Ditch Witch RT125 Quad and RT80 Quad ride-on trenchers anchor a 36-hole irrigation overhaul at WinStar World Casino's golf courses

Texas Diamond Irrigation & Landscaping completed a full irrigation replacement across 36 holes at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma, in four and a half months, relying on a fleet anchored by Ditch Witch RT125 Quad and RT80 Quad ride-on trenchers^[1]. The project was part of a $22 million renovation that simultaneously regrassed both the Redbud and Scissortail championship courses, with the Redbud Course reopening to the public on 22 May 2026.

The machines at the center of the job

The two Ditch Witch Quad trenchers handled the bulk of the pipe installation across a site that stretched nearly two miles from end to end^[1].

• RT125 Quad: 121 hp (90 kW) turbocharged Tier 4 Deutz diesel engine, hydrostatic transmission, three-speed shift-on-the-fly ground drive, and Ditch Witch's Quad Track System with 15.5 in (394 mm) of ground clearance. The cruise-control system senses engine load and automatically adjusts ground drive speed.
• RT80 Quad: 74 gross hp (55.4 kW) turbocharged Tier 4 Deutz diesel engine, the same Quad Track System architecture, rear steering for a tighter turn radius, and a best-in-class static load rating of 39,000 lb (17,690 kg).

Both machines use track frames that pivot about the centerline of the axle - a geometry that keeps the machine stable when torque loads spike in hard or sandy ground, the kind of variable soil conditions common on a course that had been tilled 12 inches deep and capped with two inches of sand before irrigation work began.

What the timeline demanded

WinStar shut down both championship courses simultaneously, rather than phasing the work hole by hole, creating a single compressed window for every trade on site^[1]. Lance Martin, president of Texas Diamond Irrigation & Landscaping, said the client wanted all 36 holes turned around in four and a half months - a pace that required multiple crews working in parallel across completely separate sections of the property^[1].

The scope ran from 16-in. mainline pipe down to 2-in. lateral lines, plus thousands of sprinkler heads and miles of wire^[1]. Cody Crawford, the company's equipment manager, said every decision on the project was shaped by the grassing schedule: miss the planting window and new turf fails to establish before temperatures shift, pushing delays well beyond the construction phase itself^[1].

The renovation also included deep soil remediation - tilling to 12 in., compost and gypsum injection, and a two-inch sand cap across the entire 36-hole property - which meant the trenching fleet had to adapt to changing ground conditions throughout the job rather than working in uniform soil.

Quad Track performance on a golf course site

Golf course irrigation work places specific demands on trenching equipment that differ from road or utility work. Turf restoration costs are directly tied to how much surface disturbance a machine leaves behind, making track width, ground pressure, and maneuverability as commercially important as raw digging speed. The RT80 Quad's compact footprint and rear-steering system, and the RT125 Quad's best-in-class ground clearance, were both cited as factors in keeping the restoration work manageable across a site where finished turf was being laid in close sequence behind the irrigation crews^[1].

The WinStar project is a useful data point for golf course renovation contractors evaluating large-frame ride-on trenchers: the combination of a high-horsepower flagship machine for mainline work and a mid-size tracked unit for lateral runs allowed Texas Diamond to staff simultaneous crews nearly two miles apart without sacrificing production on either end of the property. Whether that two-machine pairing becomes a standard approach on compressed-timeline golf renovations - particularly as more resort operators choose full-course shutdowns over multi-year phased work - is worth watching as the 2026 renovation season continues.