They arrived with the promise that they'd give golf course superintendents the means to take their profession to a higher level. They would either be quieter, or more efficient, or easier to maintain, or a better value. Maybe all of the above.

So, how have some of the so-called "revolutionary" models of turf equipment worked out now that they've been on the job for a while?

"As far as I'm concerned, right up to expectations," was Don Lanning Sr.'s response to that question in regard to Ransomes America Corp.'s E-Plex, an electric-powered greensmower that made a very loud noise in a very quiet way when it arrived on the scene in the fall of 1994.

Lanning, head mechanic for the past eight years at Boca Woods Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla., is enthused about this electric mower designed for use where noise reduction is a must. Although Lanning has tried out the E-Plex and has no problem at all with its performance, he hasn't requested one for the 36-hole private facility. Boca Woods has one big obstacle to obtaining the mowers: The maintenance building simply isn't set up to handle the task of recharging their 48-volt electrical systems.

"We're not equipped for it right now. We'd have to upgrade the entire building as far as electricity goes," Lanning says, however, that such a renovation is inevitable. Somewhere down the line, there will be E-Plexes or other electric-powered pieces of turf equipment at Boca Woods.

"It's going to come sooner or later; we're going to have to do it," he says regarding upgrading the maintenance facility to fit equipment needs.

Ransomes' environmentally and socially correct E-Plex is a lot of things to a lot of people.

Timing is everything
Ransomes America may have come out with exactly the right product at the right time to help superintendents cope with the focus on noise abatement that's prevailed for the past few years. That debate has found the outdoor power equipment industry the target of complaints about excess noise, and that includes mowers owned by residential lawn care companies and golf courses.

Ransomes jumped out front in helping superintendents swap at least part of their mower fleets over to quieter electric models. And the more than 50 patents the company holds on components of the E-Plex appear to have kept the competition at bay, at least for the immediate future.

Two years ago Jacobsen, the Textron companies' turf equipment-maker, displayed a prototype electric mower. But it has yet to hit the market.

"We are developing it. It's not in production yet, but it's definitely a viable project," says John Mielke, manager of communications and promotion for Jacobsen.

All's quiet in the Northeast
Up the East Coast from Boca Raton, way up in White Plains, N.Y., Earl Millett has been superintendent at Ridgeway Country Club for 15 years. White Plains has been one of the hot spots in the noise pollution issue, so Millett turned to the E-Plex in response.

"We have a noise ordinance in town. But the E-Plex also gives a much better cut than any (gasoline powered) triplex I've seen. I use it just for greens, seven days a week," says Millett, who's also vice president of the Metropolitan Golf Course Superintendents Association.

The E-Plex trims 20 greens, including a nursery green and a putting green, at Ridgeway CC, which hosts between 35,000 and 40,000 rounds of play per year. Millett said the course -- one of about 125 in Westchester County -- is open year-round, weather permitting. He likes to keep golfers on the greens all year, with the exception of the March thaw.

Millett says maintenance of the E-Plex so far has been restricted mostly to "tightening a few loose wires" and making other minor adjustments. The mower features cutting reels with protective circuit breakers that trip and halt mowing when the reels strike something that isn't turf. The breakers are easily reset with the flip of a switch.

The machine's electric engine is powered by eight 6-volt, 244-amp hour (AH) golf car batteries that are good for up to three hours of operation per eight-hour charge. It travels at a rate of 3.7 mph maximum mowing speed, with a top transport speed of 7.5 mph.

And of course, since there's no hydraulic system, there are no hose ruptures or hydraulic fluid leaks. The absence of fuel combustion makes the emissions control people happy. And neighbors aren't the only people who benefit from the mower's silent performance; it's pretty easy on the operator, as well.

When Ransomes debuted the E-Plex in Florida, Virgil Bennett, superintendent at Golf Hammock Country Club in Sebring, got one of the first ones, in November 1994. He was pleased enough by its performance to get a second one five months later.

"It's great. It's only had minor problems, and it's saved us enough on gas and oil to probably buy another one," Bennett says.

The noise issue is perceived by many superintendents to be pretty much an East Coast/West Coast concern at this time. Bennett has had experiences along those lines, and he says the electric mowers have put a stop to the 4 a.m. calls he used to get from neighbors of the semiprivate course as soon as the gasoline mowers got going.

"With these mowers, you can pull right up to a golfer who's putting and he never even knows you're there," says Bennett, who adds that he can mow 27 greens on one charge, and the only battery replacement to date has been one set in the first mower.

New charge from old hands
Taking a cue from Ransomes' E-Plex is Smithco of Wayne, Pa., which less than a year ago introduced an electric-powered bunker rake. Like the E-Plex, its release is in large part a response to the noise issue, further proof of the affect societal concerns have on the golf industry.

Don Smith, president of the family-owned business, admits the Sand Star E is really not intended to crack the golf course market in a big way, but he's confident it'll serve its purpose in its own way. Like the electric mower, it offers quiet operation, pollution-free performance, minimal maintenance and no gasoline or oil expenses.

"It's a new product; it's a niche product," Smith says. "It will not take over the market. But we think it's applicable where noise ordinances are a concern, particularly in California."

The Sand Star has a half-dozen 6-volt batteries in a series that power it up to 10 mph forward and 5 mph in reverse. A three-wheeler, the unit features a 72-inch-wide clicker rake with 27 teeth, three trowel plates and five finish blades. The vehicle also has a center-mounted, electric-lift cultivator.

Jim Pelrine is president of Wilfred MacDonald Inc., a Lyndhurst, N.J., distributor that handles Smithco equipment, including the new bunker rake. Pelrine says he was initially skeptical of how the new machine would perform, but was convinced of its value after viewing demonstrations at area golf courses.

"It groomed 132 bunkers at one course without recharging, and that was a hilly course," he says. "So that gave us a little bit of confidence. I think its primary use is going to be in urban areas where there are a lot of houses around the courses. My feeling is, once the superintendents see how well this works and how quietly, they're going to promote it."

The new bunker groomer, which has patents pending, is not Smithco's first piece of revolutionary equipment. Don's father, Ted Smith, teamed up with Tom Mascaro 35 years ago to develop the Red Rider, which was the first vehicle that allowed superintendents to transport crew members and mowers around the golf course. In the late 1960s, Ted Smith took over the Kansas-based Humboldt Industries, which had manufactured Red Riders for Smith and Mascaro, and eventually Smithco was born.

Toro's HydroJect 3000 has been a highly successful specific tool for specific tasks.

WIC
Meanwhile, back in New York, Earl Millett also has one of the other relatively recent turf maintenance inventions that could be called revolutionary. The Toro HydroJect 3000, which hit the market about a half-dozen years ago, is billed as a subsurface injection system for turf that allows superintendents to apply water injection cultivation around the golf course without interrupting play.

"I've been using it four or five years. We share it with the course across the street. We drew up a contract," says Millett, adding that he has heard of a number of similar cases of superintendents at different courses joining forces to buy or lease equipment they don't need every day.

Millett's arrangement with Pete Waterous, superintendent at Westchester Hills Country Club, has been mutually beneficial, especially during a cold, wet season such as this last one when aerification was necessary only about once a month. Millett says the HydroJect has performed as advertised and fits his particular needs perfectly.

"I don't believe in core or tine aeration, so on the greens, and even on bad areas of fairway that have been under stress, I can open 'em up and they pop right back."

Millett adds that a big factor in his ability to acquire sophisticated equipment such as the HydroJect was his decision to get into a leasing program a few years ago.

"If you have a four- or five-year lease, by the time the lease is up the machine is usually obsolete anyway," he says. "Besides, I can't come up with $25,000 to $30,000 every two years."

Not for everyone
The bottom line on the HydroJect -- and one strongly stressed by Toro -- is that it's a specific tool for specific tasks. It has wonderfully quick healing powers, but it's not a cure-all. A great deal of its appeal, like that of many other pieces of equipment, is in the eye of the beholder.

Joe Williamson, superintendent at Briar Ridge Country Club in Dyer, Ind., is typical of those who may seek the particular benefits of the machine, but are not apt to buy one. "I used one as a supplement for core aerification. I think that's its value," says Williamson, who leased a HydroJect during the 1992 and 1993 golf seasons.

Williamson, who has an independent contractor come in and deep-drill aerate his turf at 11 inches in the spring, says he's not convinced of the agronomic value of the HydroJect, but he adds that he has been impressed with the machine's lack of turf disruption and damage.

In another section of New York, on Long Island, superintendent Richard Spear complements his "real good mix" of Jacobsen, Toro and Ransomes products at the 27-hole Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley with a HydroJect, although the course actually doesn't own one. The commercial firm that aerates his course has one.

"It's been a real good tool," Spear says. "It's not going to solve all problems, but it does allow some penetration of the greens during the growing season without disruption. There is virtually no surface disruption."

Just recently, Toro took its highly successful WIC concept a step further by introducing the HydroJect 4000, a pull-behind aerator system that employs a water-tank-laden utility vehicle. With its on-board water capacity, the 4000 allows more freedom of mobility and faster transport speed all over the course.

And still going strong
Speaking of utility vehicles, few may realize that it was more than 30 years ago when Cushman came out with its three-wheeled Turf-Truckster, the forerunner of today's industrywide fleet of such popular vehicles.

The early Truckster sported an 18-hp air-cooled engine and a 1,200-pound load capacity, plus an optional slide-in sprayer and spreader attachments. A decade later, Cushman -- which is now part of Ransomes America Corp. -- came out with its pin-disconnect system that permitted quick exchange of various maintenance attachments. That same year a topdresser and three-point spiking aerator were added to the lineup, and a four-wheel model, the 547, was produced. By 1978, more options included a power converter and two new aerator attachments.

In New London, Iowa, John Alden and his family built the Deerwood Golf Club in 1977. They still have the Turf-Truckster they opened the course with, using it as a utility workhorse complete with a sprayer, topdresser and aerifier attachments.

"We've just kept it up. We got another one in 1989, another three-wheeler," says Alden, whose nine-hole course hosts 50,000 rounds a year from March through late October.

Promise fulfilled
Not every revolution starts with a bang. Because changes in the golf course industry often are quiet, it usually takes a while to tell the revolutionary from the evolutionary. The products in this article fit the revolutionary mold because they've fulfilled the promise with which they were introduced.

What turf equipment yet unseen will have "the right stuff" to spark another industry revolution? Stay tuned.

A former editor of Turf Magazine, Bob Hookway is a free-lance writer who lives in Bradford, Vt.