Equip Expo 2025 Recap: Record Attendance, New Mowers and a Wave of Automation

Equip Exposition – the international landscape, outdoor living and equipment exposition – was held October 21-24 in Louisville, Kentucky, and posted another year of record attendance with nearly 30,000 registered attendees. Did it feel like a record-setting year? We asked many of the companies with displays, and most said that the quality and quantity of conversations was higher this year. Anecdotal, but pretty good.

“Now in our fourth year as Equip, we continue to break records in both attendance and exhibit space,” said Kris Kiser, president and CEO of OPEI, which owns and manages Equip Exposition. “The show continues to serve as the most important gathering for the global industry, with attendance from all 50 states and 52 countries.” 

And what did all those people see? You have seen much of the New Product announcements by now; those started the week before the show, actually, with manufacturers understanding that the show itself is either too big to see or challenging to attend. Hotel rooms fill up fast in this city, and trying to attend this show in one day leaves you wanting.

Here is an Equip Expo Highlights Reel from our perspective.

Robotics Revolution

Robots are getting bigger, in size and quantity, at Equip Expo. We saw more robotic mowers and autonomous machines than ever before, and we will probably be saying that next year and the next. Kress Commercial showed its expanding lineup, including the recently renamed Voyager (we saw it last April as the Cut-n-Go) for route-based landscaping operations. Kress is gaining attention beyond its super-fast battery charging technology; it’s becoming known for robotic mowers that can handle homeowner lawns and spacious sports turf.

“We’re no longer trying to convince people how robots can augment their business,” said Gabe Foo, western business development manager for Kress. “People are starting to understand how this can help their business, it can help the landscaper,” he said, pointing to the growing line of Kress robotic and autonomous mowers.

Echo also showed an expanding range of large-area robotic mowers. Sports fields are a target for Echo too, as are golf courses. The manufacturer has both robotic mowers and range-ball pickers for the golf industry.

Other manufacturers like RC Mowers, Wright, and Mean Green show their autonomous fleets for large acreages. Segway Navimow took us into its private meeting room for a peek at TBA robotic mowers. The commercial side is an increasing area of into the 2026 mowing season. The company is about to launch new robotics focused on commercial businesses and large acreage properties.

A growing number of direct-to-consumer manufacturers showed homeowner-focused robot mowers at this show (and I’m not sure why they’re here with their large Amazon presence). Anthbot Robots was one of the newest that we had not heard of before.

It’s all about the zero-turn

Robots might be stealing some attention, but for this show and this industry, it’s still about zero-turn mowers.

John Deere unveiled its new independent wing deck design with the introduction of the FastBack Pro 100, available exclusively on its Z998R model. New to the market, the Z998R operates as a traditional 100-inch zero-turn mower or adapts on the fly with the touch of a button. Go-to Market Manager Luke Gribble points to the new mower’s range of electronic controls, with E-Cut wing decks and electric drive motors, drive-by-wire steering instead of mechanical linkage, and more advanced controls. Users can even mow with just one wing deck down. The mower marries massive size with modern technology, both demanded by many larger operators looking for efficiency on the job.

On the opposite of massive sit-on mowers, Ferris showed its newest stand-on line, with units as narrow as 32 inches. Just as with the “mini” side of the compact equipment market (see this issue’s cover story), the zero-turn market has its own mini market. Whether for homeowners with no budget, or pro landscapers with small properties to maintain, the narrow stand-on mower trend is growing.

Equip Expo is the best opportunity for any mower manufacturer to show new and rebranded products to an enthusiastic pro audience. Viper Manufacturing used the Louisville trade event to show its new Viper Mowers. The company also manufacturers trailers and loaders and more, but it hopes its new ZTRs can make a name in a crowded market. How crowded? If you Google Viper Mowers, you’ll have to scroll past Worldlawn’s line of Viper mowers.

Honda Power Equipment drew new attention for its “new” line of zero-turn and autonomous mowers. If you went to the show looking for the Yakta-branded mowers you saw last year, you might have walked right past them in the Arrowquip booth. The manufacturer rebranded and changed the color of the mowers from black to forest green.

The better-known names of mower manufacturers were as busy as ever. Makers such as Ariens and Gravely, Grasshopper, Scag and Wright Manufacturing were busy with attendees kicking tires inside and kicking up dust outside.

This is a trade show

Equip Expo is a trade show; it’s a business event. Exhibit No. 1 of that appeared at Hydro-Gear’s display. The manufacturer of hydrostatic drives and transaxles showed a prototype hybrid-drive zero-turn mower on the indoor show floor. But it wasn’t one they want you to buy; it was one they want another manufacturer to buy. Maybe Wright Manufacturing, which stated publicly it’s testing the technology. Or another manufacturer.

Hydro-Gear’s Smartec Hybrid Commercial ZT system combines the efficiency of an electric machine with the proven power of a traditional gas mower. Hydro-Gear partnered with Kawasaki to offer the FT730V EFI engine in a unique hybrid mower system. Other manufacturers showed or at least discussed hybrid technology. Senix claims to be the first manufacturer with a hybrid commercial zero-turn, since the manufacturer is offering one currently in Australia. DNA manufacturing showed a hybrid zero-turn designed for homeowners and said it could be ready next year. But the Hydro-Gear Smartec was unique both in features and in its appearance shopping for a brand partner.

We also spoke with a smaller accessory manufacturer called Lawn Stryper looking for manufacturing partners. The company makes a bolt-on roller that attaches to walk-behind mowers to give homeowners that coveted striped lawn look. The product is already for sale online and through Lowe’s, but the inventor came to Equip looking for a brand partner, and he said he had good discussions with a few manufacturers who might private label the device.

Equip Expo is more than just physical products too. We spoke with Andy Hopkins at Mower Finance. He and his co-workers are always busy at Equip Expo – especially this year – talking about equipment financing possibilities. Software may be the most popular intangible at Equip, and DMS providers were on hand to talk about new services and to provide support. Alaska-based Flyntlok presented its AI possibilities, which we covered before the show in our OPE People podcast. The world of dealer-management systems is competitive, and both Constellation Software and Dealer Spike were also on the show floor to support their dealers and attract new ones.

Don’t forget the Hardscape

You could spend your Equip Expo days at indoor and outdoor exhibits looking at products and services, and maybe never see the Hardscape North America wing. That would be a huge mistake. We never spend enough time over there and tried to remedy that this year.

The Belgard display area is a good place to productively kill lots of time. We started by meeting with Joe Raboine, VP of Design for Oldcastle APG, the parent company of Belgard. He emphasized that, while pavers and blocks and more have been strong sellers in recent years, “it’s about more than products for Belgard.” Raboine and team are emphasizing the company’s capabilities to help landscape pros design, bid and build out project sites.

Just like vehicle manufacturers are realizing that labor today wants a higher quality of life (see the Compact Equipment Focus feature), the hardscape industry is realizing that humans need held to move heavy pavers and products. Grabo showed several lifting tools that can ease the burden of landscape build pros, with battery-powered tools that make it easy to lift 200-plus pound pavers.

Another eye-catching display belonged to Colmet steel. The company has been in business for nearly 70 years, but only in the last decade or so has steel edging been shaping high-end landscaping design projects. 

Power products, of course

Companies like Turfware don’t get much media attention, and that’s partly on us. But every year at Equip Expo, we see a steady stream of people taking a close look at the company’s products, like the stand-on spreader we saw being evaluated outside. These workhorses of the industry help make green professionals successful and help make Equip Expo the valuable event it is. Turfware is a good reminder that this show is mostly about products and the people who use them.

Stihl, a much more visible brand with its consumer and pro-user focus (not to mention its German-theme Oktoberfest happy hour at the show), drew a load of attention at Equip Expo. Attendees are realizing the company is on a new-product bender of late. The company is introducing more than 80 new products in 2026. We did a deep dive on this manufacturer during our visit to Stihl headquarters in Germany, but seeing the array of America-focused products at Equip Expo made us ask, Why?

“The beauty of our line is the diversity of our consumers and the diversity of our dealer groups,” said Asif Azhar, VP of sales for Stihl. “We have product for consumers and products for professionals. We have battery and gas products, and it all meets the needs of a variety of customers. And a variety of dealers. We want to provide the right product that is viable and efficient for the dealers’ business and then also meets their customers’ needs.”

Other manufacturers are trying to do the same – including Dewalt and Makita and Milwaukee and Echo and more – though maybe not all with 80 new products this year.

New to the show this year and with a different type of product was Strauss Workwear. The company spent part of the show quashing the rumor that it was Strauss like Levis Strauss; it’s not. It spent most of the show with a large crowd of interested buyers investigating its large display and huge range of work-focused apparel, from boots to shirts and more.

“It’s a tool you wear,” repeated their PR team at the event. For more than 70 years, the German company, named for Englebert Strauss, has been making apparel for people who work hard physically, and it’s increasing its U.S. exposure by being at Equip Expo. Judging by booth traffic, they got a good start. And the nearby Carhartt booth was noticeably quieter, but they also have a big headstart in name recognition.

Wrap-up

While our pre-show expectations were for a quieter Equip Expo with lower attendance and less activity on the new-product side, we were wrong. Pleasantly so. Yes, we know sales at the dealer level are slowing (the October numbers show same-store sales are off by 12%, from our friends at Constellation), the forecast for the future seems to show grass-growing sun and the right amount of rain.