New products and partnership

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – For the first time, Yamaha will develop engines in the green industry through a partnership with Ariens Company. 

In a project that has spanned four years, Yamaha and Ariens developed the MXV V-Twin EFI engine specific for the zero-turn market. With a muffler made in-house by Yamaha, production has already begun and the engines are ready for purchase. 

For the 2017 year, the engines will be available on the Gravely Pro-Turn 260 (29 HP engine), Gravely Pro-Turn 452 (29 HP engine), Gravely Pro-Turn 252 (29 HP engine), Gravely Pro-Turn 460 (33 HP engine) and Gravely Pro-Turn 472 (33 HP engine). Because the partnership is not exclusive, Yamaha plans to expand the line to other zero turn manufacturers in the future.

During the Ariens/Gravely annual Dealer summit, as well as the media event the following day, the new engine was presented to attendees by Derek Schoeberle, business planning manager, and DJ Murdock, sales engineer, for Yamaha.

While pointing out the features of the new engine, Schoeberle said the MXV V-Twin was built specifically for commercial landscape equipment and grass cutting applications. 

Matt Medden, vice president of marketing for Ariens, said they expected people to be excited about the new engine, but they weren’t expecting the response they got from the dealers at the event.

“Yamaha has been a trusted name in countless industries for years, and we’re happy to officially welcome them to the outdoor power equipment industry,” Medden said.

“We’ve more than doubled our expectations (on initial orders).” As a result of this response, the company is planning to bring more models with the new engine to GIE+EXPO in Louisville from Oct. 20-21 so more people are able to test drive the engines.

Upgraded models
“This is probably a record year for Ariens Company,” said Medden about the products the company is unveiling. The Gravely brand is currently celebrating 100 years in 2016, something it kicked off at GIE+EXPO last year. “It’s really a big platform for us to launch forward into the next century,” he said. 

Along with the Yamaha announcement, Gravely also announced its upgraded Pro-Walk, which is expected to hit dealers in early spring of 2017. It will come with the options of 48-, 52- and 60-inch deck sizes.

As part of its commercial walk behind lineup, the Pro-Walk is made specifically for properties that may have tighter spaces that need mowing, as well as a lot of sidewalks and roadways.

“With the large tires, it’s easy to get up and over all the curbs,” said Trae Humphreys, senior commercial product manager with Ariens Company. He said the mower would be good for landscapers who work a lot of residential or business properties.

Gravely has also expanded its Pro-Turn line, with the redesign of the Pro-Turn and Pro-Turn 100 zero-turn mowers.

The redesigned mowers have a new deck level system that requires only four-points to adjust deck level, and features 17 cutting positions with quarter-inch increments.

“With the redesign of our Pro-Turn and Pro-Turn 100, we’ve rounded out the Pro-Turn line under our new VBL (visual brand language) and feature set, which is something that we’re really excited about,” Humphreys said.

The Pro-Turn and Pro-Turn 100 series mowers also feature Gravely’s new X-Factor II Deck, a seven-gauge, all-steel welded deck that comes backed with a lifetime warranty.

Also new to the lineup for 2017 are three attachments for Gravely’s Pro-QXT two-wheel tractor. Gravely unveiled the tractor at last year’s GIE+EXPO, and this year attendees will see the new 32-inch snow blower, 32-inch brush mower and 36- and 48-inch finishing mower.

Select attachments will be available at dealerships starting in November, with all attachments for the Pro-QXT available by January of 2017.