Toro 4500-D User Manual

Toro® Groundsmaster® 4500-D

Quality Design For A Quality Cut

T.Map

Improve Irrigation Control

Factory Service School

Education Program Earns An A

Operator Training

ProCore®Operator Video

Toro

Greensmaster®FlexTM21

Exceeding Expectations

Options & Attachments

Toro®Debris Blowers

Issue No. 4, February 2002 Information From Toro to Help YOU and YOUR Course

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Introducing the New

Toro

Groundsmaster®4500-D

oro has done it again! In response to superintendents’

needs for more productive rotaries that help them improve their quality of cut, Toro announces yet another breakthrough mower.

Introducing the Toro Groundsmaster®4500-D, the latest addition to our family of groundfollowing rotary mowers.

Featuring Toro’s exclusive Contour

Plus cutting technology, the Groundsmaster 4500-D has five freefloating decks that follow the contour of the terrain so you can get a championship-quality cut on undulating surfaces.

Better yet, the decks on the 4500 deliver a wide nine foot cut (2.74 meters) to give you a big boost in productivity. Also, with its 60-HP Kubota®turbo charged engine, full-time bidirectional four-wheel drive and superior traction, the 4500 promises you a better cut in demanding places, like roughs and slopes.

Power, versatility, productivity… could you ask for more? Actually, yes, which is why we built the Groundsmaster 4500-D for easier maintenance, user-friendly design, better striping capabilities, operator comfort, a quieter engine and more.

Real-World Proven

“I’m convinced it’s the best rotary mower out there,” says Bryan Miller.

Miller is Golf Course Superintendent at the Georgian Resort in Villa Rica, Georgia, an 18-hole, Tom Fazio-designed course near Atlanta. Last year, they decided to replace their reel mowers with rotaries in the rough areas. “We had undulations wreaking havoc on the

mower, or it would scalp the edges,” Miller says. So, he called Toro.

“They discussed this new mower, but

told me it was still in development,” he

recalls. “I told them if that machine was everything it’s made out to be, we’d love to get it here.” He arranged for a demonstration of the prototype 4500, and liked what he saw.

“This is a great innovation,” he adds. “I think the quality of cut during difficult times to mow is going to be even better than reel mowers—like in heavy grass, heavy dew or debris. It’s going to allow us to mow these areas like we want to and maintain the quality.”

“It didn’t bog down a bit,” agrees Jeff Connell, another superintendent who has had personal experience with the

4500. “It has an extreme amount of horsepower, so you don’t have to worry about going through thicker grass or wet grass. With that four-wheel drive, it also didn’t slip or make any kind of tire ruts

or spins anywhere.”

Connell is the superintendent at the Columbia Country Club in Columbia, South Carolina, a 27-hole private facility

designed by Ellis Maples. Presently undergoing a major renovation, the physical layout of the course had created particular equipment needs.

“We mow close to 100 acres,” he says, “and we were just not getting all the way around the golf course as many times as we needed to. Also, we’ve got a lot of bunker faces that kind of go down. It seemed we couldn’t get in without scalping.”

Last spring, Connell was invited to a demonstration of the Groundsmaster 4500-D. He was quickly impressed.

“The biggest thing I liked about it was the solid roller on the back and the antiscalp rollers on the front,” he says. “You could actually mow over the top of a bunker face and not get any kind of scalping whatsoever. The nice thing about the solid roller in the back is that

The New Toro

Groundsmaster

Productivity And A Quality Cut For Demanding Turf

The Toro®Groundsmaster®4500-D has five ContourTMPlus cutting decks that follow the contour of the terrain for exceptional quality of cut on undulating surfaces.

4500-D

you get a nice even cut. You know, the ground is not totally level out there, but having this solid roller all the way across, it’s a lot more uniform.”

Although it has a wide cutting ability, the Groundsmaster 4500-D is remarkably versatile. It can zip through roughs and then do great mowing on trim areas as well.

“It gives you a large piece of equipment that acts like a small one,” Connell adds. “It cuts a large swath, but in the fashion and closeness of a smaller piece of equipment. It acts as a trim mower; it does both jobs at the same time.”

“There’s nothing

like it in this size category,” explains Tim Koch, Toro’s Marketing Manager of Groundsmaster Products. “It has incredible power for a nine-foot machine, with

117 foot-pounds of torque

available. The hydraulic parallel traction system gives superb traction, and it’s truly very strong. That means better ability to maneuver on hills.

“What this machine is really about is undulating terrain and superior cutting,” Koch says. “It’s being able to mow in rough areas with a rotary product.

“These features all combine to produce a fantastic quality of cut,” he emphasizes.

Better for Everybody

In addition to its superior quality of cut on undulating ground, the Groundsmaster 4500-D is more enjoyable to operate and maintain. Among its popular features are easy serviceability and accessibility: the decks can be raised or removed quickly, and in almost no time, the exterior

enclosures can be pulled off without tools, so technicians can get at everything right away.

Even with all that horsepower and torque, the engine speed on the Groundsmaster 4500 is quite low—just

2600 rpm. Combined with a variable clutch on the engine-cooling fan, that means much lower sound levels. “The engine provides many benefits in addition to more power

and torque, slowing

the engine down to 2600 rpm results in a quieter operation,” Koch points out.

Other unique features include a large operator platform and easy-to-reach deck levers. There is even a cup holder and extra space available for a water cooler

and other storage.

Just the Beginning

With shipments starting in early Spring 2002, the Groundsmaster 4500-D is sure to be popular with any superintendent who wants more power, more control and a better cut on undulating terrain. But that’s not all.

Also shipping in the Spring of 2002, the even larger 4700-D features seven free-floating cutting decks, which produce an amazing swath 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) wide! Designed for rough mowing, it will be a real productivity booster. And because it’s from Toro, you know it’ll perform.

All things considered, Toro Groundsmaster mowers are taking precision cutting to a whole new level… especially on ground that isn’t.

“I’m convinced it’s the best rotary

mower out there.”

– Bryan Miller

The Georgian Resort, Villa Rica, Georgia.

Jeff Connell (inset) is the golf course superintendent at Columbia Country Club in Columbia, South Carolina, a 27-hole private facility. The layout of the course is particularly suited for the Toro

Groundsmaster®4500-D.

oro has made irrigation management easier by making it

more advanced. Building on our history of innovations and leadership in irrigation systems, we consistently incorporate the appropriate technology into our products.

The development of Toro’s PC-based SitePro®central control system gave superintendents an amazing way to improve irrigation management and stay informed. As good as SitePro is, those capabilities can be taken to an even higher level.

With Toro’s T.MapTM, included in the SitePro software, you can create a precise graphic representation of your golf course. T.Map puts a new world of resource management right at your fingertips, because you can use it to make instantaneous system adjustments with a

click of your mouse.

T.Map’s advanced technology interacts with the SitePro control system database to create dynamic graphic displays of your golf course. Using comprehensive interactive site maps on your computer screen, you can accurately locate irriga-

tion elements such as sprinklers, pipes, sensors, pump stations, electrical lines, valves and wire splices. T.Map also shows you the precise, in-scale locations of physical features on your course, such as greens, bunkers, cart paths and so on, right down to individual trees.

With T.Map software, you simply pull

up real-time screens indicating areas in question, and then click on the map symbols to adjust sprinkler run times, engage rain holds, initiate starts and syringes, and more. Field-status monitors tell you which satellites and sprinklers are running and which are on hold, and alert

you to any problems.

You can also use SitePro and T.Map to display simulations of projected water flow, measure areas and distances, issue work orders, help in event planning and many other tasks.

Control is Just a Click Away

“With T.Map, you are looking at your course on the screen, just as it is physically in the real world,” explains Aivars Jurkis, Toro’s Senior Customer Support and Technical Advisor. “You get a picture of your course with all these dots on it to show the irrigation stations. You just click on the ones you want.” It’s that simple.

“The SitePro engine runs the irrigation system. T.Map just allows you to view the setup a lot more graphically,” adds Bill Thornton, Toro’s Western Regional Sales Manager. “That helps especially

when the

operator

isn’t a computer

expert.”

“For example let’s say there’s a spot that’s dry on the golf course, and you want to give it more water,” Jurkis explains. “Just click on the head there. T.Map will ask you how long it should

T.Map

Software

Picture This: Improve Irrigation Control With T.Map

Tom Walker is the golf course superintendent at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. He credits the T.Map

system for providing flexibility and efficiency.

run; enter how long you want, and it will automatically turn it on. You don’t need to know the satellite station number or any of that, because it looks it up for you.”

“It’s just a great, great benefit,” says Tom Walker, Golf Course Superintendent at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. “The ability to change the time of certain sprinklers, to take your mouse and

loop around a few heads and put them on hold for one day, two days, whatever, it’s wonderful.”

Built in 1903, The Inverness has hosted many major tournaments, including four U.S. Opens. It typically ranks among the best-groomed courses in America, so Walker has high standards to uphold. He feels that SitePro and T.Map have helped him a lot.

“There’s so much flexibility,” he adds. “Not only is it an excellent irrigation package, it also gave me an accurate map of the golf course. I can use it for charting square footages, charting out holes, locating drain lines, even trees,” he says. “As far as saving me time and getting the job done better, it’s just wonderful.”

Easy Installation

When T.Map is installed, whether with new or existing SitePro software, it requires a designer or consultant to provide an AutoCAD image of the golf course—from a survey, GPS program, aerial photos or even drawn freehand. GPS isn’t required for T.Map, but it does

improve accuracy.

The AutoCAD data is then converted into T.Map-shaped files and layered color-coded images.

“What the data conversion does is to look at all this course info, create what it needs to create, and saves it in a zip file,” explains Toro’s Jurkis. “That one file is all you need. Tell SitePro to do a File Open, and there it will be.”

When setting up the initial AutoCAD image, which most new courses already have, you can determine how detailed you want it to be.

Everything You’re Looking For

“It’s unlimited what you can do,” says Steve Glossinger, Golf Course Manager at Caves Valley Golf Club in Baltimore, Maryland. “We put in all the surfaces, contour lines, fairways, bunkers, trees, even paths and buildings. We did just about everything on the property.”

Caves Valley, site of this year’s Senior Open, has relied on computerized irrigation control for several years, but T.Map is a big improvement, Glossinger feels.

“I didn’t know it was going to be this good, quite frankly,” he says. “It’s friendlier; I picked up on it quicker. It has everything superintendents are looking for. With this system, you really see your golf course and where your

heads are and what you’re running. After this,” he adds, “you wonder how you survived with the old system. It’s that good.”

At Caves Valley, T.Map does much

more than irrigation. “You can see your whole course,” Glossinger says, “so we use it as a tool to implement

strategies. For example, we were getting ready to put up corporate tents, but instead of going down there and doing all that measuring, with a couple clicks on the screen we knew how many tents would fit.”

The advantages of SitePro and T.Map are just starting to be discovered—water conservation, irrigation troubleshooting, locating trees for removal, determining square footage of greens and bunkers, measuring for paving estimates—and the list goes on. Better yet, it’s easy to get introduced to the program and quickly benefit from it.

“You don’t need technical savvy to run this,” says Walker. “You just point your mouse at something and click. It’s 100 times simpler than programming a VCR.”

Golf Course Manager of Caves Valley Golf Club Steve Glossinger uses a 40 inch (101.6 cm), flat panel display with his T.Map

system.

“As far as saving me time and

getting the job done better, it’s

just wonderful.”

– Tom Walker

Toro’s T.MapTMsystem provides an accurate graphical representation of the golf course to simplify irrigation management.

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