Reel Turf Techs Podcast

Episode 141: David Gummo, CTEM

• Trent Manning • Episode 141

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Meet David Gummo, CTEM, Equipment Manager at Sands Point Golf Club in Sands Point, New York. Sands Point is a private 18-hole golf and skeet club where David manages a mostly Toro fleet, with a few pieces of John Deere and a lone Jacobsen.

David shares how his journey began at just 14 years old in a vocational high school outdoor power equipment program, eventually becoming part of the inaugural graduating class of Penn State’s Turf and Agricultural Equipment program. Now a father of three-year-old twins and an avid gamer, David talks about the unique challenges he faced after making a major geographic move, and how prioritizing physical fitness and mental health helped him thrive in his new role and in life.

From his appreciation for fabricating and working on Takeuchi equipment to his thoughts on shop organization and managing with limited help in the shop, David brings valuable insight and honesty to the mic



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 Tech Podcast, episode 1 41. Today we're talking to David Gummo, CTEM Equipment manager at Sands Point Golf Club and Sandpoint, New York Sands Point Golf Club is a private 18 hole golf and skeet club. David has one-ish guys that helps him in the shop. He's primarily Toro equipment. Let's talk to David. Welcome David to the Real Turf Text podcast. Thanks for coming on.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Thanks for having me. Glad to be here.

Trent Manning:

I appreciate your being here. And tell us how you got into the turf industry.

David Gummo, CTEM:

It started off with me basically wanting to get outta school. I

Trent Manning:

Just like many young kids, right? Many young kids. I was the same guy, same way.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah, pretty much. I went to vocational high school, Dauphin County Technical School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And they had like 20 plus shops there, but I was in outdoor power equipment lawn mowers, tractors, ATVs, motorcycles, things like that. And, I started when I started in that shop when I was 14 and my senior year, a couple months before my senior year, before graduation, my shop teacher came up to me and said, Hey I know a mechanic had a golf course. Would you be interested in doing a co-op job? And at at that school, at that time, it was one week academic, one week shop class. And if you got a co-op job, you didn't have to show up to school on shop week. So I was like, you mean I don't have to show up to school and I get to make money? I'm in,

Trent Manning:

Yeah, no brainer.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah. So he introduced me to that golf course. It was Dolphin Highlands Golf Course. And the old mechanic there, Lynn Eby, he's still there. He's like 78 years old or something like that.

Trent Manning:

Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah, so, they did my interview there and and oh God, I just lost it. Hey. Anyway

Trent Manning:

no. It's all good, man. Yeah, it's all good.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So, you know, and what I really wanted to do was work on motorcycles and four wheelers and we had called around to different shops and stuff, and I also felt like getting some secondary education. And the, all the dealers in the area basically said going to like Motorcycle Mechanics Institute wouldn't help you out at all And at the time Penn State had just started the TAE program, the Turf, turf and Ag Equipment Service Technicians program.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and I got into the inaugural class with that one.

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

was 10 of us. I think eight of us graduated.

Trent Manning:

Oh, cool. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

no longer around,

Trent Manning:

Right, right. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, the, they never got enough students to fully sustain it. And when the, and it was a professor's pet project, and when he retired, it went with him,

Trent Manning:

Oh yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So, graduated there in 2004 with a certificate. I got my first mechanics job at a golf course at 19. Head mechanic, the only mechanic, and I've been doing it ever since.

Trent Manning:

No, that's awesome. That's so cool. So how did you get to Long Island?

David Gummo, CTEM:

I was working at a golf course that was going belly up. It was owned by a lawyer who didn't understand golf and basically wanted to turn his golf course into a garden. You know, when you're standing on number three T and there's an art PRUs tall enough that you can't see the green, there might be a problem.

Trent Manning:

Uhhuh?

David Gummo, CTEM:

didn't understand that. So it was going belly up. I was laid off. They had, there was different parts to it. They had a nursery across the valley and stuff, and that they had a mechanic over there and they let me go to save money on the golf course side of things. And at that point I was three months into a layoff and very broke.

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So I looked on turf net, started tossing resumes out there, and the superintendent up here he's like, oh yeah, you can stay on property for a few months until you get enough money for a apartment. And then, you know, like. Okay, there I go. Made a job.

Trent Manning:

Nice. Yeah, no, that is so cool. That's awesome. Very good. What's your least favorite part of the job?

David Gummo, CTEM:

Here. I'd have to say from a lot of lowering courses where you are the mechanic, but you might have to be out digging an irrigation hole, going to mow, you know, you kind of floating around a lot. And right now it's the fact that I'm in the shop a hundred percent of the time.

Trent Manning:

Ah, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know, I actually, I, there's times when I really do miss getting back out onto the course and, Doing more variety of stuff.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, no I understand that. I was, so, we're under renovation right now and the company that's doing the renovation is Don, and they have wheel trencher. It's come from the uk. It's like Shelton or something, equipment. I've never heard of it before. But anyway, they're having issues. I mean, it's a brand new machine, but still they were having issues with it. So I worked on that all day outside. And the weather is beautiful. It was like 65 degrees outside and sunny and mad. It was just so nice, you know, getting outta the shop and doing something a little bit different.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I as my side business, I do a lot of side work and I go to different places and do it, and I've been enjoying that because it gets me outside. I was working on a tech uchi last week. In 17 degree weather, though,

Trent Manning:

Yeah, that's, yeah. Not fun. No,

David Gummo, CTEM:

And then there was another golf course I was working on a, there was another tacu, GTL 10 and their shop ceiling wasn't high enough to put the cab up, so I worked on that thing outside every day in

Trent Manning:

That's

David Gummo, CTEM:

below freezing weather.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Not fun. Not fun. Yeah. Because I mean, the metal is the ambient temperature, Yeah. Yeah. Not fun.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah.

Trent Manning:

What's your favorite tool?

David Gummo, CTEM:

Believe it or not, it's weird. I, this old 14 four snap-on impact that I've had for almost 20 years,

Trent Manning:

Uhhuh

David Gummo, CTEM:

I keep rebuilding the batteries. And when the motor died in it, I bought like six of them off all express and resurrected a thing.

Trent Manning:

nice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So I have better impacts. I have a new Milwaukee and everything, but that, you know, for no good reason, that's my favorite

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Could also say from a more practical standpoint, probably my mind

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice. Yeah. Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, everything starts and ends up here, so,

Trent Manning:

That, that's right. No, very true. And your the second guest that has said that, so I love it. That was awesome.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah.

Trent Manning:

What do you do to relax or find your balance? Work on Takeuchis.

David Gummo, CTEM:

No, those things are actually pretty miserable.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Okay. All right.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I just seem to happen to be the guy. I play video games, I'll sit down and play Hearts of Iron for, or something like that, you know, kind of takes my mind off of everything. You know, I have 3-year-old twins and things

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, they're, yeah, they're, I love them to death, but they're on the go all the time. So, you know, for relaxing, you know, just sit down and play hearts of iron for

Trent Manning:

There you go.

David Gummo, CTEM:

out to or at least occupy my mind enough to not think about everything I have to do

Trent Manning:

Uhhuh. Yeah. That's a good way to, just, I lost the word. Yep. That's hell getting old man. It's, you got a train of thought and it just flies out the window sometimes.

David Gummo, CTEM:

all the time. you get the worst.

Trent Manning:

how about this, it is a good distraction from what's really happening around you. I think that's where I was going with that to be continued. Maybe I'll remember. So my dad, he is 81, going on 82, and he told me, this was probably a year ago. He said, I walked out to the garage two weeks ago. I still ain't remembered why I walked out there. So luckily I hadn't got that bad yet, but you know, it's coming. It's coming. What's been one of your biggest challenges to date? I.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Personal or work?

Trent Manning:

Let's let, I don't know, whatever you're comfortable talking about, but I guess it's more work related question, but if you wanna talk about personal I'm here for that too.

David Gummo, CTEM:

probably the biggest challenge I had was, work. God, do I wanna go with a piece of equipment or yeah. I'd say as far as piece of equipment goes, it was the first time I ever did an engine and out Ofci or TL 10 here has had three engines put in it so far.

Trent Manning:

Wow. How come?

David Gummo, CTEM:

First one, the, it was an early tier four. They bolted the DPF filter to the cast. Aluminum intake manifold didn't end well The engine. And then the second one, the wiring harness rubbed through and the four to wipe the cylinder.

Trent Manning:

Oh wow. Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So. And then I pulled the engine out, did a full rebuild, and I also replaced the wiring harness in it, which just looks like a big bowl of spaghetti. So that was probably the first one. I could say other ones, like right now I have a New Holland LS one 70 Skid-steer in the shop that I'm basically completely refurbishing, but I'm not finding that as much of a challenge as I did that First Tech.

Trent Manning:

That,

David Gummo, CTEM:

Then career wise, it was basically deciding to make the move to Long Island. That was a hard one.

Trent Manning:

Oh, I bet.

David Gummo, CTEM:

personal wise, it was overcoming depression and things like that.

Trent Manning:

Oh

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know, I used to. I used to have issues with depression. I used to be over 400 pounds, you know,

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

that was that was a big challenge with that one. But

Trent Manning:

Well, I appreciate you being willing to talk about that because I do think it's something that a lot of us deal with, you know, a lot and, you know, it needs to be said and it's okay if you are depressed. There is resources, there's a way to get help. Do you want to tell us about your story a little bit?

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know,

Trent Manning:

And it's totally, yeah. I don't, you know,

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah, I just dunno how I, nah, I just dunno where to really go with that.

Trent Manning:

Did you overcome your depression?

David Gummo, CTEM:

well, the first thing I did was moved to Long Island. It really, I really overcame it when I met a I got introduced to a personal trainer and he got me to start exercising and working out. And you know, I started dropping a bit of weight and I felt better about myself and dropped a bit more weight and felt really good about myself. And you know, I spent most of my adult life alone and I started meeting girls and ended up meeting my wife. And,

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

now, and now I don't even have time for it because I can't even, I don't have time to even worry about being depressed. You know, the worst part about depression is it's like self-reinforcing. You know, you're depressed and then that makes you do something like eat more. And then you look at yourself in the mirror, then you feel more depressed and you're like, well, I don't have a good reason to be depressed. So you get depressed about that and then you get depressed and it makes you think nobody cares. And it's just a weird self-reinforcing cycle That can be difficult to break. You know, I broke it and then when we had our kids, things changed so much, you know, the family dynamic and everything. And we don't have family up here. We don't have help. I ended up becoming the single income source, which caused me to work a lot and I still work an obscene amount. So came back a bit. Gained a bit more weight. And then, you know, recently I've, I got a bariatric surgery to drop the weight again, and I've, you know, I'm doing a lot better doing, got myself in a really good place right now.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. No, that's good. I appreciate you being willing to share that. And I met with my therapist yesterday, you know, and feel hurtful of an hour of me rambling on and on about my life and what all's going on. And I mean, it's really beneficial. So I would say to any of the listeners, if you're thinking about it, if you're on the fence, just do it. Therapy can really help and really work. But I will say with finding a therapist, it might take you a couple. It might take you a few, you know, it, you gotta find somebody that kind of meshes with your personality and all those kind of things. At least that's my personal experience. I think I, it was number four, but before I found someone I was comfortable talking to.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah. Yeah. And there's no shame in it. we make it out, you know, so much in society makes it out to be a shameful thing, but there's no shame in it. And my therapist ended up being a personal trainer and I ended up doing like, strongman competitions and stuff,

Trent Manning:

nice. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, it's like, you know, one of. Is food. It spikes your insulin, which spikes your serotonin levels, which gives you this like feeling of wellbeing and euphoria and stuff. So you get so it's easy to overeat and then it's self-reinforcing on that one as well. But going to the gym and working out, that spikes your dopamine levels and it gives you largely the same effect without the eating.

Trent Manning:

Right, right. I got you. No, yeah, it makes total sense. Well, I'm glad you're on the other side of that and I hope you that you continue and if you ever need somebody to talk to. I think you got my number. Yeah, you got my number. I'm here. And that's for anybody listening too, you know, if you need an event about something or whatever. And again, I'm not a therapist, but I'm happy to talk to anybody especially if they're in need. Now, what's one of the strangest things you've seen at work? Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I was thinking about this a lot. I have seen a lot of strange stuff over the years. We could make a little podcast

Trent Manning:

Oh, okay. All right.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I've seen. This particular golf course, I haven't seen that much strange stuff. We had a jogger that would jog up the road at like four 30 in the morning or something like that. Make a doe on one of our greens.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

no toilet paper.

Trent Manning:

that's strange.

David Gummo, CTEM:

that's very strange. And he did it for a long time before they figured out what, what was going on. So that was very strange. I worked at that mountain course. We had a very wet year and there was very little forge. We had the game commission come in and trap bears off the course. They caught like six bears in a month and they were digging holes in the greens, breaking flag poles. Yeah. I watched one of the crew member bear ran by the shop. The crew member saw it and he wanted to keep looking at the bear, so he followed it into the woods. And I'm like, what are you doing?

Trent Manning:

No. No.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Then there was a time we had a member tased. It's actually a really sad story. He was an older guy and had like dementia or something, and he was off his

Trent Manning:

Oh no.

David Gummo, CTEM:

And unfortunately we had to call the cops because he was getting violent and he was also stripped down to his whitey tidies. And he picked up a flag and was threatening the cops and, well, they wrote the taser.

Trent Manning:

Dang.

David Gummo, CTEM:

There was a bachelor party there, and one of the guys got on a lot of drugs and the next morning he was in his underwear in a creek and had to get the cops up, called on him.

Trent Manning:

Wow.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, I worked at a place doing side work and they, their one nine was still manual irrigation, so they had to do night watering. And I watched a kid he was. Off his, he was driving a cart, went up the side of a tee box, fell off the side of the cart, rolled into the aboveground gas tank. So,

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, you know it's not gonna explode, but all the movies and stuff, you're just like, oh my God.

Trent Manning:

Right. Right. That's crazy.

David Gummo, CTEM:

then there was another one, one of the earlier ones was we're standing at the shop and we could see the main parking lot. And in the middle of the day we, we were watching this Van Rock back and forth as a couple was getting in the van.

Trent Manning:

Oh, boy. Okay. All right.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah, I got,

Trent Manning:

seen some strange stuff.

David Gummo, CTEM:

ah, yeah. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

Okay. That's that's good. That's, that is good. Why don't you mentioned the person that you worked with at your first course. Do you have a mentor in the industry? I.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah. His name is Lynn Eby. Well, is Lynn Eby? He's still working. He is 78 years old. There's thereabouts.

Trent Manning:

Crazy.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

Any, yeah, any, anybody

David Gummo, CTEM:

saw a picture him and that the first superintendent, bill Wall even now, if I have, like, if I'm planning on making a career decision or something, I would still call Bill Wall and see what his thoughts are on it.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

he's, he is the guy that basically told me to go for Long Island.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

And Lynn. And Lynn, you know, he's a really good old school mechanic. And he has a plus side. He looks like Santa Claus.

Trent Manning:

Oh, okay. Awesome.

David Gummo, CTEM:

He's got rosy cheeks, some big white, long beard, curly hair, all white, you know?

Trent Manning:

Yeah, that definitely helps for sure.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah. Really, you know, love the old man.

Trent Manning:

That's awesome.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, and the first day I met him, I went in for the interview and when I was 15 I had worked part-time at a autobody shop, or, well, I worked the summer at an autobody shop with one of my cousins, and he knew the owner, Joe Grino Joe Grino was a Vietnam vet that got shot up in Vietnam.

Trent Manning:

Oh, wow.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So you can kind of imagine his demeanor. So I went into the interview and Lynn's like, well, do you ever work anywhere else? I told him, Joe Grino, he looked at me. Did you get fired? No.

Trent Manning:

That's a good story. Yep. Really good story. Yep. If you made it through him you're worth hiring. That's good stuff. What would be your dream job or opportunity?

David Gummo, CTEM:

I had love to have my own fabrication shop and just make things.

Trent Manning:

That's so much fun, isn't it?

David Gummo, CTEM:

It's a lot of fun. I'd love to make like one-off pieces of turf equipment and stuff like that, you know, or just fabricate tins or just, You know,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. Any, anything? Do you have some fabrication equipment?

David Gummo, CTEM:

I've got a Bridgeport machine. I have a 14. I bought the Bridgeport myself. I have oh, the 14 inch LA the golf course bought. The I have a nine inch South Bend lathe that was made in 1927.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

That was the first one I bought. Got it for like 500 bucks off of a older gentleman who was

Trent Manning:

Oh, okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

which he got it from older gentleman that was looking to downsize, but it was in really good condition. And I bought it myself just to play around with, I wanted something to play around with,

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

before the, I think kids, when I had time when I would just fill my time with doing weird things. And I actually did enough on that, that the golf course bought me 14 inch.

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice. Okay. What kind, what kinds of 14.

David Gummo, CTEM:

It's a precision. Matthews la it's a Chinese la

Trent Manning:

Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

it's still a big enough up. I mean, it's a significant upgrade again compared to like a 1927 South Bend

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

where the max RPMs, like six 90, it has a half a horsepower electric motor on it that pulls like 12 amps.

Trent Manning:

Oh, wow, okay. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know?

Trent Manning:

I'm Aston too because I got south Bend 13 inch and it's an antique. And I need to look up the way you date it, the date code or whatever, and find out what year it is. I mean, it's pretty old. I don't think it's not 1927, but

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah. It doesn't, does it still have the belt?

Trent Manning:

Yes. Yeah. It's,

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah, it has the internal belts, andal and all that,

Trent Manning:

yes. Yep. No, it's internal.

David Gummo, CTEM:

okay. Mine is external. Like, there's actually like a line shaft that goes above the lathe with belts that come down, And then

Trent Manning:

I have seen

David Gummo, CTEM:

and then the, yeah. And then there's the motors underneath the deck and there's a big long belt that goes up to the line shaft.

Trent Manning:

Nice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

it's cool. I like it. It has a really nice old school feel to it, but maximum rrp m on that lays like 690. It's slow.

Trent Manning:

That's

David Gummo, CTEM:

Well it was built back in the day when a lot of people were still running carbon steel tool tooling. Not even high speed steel. High speed steel got invented like 1900. But in the 1920s a lot of guys are still running carbon, just base carbon steel. And like six 90 is a good speed for that,

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, the design.

Trent Manning:

out.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. That's awesome. That's good stuff. Yeah. We'll have to, I'll send you some pictures of my antique and you can send me some pictures of your antique and

David Gummo, CTEM:

I got a, I also have a, yeah, I also have a antique van Norman, number one half milling machine. That was, it's hard to date code those, but they were built around 1917 to the early 1920s. So that's a cool old piece too. I don't do hardly anything on it anymore because max spindle speed on, that's like 300, which is really brutally slow. But the patent date on that is actually before the invention of high speed steel. So,

Trent Manning:

Oh wow. Okay. Very cool. That's good stuff. Do you have a technician you would like to work with for a day?

David Gummo, CTEM:

actually I'd like to work with the the guy under, I'd like to work with him for a day

Trent Manning:

Okay. Yeah,

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah, I Ms. Lynn. He is a great guy.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. Especially,

David Gummo, CTEM:

was so fun to work with and stuff.

Trent Manning:

It looks like Santa Claus. Why not?

David Gummo, CTEM:

exactly. He actually has a Santa Claus suit and does do Santa Claus at Christmas time. So

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice. Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

much of a like to work with him again for a day. Outside the industry, the person I'd love to spend a day with Adam's Savage from the MythBusters.

Trent Manning:

Oh, okay. Yeah,

David Gummo, CTEM:

I'd love to work with him for a day.

Trent Manning:

yeah. Yeah. They do. He does some cool stuff, doesn't he? He doesn't. He have his own YouTube channel and

David Gummo, CTEM:

He has his own YouTube channel. I went to a Comic Con and sat through one of the panels they had with him and just listening to him. He's it's, he's a very inspiring person to listen to,

Trent Manning:

Awesome. Very

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know. He's a great motivational speaker without trying to be a motivational speaker.

Trent Manning:

No, that's cool. Super cool. Well, what do you know now you wish you'd known on day one when you started at the golf course? At 14.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Well I started at 1714 in,

Trent Manning:

okay. Yeah. Yeah. You got in the

David Gummo, CTEM:

was in shop.

Trent Manning:

right? Right. Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

do we include the butterfly effect or not include the butterfly effect? Like if you change one little thing in the past, it changes everything in the future,

Trent Manning:

yeah, I don't It's your call, it's your call on that,

David Gummo, CTEM:

If changing things, if I knew something back then that would change where I'm at now, I wouldn't change a thing because that I might not. Me, my wife might not be on Long Island, might not have my kids. So I, so in that regard, I wouldn't wanna change anything.

Trent Manning:

right? I under Yeah. Totally understand that.

David Gummo, CTEM:

if you could say, tell me that I'd have all of that. I wish I knew more as far as like how to run a business and things like that. And I'd say be better at organization. You know, I spent a lot of years as a single mechanic in a shop. And when you know where everything's at, you know, it's all organized in your head,

Trent Manning:

Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, there, there's. It organized that other people, and now I'm getting busier, I'm older, I'm getting busier, and now I'm having to learn some organization skills that, You know, I previously didn't have to have.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, that makes sense. It's understandable for sure. Oh yeah. And I don't, I mean, it's, I think it's different for everybody and, but I mean, most of the mechanics, I know it doesn't come natural to us to be super organized. Some of us maybe, but not majority, I don't think,

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah. And I mean, and let's face it, when you can take something apart throw a thousand pieces in a box and then stick it back together three weeks later you know, it's not that hard. You know,

Trent Manning:

bro I'm with

David Gummo, CTEM:

can pretty much, you. Keep things well organized in your head to some point. And if you're a single guy in a shop, a lot of times you're really busy. You know, the last thing that's on your mind is going through all your bins and organizing stuff because hey, I got a mower to grind, I have this to do. I have that to do. I need this done.

Trent Manning:

Yes.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know? And then most of the places I've worked, I'm 40 hours a week and they don't want me to run overtime. So,

Trent Manning:

Right? Yep. Only so much time in the day.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, but you know, that's something I've largely corrected over the years, but it took a bit of effort to do so.

Trent Manning:

And when it's so easy to collect all kind of stuff, you know, like extra parts and all that kind of stuff, it's, yeah, it's just a constant battle.

David Gummo, CTEM:

About once a year I go through what I call aggressive inventory reduction, It just goes into the modern arts masterpiece. Right. You know,

Trent Manning:

Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

have a more I have a better term for that, but I'm gonna keep it

Trent Manning:

No, that's all good.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah.

Trent Manning:

Keep it pg.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah, so I, I do some, I've learned over the years I had to do some aggressive inventory reduction. Like I'll have something on the shelf that's been there for like five years and I'm like, do I really need this?

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yep. It's tough. I mean, it is for me anyway, especially brand new stuff and I try to give it away and nobody wants to take it and

David Gummo, CTEM:

one, one of the things I found that actually really helps is limiting the amount of horizontal surfaces you have in the shop, because they're just a collection point for everything. If you can set it down there.

Trent Manning:

yeah, why don't, so I had that example today and I mean, it blows my mind. So we have an equipment trailer because I got the two courses and we move equipment back and forth. But really it's like a call, a car hauler. But to haul our tractor with the wide rear turf tires, I have to take the fenders off and it's two bolts. So they're easy removable. They're you know, aluminum diamond plate fenders. And so anyway, I take the, or my system actually took, takes the fenders off and we set'em next to the shop outside you know, next to the metal building. And it was not 30 minutes later, there is three towels laying on the fenders. And I'm saying, where did these come from? Who put these towels here? You know, and it's like, I don't, I mean, I know you got kids, I got kids, but it is like, you know, cleaning up after your kids. Like why?

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah I'll, you know, I get busy and, you know, it's a constant fight against clutter and stuff like that. And then you come into the shop and like, there's random things like, why is this here?

Trent Manning:

Yeah. I know. It drives me crazy.

David Gummo, CTEM:

this come from? Why'd they leave it here? You know, I got enough of my own stuff to clean up.

Trent Manning:

yeah. I'll find stuff in our toolbox and I'll, so I got two guys helping me in the shop, and I'll ask both of them, where did this come from? I don't know, is the answer from both of them. So they didn't put it there. I didn't put it there. It's like, who put it there? We don't have too many people, you know, messing with our stuff. You know? I don't, I just, I don't get it. I don't know what happens. I really don't.

David Gummo, CTEM:

it's constant or like. You know, like someone will, like, I have my little club car with air compressor and stuff on it here. It sits in the shop most of the time and in the morning the guys will go to take a cart. Oh, someone left this in here. Then they just stick it in my cart. I'm like, why?

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. I don't get it. Get ready for tips and tricks. Let's do some tips and tricks. What kind of tips and tricks you got?

David Gummo, CTEM:

Well the first one is zip ties.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I have a pet peeve with zip ties. Everyone likes to cut'em off with a pair of wire cutters

Trent Manning:

Uhhuh. Okay. Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

leaves a nice, sharp edge.

Trent Manning:

Yes.

David Gummo, CTEM:

of times I have been lacerated with those drives me crazy. Pair of flush cutting wire cutters,

Trent Manning:

I love it, man. I love it.

David Gummo, CTEM:

not no sharp.

Trent Manning:

I love it.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Biggest pet peeve, all because how many of us have had to stick our hands down in somewhere just to realize you're getting cut by a zip tie, then the only way to get it out is to pull back through that zip tie and now you're bleeding down your arm.

Trent Manning:

Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know, and these are like a couple bucks from an electronic store, home Depot, or whatever, which just easy enough to do.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Right. I love it. That's a really good one. And it's also one of my pet peeves too.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Oh yeah. Drives me absolutely crazy. And it, they, and stuff comes from factory like that and I don't get

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Right.

David Gummo, CTEM:

right. Another one you can do if you don't have a surface plate or a leveling plate. I actually saw this in like an old school, real mechanic or real owner's manual. You can put a machine screw. In your height of cut adjust bar, and then it'll triangulate off the edge, the back of the bed bar and you can tos

Trent Manning:

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I don't remember if it's, is it John Deere? Maybe it's in one of their manuals of that being a way to do it.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I found an, I found like an old manual from like the eighties or nineties, the one time, and I saw that and I was like, oh, that makes sense. So if I don't feel like breaking out my leveling plate and I'm curious, I'll just do that real quick. Is it sit sitting on a surface plate? No, but.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. It gets you in the

David Gummo, CTEM:

Because you just have it on your bench and you do it there, and you don't have to transfer the re over to a surface plate. I do have a granite surface plate. I like to have all the things that I need just in case, you know, I may not need it, need to use it that often, but if I do have a weird cut of quality of cut issue or something, I like to be able to suss that out

Trent Manning:

Yeah. You gotta have, you gotta have all the tools in the toolbox.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah, you have to add the tools.

Trent Manning:

Have the tools.

David Gummo, CTEM:

but for the guys, you know, but for the guys that are at like a place and they don't have, a granite service plate or something like that, this is a this will get you most of the way there you know, better than nothing. Another tip I'd have, start your own business. Get an

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

have a backup plan. Always have a backup plan.

Trent Manning:

That's Advice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

because if you have an LLC and you have your own little business, if something would ever happen, horse goes under, your superintendent, gets let go, you get some guy and you can't stand God forbid it, it's very rare with equipment managers, but they're planning on going a different direction.

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know, having your own business, you can build people out, you know, 20 years ago, 15 years ago I could do side work at golf courses where they just walk up to the register, pull cash out of the register and hand it to me and just decide to lose a few receipts. Right.

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

can't find that anymore, you know, so, you know, the best way to pick up side work for me now is you know, to have a legitimate business where I can just send someone an invoice.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. No, that's good stuff. Yeah. And I mean, I guess that leads us into the next thing of, yeah. What is your side business? You got a couple side hustles here.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah, so I do my favorite one is I sell GPS Springers.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I'm a Northeastern distributor for above part tech. I don't know if you've heard of those guys. They're based outta Iowa.

Trent Manning:

Exciting and

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yep.

Trent Manning:

come aboard. I hit the wrong button. We're expecting you. Okay. Alright.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I actually can't.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, it'll stop playing. Okay. Oh boy. Sorry about that. All right, so you have, or you sell GPS sprayers and who's that come from?

David Gummo, CTEM:

Above part tech, they're based outta Iowa. They sell conversion kits for all the major brands and stuff. And then they also have 300 gallon skid sprayers. They have 500 gallon pull behind, which are actually pretty guys in Virginia, like those things. I have a couple customers in Virginia.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I have three of them down in Virginia that I service. And you get a lot of, you get a lot of stuff done with a 500 gallon pull behind GPS sprayer.

Trent Manning:

Oh, I bet.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and then they also have their own self-propelled applicator. They have a River 300. So they, they're doing pretty good. They have. Probably close to 150 units nationwide now,

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and I have 13 units out there, so

Trent Manning:

Awesome.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and skids and pull behinds and things like that.

Trent Manning:

So is it individual nozzle control?

David Gummo, CTEM:

yep. It's individual nozzle control. You can get auto steer, we can do turn rate compensation, the pulse with modulation on the booms where it slows down the inside and speeds up the outside.

Trent Manning:

Very cool stuff.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah it's really neat. With the put p WM squares, we even go down to like 10 inch nozzle spacing,

Trent Manning:

Oh, okay. Wow.

David Gummo, CTEM:

which if you just, I can go into old dissertation on how these things work.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. No that's, no, I mean, it's interesting for sure.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah, so, so like on the PWM is, what it does is it alternates nozzles, because when you look at the fan on a 20 inch nozzle spacing the fan actually goes down with 110 degree fan at like A 20 inch nozzle height. It touches the center of the other nozzles or roundabout there. So, with the PWM sprayer, what it does is it alternates, nozzles, one's on one's off, one's on one's off, and with HA application that's really good with turf application. It's very easy to see tiger striping with like a 20 inch nozzle spacing,

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

right? If conditions aren't right, like you have to have up around 80% duty cycle and things like that. But with the 10 inch nozzle spacing. Because, you know, now you have nozzles in between and it's,'em, it pretty much just eliminates any issues with that. why we went with 10 inch nozzle spacing over 20 inch. The other issue is that the flow rates that turf usually sees at like two gallons per thousand. Right. It's hard to get nozzles that are PWM rated that'll do like those kinds of flow rates. You have to get do like a two, two and a half gallon per minute nozzle. And because the, with the P PW sprayer, let's say you need to, let's say you want like a 75% duty cycle, right? That, and you're gonna spray. Gallon and a half, one and a half gallons per minute per nozzle, you would actually need like a two gallon per minute nozzle to get that 75% duty cycle.

Trent Manning:

Okay, I got

David Gummo, CTEM:

It's fun tech. It's fun. And there's no ta there's no tabulation charts for tariff either, so you have to do all the math for it.

Trent Manning:

Nice. Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah. Yeah, because all the ag tabulation charts stop at like 25 gallons per acre, 30 gallons per acre, which does us no good in the turf industry.

Trent Manning:

yeah. It doesn't get

David Gummo, CTEM:

But it, yeah. So, so like, when you do 10 inch nozzle spacing, now it's, so let's say you need two gallons per minute per nozzle or a nozzle capable of that, you can do one gallon per minute per nozzle. So there's a whole lot more nozzles available at that flow rate.

Trent Manning:

Ah, okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

And then with the individual nozzle control you. I'm kind of nerding it. You can always set how much of an overlap you want, right? Like, minimize skip or minimize overlap. And usually what you get is you get little triangles of overlap because nobody in the turf industry wants skip. So with the 10 inch nozzle spacing, it actually tightens up that overlap even more.

Trent Manning:

Oh, okay. Yeah. Makes sense to me. Yeah, why not? Yeah I guess why? No, that's cool. Why do the big competitors, as far as I know, they don't offer a 10 inch nozzle spacing. Just curious. Just throwing it out there.

David Gummo, CTEM:

it adds a bit of extra cost. There's a lot of extra cost with it. You know, you have double the turrets, double the nozzles, double the solenoids. Double everything. There's, if you're doing standard, nozzle control, if you're not doing the PWM, there's less of a need for it unless you just wanna get really tight. Years ago I knew a superintendent that did 10 inch nozzle spacing and dropped his boom height down to 10 inches so he wouldn't get much drift, right? So that there, there is a usage scenario for that. But if you're just doing regular individual nozzle control, there's not really a whole lot of need for it. It just adds extra cost, extra complexity. Otherwise if John Deere could do it easier than Toro because they use those I believe they're the hyper individual nozzle controls the little micro ball valves on the individual nozzle. Would be easier to do than Toro because Toro does the full size valve bodies. The K, what are they? The KZ valves?

Trent Manning:

I, yeah. I don't know.

David Gummo, CTEM:

valves. Anyway, but they basically run valve per nozzle. So you have a 12, 12 valves back there lined up. Now, if you went to 10 inch nozzle spacing with that, now you're looking at a really big nozzle, you know,

Trent Manning:

Oh yeah. Yeah. Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and we just we run capstan solenoids on the TURs with little plungers in them.

Trent Manning:

Okay. All

David Gummo, CTEM:

It's, the conversions are very easy and they're very noninvasive.

Trent Manning:

Okay. So, and when you're saying that, so you can outfit a Torah or a John Deere with that set up.

David Gummo, CTEM:

right. Last month I just actually. Beginning of this month I was at Williamsburg and I did a John Deere HD 200. And it's basically just, you know, disconnect the original control scheme, the rate controller flow meter, and then like the boom valves. I turn'em on and just disconnect them. And then the way above part tech has their kit set up. I mount a box on the side of it, and then I just run all the wiring forward and then back.

Trent Manning:

Okay. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

it's a, yeah, that's that, that's also where the zip tie thing comes in handy, because I go through probably 50 or 60 zip ties doing that.

Trent Manning:

No yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know,

Trent Manning:

A lot of zip

David Gummo, CTEM:

you kind, you don't, yeah. Because you gotta try and get your w harness and stuff looking neat and all that. But the nice part with the conversions is we don't run the wiring harness through the frames, right? It almost everything is external, so if there is an issue or whatever, it's right there. You know, we keep all the electronics and stuff on that box on the outside, so you're not having to like dig through the frames and stuff

Trent Manning:

Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. No. Cool.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, and I got in with them because we bought a couple sprayers here from above par Tech and we got units two and three.

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice. Okay. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I worked with those guys a lot on that. And then after the kids came out, I was like, Ooh, I need to do something for money.

Trent Manning:

There you

David Gummo, CTEM:

Hey.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. So are those RTK.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yep. Sub inch accuracy. RTK we have three different RTK sources. We can use Topcon, H-P-R-T-K, and the newest one is 0.1.

Trent Manning:

Oh, okay. Hadn't heard of them yet.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah they're actually they actually have a bigger network than H HP RTK, and they're the lowest cost out of the three of them.

Trent Manning:

Oh,

David Gummo, CTEM:

Topcon's the most expensive.

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So we usually, we, you know, try to keep everyone's subscription prices down and stuff. We try to go with the lower cost RTK service. It's still sub inch accuracy, so,

Trent Manning:

Yeah, that's crazy. Crazy that you can get that accurate with something like that.

David Gummo, CTEM:

yeah, I mean, yeah it's pretty crazy. And then, I mean, there's always, there's the other RTK sources, there's Terra Star, and then there's, was Agnos, I believe it's called. Yeah. A was Agnos. Problem with was is it's like six to eight inch accuracy, which is still more accurate than most people can spray, but your boundaries wander around on you

Trent Manning:

okay. Yeah, I.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know?

Trent Manning:

I was actually, I was talking to a guy the other day and I don't, yeah, I don't know what they were using exactly, but yeah, he was talking about boundaries shifting and

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah. If you run was Agnos, your boundaries can shift. A terra star isn't as bad, but year on near your boundaries could shift too. The other ones, we all run base stations, and unless the base station moves, your boundaries

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

shift.

Trent Manning:

So yeah, with your system that you're selling, do you have to have a base station on site?

David Gummo, CTEM:

No, you don't have to have a base station on site. These all run cellular. So, single base station's good for about 30 miles.

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know, and it's not line of sight because it's a cellular signal. You can run into issues if you do radio RTK, like you could put up a radio antenna and have radio RTK on your course. But radio is line of sight. So trees can interfere. Mounds can interfere. Buildings can interfere.

Trent Manning:

Right,

David Gummo, CTEM:

Those are probably good if you're like out west and you can put the antenna up some really high and you don't have a lot of hills and stuff to deal with. But I think there's RTK antennas. I think they're like$15,000 or

Trent Manning:

Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. Not cheap. Yeah,

David Gummo, CTEM:

No.

Trent Manning:

not

David Gummo, CTEM:

So.

Trent Manning:

Tell me about your service truck. You got

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah, so I just picked up a 2014 F four 50 service truck with a 4,000 pound crane on it.

Trent Manning:

nice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

on top of GPS sprayers, I've been doing a lot of heavy equipment repair. Somehow I'm getting to be known as like the UCCI guy. Now people, every time people have problems with ta, uci, they call me did an engine in a TL eight R two for a golf course last year. This year, guy was pushing leaves on a mound and leaves let go off underneath one of the tracks ended up outside in a neighbor's backyard

Trent Manning:

Oh. No,

David Gummo, CTEM:

there for like a week and a half before they could pick up with a crane. So, they called me in there and four. So it was. Fun digging down through, because you gotta pull the valve covers and a bunch of stuff off just to get the injectors out to free up the engine.

Trent Manning:

Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know, I have another golf course that wants me to split a tractor. I have it. Yeah. And I'm getting the crane because I, I did a transmission out of a benford articulated dumper, the transmission has to come out the top. This is like a hundred and some pound transmission. And I'm there with ratchet straps and stuff hooked on the roll bar trying to get this transmission out without dropping it on anything. And, you know, trying to get it in and manipulate it and stuff. And I'm beating the heck outta my F-150, like. Cor back of my truck, just smells like gear oil at this point. It's horrible. So I was like, ah, I need to, I, I should upgrade to a service truck and superintendent up there, he was like, dude, you need to get a service truck. I'm like, alright. So I went to buy a service truck and I'm like, eh, I might as well get one with a crane on it, because

Trent Manning:

Nice. That's so

David Gummo, CTEM:

I had of that transmission, I was like, if I'm doing it, might as well, you know.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Right. No, that is

David Gummo, CTEM:

and then I also do side work for a construction company. I used to do a lot of side work for McDonald's sons and then the regional guy split off also. I do a lot of work for Tali Construction

Trent Manning:

not familiar with them, but their golf course, construction

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yep. Golf course construction.

Trent Manning:

yeah. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

So I have a lot of I, you know, I've worked a lot on their. Track loaders and things like that, so, You know, I do, I, yeah. I'm a busy person.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. It sounds like you're very busy.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yes.

Trent Manning:

yes, Uhhuh. I know I was there at one point, and not that I've slowed down that much, but I have slowed down some compared

David Gummo, CTEM:

I like to keep Sundays for the kids though.

Trent Manning:

Oh, well good. That's awesome.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You know, unless I have something emergency or I, you know, I gotta go out of town or something,

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Sunday's the day for the kids,

Trent Manning:

Awesome. Yeah, don't don't blink.'cause they grow up, man. I'm telling you. It happened so

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah. I, yeah. And I already I already feel a little bit bad about how much I have to work and don't get to see'em and things like that, but. It's, you know, long Island's, expensive,

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Long island's, expensive. Daycare is expensive. Wife can't work because we can't afford daycare. So

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

that leaves it to me. And,

Trent Manning:

Yep. No, it's tough.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and on the bright side, I had actually, before I had the kids, I had formed an LLC because you know, pre pandemic. I had formed an LLC because I had gotten interested in doing GPS sprays before I ever met the guys at Ballpark Tech. And I wanted to give it a go at it. And then the pandemic hit

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and I sat on the LLC for a few years. And then when the kids came out, I'm like, I'm gonna dust this thing back off because I need to make some money. So that's why, for for a tip, that's why I said. Form your comp form a company, even if you just sit on it because at least it's there if you need it.

Trent Manning:

But yeah. Yeah. Yep. Who knows? Yeah. A guy told me one time said whatever you're planning on doing, get ready to do something different. You know,'cause we get pulled in different directions, you know? I mean, you might start your LLC and think you're gonna do one thing, and then in a couple years you get pulled in a different direction and you're doing this.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah. And I've been here for 12 years now, and I'm not in any rush to leave or anything, but never, I also have the, my, my personal belief is never get so attached to a place you're not willing to leave.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. That's good advice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Because I have seen people stay way too long at a place to their own detriment. And I've seen people get so attached to places that. When they do finally let go or have to leave or something else, it basically shatters them.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I have seen that where people get, you know, so, you know, I really I like this place, you know, I'm happy here. I'm not in a rush to leave. I wanna do the best job I can, best for this place, but if the winds shift, they have to shift.

Trent Manning:

Yep. No,

David Gummo, CTEM:

I thought if I thought it was the best thing to do for my family, I would find another place to work in very short order,

Trent Manning:

ah, right, right, right. Yeah,

David Gummo, CTEM:

right? Like,

Trent Manning:

That's awesome. Yeah. That's good stuff.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, you know, and right now my boss is awesome, lets me do all this stuff. You know, I've got four weeks vacation. He doesn't argue with me about going and running and doing this or that. I. Just, you know, and I don't wanna give that up. He is a great guy,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. No, that, I mean, it goes a long way, you know, when you're working with somebody that you know. It lets

David Gummo, CTEM:

and he got five kids. So

Trent Manning:

right. Yep. The, that's good. Well, let's do let's do some rapid fire. We'll put a bow on this thing. What's your favorite movie?

David Gummo, CTEM:

anything with Godzilla in it

Trent Manning:

Okay.

David Gummo, CTEM:

that inner 8-year-old. I love big dumb monster movies.

Trent Manning:

Okay, cool. What would be your last meal?

David Gummo, CTEM:

Preferably I die in my sleep and I don't even know what my last meal was. I'd have to say it depends being a Dutch thing, it's chicken pot pie. It's not an actual pie with chicken in it. It's like a really thick soup with square egg noodles. It's actually a mis mispronounced thing from Pennsylvania Dutch, which is bought by B-O-T-B-O-Y. Yeah, that's like a comfort food that, you know, your mother would make every,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. That sounds really

David Gummo, CTEM:

weeks or whatever it was. You know, it's got chicken, potato, carrots, celery, big egg noodles. It's super thick. It's, you know, it's just, I'd have to say that'd probably be the last meal if I had to choose.

Trent Manning:

Ton of calories there. I'm seeing,

David Gummo, CTEM:

oh yeah.

Trent Manning:

What are you most proud of besides your family, your twins?

David Gummo, CTEM:

I. I've done a fair bit of stuff in my life. I've done everything from strongman competitions to a TV riding, hunting. I've built my own gaming computers. I've, there I've done a lot of weird stuff. My hobbies float with the wind. So, you know, I'm proud of all the stuff I've accomplished in learning different things. I go home and I look at my apartment and I look at everything in there. And I am proud of myself because I'm able to do that.

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

to provide enough that my wife can stay at home with the kids.

Trent Manning:

That's awesome, man. That's

David Gummo, CTEM:

And I'm proud that my kids can have different things and you know, I work a lot and like right now my wife's Dominican right now, I sent her and the kids to the Dominican Republic for a while in the winter to enjoy the nice weather.

Trent Manning:

Oh, nice.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, so, it, you know, I'm proud of myself that I can actually be able to do things like that for them.

Trent Manning:

No, that's awesome. So good man.

David Gummo, CTEM:

you know, and people should be proud of themselves and you should recognize the things that you do that you should be proud of.

Trent Manning:

That's so good. That is really good advice. It is, and I don't think, I mean, I know I'm guilty. I, you know, I get hung up. Oh, you could have done better at this. You could have done better at that. But yeah, just set back and be proud of yourself.

David Gummo, CTEM:

I mean, the reality is any of us that do any kind of fabrication or do any of this stuff, you know, a lot of us are our own biggest critics. You know, you see all the flaws in everything that you do, and in a lot of ways, that's how you get better at it. But, you know, you make mistakes and, but at a certain point you have to realize that people, your mistakes are so good that people pay you for them. You know, you know, you make mistakes until what you think is a mistake is good enough for someone to pay you for it, right?

Trent Manning:

that's a good point, man. That is really good. Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

and then at that point you have to look back and you go, yeah, I could have done that better, but you know what, it's actually really good.

Trent Manning:

Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

feel good that I accomplished that. Because that person's paying me for it.

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Right. You know, and then the, one of the other things I learned too is never talk up your mistakes. Sitting there praising something you did like, like, I made a wooden gun case. I have this Canon it, it's a five 20 black powder, sharp sports sharp rifle. And I made a wooden gun case for it and out walnut. I'm not a woodworker. I've never done this before in my life. What, you know, again, before the kids, right? And I'm looking at this thing, I'm like, oh, this thing's so bad. So, and people are like, no, dude, this thing's awesome. This thing's cool. This thing's crazy. I'm thinking to myself, yeah I should stop telling them how bad it is,

Trent Manning:

Yeah. Yeah. Right, right. Yep. No I've been there. Yeah. I could tell you the a hundred things that I did incorrectly on this project that most people wouldn't notice, A single one. So yeah, why bother? Right?

David Gummo, CTEM:

Yeah. And as mechanics, we fix everyone else's mistakes and we fix our own.

Trent Manning:

that's true. Yep.

David Gummo, CTEM:

many mistakes do we make that no one.

Trent Manning:

Yep. That's a good point. Very true. Well, thank you so much, David.

David Gummo, CTEM:

You are quite welcome. Thank you for having me on.

Trent Manning:

Yeah, no, this has been really good and I've really enjoyed it. Again, thank you for opening up about dealing with depression'cause I think that's, that can help a lot of people.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Well, one of the best ways to chase it off is to talk about it.

Trent Manning:

There you go. You gotta get it out. Well, thank you.

David Gummo, CTEM:

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Yeah.

Trent Manning:

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