April 2012 • Hard Hat News • Page 10
Versatility and ease of use make Golf Car utility vehicles a smart option by Jon M. Casey
When the weather is nice like it has been for the past few weeks here in the Northeast, the thought of playing a round of golf is on the minds of many of our friends in the construction and landscaping business. For them, the idea of hopping aboard a golf car and playing their first 18 holes of golf is a rite of spring. It is one that comes without a thought of the golf car they are riding in can be used for anything but playing golf. However, for those who have begun to realize how useful golf cars can be when it comes to moving people and “stuff” in the workplace environment, a golf car, or golf car utility vehicle, is quickly becoming a useful tool. For businesses like Zema’s Nursery of Stephentown, NY and Maple Lane Nursery in Valatie, NY, a versatile, easy to operate golf car is the product of choice. According to Joe Zema, the staff at Zema’s Nursery is quickly coming to realize how their Club Car XRT900 Utility Vehicle, has become “a must” for their operation. Zema, who is a second generation nurseryman, works with his brother Matthew and father Matteo in the day to day operations of their nursery and landscaping business that has been selling trees, shrubs and landscaping supplies over the past 38 years. “We normally do a lot of walking during the course of a day since our facility is so spread out,” said Joe. “We looked into a utility vehicle last year and took delivery of it just before Christmas. Already this year, we are just getting started using it and we are wondering how we got by without it for all those earlier years. By using our XRT-900, we are finding that we are more productive and less tired at the end of the day.” “We have a storage building that is a couple thousand feet away from our main work area. In the past, we pushed these small little carts, the type that our retail customers use to purchase merchandise, to and from the building as a way to move supplies. Now, we use the utility vehicle to do that. We are now potting plants and using the vehicle to move them to the sales area as well. We are finding all sorts of uses for it as each day passes.”
Zema's Nursery relies on their Club Car XRT 900 to move everything from Christmas trees to nursery stock. Joe Zema finds the nursery's new “tool” to be extremely useful. The XRT-900 electric powered vehicle is quick and detract from the shopping experience. With this quiet easy to use and it is quiet as well. “One of the primary vehicle, you don’t have that. You can look at the considerations for us to go with this model was plants and still have the birds chirping in the surbecause of how quiet it is,” he said. “Part of the charm rounding trees.” of our nursery is how shoppers can come and look at Joe said that he suspects that everyone will be our plants and displays without being disturbed by competing to use the XRT-900 once the season gets noisy equipment as they are doing their shopping. busy, however he’s not certain if his father Matteo, The drone of a motor in the background tends to who while being semi-retired and 82 years of age still oversees the Christmas Tree portion of the operation, will be among those who are clamoring to use the car. “Dad still likes to get in his pickup truck and go out to the Christmas Tree farm,” said Joe. “But that’s the nice thing about the utility car. In many instances, it takes the place of the pick up or the skid steer loader, that we used in the past to move supplies and materials. While I oversee the retail and landscaping portion of the business, Matthew heads up the greenhouse side of the operation. In either case, the vehicle can be useful in both settings.” Maple Lane Nursery chooses the Carryall 6 According to Kip Walsh, of Satch Sales Mobile Solutions of Menands, NY, when it comes to finding alternatives to larger equipment like tractors and pickup trucks, businesses are choosing a golf car utility vehicle for their transportation needs. While traditional equipment is designed for its own purpose, there are numerous applications where a smaller, lighter and more versatile means of moving people and materials like a golf car, is the better choice. Walsh said that recently, like Zema’s Nursery, the Martinos, at Maple Lane Nursery in Valatie, NY added a Club Car Carryall 6 to their operation as well. He said that they have found that when moving tools, plant material and all sorts of other items from “here
One of the many optional accessories that are available on the Club Car Carryall models is a forklift attachment.
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