I’ve heard a Xhosa crash. And I remember I asked him, I said, Matt, what does that, there’s always your grass. I said, what are you going to do with it? He said, whatever, it’s gonna take about two years and just won’t cover the ground. And he said, I don’t want to cut it up and sell it to the landscapers. And I said, yeah, okay, well, I’ve never heard it. But it kind of turned into my favor because I had this farm one day. He said, Hey, I get another tractor in a flail malt. Okay. I can handle that. So showing him a Ford tractor and play. And just, we’re just intrigued. I go by there every week or two, so he wasn’t going and he had irrigated it, which was something unique to my little circle, the world at the time. And it was about two years into it. I was out there one day and he brought in an old brow or sod harvester. I mean, the best way to describe it is it was a contraption. It was mounted on the 1 35 Ferguson track.
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Don Cotton:
And so just watching that operation, I had never seen sod, cut and then come up a conveyor and guys standing on the back, stacking on pallets. was just hanging around with him. And I would be in and out over a few days and being anyway, I was up there one day, he said cotton. They said parts for this machine come out of Canada company called per hour. And he said they ship them CEO day, the ups man, Tampa. He said, why don’t you have they shipped to the tracker place paper and bring them out here? I say, sure, man, anything I can do for you. So we did. And when I would call Brower, he would tell me the part numbers to order and they would ship them and we would pay for them. And then I dunno after a few weeks, so that I guess Broward did a little research and figured out that cotton Ford tractor company had been in business since 1949. And so they set us up an account and started shipping the parts in, just open the account, which made a lot easier to think about it in so hugging soft farm was my only customer. And then when we get a call one day from Brower sales manager on though, would we be interested in being the representative dealer for Montgomery and delusions in south Alabama? And would we be interested in representing Montgomery south and the Florida panhandle? Yes. So, you know, it’s just a matter of selling parts we can do that. I didn’t realize it was probably six or seven sod farmers in that geographical area. It’s basically in the panhandle of Florida down to port Panama CBD, and then in the NAND round mobile Baldwin county, there were actually some pretty big solid farmers down there. And I just worked into being a great parts business for us. As we learned the business and learned that it was a pretty diverse in a way from farming department, who’s a farmer is pretty tough. It wasn’t back then was no crop insurance. And if a farmer had a bad crop year, I mean, it was just, it was a struggle, but at the same time, the sod farmers all were doing well. So it just gave us a little diversity in the tractor. Did. So we started we pick up their entire product line, which included of course the sod harvester real mowers big vacuums. That was a really, the only items I had at that time later on the hitchhiker, the little loader that goes on the back of the trailers. But became,
Trent Manning:
What was the loader that goes on? Oh, it loads the side on the trailer.
Don Cotton:
yeah, they called it a hitchhiker. Cause it goes on the tail end of the trailer. You see a lot of them that home Depot and those guys I have on the Princeton Moffitt mounting are probably the big
Trent Manning:
okay. Yeah. Yeah, no worries.
Don Cotton:
Yeah. Those, but anyway, so then he kind of said, you know, that’s your baby, you know, you take it and go with it. And I was young enough that I didn’t mind doing the traveling and. But also one of the things that they had did that made him successful. he gave good service in his attitude. Same as mine. We’re going to do this, we’re going to do it. Right. So I started learning about real mowers. I mean, I didn’t even know what it was. One was, I didn’t play golf, so I never was around a golf course, but I didn’t, you know, wasn’t introduced to any type of real board. What I would know about a real bore is like, everybody that you talked to, that’s my age. Oh, I remember going to the green Eddie’s house. And he had that old push time
Trent Manning:
yeah.
Don Cotton:
and migraine lady did too, but that’s all I do about it real more. But we, we wanted to sell them. I mean, I wanted to say, or whatever Brower was making it, I did a little research and found out that if you’re going to sell a real mower, you gotta be able to service it, which involved real sharper nurses. So I learned all I could. Those. And it just worked out for us that year, that the GFE industry shows up in Atlanta. I think this was around 79 or 80, somewhere in that timeline. So I go up, I was in the Brower booth. Brower had a pretty good stand at the golf industry show. And so I asked Mr. Brower, your Brower. I said, what, what real ground, or would you recommend? don’t know really much about a piece of it, but I’ve got a gentleman coming to the show that’s from England and he makes all of our real goals and bedtimes. Why don’t you wait until he gets here and ask him? So he showed up his name of her out when Stanley and so I ran production was I looked to hear you guys from Alabama talk,
Trent Manning:
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Don Cotton:
I’ll say, Mr. you heard, I want to tell him. I say, if you don’t believe me, I say, let’s go down on peach tree street, who talked to
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
you anyway, we just kinda hit it off. Pretty good together. You acid. I said, I need, I’m a Broward Bigler, and we want to sell the real mower, but I want to be able to service them. So what real sharpener would you recommend? And he said, oh, he said, I’ll make the best real shopping around. I said, well, which one is, we don’t have any in America? Well, that’s not going to be meeting.
Trent Manning:
At that time, who was.
Don Cotton:
at that time, Foley was. in business with, the old single blade grinders simplex, I think was in business. BRL was making a show over here. I can’t remember if dual express will own the market then or not. I don’t remember seeing them at Atlanta, but to further his argument that he had the best machine, he opened a flower. My wife in may to England, to the south techs show in Windsor,
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Don Cotton:
which is a big outdoor huge, and it’s not just golf. It’s landscape Artscape. So big show at Weaver race course. So we go over and then that’s when I saw the whole stand that Appleton and eldest who makes the build express that their stand and Jupiter was there. Eric Contra grinders there, when Stanley had his array of grinders. He had a good machine. I mean, I was impressed with it. We ended up buying the two that he first do he ever shipped over here. But one of the things that impressed me or he impressed me with was the ability to relief ground or back off the real is what they call it over there and be able to put on the back off of it. And I suppose what’s the importance of that? He said, well, it just gives you a high quality cut. It’s a lot easier on the drive system of the cylinder mower. And his machine would do that just, well, it was kinda like him. It didn’t matter what we purchased as long as we could really practice his machine did. So we brought it over, set them up. He had a real grinder and a separate bed, knock rounder, bottom blade grinder. So I hit the road. He taught me how to grind a real. Relief grounded and spin grounded and true it up. So a little bit of competence. Then I went out to some of my soft farm customers and actually two or three of them had some old Broward mowers that they had bought before we were a dealer, but they didn’t lock them. So said it wouldn’t work. They weren’t great. The first summer worked great. But after that, there were no good. And so when that didn’t make sense to me, so, you know, well, the research found out that they had one through the relief. They were down to the full width of the real blade and the bed mass had worn down. So they were extremely wide. And with a Broward board belt ribbon. So the police were regaining the wear out and the belt was hitting the bottom of the pulley. So you combine all those together and you don’t have a mower that has.
Trent Manning:
right, right here. Right.
Don Cotton:
That’s Right. Yes. And they didn’t want to do that. So I said the first sets of real board, we rebuild, I did it on a challenge if, when we get through with it and if I bring it back to you, if you don’t like it, you don’t pay. So we brought him in and would relief brown the reels and put Ben knobs on and put about a 10 degree on the top page two or three degrees on the front page. And then you pull any new belts on them, raise them up, man. I’ll sneeze with cook, and we would take them back to the side farm. And they all fell back in love with him again. And you gotta understand a sod farmer will mow as much in a month. A probably a typical golf course most of the year, or have a season. And so a real moral and a sidebar because a lot of hours. And to when they’re growing the sod back in, they will put a real mower out there apparently quickly. So let’s pick it up a lot of sand and dirt. So during that initial grow in a turf, it’s going to be pretty rough on the railroad top dressing your greens as we know today. So anyway, you just had to be in a position. The soft farmer needed to be able to really on his own Brian, but they didn’t, which were not good for us. Cause I just didn’t go back around and I would walk out to their shop and I say, look, you see that relief. It’s almost gone. It’s time for me to take them back in and research to support you. So we did and it paid pretty good, probably $75 a head back there. And then we would take them back to the shop service, some relief around them. Sometimes we would have to put bed knives on sometimes to reground the bed. We put her back out and they would, they would cut. And I’ve just learned fairly quickly that if you didn’t do that to a Brower mower, it wasn’t going to stay in the field. But as long as you did that on your relief grounding, your Brower would run perfectly. So we expanded just looking for opportunities. And I found out that there were golf courses that needed their real sharpened. And I had some sales on the road and expanded to heavens on sales and on the road, they would get a commission on all the units they would bring into the shop. Back in the hay day, we would probably do them somewhere around 600 cutting units. And most of those would be they’ll Jake ground drives and they’ll Toro Spartans. And that was primarily what was used on golf courses and a lot of sod farm views. I mean, it was Really the only real boards that were in the industry back in those days and ran some hadn’t really come over to America yet. So it was Jacob Toro in some few Roselands were on the market. And I learned the same thing with them. I would go to a sod farm or even to a golf course, and they were really dissatisfied with the quantity of cut. And I said, Well, let me take your numbers and I’ll serve some for you. Now we would, we love the relief relief brand. And I taught my guy running the grinder. I, said, I don’t want that the land to be a state as you can get it out, the land on that real to be no thicker than your thumbnail. And we would put about,
Trent Manning:
so just recently I’ve locked down Patterson. They put a post out the other day on Instagram and he’s down that then. I remember reading in the book for John Deere. It says two thousands, but two thousands first or no, sorry. Excuse me. So it’s two millimeters and three millimeters is pretty thick
Don Cotton:
Yeah, of course three millimeters like of an aids. Oh, I would, yeah, my recommendation was taken down as thin as you can get it.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
And we did that and we did a set of real board Jakes or us big sod farmer down in Baldwin county. And I could’ve sold them or brow or I could’ve sold them a whole fleet or brown board and just told them to Jake for no good. But I knew, I mean, I wouldn’t been honest. I just knew his needed proper grinding to no blades were wrong, but Jake heady real blades were nearly a quarter of an inch deep. Maybe not quite that date, but there were, I took them back down delusion. We ripped those things down and took them apart, put a relief in them, but then I was on them ground, but then I was taking them back to. them and they, he loved them. I gained a good customer. And he did eventually come back. I think at the time before I was at over dealing with him about seven, seven games from us
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Don Cotton:
and then ended up on his own grinder or something, it got to the point he was paying me more to ground them. Then he said he put pencil to it one day and bought his own brand from us. So it kind of
Trent Manning:
Okay. Yup. Yup.
Don Cotton:
But yeah, it is what it is,
Trent Manning:
So the ground or the came from England were the tabletop style.
Don Cotton:
We would call it a cabinet tab. It was the only grinder then that had an electron cover. They were water-cooled, the name of the wind Stanley’s company was mowing machine maintenance. And his set up was he had brackets that voted to parallel bars. That you rest the real roller into, and then I’m practically came from a similar to the setup probably total years. I’m, I’m not as burst on grinders as I was 30 years ago, but that was initially his set up. And then he had the wheel head rolled on to parallel precision ground raw solid bars that were probably two inches in down crims, a robust machine.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
Hey, be really heavy. And wake up hog off the wicked. We could make a relief, pass a relief, cut in one pass.
Trent Manning:
Wow.
Don Cotton:
We would blast the water on it. And we got good at, I mean, we would go down a blade, flip the real, come back on the next blade, sparks, sparks flying, and take that blade straight down to.
Trent Manning:
Wow.
Don Cotton:
then we drop the finger guide back. He will head up a little bit attached to spin motor fairness, the real up, and just go into a real lot touch until it just sparked from one end to the other. And then you’re done with it. You’re finished. We can grind a real one about five or 10 minutes.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
I mean, we would play it and I don’t know how much further you want to get into my story, but we ended up building our own machines and selling them. And so I was in the industry and setting these up around the world and I’d watched guys reactions when I would call Haagen at off, I mean, oh, what are you doing? You’re going to ruin my blade. I said, no, you’ve never been to a real manufacturing company. When they’re coming off the welder, I ain’t gonna hurt your blades
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Don Cotton:
and it isn’t going to happen. And even if we saw a a little blue tent
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Don Cotton:
in a surface, come back with a real light touch and it shines on up really nicely. But eventually through acquisitions and mergers allows access to his product, wouldn’t ransom them in the market and they bought him out. And then, I don’t know how far you bet you go. But Bob Neary had copied to do express the near grinder, the table top. And he was in the industry with his machine and when I lost access to the machine maintenance Grindr, I just bought a bomb, the area on them. had those that were in my shop and I had guys come in and blueprint them and we started making our own. But I wanted to improve it. I just knew there were some improvements that could be made. And one of the improvements that we made I never did like setting the real units on there on the rower because of the roller bearing was worn out on one end or looser on one end than the other roller bracket was bent. Then I had to set up my grinding head to compensate for those parts that had nothing to do with the reel.
Trent Manning:
Right.
Don Cotton:
So we developed the setup technique in bracket system that the brackets bolted to the bearing housing of the cutting unit. And to this day, I still think that’s the most accurate way. The only more accurate than you can get from that is to take the real completely out of the frame
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
and set it up in your grinder bearings. you can parallel. Burying the ground the berries go. It’s very internals parallel that with your grinding stone in the ground, it you’re taking all the guesswork out of it when you do it That way.
Trent Manning:
That makes sense,
Don Cotton:
And so we went that route with them and did well sold a bunch of them. And so the company and the company that had bought it, grinders are tough to sell. I mean, yeah. You know, in our industry, I know you were talking about the dog and pony show. You’re going to show up at a facility and if you hadn’t been invited, it was going to be hard to get
Trent Manning:
Myra.
Don Cotton:
in there in the first place or the attention of, well, we deal with the technicians, you know, very rarely with a superintended. Every once in a while, there will be a superintendent that understood Grindr, but I was dealing with the mechanics and I related to him. I was a mechanic. I mean, I love rebuilding engines and, you know, that was my Bailey way I can, and they go into a facility and it was always fun. And obviously to be invited and show up with your head, but everything had clicked for you in you travel for two or three days to get from point a to point B. And there’s so many times that I’ve left the facility and I’ll write the cash to check and then found out later they went another route, you know, it’s just so, so it, it didn’t always pay off the ground or just a tough sale. And the people that we’ve sold to big in the industry, they didn’t want to put that type of effort in it. So those grinders are no longer being manufactured, sadly. We learned a lot and I’ve got my opinions. I got my test. It’s unbelievable or no, it’s not corrupt with term how a real can be torque in a cutting unit by you can set a real up, had it, you know, cut the paper, paper, cut, test one sheet, get a paper boat, the rollers to it. And don’t cut no more.
Trent Manning:
yeah. Yep. No, I’ve seen that before and especially some of the, the older cutting units that God’s perfect on the bench. And you said on the floor and you can’t turn the real.
Don Cotton:
Yes, these are that nature. And so the, oh, I spell out there should be a better way to build a cutting unit. And so we were able to experiment with. Different techniques constantly up some some work some then we even I lost a bet. One time ended up weeding several bets from losing that bet. We were demonstrating grinders on the golf course. The guy had I just cutting unit ready and we would run them, set them up and one unit, and in particular, we couldn’t get the cut fiber and he bet me that the berries needed to be replaced. I said that your berries are in good shape. You put new ones in there. He said, yeah, but he said, let me break this one back down. I said, if you got new berries in it, He said, he said, this has happened to me before I said, nah, it’s not your bearings. Well, but you know, sales time. So he broke it down. But another set of bearings in it, please set it in the grinder, crude, it backed up. He put it together. It was perfect. And through the years I wouldn’t be at different facilities. And when there would be one or two units just wouldn’t adjust in and I’d say, you change your bearings out. But I did a week ago or a month ago, or last year, I said, now you got some new bearing, familiar I’ll pay for it, how my Newt a bearing can be out. That would adversely affect the quality of cut in of sit up real. to bed. Not That happened a few times. So you guys, my head is off to you. I mean, you guys were working in thousands and you know, when I first got in the industry with our gala was crazy because motors greens at 180,000
Trent Manning:
Right, right.
Don Cotton:
feet in a scalpel, or I’m at 180,000.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
And before I got out of really being involved with developing 30 units, we were down to oh 55 with one customer, 0 55.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. That’s crazy.
Don Cotton:
And it took a special bed not to do that. And we were in position to make him a bad map that did that and, and even anchor. And the amount of shared that, sorry with you over barbecue, that David, I can’t name names, but it was a high-profile golf course that the guy needed some low cutting knives and we made him. He called me up and he said cotton. He said, man, these things, the greens, I’ve never been this fast. And the tournament was on its way. So practice round for being played and both had given him the go ahead to set up all 19 greens mowers using our tournament knives we’d made for him. And he called me up and he said, man, you gotta, I got a story. You can tell it, but you don’t, if you ever put a new print they’ll send you a bill for me about Anna, one of the touring players, he looked up and was coming down to his maintenance shed. He said, yes, sir. He said, son, are you setting out how to cut on ACE? He said, yes, sir. He said, bump them up a little bit. And he said, sir, he said, we can put on that fast. And he said, there are two clubs That’s kind of a photograph, a little cap, you know, and now it’s come flooding back then.
Trent Manning:
tell us what your favorite tool is?
Don Cotton:
To
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Don Cotton:
keep the dock work-related, that’s your lift and our that not find, sir?
Trent Manning:
Okay.
Don Cotton:
I think any maintenance facility has a lift to get that guy off the floor and get him under a piece of equipment that he can check it thoroughly. keep that piece of equipment running and the able to get to his cutting units to service them properly is vital.
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Yeah. I agree. A hundred percent.
Don Cotton:
And, there are so many times that a guy or gal can, can keep a mower mode adequate. With a good sharp front edge on a midnight.
Trent Manning:
know. Do you have any certain facer that you’ve used or recommend?
Don Cotton:
you know that, here’s the story behind that? I think we’re going to go back about 30 years. There’s a guy down in Florida that took the side grinder and mounted it on a little frame that he could pull that across the front edge of the bed. Not, he was a big Gator fan so he called it the Gator ground and it will throw sparks. But what happened to that in, or you could come across, you been off a couple of times and it would cut Piper. I know that that’s the bench test. If it a cut paper, go cut grass. But after a few uses of that grass, All of a sudden overlap, straps started occurring, and there’s still three reasons for overlap straps. And one of them is the center point of the real ahead of the front edge of the bed. Now, the reel has gotten below the front edge of the bed. The bed, not, this is tucking back under center and that grinder removed so much material that that phenomenon started happening. And I started having stop use it. That concept stayed off the market from Laval. And then they came back in with these more finer grit, sanding pads that you don’t take out nearly as much. So I don’t have a, no that I got a favorite pplacer, but just one that takes off a lot of material because it doesn’t take a lot of material. And I mean, there’s some guys that can take a flat file innovate, got an equipment list. Like crawled under that equipment lift with a flat file. We didn’t run across the front edge. And it’s like in that practice, if you do it often enough, it doesn’t take nearly as much to keep it sharp. It’s not backlash, but I go to pursuit, a guy said, Hey, come look at my reels and tell me if they need backlash. If I can look at your reel to see that it needs backlash, it’s too late, the backup
Trent Manning:
Yeah,
Don Cotton:
either
Trent Manning:
right. Yeah. You better throw it on the ground or,
Don Cotton:
throw it on the grinder and leave your reel, but have any relief in it or, the front of the lay industry. wasted your time from the back lab.
Trent Manning:
That’s another thing that I’ve noticed over the years that I don’t think people do enough of, is my opinion, but when you do back. Always take a flat file and remove that Burr that the backlash up. And I think that helps a lot.
Don Cotton:
Yes. I’ve been to some wonderful facilities and everyone near made. They’re gracious enough to let me use their facilities to test equipment. And there are top rated course in Florida, and they guys are just great. They’re 18 holes, one equipment manager, one, McCain, there’s a rabbi and stuff. And his system, he just, he just got to go and he got a wash down pad and a really nice drainage and everything. And his operators are trying just to, when you come in, it’s basically the greens mowers back in under the wash pan. We don’t mind throw a little water on it. Try to wash off outlets. Can you don’t get all bent out of shape. It does not speak in span cause he’s going to go down. Turn his unit zone, turn on the lapping mode, take the brush, wipe out a little lapping compound, go back in the shop. He may tweak them a little bit, adjust them just a little bit, make those guts. He just goes and does something else going back down there 15, 20 minutes later, turn them off, washes them down then really good. Pulls that more in the shop he make, put it up on the lift just to double check his adjustment. Now he’s ready to go the next morning. Doesn’t work himself in a desert, just a little routine.
Trent Manning:
Yeah,
Don Cotton:
It never gets so bad that it doesn’t take 10 to 15 minutes to keep a really good sharp edge on it. And he just stays ahead of the game. That’s a key in my opinion, again, if I could, you know, you can look at your reel and his belt enough that Matt go turn the, turn the ground around.
Trent Manning:
yeah, no, that makes sense. I think there is people in the industry that might use. you know, more than they should. And then we, you know, we got other people in the industry that won’t touch back laughing.
Don Cotton:
Yeah, Yeah. no debated it I’ve argued it ups been down that road and I think, I think one of your favorite questions was, do you believe that belief ground, or what’s your position of early friend? I think that your question is, and I always reply all the advantages is in related grounding. I mean, from reduction of friction and these guys just say, yeah, but I’m running zero clearance. Well, okay. But what’s moving between the real and the bene
Trent Manning:
Yeah. Right.
Don Cotton:
the less of a surface that that grass blade has to travel across in the way of friction is being less friction there is on that. And then the other advantage is can relate, run. As you can back backlash. They don’t really run. You don’t need to be fine. I’ve been compound. So that’s my story. And I’m sticking to it,
Trent Manning:
all right. Well, I like it. Do you have any pet peeves Around your shop or anything?
Don Cotton:
Yeah, I got a pet peeve in the sky and walk around with a cup of coffee and there are an energy drink. I know that comes from my dad. My dad wouldn’t even let us have a coffee machine at the tractor place because he just didn’t like the idea, God walking around with his mechanics and his sales and walking around with a cup of coffee in her hand. And, and that’s. But here’s a logic. How much work can you do if you’re holding a cup of coffee with one hand,
Trent Manning:
Yeah, specialists.
Don Cotton:
just, you’re not ready to work and you punch the clock, you know, go get plays, drinker coffee, before you punch the clock. Now having to deal with train. And I got three young guys were having trouble getting work peppers, you know, we’re just we’re and I don’t mind training somebody and I’ll spend as much time if they’re willing, if they will show up on time. No, I think we’ve got to say no, they’ll just show up. They’ll just show up and they’re willing to come to a workplace I’m certainly willing to train and where my guys are willing to train them, but stay in on the cell phone. That’s some new one that I’m only, we’ve only had to deal with in the last few years. And guys not replying to a text or anything.
Trent Manning:
I liked that one. Yeah, because that’s one of my biggest pet peeves too.
Don Cotton:
just say thank you. I’m happy with a cake. You know, some people say, don’t say Kay, say, okay, I don’t know. get, I’m happy with a cake. At least. I know you got it. said to me, it’s not having a conversation and you ask somebody to question, they just look at you. They don’t answer it.
Trent Manning:
well, right. Yeah.
Don Cotton:
you’re going to have text mail, if you’re going to use it, please listen. Take it that next step. Let each other know we’ve received each other’s communication but that’s just, I’m a Canadian. And I, try to communicate with my Quantis club and I don’t know if they’re getting the emails or not. I don’t know if it’s floating around, out in cyber or, oh, probably my pet peeve. One of them.
Trent Manning:
I’m fully behind that one. Cause it drives me nuts. I want to hear something.
Don Cotton:
Yeah. I mean, sometimes somebody, you know, don’t go in her statement. You don’t need a reply
Trent Manning:
Yeah. If you asked a question, I want a response. Yes. No matter what it is, you can
Don Cotton:
no, that don’t matter.
Trent Manning:
Yup.
Don Cotton:
I’ve heard from you. You got enough, you got nothing for you, but also,
Trent Manning:
What do you know now that you wish you’d known on day one? You got any advice for the up and coming technicians out there?
Don Cotton:
well, I’m going to get spiritual on you hear crap.
Trent Manning:
That’s okay.
Don Cotton:
I wish I had the patient’s back then that I’ve got now I pushed too much stuff that as the Garth Brooks song goes, thank God for unanswered prayers. I think it’s something I’ve pushed it too much. And I didn’t allow my God to give me the direction I should have been going in. I kind of forced And now I don’t mind telling him I’ll be 66 years old, my next birthday. I’m actually able to put jogger. I know I’m not a specimen, you know, if you would’ve saved my picture
Trent Manning:
Well, yeah, and, and the way I saw you put some ribs down, I would to need to be a jogger.
Don Cotton:
uh, First of all, that remark, I’m not going to pass up a good real now, oh, I don’t know where we’re going with I need to let God open the doors instead of me trying to force them open And I’ve tried to teach this as well. If it doesn’t happen, like you want it to happen the patient, because what will happen eventually might take a few days, might take a few weeks. It may take a few months, even years you’ll look back and say, wow, this is so much better than what my idea was. And I wish I would’ve learned that earlier in my career. And I’ve tried to practice it more and more as I’ve gotten older. And I’ve tried to express that when my guys stayed at home, don’t just because it didn’t work. Like you wanted it to don’t get all bent out of shape about it. Just be calm big patient come around. They come around butter usually than what you ever could have dreamed up. A lot of
Trent Manning:
I think that was great. That was a good point. Are there any tips or tricks you want to share with us?
Don Cotton:
I’m just so far removed now from actual working in a shop mean, you guys have got some great tools and you your your podcast and you can Google and you can watch YouTube. So that probably would be the tale is don’t try to figure it out now on your own, because there’s somebody out there just probably already done it. And there’s probably somebody who’s done it better than you can do it. Go watch it and see how they do it. And I learn from that Or listen to your podcast. I mean, I thoroughly
Trent Manning:
call the guy down the road,
Don Cotton:
That’s right.
Trent Manning:
you know, it’s networking.
Don Cotton:
Yeah, exactly.
Trent Manning:
No, there are no your peer clubs. None of the people around you, you know, who you can call, know who is good at what? I mean, I got my little group in my area and I know who’s really good on sprayers. I know who’s really good on Tuesday. And if I got something I’m banging my head against the wall, I’ll give them one of those guys to call whether they can give you the answer that you need or not, they can, of times spark the inspiration and find the answer.
Don Cotton:
sure. That’s exactly I was fortunate being involved was on the first mechanics organizations. The very first one that I attended was in Michigan and it was the first organized meeting of the Michigan mechanics association. And I had gone up to do a presentation on the real grinder. And John Beatty was there to go to a presentation on the trial of whale. And those guys were all excited. They’re probably 30 that that attended that meeting. And you could just tell, I saw right there and I this was great. I mean, the superintendents were getting together, you know, the superintendents had their annual meetings, you live statewide. And then, know, maybe you wanna go to the golf industry show, but let us, I’ve just seen it through the years. Good. And I’m going to say mechanic, and I’m not belittling anybody. I’m a mechanic. I just that’s the way I grew up. So to say a technician, but I’ve seen mechanics that made superintendents good, and that mechanic should have been making as much money as a superintendent. And I stated that on numerous occasions, I’ve gotten many people may add that comment, and they should have been allowed to organize a mechanic should be allowed to take a day off to go to a meeting. you know, in the last few years golf score superintendents association has started including the technicians and mechanics. And I think that does a great wonderful that’s way past due. If we could do it over again, what would I do? And that would be, be more involved in helping organize mechanical associations from, I mean, I attended my share of them And we’ve supported our share of them, but that was the biggest asset to to this industry. Is getting the mechanics train. Cross-train let them know the Trent Mannings of the world that know the, make a phone call. Find an answer, go to a meeting, share an idea, pick up an idea. It’s a good network and these to expand.
Trent Manning:
And so I’ve been attending the golf industry show for, I don’t know how long it’s been only five or six years maybe. And I met so many people there made so many connections. People that I still talk to, some of them on, you know, a weekly basis. And it’s nice knowing that you’re not the only one out there struggling with this or that.
Don Cotton:
Well, you take it a little bit further than that. There are some superintendents that are easier to work for than others and a superintendent might be blaming the mechanic for a problem. But if that superintendent learned, Hey, I don’t know, three peoples got the same piece of equipment they’re having that same problem. Okay. So it’s not your fault. I can go back to my dealership or I can go back to whomever, you know, let’s get some help on this thing. And so just sharing ideas and letting them be a part of the industry. And I really was only, my opinion is only really started occurring in the last few years is bringing the mechanics right into the middle right up front. And that’s where they belong the whole time, in my
Trent Manning:
the guy worked for, I love Oregon farm and don’t want to work for anybody else when he retires, I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but, we had a meeting the other day, me and him and the superintendent, some of this. And he kind of fessed up and said, I don’t get talking to me and our operation. And it’s really easy for the technician to kind of get isolated. And not that we don’t communicate or anything like that, we’ve got good communication, but I’m not as active in the communication as I should be. And it was good to hear from him because now I’m more eager to get and Bob in their communication.
Don Cotton:
I can see that, you know what, they concerned me years ago when they brought golf court managers to being a part of the golf industry show. And I know that, I guess, Motive to do that was to expand the show and make it available to more people. But my prediction at the time was a golf course has only so much money. They can budget to send someone across the country, you know, to San Diego or down to Orlando, guess who’s going to get to go. You know, me to the general manager, it’s the last one that needs to be there. I would go back to like the mechanic and the superintendent, whatever you can do get those two guys and your, a golf course would be a whole lot better shape. And of course, I don’t know if you got any general managers listen to your podcast and I don’t, but, and there’s some good gentlemen, I’m not throwing off, I’ll know, but that you gotta, you gotta let people be involved as much as you can. And the more involved that they are, the more they’re going to take ownership in it, take pride in it, and everybody will benefit.
Trent Manning:
Yes. You’re a hundred percent correct. I like it. I mean, yeah. The more, more you get somebody involved, the more proud they’re going to take this as this is going to be, you’re going to have a better employee.
Don Cotton:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
Well, yeah. And that’s okay too. I don’t, you know, I try the guys that come through the shop. Uh, Definitely think I got better over the years than I used to be about training them. I’ve never been one to want to hold anybody back or be selfish because they’re really good. like, Charlie, that they worked us for three years. And I told him about a really good job opportunity, actually over a horse you’ve been,
Don Cotton:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
yeah. So him about it and he’s like, I think I’m going to have to take this, you know, he’s got a shock that I told you about. It was like, no, that’s it, man. That’s, that’s what we’re doing here. And I mean, if I had my way about it, I get guys to spend two or three years and send them on down the road And get somebody else in, train them up. But that’s been, it’s been really hard people in that, just like you said more to show up much less work
Don Cotton:
yep.
Trent Manning:
or desire for on a golf course.
Don Cotton:
Yep. Well, technical schools. They’re failing in our industry lake city, community college, we’ll say premier school, but in its day. And if you graduated, if you had lake city, community college your diploma, get hired,
Trent Manning:
Oh, yeah, for
Don Cotton:
you know, there was a way they just hired those guys. I know one of your, I’m going to jump ahead of you on your questions. Well, what’s something that’s funny. That’s happened. I love footy things has happened to my app, but one of them was the first time I attended this product. Third press conferences in Tampa. And I had made friends with a superintendent. They had gone into mobile, real grounding service, and he covered the Tampa bay area. And he had taken an step van truck and put into grind. I’ve been not grounded in a real grinder and he’d go to golf course, the golf course. So he was helping me those couple of days, three days of the progression. And I had spent a lot of money having colored brochure printed and, you know, go back 35 years ago, like a
Trent Manning:
yeah.
Don Cotton:
I had them laid out on the table. And these kids with these bags were coming in and pick it up and drop it in their bag. Now I have some college. So I took all my literature, took it out, put it under the table. He came back from a coffee break. He said, have you given away all the literature on these? We need to get some more out. I said, no, no, no. I said mail. I said, these kids are coming through here and they’re grabbing all of it. And I said, they’re from psychotic TC that’s lake city, community college. This is student day that your future customer get this broke. You’re out, get it back in their hands. and I mean, lake city, community college that had the name and on several colleges around the country, the same way, even up in Canada, but that was the one year to me. And we’ve lost them. And I’m mentioning a mutual friend of ours, Hector, you know what Hector is doing with teaching students in his area, the truck. My prediction is paper is we’ll do a better job. And it’s going to be to the point that if, if Trent has a guy come apply for a job, they help you in your shop. And he says, Hector, train me. You’ll hire him on the spot.
Trent Manning:
For sure.
Don Cotton:
You’ll know the reputation that actors put in, and we’re missing that in this industry. I’ve been in politics. I and hate politics. I got a state of Councilman at one time. I understand what all the politics was about, so much tax payer, money wasted on efforts to try and workers. Every time we turn around, there’s a new program available to train and working well. What happened to the program that y’all were introduced to here to go to train workers there, there the public education and that. Higher education and technical schools. I mean, they’re failing us Hector back wheels of the world got an opportunity
Trent Manning:
Oh yeah, for sure. And the numbers that I remember,
Don Cotton:
the,
Trent Manning:
of the population a college degree for the job and 75 Dutton. But the kids that go through school. They want a hundred percent of them to go to college.
Don Cotton:
yeah. Oh, now you’re getting on a subject that
Trent Manning:
And I don’t want to get too political
Don Cotton:
no, this is political. This is corporate. The corporation are only looking for four year degrees or master’s degrees from someone who’s not as good at doing the job. That was someone who had worked their way, into the job and learn the job just because they didn’t have the greed, they don’t get the promotion or they don’t get hired
Trent Manning:
And I think it happens all the time.
Don Cotton:
when corporate America started recognizing the experience and equate it to a college degree, then we can change that. Did they look at it? If you’ve got a child, can you enthusiastically tell them the goal of the college and get that degree or not? No, no, no. You can tell them to now go ahead and get you a job. Learn that job the best you can go to a trade ship, trade school, and you’re risking the future of that. But not having a degree because that’s the way corporate America looks at them. If we need to change that,
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
corporate America has got to make a change and recognize work experience equal to a college degree. Nothing else? The soundtrack,
Trent Manning:
Yeah. And I think most people and, know, that gets that that’s in a management role. If had to choose between an applicant that had 10 years experience or one that was a green out of. With a degree, would think they would choose the person with 10 years experience. But evidently everybody doesn’t have that much common sense. Like some of us do
Don Cotton:
no, you hit. Oh yeah. Common sense.
Trent Manning:
that’s right. Not so common, but not to miss out on Hector. We love what he’s doing there. Anyway, we can support him. I think everybody in the audience is all behind Hector.
Don Cotton:
Yeah.
Trent Manning:
This is really incredible. What a leap of to jump out there and do it. And we couldn’t be prouder of him and he’s going to go big places.
Don Cotton:
Not to hear that big barrel Merrill. And he’s got,
Trent Manning:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He does have a good laugh.
Don Cotton:
if he’s listen to this podcast right now, or we’ll be here, we’ll get a laugh. out of
Trent Manning:
yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess we’re getting about ready to wrap up. Do you want to talk about turf pride, some of your innovations that you got So I asked Don to be on the podcast. I didn’t ask him to come on here and sell anything to our listeners, but I appreciate him coming on. And I do want everyone to know he asked if you’re interested.
Don Cotton:
I certainly appreciate that opportunity. I’m proud of her pride. It’s got a storied past that line we’ll button salts four times, but two years ago, I ended up buying it all back and forming corporate and I met some really innovative in my life. one of them Jerry Coon Jones who developed the core collector and he was introduced by a mutual friend of ours, Tom Alexander. And we took the core collect round and it puts our pride on the mouth. There’s no question. and then we further developed the ultra blades that have done extremely well for us. We continue to improve that product line. Then I was in a position that I mentioned earlier, the first mechanics association I did in Michigan with John Beattie with trying to lift up John retired through here to shut trying on down and actually took it off the market for three or four years. And that was in position that we acquired the triangle and brought it in as part of corporate, all of it manufactured in Andalusia. And it’s just, I enjoy being a part of implements and tools that makes people’s jobs easier. There’s nothing warmer than to watch the feedback and opinions that you don’t solicit, you know? And I’ve had my failures. I mean, I’ve, I’ve had, I got pattens on a shelf adjusting real mower. You and I had extensive thoughts about it that over the barbecue.
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Don Cotton:
am tending to bring that back. I think there’s a place in the industry for it. We got sabotage when we first introduced it, but I mean, you can only imagine having a real mower that you never have to touch real to bed. Now you stay sharp and I’m bound and determined. I’m on them. I’m not one of her probably introduced you to the golf industry marketing yet,
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
Yeah. it it’ll find its way in that market on its own. We made the mistake of anyway, that’s how I will know the podcast. But unlike innovations, I like to make things better, easier. I admire people that do that. I’m fortunate to be friends Roland at Pearson and we marketed the rotor timer for Rolon and made a brilliant individual enjoyed working with Gary last night curriculum sharing the center. He’s developed what we’re gonna have to call him the groom of. And been working on that for a number of years and we can closer to getting the blue bone worked out of those units. And hopefully I have until the market. I’m working on special blower here, come down and Georgia visit a while back. And if you, if you go to debates, you always come through Andalusia. So
Trent Manning:
Okay. Yeah, no,
Don Cotton:
family to the beach.
Trent Manning:
I’m not a beach guy cause I’m around so much sand all the time. I’m more of a mountain guy.
Don Cotton:
Yeah. Understand. uh, we got a new blower I’m working on. That’s really all I can, it’s going to be me. I think I’ve gotten great potential and it’s going to have a really unique feature to it. As you may have two unique features to it
Trent Manning:
Well, no one new Dawn in my app. Three unique. Yes.
Don Cotton:
but we’re kind of excited about it. About the new blower who had go up your way and blow some leaves with it
Trent Manning:
Okay. Bringing out there, falling around now, especially with all this rain we’ve had, Tell the listeners how they can get ahold of you.
Don Cotton:
The easiest way would be to go to our website, probably Terp pride, usa.com. There’s several Terp rod companies, and this is a nickname for landscape contractors, we use the pop up fairly quickly.
Trent Manning:
There’s only one that I had to lose. You.
Don Cotton:
I only, it Andalusia InterPride usa.com. We got a contact link there and I’d love to hear from anybody that’s interested in anything. I did mention the ones that I wanted to mention Rolan and Hector and Gary and there’s two other guys that take You. back to my old grinding days. And so Tommy Hurst and Bobby Houser, I don’t know if they’re part of your podcast or not. Bobby. I don’t know Tommy does a band yet. He may be retired now. I had those guys, so, uh, and both of them relief brand that their shops. And then they ended up working for my competition every time I see them, look at each other. I mean, it was a crazy world. It’s been fun. It’s been fun. My wife, as she’s going to retire in January, she asked me when I was going to retire. I don’t want to, I enjoy what I’m doing. There’ve been times in my life. I didn’t enjoy what I was doing and
Trent Manning:
Hmm.
Don Cotton:
I didn’t want to wake up in the more. I didn’t want to go to sleep. I’m so bad at it. I didn’t want to go to sleep. Cause I knew that I was going to be having to wake up and go into a situation that I wasn’t looking forward to.
Trent Manning:
Yeah.
Don Cotton:
And those times that God get me out of this and I promise you I’ll do my best and I’ll never get back in that position again. And God did. And, the last several years last, probably 15 years, I’ve been black and my two sons, my my life. laugh is good. The COVID has been a challenge to us. We lost a sister-in-law about two months ago to that and just trying time in that regard. and you’re, interacting with, guys like you and the other ones in the industry. again, I just, I can’t thank you enough for you as some others you’re doing with your podcast or YouTube videos. Teaching the rest of us, the things that makes our job easier. And I appreciate you letting us mail me a bill. I’ll be a part of this. Great honor.
Trent Manning:
No, thank you so much for coming on I hope you enjoyed hearing from Don what a great guy and what a guy that’s so passionate about our industry. And giving back to our industry. He’s held numerous number of people. Along way. Through all the years that he’s a. Been working in this great industry. On another note, don’t forget about the open house at sip on Friday, October 22nd. If you’re listening to this in real time, down in Tampa. With Mike Rollins. And who knows. We might get to see Dewayne down there. Hopefully not. but definitely if you have time. I hope you can make it by. Real turf techs will be in the house. I look forward to a meeting, anybody that wants to come. And for any of the manufacturers out there, if you want to create training for technicians, think about talking to GCs. Look up Diana Kern. And she can get you education points. Why do we need education points? You might ask. We’re in the process. Of working on CTM certified turf equipment manager. And once that rolls out. We will need certification points. Talk to you next week. See you. Bye. thank you so much for listening to the real 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 real turf techs.