Reel Turf Techs Podcast

Episode 121: Jody Farber

• Trent Manning • Episode 121

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Welcome to Episode 121 of the Reel Turf Techs Podcast! Today we’re chatting with Jody Farber, West Coast Regional Territory Manager for the Foley Company. Jody supports Foley grinders and Air2G2 aerifiers, bringing a wealth of real-world experience to the table.

Jody's journey began with an enjoyment of golf in high school, leading him to Lake City Community College on a friend's recommendation. Loving the outdoors and hands-on work, Jody started his career as a new equipment setup technician for a Toro dealer.

Join Trent and Jody as they delve into the world of grinders, the intricacies of mastering electrical systems, and the challenges of member feedback. Jody shares his secret hack for making golf more relaxing and the value of different perspectives in the industry.

The conversation goes deep into cutting units, the significance of repetition in training, and even an unexpected detour into…jerky? Tune in for an engaging episode filled with insights, tips, and a bit of fun!



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. 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 real turf text podcast. Episode 1 21. Today, we're talking to Jody Farber. West coast territory manager for the Foley company. Jodi sports, Foley, grinders and air T G T air fires. Fires. Let's talk to Jody. Welcome Jody to the RealTurf Techs podcast. Thanks for coming on.

Jody Farber:

Absolutely. Trent, it's a pleasure to be here with you. Good to see you and hear your voice other than at golf shows.

Trent Manning:

Yes. Or yeah, on your favorite podcast listening device.

Jody Farber:

Yes. Absolutely. Yep. The earbuds.

Trent Manning:

I don't, it's kind of funny. You know, I go back and I edit some of this episodes and I don't, it's just so weird hearing yourself even as much as I've heard myself, so I don't really like to hear myself talk, so I don't know why I'm doing this. I don't know. Well, we'll

Jody Farber:

You do it. You're doing it for everybody else's benefit. Let's, let's go with that and that, that should

Trent Manning:

I mean, honestly, that was the whole intent. And I mean, I've probably told this story a hundred times, but I mean, that's the whole reason I started this because I wanted to bring people together and I wanted to shine a light on the technician, the mechanic, the equipment manager, whatever you're called at your facility where you're turning wrenches you know, cause it's been so good to me over the years and I just really enjoy it. Tell, tell us how you got into the turf industry.

Jody Farber:

So after high school, which I played golf a little bit in high school, but not for high school. So I was, I was into golf a little bit. Friend of mine, a couple of years after high school, cause I just didn't know what I was doing. Um, I wasn't going to college cause I just didn't want to and I didn't want to waste money. time and effort going to college and trying to figure it out from there. So I just kind of took my time and a friend of mine that was a year younger than myself had gone to Lake City Community College. And he told me about it when he was home after the year ended. He was doing his internship down in Naples and I talked to him and it sounded extremely interesting to me when he talked about the school. So I was there the next year. I didn't waste any time. I thought that was something I could really get into. I like working with my hands. I like being outside, like doing things and having a sense of accomplishment. So that's kind of how it got started. That was goodness gracious. 98 99 when I ended up at Lake City.

Trent Manning:

so did you ever tinker on anything as a

Jody Farber:

You know, I did some, not, not as much as most people in the industry. I mean, I meet people that just, that's all they did growing up. But I was my, my stepdad taught home building construction and right next to his classroom in the high school was the automotive shop. Well, I took a small engine class, just. As an elective, because that was way better than taking another class with a big, thick book. So, and I, I enjoyed it. So, um, I guess you could say, I mean, I got into it cause there, you get students that are good. You get students that are, that are bad and you get I was the kind of student that was just good enough. So when it came to that, I, I just, I really kind of wanted to go the vocational route.

Trent Manning:

Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, I think a lot of us in the in this field anyway can relate to that I know I know that's what I said is I'm done. I don't want to do any more school.

Jody Farber:

Yeah. I'm, I'm, 100 percent with you, man. Right after high school, I had, I played baseball in high school. I probably should have played golf. I'm much better at that than I am baseball. But man, I just, I had a couple of small scholarship opportunities at small schools, but I just, I wasn't into the school enough. I could have played baseball, but they, they're going to make me go to class. And I just I wasn't into that. So. I knew better.

Trent Manning:

You're working for the Foley company.

Jody Farber:

Correct.

Trent Manning:

responsibility there?

Jody Farber:

So I am the West Coast Regional Territory Manager, I suppose. Um, so I basically cover the West Coast, California up through Wyoming and Montana and up into the Western Provinces of Canada and Hawaii. Um, I just, this year, 2024, um, I lost a little bit of my territory which worked out way better for the company. I had Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia in my

Trent Manning:

Oh, wow.

Jody Farber:

up to last year. So, but we we hired a co opted employee with our, our distributors over that way. And it man, he's, he's been with the company, I think five months or so now. taking over that stuff for me. And he is just, he's run with it since he has a presence there. So that's worked out good. It

Trent Manning:

way over there to

Jody Farber:

was, it was tough. I mean, it was always a two week trip and it's two weeks seems like a long time to be away from home. Um, especially if you ask my wife, but I got to see some neat things, but it just, it's never enough time. I mean, the whole continent of Australia. Can't do much in a two week time span. So, I got to see some really, really nice areas and I'm thankful for that. But as far as the company goes, it's we're much better off right now.

Trent Manning:

No, it makes makes a lot of sense is Greg Turner still doing any

Jody Farber:

is still around. Yeah, he is actually in, as we're recording this, he's in Mexico right now. He still covers certain territories. He's. Kind of some of his territories got taken by the same guy that took mine Because it works out good with him being over that way, but he's still got Mexico and a few other Mainland Mexico and a few other areas. I've got Baja Peninsula, so

Trent Manning:

Okay. Nice.

Jody Farber:

Yeah

Trent Manning:

Very cool.

Jody Farber:

Yeah Yep,

Trent Manning:

What was one of your least favorite jobs?

Jody Farber:

oh Goodness, well Least

Trent Manning:

there a bunch of them?

Jody Farber:

always be working on a spray rig that's full. Those are especially when it's a spray issue or a pump issue and you got to pull hoses, you got to pull valves out, something along those lines. I couldn't tell you how many times I'd come home with green dye or blue dye or whatever, whatever the super was using that day. Um,

Trent Manning:

I Don't does a sprayer ever break down when it's not full You

Jody Farber:

Not often, not

Trent Manning:

Yeah, not often.

Jody Farber:

not

Trent Manning:

mean, maybe you get some PM's in with it

Jody Farber:

better if it just wouldn't start at the beginning of the day and then we can work on it from there, but now, oh, it's always soon as they fill it up it just won't do anything,

Trent Manning:

Mm hmm. Yeah. I mean, we had that this week with we have, it's a Han spray bug.

Jody Farber:

Okay, yeah,

Trent Manning:

yeah, I don't know if you're familiar with those, but really cool product. And soon as they fill it up very first tank of the day, it won't move. I'm like, really?

Jody Farber:

Fun.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, so anyway, we got, we got the parts on the way.

Jody Farber:

Yeah, nice, good.

Trent Manning:

So yeah, anything else at the golf

Jody Farber:

know, I always had fun with electrical. Electrical was always, like I say, I did not do other than Lake City. I was not a, I didn't go to any other vocational school. So what little bit of training and on the job training I got and I started getting into the C. T. E. M. Certifications and never really finished them. started that which I had planned to do. But then as I was moving around and changing Positions and stuff. I just, I never got around to it. So electrical for me, it was probably my biggest pet peeve when it came to working on almost anything.

Trent Manning:

yeah, and I don't think you're alone. I mean, I think there's a lot of us, you know,

Jody Farber:

it's fun.

Trent Manning:

you can't see it. So how do you, how do you troubleshoot it? How do you figure it out?

Jody Farber:

I remember being told it's a road map. You get that schematic out and they say it's a road map. You just got to know what all the symbols and everything means. And I feel fairly comfortable. If I had an issue right now, I could probably still do it. But it's, it's fun.

Trent Manning:

Oh yeah. Yep. And definitely be fun.

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

What's your favorite tool?

Jody Farber:

Well, it would have to be the grinder. I mean, every technician that I go see anywhere, that I've trained anything. I mean, the grinder is the tool that really helps us do what we got to do. As far as technicians go, our job is to make that golf course look pretty for the superintendent. I mean, there's not much other than the equipment technician or the equipment manager, other than a grinder that can help with that. So,

Trent Manning:

No, that's yeah, very, very good

Jody Farber:

and, and yet that's not just because I work for Foley, but I mean, But yeah, grinder, grinder is definitely important. One of my favorite tools I got into speaking to the electrical was a power probe. I had one of those for the last couple of years of being in the shop and I've been out now for about three years. But yeah, man, it was the power probe was, that was a fun tool. It was pretty cool. Helped out a lot.

Trent Manning:

I've yet to try one, but I remember Tony, he was a very first guest and that was his favorite tool was the power probe.

Jody Farber:

Oh, was it? No, Tony Babileau. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

Yep. Yep. Bevelo. Yep. Um, so yeah, maybe, maybe I need to

Jody Farber:

You gotta get yourself one. I mean, I use it for, I've got a, 5th wheel trailer now if it'll help you with any trailer wiring or anything like that. So it's a great tool to have around.

Trent Manning:

Well, enough said, if you have a trailer, you have trailer wiring problems. I don't know what, I mean, I don't understand it. We bought a, you know, a new, um, equipment trailer basically. Cause I got the two courses and we move stuff back and forth and it's two years old and the last don't work. And I'm like, really? That's all you can get one year out of lights on a trailer.

Jody Farber:

real, yeah.

Trent Manning:

you know, somebody runs into it, knocks a lot out. I mean, it's just always something with a trailer.

Jody Farber:

There we go, back to the electrical.

Trent Manning:

Yep. Back to

Jody Farber:

non stop. They'll be wireless eventually I bet. Somehow, some way.

Trent Manning:

That

Jody Farber:

If they're not out now, I haven't seen that. Don't,

Trent Manning:

seen it either. If they're not out, we need to invent that right now.

Jody Farber:

so nobody else takes that idea, will

Trent Manning:

Okay. Yeah.

Jody Farber:

Let's do

Trent Manning:

Cut, cut, cut. Um, what do you do to relax or find your balance?

Jody Farber:

So, I like, go camping. My wife and I love to go camping. We've had, gosh, we've been married 13 years. teen years now. I think my wife and we were on our fourth travel trailer and we go to Utah to the mountains. We're making our first trip this year. I live in Vegas. Um, we're making our first trip over to California to the beach and this year. So we're looking forward to that. I do play golf even though sometimes that's not relaxing. Um, I have, I've, I've found a great way to do it though. I, when I travel, I walk when I golf, which is, I don't do that in Vegas much cause it's just too hot, but I listen to jazz music when I'm golfing.

Trent Manning:

Hmm. Okay.

Jody Farber:

never been into jazz music before, but I watched a show on some streaming service and the guy listened to jazz a lot. I'm like, I kind of like it. I don't know anybody that sings it. I don't know any of the songs, but I like listening to it and it's, I find it very relaxing on the golf course.

Trent Manning:

No, I could definitely see that. And the golf course, if you're not playing golf, can be very relaxing.

Jody Farber:

it can be. Yeah,

Trent Manning:

And, and maybe it can while you're playing, but I never was able to get there. And that's why at a young age, I just kind of gave up on the game and said, this is not my game. Um, I'm going to go fishing.

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

enjoy that a lot more.

Jody Farber:

I, yeah, I missed that from when I was in South Carolina. I missed the fishing and that area.

Trent Manning:

Okay. Yeah. So let's back up a little bit. You were in Florida at Lake City.

Jody Farber:

Yes, yes, I grew up in Florida, born and raised went to Lake City, 98, 99. First job out of Lake City was with West Coast Turf, the Toro dealer. Um, I figured, and of course, Lake City, when you're coming out, there's dozens and dozens of jobs available. List is. way longer than it should be, unfortunately. Um, but I decided, since I really didn't work on anything in the past, I had no real golf course experience. I thought going to work for the distributor to start with was gonna be a great Step for me. So I went to, went to Wesco turf, the Toro dealer down in Sarasota, Florida, and I was a new equipment setup technician. So I think that really helped me down the road because what I did was I put things together when they were new. So I got to see how they were supposed to be. So as I got some of the older equipment at golf courses, I say, okay, well, this isn't quite right. Cause I remember how this was supposed to be. So I think that really kind of helped me down the road there.

Trent Manning:

I got a funny story with that. So when I was working for Jerry Pate, the Toro distributor, our setup guy on the 5510 fairway units, they have a metal bracket that holds the hoses, the hydraulic hoses going to the front reel motors. And for whatever reason, our setup guy was putting them on the rear units. And I didn't know any better either. You know, I mean, he's the setup guy. Um, so anyway, I think I was at Augusta national and Jeff Drake, Toro engineer. Um, said, why are those back there? And I'm like, that's how we set all of them up. That's the only way I've ever seen him. He's like, what? No, they do not go there. And after he said that, I was like, well, that makes a lot of sense. I kind of wondered, I was like, you know, what is it doing back here? I don't see the purpose of this. The, I just got, um, extra steel rod that they need to sell and they're trying to get rid of. Yeah. I mean, I had no idea what, what they were doing with it, but so. Back to the setup job. That is a very important job.

Jody Farber:

Oh yes, absolutely. Yeah. And I mean, I'll tell you what, it was, it was an eye opener for me. Cause when I would set something up and I thought I was done with it, it would go to the lead set up guy. And I, most of the time wouldn't be done with it because he would always find something. He, I mean, we, he put a hand on every nut and bolt and hose and everything you could think of that he could reach to see if anything was loose at all. And it was, that was interesting to me to watch, to have that experience and to see how that.

Trent Manning:

Well, that shows you how important it is too, because you send that machine to the customer and it's got a loose hydraulic hose on it and then they pinstripe a fairway.

Jody Farber:

I have heard of that recently in one of my recent travels, a brand new triplex showed up at a golf course. They took it out to use it, dumped oil on the green brand new first time using it. So yes, very, very important job.

Trent Manning:

no, it definitely happens. And, you know, I think that the blame gets thrown around. Sometimes people say, oh, this is the manufacturer. And then, oh, no, it's the distributor. So, you know. Everybody wanted to pass the

Jody Farber:

Yeah. You never know who it was,

Trent Manning:

while we're talking about that, I do think maybe it's more common now than it used to be. I definitely think it's more common now than it used to be when you get a new piece of equipment, you know, just putting your hands on a lot of that stuff and just kind of double checking it we're all humans, you know, we all make mistakes every day.

Jody Farber:

can't catch everything. It's just not most of the time. It's just not possible for one person to catch everything. So more more eyeballs is always better. Yeah,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. We had one of the customers we had when I was working for Jerry Pate. If we took something to his course, just a demo, he put it on his lift, he raised it up, he inspected everything. I mean, they were on top of it, you know,

Jody Farber:

absolutely.

Trent Manning:

rightfully so, you

Jody Farber:

And if Yeah, if it's going on your course, you should be on top of it. That's the way I feel about that.

Trent Manning:

yeah, no, I agree with you a hundred percent there.

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

been one of your biggest challenges throughout your career?

Jody Farber:

A lot of times dealing with member feedback. I mean that, that I've been at a couple places. I have worked for the same superintendent at four different places and hearing some of the feedback from the members, that's, that's always, a challenge. Just trying to make them happy really. Um, part of, part of why I didn't go that route, that was cannabis. Kind of a thing that I was looking at doing was going towards the superintendent route, but decided to step back and stay in the shop. Yeah,

Trent Manning:

had the same thought like, you know, if you know, you know, a lot of us, we, I guess we talk about it. We think about it. We get, you know, to the highest level pretty much we can at our club. And you know, what's the next step? And some of us have made that step. Some of, you know, a lot of us hadn't, and that's quite all right. And I think, I mean, I'm with you. The main reason I did not make that step is I don't think I would do well with the membership.

Jody Farber:

yeah,

Trent Manning:

You know, I'm not, I'm not a good politician and you need to be a pretty good politician.

Jody Farber:

Yep. You gotta, you gotta be able to sell yourself and your, your ideas to the membership and, and convince them of why you're, why you're doing what you're doing, even if they think it's, if they see that it's different than the last guy, maybe there's a reason the last guy's not there. So. You got to be able to deal with all their challenges and all their, all their requests that are probably all going to be different. So

Trent Manning:

Well, yeah. And that's the other thing, you know, I mean, I guess it depends on your club and the structure and all that stuff, but yeah, when you get all, all these different people that pushing their own agendas and all that thing. And then the, you know, it's probably just a legendary tale about the superintendent that pissed off a kid that, you know, ended up as president and then fires the guy, you know, I don't know, that's probably made up, but I could definitely see it happening. I mean, people hold grudges.

Jody Farber:

Oh yes. Yes, absolutely. Yup. A

Trent Manning:

in the industry or,

Jody Farber:

lot of people, I mean, in 20, gosh, I've been 98, 99. So 24, 25 years now like I said, I worked with the one superintendent at four different places. He was also a Lake city grad Ken McCutcheon. He's at Tucson country club now. Um, I would have to say probably him. Seemed like every time he moved, got a, got a different job, better job. He would kind of drag me along cause we got along well. And he's, he also is the one I was his assistant super for, for about a year here in Las Vegas at Las Vegas country club and yeah. But that's pretty much the reason I decided, yeah, you know what? I'll just, I'll stick to the shop. I'm, I'm happy there. I know what I'm doing. I don't have to deal with the things you're doing. So he he, he really taught me a lot of different things though, on the agronomy sides, which has helped me for immensely throughout the years. So that I'd have to say, I'd have to say Kent would be,

Trent Manning:

How important is that for a technician or mechanic or equipment manager to know about the agronomy side?

Jody Farber:

you know, I, I, I think starting out, it's not extremely important, but you, you really need to pick things up as you go. Um, I'm a firm believer in never stop learning. I mean, that's a phrase that gets thrown out there all the time. And I, but, but why would, why would you, I mean, there's no reason to stop learning and it really helps the technician to know a little bit, at least about the agronomy side, just so you know why you're doing what you're doing in the shop. Um, why are they putting sand down constantly? I know that's a, Probably something that techs don't like, but I mean, there's a reason they do it. So

Trent Manning:

Yeah. And the more you understand the reason behind it, the more acceptable it is

Jody Farber:

Yeah. It's acceptable. You still don't like it, but you understand it. So I think yeah, always, always keep learning about that type of stuff.

Trent Manning:

When, I mean, a lot of stuff since we've been, you know, around a golf course for so long, I'm saying like me and you, people that's been around for 25 years on a golf course, we take so many things for granted. And I mean, we hire people in that's never played golf. They don't even know what a fairway is, you know, and it's like, you know, how do you not know that? But, you know, you don't know if you don't know.

Jody Farber:

Yeah. Tell somebody go rake bunkers and they look at you like, what's a bunker.

Trent Manning:

Right.

Jody Farber:

You call it a sand trap, they'll probably figure it out, but

Trent Manning:

Yeah. You call a bunker.

Jody Farber:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No.

Trent Manning:

What's one of the strangest things you've seen around the course

Jody Farber:

No.

Trent Manning:

or in your travels?

Jody Farber:

I've seen a deer head as a belt rack before. Mounted deer head in a shop with belts. hanging off the antlers.

Trent Manning:

Okay. All right.

Jody Farber:

I'd call that strange. I probably still have that picture too. Cause I mean, you got to take a picture of that when you see it. Um, one course that I got to, um, when I took over the shop, I was doing a hydraulic oil change and I looked at the filter, the hydraulic oil filter. It was a Toro, I believe a 5400 or 5410. You got the hydraulic filter transmission filter right behind the center cutting unit. And it was completely silver on the forward side. No paint, no nothing. Backside's all white. So I asked the assistant mechanic, I'm like, hey when's the last time you've changed the oil in this, the hydraulic oil and filter? And the response I got was, hey yeah, the last head tech said that if you open up and that filter and you're opening the hydraulic system, To the elements. So we never changed oil or filters because you break the seal. You know that all those tanks are vented, right? So they're open to the elements always, no matter what. So that was a, that was an interesting one. That first time I had seen or heard of that. So,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. I couldn't, I don't know where seen or heard, but I know I've, I've run across it too,

Jody Farber:

yeah,

Trent Manning:

you know? I, I don't

Jody Farber:

it's, it's, it's, it's lack of training, lack of, lack of reading, lack of knowledge. I mean, it's, it's all too common out there, but

Trent Manning:

Yeah. It is, and I mean, it's a, it's a shame that Lake City's not there or another pro. I know they're doing some stuff at Ohio State. I don't really know of any others that are doing anything. I'm sure there's some others around, but.

Jody Farber:

some out there. Because, man, it's a, it's in my travels, I ride around with a lot of sales reps, with the distributors, and they, I, they're all getting phone calls from their superintendents in their areas. Hey, if you hear of any techs, let me know. And it's, it's abundant.

Trent Manning:

Um, what would be your dream job or opportunity?

Jody Farber:

Opportunity, I would say, I would love to go help grind reels at St. Andrews for the, for the Open Championship. I know they just had it there a couple years ago that won the 150th So it's gonna be a while before they do it again, but I would just love to go for one I'd love I mean, obviously I'm not probably not gonna be playing on that tournament. So if they'll let me grind reels I'll be I'll be just as happy

Trent Manning:

Oh, that would be so so cool

Jody Farber:

that would be yeah, that's that's kind of one of my things being a being

Trent Manning:

Do you know what type grinders they have?

Jody Farber:

I Do they've got they've got one. I Believe they have a Foley and a Bernhardt right now

Trent Manning:

Okay

Jody Farber:

So we, we recently got one, we got one in there just in

Trent Manning:

a little foot in the door.

Jody Farber:

Yes.

Trent Manning:

Oh Okay.

Jody Farber:

and we're hoping for a, we're hoping for that second foot before long,

Trent Manning:

All right. Well

Jody Farber:

there's, those are always challenging to get into. I mean,

Trent Manning:

Mm hmm. Yeah something that

Jody Farber:

that's much easier the other route, but but we're, we're working on, we're working on them.

Trent Manning:

That's awesome. Very cool

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

Do you have a technician you would like to work with for a day?

Jody Farber:

You know, I, I've, as many as I've been around, I've, I, I recently met a guy and this is a, a guy up in near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Derrick Bigler. I don't know if you know Derrick at all.

Trent Manning:

Not

Jody Farber:

Derrick said he just, Talking to him, going through some grinding stuff with him. He is a, he is and I'm sure if he listens to this, he'll be okay with me saying he's, he's a strange fellow in the fact that he, he wants 100 percent perfect. And which is, there's nothing wrong with that, but he, he will study anything and everything to figure out a better way to do something. Um, even if it, if it may not work out, but just I spent a little bit of time with him. at his shop, and next time I go back I'll be going again. But he was, he was a very interesting guy, so just working with someone like that to see the way that their mind works, I think, would be interesting.

Trent Manning:

Oh, no, I'm, yeah.

Jody Farber:

he's a circling raven up in just, just outside of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Trent Manning:

Okay. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and I haven't really, I guess I've never really thought about it that way. Most time I think about, you know, somebody I'd want to work with is, is knowledge that I would gain from them. But I mean, I see that route to just learning kind of a different mindset

Jody Farber:

Different mindset. Yeah. Yeah. He's got different ways of doing things. And I mean, everybody has their own little way, but for generally everything gets done roundabout the same way as far as

Trent Manning:

Mm hmm.

Jody Farber:

setting, cutting units and sending mowers out and all that. But there's be interesting to see a different mindset on what somebody thinks like him.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. And I've noticed to spend a little bit of time, um, with some newer people to the industry, not necessarily young people, but you know, middle aged people coming into the industry. And it's really interesting how they look at stuff, you know, and I mean, we all look at stuff different because of our past experience and we all have different past experiences, but I definitely think people that hadn't been in the industry look at things a lot different than we do. That's been here for a long time

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

for whatever that's worth.

Jody Farber:

Yep. I completely agree.

Trent Manning:

What do you know now you wish you'd known on day one. It's another tough one. Oh,

Jody Farber:

didn't know day one, that's for sure. I'd probably say utilizing my peers. There's so many people out there that are much smarter than me, and I started doing it. Fairly early, because when I went to school, I mean, at Lake City, there was, I believe about 30 of us in the two classes that I know of, there's maybe four or five that are still in the golf industry. Um, so, and I've, I've reached out I know, you know, Stephen Tucker, I went to, I went to school with him. Um, It was a great friend. I still stay in contact with him somewhat, not as much as we used to. Um, he's, he's a little busier now than he was when he was turning wrenches, I'm sure, but but yeah, just, just using them for any issues that I, that I've come across that just dumbfound me. It's there's, there's always something you come across that you, you, you think you've checked everything and then you find a forum somewhere or you make some phone calls and you say, Hey, have you seen this? Somebody somewhere has seen it, more than likely.

Trent Manning:

yeah,

Jody Farber:

using, using people early and often to help you figure problems out, probably be something I wish I would have known more about early on.

Trent Manning:

When I interviewed Seth Sheldon at Oakland Hill,

Jody Farber:

Mm hmm.

Trent Manning:

was one of his things was if he spends more than five minutes on something, he picks up the phone.

Jody Farber:

Yeah, that, that's a, that, Perfect. Yep. Then I, I, man, I don't know how many times you, I mean, you get it in you, you got a competitive nature, you want to win. So you want to figure it out on your own. But there again, once you get the experience and you say, okay, I've checked everything. Now I can think of let's, let's just find somebody else, make some phone calls and figure it out.

Trent Manning:

yeah, I'm, I'm guilty. I'll spend all day beating my head against the wall, you know. I just want to figure it out. And I mean, it's

Jody Farber:

four or five hours trying to figure out why, when I was rolling greens one time on a Smithco greens roller, why were the linkages by my foot pedals sparking every time I switched directions? And this machine is four years old. I, nothing wrong with it. And I spent hours trying to figure that out. And I checked all the connections first. Everything was good. Finally got on the phone and I think I should, it might've been John Patterson. that said, double check your, your ground. I'm like, well, I checked it. It's fine. He goes, double check it again. So I basically just ran another wire from the engine block to a different spot and went away. I mean,

Trent Manning:

Oh

Jody Farber:

current ground wire didn't change, but man, there's a, something happened and it just, it threw me. So

Trent Manning:

your road techs to, um, stuff like that. Cause I mean, I remember the days when I was on the road, it was all the time, you know, we had however many 55 tens in our territory and they all had the exact same problems, you know? And yeah, you would see a oddball problem here, there. But normally if one had a problem, the rest of them did too.

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

And I never agreed with telling a customer that's the first time I've ever saw that. Because, you know, I mean, you hear that all the time.

Jody Farber:

I, yeah,

Trent Manning:

if somebody called me, I would just,

Jody Farber:

yeah, I'm guilty of saying that to people. So I'm being, being only about three years in with Foley. I, man, I still, I see stuff now that obviously I hadn't seen cause I haven't been with them long enough, so hate saying that you're, you're right. But but I, but I jump on the phone and call the factory. Hey, somebody else had to have had this problem. What do I, what do I got going here?

Trent Manning:

yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, and it was my favorite thing to say is I've seen that 12 times in the last six months.

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

So you're not the only one and this is what we're gonna do to correct it. And yeah, all all those things.

Jody Farber:

yep.

Trent Manning:

I'm just thinking here, do you, could we talk about some Foley stuff,

Jody Farber:

Sure. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

about,'cause I do have some personal questions that I won't answered

Jody Farber:

Okay. I'll answer'em as best I can.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, fair, Well, right. Yeah, yeah, no, yeah. And I'm, I'm not wanting to give away any trade secrets or anything like that. But how do you, I don't know if you say re parallel grinding head on Like I have the Foley 653

Jody Farber:

Yes.

Trent Manning:

I know it has a dial indicator and it's supposed to be on 300s kind of home base. If that got knocked off, how would you go about resetting that?

Jody Farber:

So there is on our website on the you go to foleyco. com. There's a support tab up top. There are training videos and I have not had the pleasure of doing that yet. Um, I'm working, hopefully this year I'll get to our actual service school. Um, because I, I mean, with my background, I want the service school just so I know. Um, but there is a, there is a. video on there for reparalleling that.

Trent Manning:

Okay. Awesome. Yeah. Cause I definitely need to check that out on

Jody Farber:

to scroll down and if you don't see it in the first a lot, most of the, most of the videos in the beginning are training videos. So scroll down and if you don't see it, then there's more videos. It takes you straight to the YouTube page and it'll, it'll be on there.

Trent Manning:

Awesome. Yeah. Any other videos you can think of that might be of interest

Jody Farber:

Um, and you know what? It's when a new tech takes over a spot and they. have a grinder they've never used. If it's a Foley, it will be on our website. I've had to do training on a Foley. Gosh, what was the one that I did that I have never even seen the controller before a 605, I believe it was. It had buttons and dials and stuff I had never used. And I go help this new tech do training on his grinder that I've never used. So I watched those videos and then. If it's not on there because it's way too old

Trent Manning:

Hmm.

Jody Farber:

I will call the factory. We got guys in the factory that have been there for 30 years and they know what they're doing. So I rely heavily on them sometimes too much.

Trent Manning:

Well, it's funny. It's I don't, you know, it was recently after my Jerry Pate days for the next five years, I guess, when I went back to a golf course after I left Jerry Pate. At least for five years, I had, you know, made friends in the industry and local people around me. And if they had a Foley problem, they'd call me and I would end up calling Vince. And I remember asking Vince one time, is there any other customer call you as much as me? And he says, no, I don't think so. You know how, like how straight and dry he is. Um, yeah. Awesome.

Jody Farber:

Oh yeah. I rely on Vince heavily. Vince and Greg, Greg Lachansky. If one doesn't answer the phone, I call the other one immediately because typically I'm, I'm needing something quickly and I'm very fortunate that they're, they're able to help out usually pretty quick. So

Trent Manning:

Yeah, they've been over the years been a great resource for me for sure.

Get ready for tips and tricks.

Trent Manning:

Well, let's get into some tips and tricks. You got any you want to share with us? Any of your favorite ones?

Jody Farber:

Probably one of my favorite things I ever Got at a golf course. And this is kind of a shop tool in a way, but it's also ultrasonic cleaners. They're becoming more popular. I don't know. I don't know who started using them first, but I did see one on I believe it a Hector shop. I think he had one a while back. And when I was in South Carolina, man, we had 36 holes and I, I've never seen more backpack blowers in my life. And. just being able to pull those carbs off of those things, throw them and throw three or four of them in the ultrasonic cleaner, put them back on the next morning and let them run like a champ. That was that those things were a lifesaver. Two stroke stuff to me was just, it was important, but gosh, it was annoying to work on. So the, the ultrasonic cleaner really helped out. And then, and Same type of thing. A vacuum evacuator for changing oil and little things. Gosh, you, I mean the old, the old Toro 1000, you'd have to pull the plug and tip the mower back and then it runs all over the drum and then you got to clean all that up. So those things, man, what a lifesaver. Get that, get that oil a little warm, but that tube down the, down in the crankcase and suck it out and move on your way. Well, put oil back in it obviously and then move

Trent Manning:

Well, right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do that first

Jody Farber:

Yeah, yeah, you want to do

Trent Manning:

back to the ultrasonic cleaner. So I helped this guy. He was a small engine guy

Jody Farber:

Mm hmm.

Trent Manning:

He was the first time I'd experienced ultrasonic cleaner. So I took a carburetor and took carb clean and cleaned it as spotless as I could clean it.

Jody Farber:

No.

Trent Manning:

we put it in the ultrasonic cleaner and he done this for fun, but he just had changed the fluid. So I had, you know, fresh fluid in there and it's nice and clear and he turns it on and I see all this stuff start coming out of the carburetor. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me.

Jody Farber:

Everything you missed that you can't see.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. I mean, it's yeah. Unbelievable. How good that does. And I want a second, the vacuum pump. And so it was funny. It wasn't too long after John Patterson came up here to the Atlanta athletic club. I went over, just say, Hey, checking in. Well, I don't even remember why I was over there. Um, and I'm looking around this shop and I see a Lincoln oil evacuator that's, you know, air powered. Um, Out of all the picture I took one picture while I was over there and it was of the model number of that. So when I got back, I could order one

Jody Farber:

You have all the nice fancy stuff. You take a picture of that.

Trent Manning:

yeah, right, exactly. Um, that's where my head was that day anyway,

Jody Farber:

Whatever makes your job easier.

Trent Manning:

well, I will say, so that one works great on a lot of stuff, but on the little walk mowers, I still like the Motivac, you know, it's a hand, you know, it's the hand pump, but it has that really big tube. So it sucks it out quick.

Jody Farber:

So I had the Mighty Vac, but the air operated one. So you hook the air hose to it and it does the same exact thing. Just a little pricier, but yeah, I mean, that was just so convenient. And then I would just, as soon as I was done, I would take some brake cleaner, spray down the tube as it's done. to clean out the tube so when you take it out it's not dripping all over everything.

Trent Manning:

Well, right. Yeah. Yeah. No, very true. And while we're talking about that, so I had a kid, he's still in high school, um, helping me last summer and he was changing. So to make this story make sense, I bought the pneumatic evacuator. I didn't have a mighty back at the time, we'd thrown it away, you know, it started leaking or whatever. And he didn't like using it to change oil on the walkers. So he was taking out the oil plug. And he strips a drain plug. And I said, okay, I call up the auto parts store, I get them to bring one over that day. I said, We're never pulling a drain plug again in one of these. It's not, you know, it's not worth it.

Jody Farber:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

because, you know, it's aluminum and yeah, too easy to strip something out. that it for tips and tricks?

Jody Farber:

Yeah, I mean, other than the, the, which I'm sure everybody's got, having a drawer full of wrenches that you have heated up and bent and

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

Jody Farber:

shaved and cut on. I, I, I had a separate drawer with Harbor Freight type wrenches, but that's all that was for, man. You got, you always got to have something like that. You're you, there's always something you just can't reach with the normal wrench or socket or something, so. Yep.

Trent Manning:

That reminds me, I got a set, you know, I love snap on, you know, I'm dumb. I should, you know, I shouldn't buy it. I know it's overpriced, you know, all these things, but a buddy of mine, he bought a snap on box that was full of tools and he calls me and says, would you have any use for these four way wrenches? It starts at three eights and it goes to inch and a quarter. And I said, Oh my God, yes, I need that. Um, I forget the sets like 1, 600. You know, for one set of wrenches and I was like, what do you want for me? So I'll take 500 bucks. And I said, okay, I'm like,

Jody Farber:

ha.

Trent Manning:

a speeding ticket all the way to his house for he changes his mind. But those have come in so handy, you know, hydraulic hoses and stuff and fittings, and I mean, not to say you don't need a crow's foot every now and again, but those four way wrenches are really handy and they're, they're The first set I bought I did buy I think from Harbor Freight and They worked okay, you know for what they were, you know, you're you're in a tight spot and hopefully it's not that tight

Jody Farber:

You can get away with some stuff.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you can

Jody Farber:

No.

Trent Manning:

all right, You wanted to talk about cutting units, didn't you?

Jody Farber:

Ya, so, yeah, just, something we've we discuss amongst ourselves and when we have our meetings and things and Things that I talk to people about when I go out and do trainings We're as you know using a foley. We're gauging we're gauging to the center shaft, which Gets us right where we need to be. Um Is the center shaft always perfect? No Um did on the old foley When you're using that dial indicator gauge and you get everything zeroed out, you're like, okay, now I'm zero. Now I'm zero. And then I hear people say, well, I want to go back and recheck with my new one. I'm like, what? You don't go back and recheck with the new one. And they wonder why. And I'm like, well, we're within spec. So run with it. within spec means one to two thousands. And then some people are like, okay, well I want to be zero. I want to be a hundred percent zero. I'm like, okay, well you can be a hundred percent zero until you turn the roller over your front roller, your rear roller. Now you're, you're not zero anymore. As soon as you change it, I mean, we're, we, I have a lot of people that have told me, yeah, I want, I want to get this thing perfect. I'm like, okay, we're, we're trying, what, what we're trying to do is be efficient and accurate. That's what we want. We want you to be as accurate as you can possibly be, as quick as you can get it done. Grinding's a, I mean, yes, you need to take your time, get it done, right? But nothing is perfect on that cutting unit. So spending the time to flip the roller over and zero it out, and then turn that reel around, try and get a little, little bit closer to zero, we're, we're, we're really splitting hairs. And I, I, I have that discussion with quite a few people and we can try all we want to get that cutting unit absolutely perfect. Soon as you put it on that green, that green's not perfect. So all that time you spent zeroing everything out, man, we're, we're, how much time could you have been spent doing something else?

Trent Manning:

I'm with you you

Jody Farber:

I've seen it in, in my, in my time. I mean, when I was in Florida, one time we mowed, we mowed greens, never got above a hundred at one course I was at, never got above a hundred. Um, I had a set of grinders that I thought were pretty accurate at the time because I was early in my career. I never had a problem. We can, we can get everything done efficient and fast. That's, that's what we're looking to do.

Trent Manning:

yeah, no, I, I agree with you there. I do think, you know, some people jump down that rabbit hole too

Jody Farber:

yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and trust me, don't, don't get me wrong. I want everything. I hear, I hear people say, yeah, well you should never say something is good enough. Well, how much time do you want to spend to make it even better? That's, that's the thing you got to ask yourself. Now, do you have, are you at a place where you've got three or four technicians and that's the only thing they do? And we're ready to get, are you at a place where you're by yourself in the shop and Hey, we got to get this done. We got to get this mower going. We only have one fairway mower. It's got to be out there. So let's get it done efficiently and accurately and get rolling.

Trent Manning:

There's only so much time in a day, so you got to pick your battles and you just said It can never be good enough or, you know, some people say that and it's like, well, at some point it has to be good enough because I mean, there's very few things that are perfect.

Jody Farber:

Oh, yeah.

Trent Manning:

I mean, I don't know of any really that's

Jody Farber:

no, there isn't. And, and, and we've, we've met fully. We've, we check with the manufacturers. Okay. What are your allowable tolerances for rollers, for bed knife, bed bar setup? What are your allowable tolerances? And we try to build all of that into the machines and everything. And, and that's, we, we get the exact result we're looking for. So,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. You know, it's one of those things, you know, it doesn't necessarily matter the tools you're using as long as you're getting the results that you're happy with.

Jody Farber:

Yep. A hundred percent.

Trent Manning:

really argue with it? You know, I mean, there's people that do stuff ways that I don't agree with, but they put out a good product. So I

Jody Farber:

result. Yep.

Trent Manning:

I could never argue with them or tell them they're doing it wrong.

Jody Farber:

Correct. Oh yeah.

Trent Manning:

You know, and it's just like, you know, you hear all these people talk about, Oh, back lapping. Well, you're the devil. If you back lap, you know, I mean, some people look at it that way, but you got other courses that hold major tournaments that lap every single day. So how can you say,

Jody Farber:

How can you say they're doing it wrong?

Trent Manning:

yeah, right,

Jody Farber:

there's, there's not a, there's not a right way and a wrong way to get any of this done as far as when it comes to cutting it. There's not a right way and a wrong way. If you're getting the product you want, then that's, that's right for what you're doing

Trent Manning:

no, I'm with you there. Is that the biggest

Jody Farber:

it. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

see in your travels? Is people trying to be too precise

Jody Farber:

trying to be too perfect, spending, spending too much time. Um, relief grinding is a, is a thing that gosh, in my experience coming up, I don't think I was, other than probably at Lake City, which I somehow shortly forgot, I, I was never shown the proper way to relief grind, so it would take me an hour to do a cutting unit, one cutting unit, and I, so in, in the Vegas area I would do my, I would do relief grinding. Once a year, maybe I would skip it a year because it was just taking too long. We're, I mean, we're

Trent Manning:

Mm hmm.

Jody Farber:

mowing all year long out here, even though it is cold in the winter. We're mowing all year long and I would just skip it. And man, the first time I saw Greg Turner put a cutting unit up there and Put relief on a Toro 5 inch 11 blade reel. It was done. And I'm like, there's no way that's finished. I Wasn't taught the proper way so watching the training videos has helped me like I said before watching the training videos and Dealing with people that are doing it the correct way.

Trent Manning:

Right. I remember when I first started doing this and I was working as a system mechanic for this guy, we ground, you know, and I'm not saying this was the right way. This was not the right way to do it. Um, but we never ground a greens reel and we had an old Foley bed knife grinder. It was the predecessor to the 605 you were talking about. So the reel looks kind of like it's suspended in midair.

Jody Farber:

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

but yeah, it was a little older than that one or 600 or I don't remember the number. Anyway, the other reels we would grind once a year and, you know, in the winter time. And it would take us so long to grind, you know, all the reels. And one of it, yeah, the grinder was old and it had its quirks and stuff. But the biggest thing I think was the experience. So you do a task today and don't do that task again for a year and see how efficient you are at it. You're not very

Jody Farber:

You're not.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. So when you're grinding cutting units, you know, every day, I mean, from, you know, we're open year round too, but from March. Through September our grinder don't hardly stop. I mean, it's something all the time, especially, you know with top dressing every week and you know all these things so you get really good and like you're saying I Got a 653 I can throw a 14 blade DPA in there Spin it touch it up. You know spin it put a relief on it in 20 minutes Tops, I mean probably quicker than that, but I'm being conservative. I think 20 minutes, you know, and it's quick

Jody Farber:

Yeah. That's the thing. Repetition. When I, when I go do trainings for guys, I'm like, okay, next thing you got to do is keep doing it. Don't let me walk out and then you try it again in a couple months. I might throw a few more reels up there. So that's the only way to learn anything.

Trent Manning:

hmm. I agree. I've been it. I'm trying to learn this CAD program and So I watched the video and I did a little bit And then I waited three months and I watched the same video and I done a little bit and you know, it just don't work that way. Or I mean, my brain doesn't work that way. I can't retain that kind of stuff, um, for a long period of time. And I just have to get in there and start doing it. Repetition. Like you say, repetition.

Jody Farber:

Yeah

Trent Manning:

we ready to do some rapid fire questions.

Jody Farber:

Shoot. Let's go.

Trent Manning:

What's your favorite movie?

Jody Farber:

Favorite movie with Probably be Shawshank Redemption. That's one I just, if it's on TV, I don't care where it's at, I gotta stop. I gotta watch it. There's something about that one that just, that gets me.

Trent Manning:

That's awesome. Yeah, and I you're not the first to say that there's that's a very popular movie for sure.

Jody Farber:

I'm gonna throw Green Mile out there too then, if somebody else said that. The

Trent Manning:

Oh No, yeah, that's another classic

Jody Farber:

yeah, that's another one that my wife gives me crap if You're going to watch this again? Really? And like, yeah, you just, you just have to, I feel, you know.

Trent Manning:

What would be your last meal?

Jody Farber:

Last meal. Well, I'm a, I'm a meat and potatoes guy. Um, a good steak, man. I hit, when I went to Australia a couple of years ago, I had a steak with our distributor and it was called a steak. Stone Scoth Filet. I remember, I took a picture of it. And man, it was, it was good. So, I'd probably have to go for that. That's probably, it's the best steak I've ever had.

Trent Manning:

I'm ready to go to Australia right

Jody Farber:

Yeah, it was,

Trent Manning:

Let's get on the

Jody Farber:

it was amazing. Yeah, yeah.

Trent Manning:

One thing that disappoints me sometimes getting steaks, you know, you go to wherever and you get a steak and you're expecting it to be something really good. And you know, it's really expensive and you say, I could done better than

Jody Farber:

I, I

Trent Manning:

my Weber at home

Jody Farber:

Yep, I, I got two, I got two grills in my backyard and it's tough anymore. I, I make my own jerky fairly regularly and

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jody Farber:

sucks when I gotta buy it at the store cause I, I've tweaked some recipes that I got on YouTube and man, I'm, they're hard to beat. No,

Trent Manning:

they taught y'all at Lake city? The reason I asked, um, you know, Howard horn.

Jody Farber:

I do, yep.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Um,

Jody Farber:

the same thing, huh?

Trent Manning:

I know he went to Lake City and I know he makes his own jerky.

Jody Farber:

Yeah, I just yeah. Man, the price, the price of jerky. It's hard to not make your own. I've got I've got the wood pellet smoker, and I used to have a dehydrator, but the wood pellet smoker, man, is the way to go.

Trent Manning:

that's what Howard's using. And I'm going to, I'm going to be honest. It's Howard's wife. She's the one that yeah, does the beef jerky. How Howard cuts the meat. She does all the other work.

Jody Farber:

Cutting it's hard, cutting it's

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Got, got to give him a little credit.

Jody Farber:

got a owner of a restaurant here that our bar slash restaurant that wife and I go to and I've given him some jerky. He actually gave me a meat slicer

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice.

Jody Farber:

from the restaurant to use. Now it's a commercial one and it's massive and I don't know where the heck it's gonna go but he he wanted to try and make it easier for me so

Trent Manning:

That's awesome

Jody Farber:

guess he expects jerky now more often so we'll

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Very cool. Are you most proud of besides your family? Obviously families

Jody Farber:

Yeah. Family's first, man. I got three good kids. Um, you know, I was, I was nominated in 2019 by my superintendent I was working for out here at Anthem Country Club James Simons. He nominated me for the, for the MVT, Foley's MVT Most Valuable Technician. Um, I, I didn't win. I voted for, I voted for one of the other guys. Um, so, but that just, just to be nominated, be recognized by, by somebody like that, it was it was pretty special.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, no, that is, it's, it's a big achievement. You think about how many technicians that are out there

Jody Farber:

Yeah. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

how many really good technicians? I

Jody Farber:

there's so many, so many that are way more deserving of that than me. It's just I mean, it was just an honor though, to be, to be nominated. So,

Trent Manning:

Oh, I agree. Yeah,

Jody Farber:

So it kind of worked out when I, when I, when I sent my resume to Foley during COVID, when I was, I was in a temporary job, I thought, and, and Greg Turner calls me right away and he's like, I know we met because you were nominated a couple of years ago for the NVT. So

Trent Manning:

hmm. Mm hmm.

Jody Farber:

so that was, made it interesting.

Trent Manning:

So, another funny story about Greg and it made, it really made my day. So, I just had to get out my 653 and he was, you know, in town riding with um, the distributor and he comes out to check it out and We were going, you know, he was giving me the basic rundown because before that I had the 650, which there's a big difference between a 650 and 653. So he's kind of giving me a rundown on it and we gauged the reel. We get everything set up. Um, he closes the door, he turns on the switch. He forgot to lock to the belt

Jody Farber:

The Traverse. I do, I do it 50 percent of the

Trent Manning:

can get a, a electronic switch on, on that.

Jody Farber:

And one of my most embarrassing ones was doing a brand new set up on a 653 and they come in from the factory with the traverse turned all the way down to zero. So I set it up. I'm going, I'm like, okay, turn it on. Nothing's happening. I'm like, what the heck? I didn't look at that at all. That was, that was my first, one of my first trips with Foley,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jody Farber:

I took the control panel apart, and then I thought for a second, instead of thinking first, I went straight to panic mode, and then I thought, huh, let me look at that knob. Yep, it was at zero. So, I haven't done that again.

Trent Manning:

Right, right. Well, you're a quick learner.

Jody Farber:

Yeah, yeah.

Trent Manning:

Tell the listeners how they can get ahold of you.

Jody Farber:

Oh goodness, well, email, email is easy Jody Farber at FoleyCo. com. I've got Twitter, which I'm slow on. I used to be really on Twitter and I'm slower anymore than I used to be. It's Sin City Turf Tech. T U R F T E C. No H on the end of that. I am on Twitter there. Jody Farber, I am on LinkedIn.

Trent Manning:

All right.

Jody Farber:

on there. So, no Instagram, no, nothing else. I, I've got an Instagram for my dog, but not for me.

Trent Manning:

The dog has one, but you don't know, I get it. I don't, I mean, I'm on Twitter too, and that, that's enough. I, I can't do Instagram and Facebook and all these other ones.

Jody Farber:

I don't, yeah, that's,

Trent Manning:

I don't,

Jody Farber:

enough. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

I do use Facebook Marketplace,

Jody Farber:

I, I want Facebook just for the marketplace.

Trent Manning:

that's the only thing I use it for, and I am a little bit of a hoarder. So it's not a good idea to get on Facebook, Margaret place.

Jody Farber:

And I've started Doing some woodworking as well. So I, I don't want to admit this, but luckily nobody's going to hear it. So when I left my last golf course job, I sold my toolbox to the guy that took over for me. Cause I knew if I kept that toolbox, I was going to continue to turn wrenches. And so I sold it to him. I didn't even have to move it. He took my job at the golf course. I left it there. He took it over and I've, I do some woodworking stuff now at the house. And of course I've got another toolbox here at the house

Trent Manning:

Mm hmm.

Jody Farber:

didn't last too long, but nothing like what I used to have. So it's just, just enough to get by with what I need, but yeah,

Trent Manning:

Well, that kind of makes sense. And I've never, never even thought about that, but yeah, I don't know. I've talked about him before, but my buddy that's a blacksmith, he was a mechanic in the seventies. And if you ask, he's been blacksmithing for like 25 years. If you ask him what he is at the end of the day, he'll tell you he's a mechanic. It's like once you're a mechanic, you're always a

Jody Farber:

you always are.

Trent Manning:

ever get

Jody Farber:

You're not getting out of it. Yeah, every golf course you go to somebody say, Hey, my car is doing this. I'm like, bring me your mauler. I don't work on cars. That's, that's the first thing I'd say to him. I'm like, I don't, I'm not working on cars.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. No, I

Jody Farber:

had to work on my own, but

Trent Manning:

Yep. I'm the same way. I work on my own and my kids, but nobody else. Well, thank you so much, Jody. I really appreciate you being all this was Lot of fun.

Jody Farber:

absolutely. I just want everybody to keep a, keep an eye out on Foley's website. We've got some with the air two G2 that we've got that we fully acquired a couple of years ago. We've got some studies finally coming out on that. We had university of Georgia do a study on it and and the Australia greenskeepers association. So

Trent Manning:

Oh, that'll be

Jody Farber:

good and good information about that machine. So.

Trent Manning:

Very cool. Yeah.

Jody Farber:

Our engineering team has done some, some good things with it, made some, some changes and stuff. that's one thing that being with Foley, I think July will be three years for me. That's one thing I've really noticed being with them is what the, the effort that they put into, to listening to customers, um, and during COVID, they actually hired a new design engineer to help, Do some things that customers were asking for. So we've, we've

Trent Manning:

Oh, wow. Okay.

Jody Farber:

we've got some things that we'll, we'll probably be coming we're always, always trying to update and stay with the new technology with our, with our grinders and all our, our other machines. So just keep an eye on them. Good things are always coming.

Trent Manning:

All right. I can't wait. 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.