Dear School Board Members or The Person in Charge of Writing the Check. Do you know the answer to this question? What does artificial turf maintenance equipment cost?
Save the taxpayers some money and purchase artificial turf maintenance equipment independent of the turf. Actually, demand a non-inclusion clause for equipment with your turf. You competitively bid the field so why not the equipment too? What we mean by this is, you received bids for your million dollars plus field installation. Don’t let the maintenance equipment get buried in the bid proposal.
Don’t Pay Full Price on Equipment You Don’t Know The Price Of
How does it feel to pay full ask price on equipment when chances are you are the equipment will be sub-par? First, let’s start with the basic question you may be asking – “what do you mean maintenance equipment is needed?“. Then, we’ll discuss why you should get separate bids for the equipment. Two minutes of reading this article will save you thousands of dollars, I guarantee it.
What Do You Mean We Need Artificial Turf Maintenance Equipment?
No one told us that.
Why do you think this problem comes up over and over? We know all too well why. The simple fact of the matter is that maintenance on artificial turf means another expense. And “another expense” doesn’t really sound good to the school board. So it’s usually left out or combined into another line-item so no one spots it. Some artificial turf manufacturers will include “maintenance equipment”. When that happens, the “equipment” provides us with a glorious referral after referral because frankly – it’s junk.
One time we received a replacement part request from a major university. What was funny about this order was that the part they ordered was for a piece of equipment we didn’t even sell. The gentleman ordering the part was so frustrated with the maintenance equipment provided with (which he said didn’t work properly) that he pulled a MacGyver. Well, he modified the equipment until the next budget cycle when they could buy proper equipment. Now that is ingenuity.
FieldTurf is a leader in artificial turf installations and it’s worth noting that FieldTurf doesn’t even manufacture their own equipment, they slap a sticker on the equipment built by Sports Field Specialties. After a little research, we can’t even determine if Sports Field Specialties makes the equipment or just has it imported.
Head spinning yet? Here is a nice little article we did outline from whom you should select artificial turf equipment.
In addition, Mike Ozanian at Forbes has provided a great read to a classic example as to the true costs of artificial turf fields, which no turf manufacturer will tell you. Turf maintenance is necessary and you better budget for it.
So we covered a bit about the maintenance needs now let us talk about why it is imperative that School Boards or whoever is in charge of the bidding process obtain a separate quote to buy artificial turf maintenance equipment.
What Does Artificial Turf Maintenance Equipment Cost?
First, do you really know how much your equipment cost if it was included in the overall project? The most likely answer is NO. Most states mandate that capital expenses in the educational system over $5,000 (or up to $10,000) must be put out for competitive bid. Your school is throwing away thousands of dollars by simply being lazy. There are no guarantees other than death, taxes and full boat markup on artificial turf equipment when left to turf manufacturers.
Quality equipment costs money but is worth it in the long run. If you buy quality the first time then you won’t be wasting time and more money buying sub-par equipment every other year when it breaks down.
Why Turf Manufacturers Should Stick To Turf
Turf manufacturers might be good at making turf, but do they have the years of experience in manufacturing artificial turf maintenance equipment? The answer is NO. What they saw was a way to increase profit by incorporating their own equipment into the whole bidding process.
I know we have a negative tone to this article. Is it wrong to point out the obvious? The obvious that money can be saved, lots and lots of money by taking a few extra steps in the whole new sports field buying process. We sell GreensGroomer products exclusively. The reputation and quality of these products for your field are unprecedented. GreensGroomer manufacturers their own equipment and have done so for over 20 years. We are proud to represent an American made manufacturer. Give us a call and we will be happy to provide a quote on the equipment because this is all we do.
