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electric mower delivers legendary jacobsen precision cut

The Golf Club of Purchase developed one of the best programs around to ensure top battery performance. The system is similar to what is used for electric golf cars.

Jacobsen’s E-Walk all-electric walking greens mower generates little more than a whisper of noise to avoid disturbing golf course residents and allow early morning turf care. Environmentally friendly, the mower uses no oil or hydraulic fluids and has no emissions. Just as important, E-Walk delivers the legendary Jacobsen precision cut.

Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, New York, got its first E-Walks in 1999 to address noise issues with course residents. It wasn’t long before this mower was recognized for its other features.

“The E-Walk is probably the best cutting mower I’ve ever seen,” says equipment manager Steve Jordan. “I’ve pretty much had my hands on everything that’s been made, and it’s the best cutting mower there is. The reason is its clip frequency, which is independent of the mower’s walk speed. We can really get that reel singing and it can be dialed in to any turf — bentgrass, Poa annua, Bermuda grass — anything. The E-Walk is a very versatile mower.” 

Jordan has no reservations about using electric mowers. 

“With the E-Walk there is no harmonic vibration, no gas and very little grease,” he says. “Plus, it’s a lot quieter. The clip frequency is a lot higher than other walking greens mowers and it’s adjustable, which is key. The reels are not affected by ground speed. It’s the only mower made where you can actually adjust the reel speed independently. We slow ours down a little if there is a thatch issue on some greens, and at tournament time when the greens are getting hard, we’ll speed them back up.” 

Winged Foot’s E-Walks get no special maintenance.

“They’re a lot easier to deal with because there’s no engine,” Jordan says. “The clutch units are pretty straightforward; there’s an electric motor and one belt. We save money without a gas engine because there are fewer moving parts. We probably save $100 a year per unit on fuel, and it’s definitely less expensive to replace a battery pack instead of an engine. We haven’t had battery problems at all; they’ve been very reliable.”

Good neighbor 

Scarsdale Golf Club, Hartsdale, New York, has always tried to be proactive and a good neighbor. The club is in its second season using two E-Walks. One is for greens and the other is for tees, collars and approaches.

“We use both mowers in areas where houses are close by, although we’ve expanded to other places on the course,” superintendent Matt Severino says. “We previously mowed with a Jacobsen E-Plex triplex mower and have been waiting for a smaller electric walk mower. The E-Walk is a perfect fit.”

The maintenance staff does a full greens route with the E-Walk. Scarsdale has relatively small greens, and about four can be mowed with each unit. Two extra batteries are sent along with the operator. Quality of cut is not an issue.

“There is no significant difference compared to a gas-powered walk mower,” Severino says. “The EWalk actually handles our greens better because of its design and maneuverability. It’s great in tight areas; it’s a nice size unit. Maintenance is similar to other machines. The E-Walk is just as durable and holds a cut just as long.”

Ensure top battery performance

One of the biggest challenges for technicians with electric mowers is keeping batteries at peak efficiency. Lou Bueti, head technician at The Golf Club of Purchase, Purchase, New York, developed one of the best programs around.

The club has five E-Walks, running four each day and rotating in the fifth mower. Each unit has two batteries, which are marked by an engraving pen with an individual identification number. The charger the battery is hooked up to is also marked. When a mower comes in, it is immediately put on a charger. 

“The traditional method is to put a battery on a charger and when it’s full, pull it off,” Bueti says. “But batteries will always be discharging. Our system is basically the same as what is used for electric golf cars. We leave the batteries on charge until we use them, and we rotate in the spare batteries. Even the battery that is sitting is still on a floating charge. We don’t let batteries sit and expect them to be good. By keeping batteries on a small charge, we know the operator has a fully charged battery.” 

Ten minutes of effort saves a lot of time.

“We have a system where we know exactly where we are,” Bueti says. “If a battery or charger has problems, we know exactly which one it is and its history. We can pinpoint if a charger isn’t charging. And, we’ve set up the charging station in a place that’s out of the way of traffic so chargers and batteries don’t get banged around. Bad batteries waste time and aggravate everyone. Using four mowers the staff can finish our three acres of greens on one battery charge for each mower.”