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Hand watering is an important part of the maintenance program at most golf courses, but loading and unloading hoses from a work vehicle is time consuming and tiring, plus dragging them around the course can damage the turf, the hoses, and any signs or stakes that happen to get in the way. While I was working at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma, I tried to make hose transport easier for our staff by fabricating custom-built hand watering trailers. The idea was to create a mobile watering unit that is ready to go at a moment’s notice and can be used anywhere on the course. I was happy with how they came out and the staff really appreciated the upgrade. With the right parts and planning, superintendents and mechanics can easily replicate what I built and streamline the hand watering process at their courses.

The Build

There are similar types of trailers or transport devices for hand watering hoses that can be purchased; however, designing and fabricating in-house saves money and allows for tailored solutions that fit your specific needs. Here are the key steps, materials and details I used for the build.

Design and Materials

My trailers were constructed from standard 1.5-inch square metal tubing that can be sourced inexpensively from many suppliers. Two-inch tubing would also work well and would provide a beefier trailer, especially if you want to use a larger hose or have rough terrain to traverse. The dimensions of the trailers I built are based on the size of the hose reel plus space needed to add a battery. Weight is balanced evenly over the axle so that the trailer is not forward or rear heavy. I used standard four-lug golf cart tires, which tend to be readily available at most golf courses or relatively inexpensive to buy.

For the hose reel, I used a Reelcraft electric hose reel and the superintendent provided his choice of 100-foot long, 1-inch watering hose that gives adequate water supply and an effective coverage area between quick couplers. The hose reel is the most expensive part and you should expect to pay around $1,000 for one that will last. I used a deep-cycle marine battery and a battery box purchased from Amazon. A standard 2-inch trailer hitch is used to attach the trailers to a ball on the back of our utility vehicles.

Fabrication

I used a band saw rated for metal to cut materials to length and a MIG welder to put the trailer together. I strongly recommend taking time to develop a thoughtful plan that meets your specific needs and creating a detailed drawing of your trailer before purchasing any materials and getting started. I share the basics of my design below, but these specifications will vary based on the size and type of hose reel, the axle and wheels chosen, the trailer hitch and other factors. My biggest piece of advice is to plan carefully and, of course, to measure twice and cut once.

The build starts by cutting the main support pieces of the frame and laying them out to check that everything fits correctly and looks good before welding. After welding the main frame together, the two wheel hubs are welded to the sides of the square tubing and the trailer hitch is bolted on the underside of the front. Next, the hose reel is bolted to the center of the frame, balanced between the wheels. The final piece is the battery box, which I prefer to locate in the front for better weight distribution. One of my favorite little touches was adding a vertical piece of 1.5-inch round tubing to securely stow the quick coupler that’s on the end of the water supply hose during transport.

Cost

The total cost to build each trailer was roughly $2,000. This could be lowered by using spare tubing, axles, batteries or other parts a course may have on hand. You could also use less-expensive components; but over the years, I’ve learned the hard way that it’s usually better to spend a little more on high-quality materials to make sure something I fabricate can stand up to the wear and tear of work on a golf course. The build process is straightforward – cut, weld, assemble – and the job should be manageable for anyone with good welding skills. I was able to build five trailers in just a few days.

Use and Maintenance

When it’s time to hand water, staff simply unplug the battery tender from its power source in the shop and hook up the trailer to their utility vehicle. When you get to the watering location, use the 10-foot supply hose with a permanently attached quick coupler to connect to the irrigation system. Then you unroll the main hose from the reel for watering, and when done you just push a button and the hose neatly winds back up in seconds. At the end of the day, our staff would wash off the trailers, bring them inside the shop, and hook the batteries back up for charging so they would be ready for the next day.

The trailers require little to no maintenance and the (rather expensive) hand watering hoses last longer because they are not subjected to abuse going in and out of carts or getting dragged around when no one is looking. Batteries should have a lifespan of three to five years, and I highly recommend battery tenders to keep them charged, especially in winter. Touch-up painting is required now and then, as is some tire maintenance, but other than that they require little upkeep.

Feedback From the Staff

The staff at Karsten Creek loved these trailers and we used them almost daily during the irrigation season. They made hand watering more efficient and made life easier for the staff assigned to hand water on steamy summer afternoons. I have since moved to a new job at Dallas National, where I plan to build similar trailers. One modification I will consider for the next build is adding fenders to prevent mud and debris from flying off the tires.

Editor’s Note: This article describes a practice that worked well at a particular course. All golf courses are different, and every practice should be evaluated based on a course’s specific circumstances.