Triplex Greens Rolling Cancel The title field is required!

1. James Moore_2

   

   1 posts
   
   12/20/2011 11:12 AM

   We have decided to build our own greens roller heads instead of purchasing a side by side unit. Using a local fabricator to build the 3 heads to so I can have 4, 20lb rollers per head fit in them . Question is what is the proper weight per head for rolling and what can a g plex handle?? Jim Moore http://www.puslinchlakegolf.ca

   
   
   
   
2. David Brandenburg

   

   3 posts
   
   12/20/2011 8:12 PM

   Your vendor may be able to tell you what your max weight would be or you could weigh a complete head and a bucket with wet grass in it to figure out a normal weight.
   
   If you have Jacobsens they sell steel rollers and have for some time. We gave ours away when we switched to the vibratory rollers and I would think you could find some at a good price without to much searching.

   
   
   
   
3. Homme David R

   
   12/20/2011 9:12 PM

   I have a Smithco roller and I also have the Toro rollers for my triplex. I did tests on ball roll and found very minimal greens speed increase with the triplex rollers. Maybe a couple inches, so to me that's not useful. For what it's worth, IMHO, if you want better greens speeds you need a proper roller. They generally weigh 700+ pounds. The rollers are maybe 100-150 lbs apiece. I think you need the weight to mash it down and get some speed. My two cents,
   
   Dave Homme
   Falls Resort

   
   
   
   
4. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   12/21/2011 5:12 AM

   I would have to think that your ground psi would be more on the wheels of the triplex than on the head of your rollers. Although you have 80#+ in your design per head, you equal nowhere near the weight or psi of a typical sidewinder roller. But, if this is your only option, than I say it's better than nothing! I rolled with a set of triplex mounted rollers for years just because it was my only option. Just don't expect the same results compared to a sidewinder roller.
   
   And to answer your question, we used to fill the buckets of the triplex reels with sand and go "roll" the greens. So, I would figure those things weighed probably close to 80# with just the sand in them and an additional 70# or so for the weight of the reel itself. We never had any issues.

   
   
   
   
5. Hardy Andrew

   
   12/21/2011 10:12 AM

   Jim,
   
   We did tests 4 seasons ago with one of my interns using;
   
   1 weighted greens roller Toro triplex
   1 set of triplex mounted Tru Turf Vibratory Rollers
   1 demo unnamed sidesaddle greens roller
   
   Our results were there were no differences at all between a single or double roll, or, the differences that did occur would never be noticed by our players. Our factory set of Toro weighted rollers weigh I believe are in the 150lbs/head range. There has been little to no wear and tear on the unit (GM 3000). In fact the used set of vibe heads has been nothing but a pain in the butt, as there is as much maintenance in them as a greens reel. At the time I had my owner convinced and ready to buy the sidesaddle unit but on our greens with the slopes and dropoffs it was going to be a safety issue. If you have someone who can build them kudos to you, I would love to have a second set.

   
   
   
   
6. James Moore_2

   

   1 posts
   
   12/21/2011 11:12 AM

   Thanks Andrew:I am looking at 150 pds with room to go higher. My goal is for is for dollar spot control more than green speed . I have been watching Dr Nikolai studies very carfully . More rollers,minweight 130pds? More studies need to be done. But for now I got to get on the ban wagon the cheapest way, Specially with Ontario,s I.P.M.program.

   
   
   
   
7. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   12/21/2011 12:12 PM

   Another 2 cents here, I use to use the Jacobson triplex rollers but noticed in the early morning when using headlights to see with that my tire PSI was leaving tracks behind the rollers. In my opinion it does no good to roll the greens this way if you are creating tire tracks behind it. Consider the ball rolling across these tracks and the tracks slowing the ball roll or actually making them bumpy to some extent. We have a shop built pull behind roller made out of a 10" piece of Iron pipe that can be filled with water and pulled behind our Cushman Truckster. since it rolls after the cushman it smooths my greens out better then the Tri-Plex so I gave away my triplex rollers. The only issue with a pull behind roller is the extra compaction on the slopes and approach where you have to make the turns. Our pull behind unit is 6' wide but if I was going to build another I would make it 2' or 3' wide and have a triplex type roller where the three are connected.
   
   The right way to go is the riding rollers that move sideways. There is an excellent book out about taking control of green speeds which has a lot of information on the benefits of rolling the greens you should look at.