New Power Generation

Jeff Sebert worked diligently to scale the “one-man-with-a-mower” company he founded in 1985. After hours of door-knocking and thousands of neatly manicured lawns, he is now president of Sebert Landscape and Bluestem Ecological Services—a Top 50 commercial landscaping firm with a 75-acre nursery. The company has seven locations across Chicagoland and southern Wisconsin and has become a well-known fixture on the landscaping scene.

In 2021, Sebert Landscape began the switch to electric mowers and purchased 10 Gravely Pro- Turn EV zero-turn mowers. Three of his ground crews are using the mowers, and they haven’t touched a filler cap or fuel canister in months.

The goal of reducing the company’s fuel usage goes back to an epiphany Jeff had while building the company’s 30,000-square-foot headquarters that was certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2010.

“Going through the process of completing a LEED-certified building got me thinking,” he says.

“I was always a little uncomfortable with battery-powered mowers because I didn’t think the technology worked for commercial equipment,” he continues. “Our teams run for long hours every day and don’t have time to change batteries that are hard-wired into the machine. But when I tested the Gravely Pro-Turn EV and saw how the machine performed and how easy it was to swap batteries, it was a game-changer.

Sebert’s sudden change of heart can be attributed to AriensCo’s new technology for electric-powered equipment, FusionCore—a durable and powerful battery system that provides all-day commercial power.

Unlike most remote-control toys, the Pro-Turn EV can run on just two or three of its four batteries when necessary. Thanks to a smart battery management system that automatically balances out the packs so all batteries operate at the maximum possible efficiency, two fully charged batteries can be safely combined with two that are approaching depletion.

Amy Bateman, branch manager at Sebert Landscape in Bartlett, Illinois, says, “We made the trip to AriensCo’s factory in Brillion. It was reassuring to see the thought process that Gravely put into it all—how no detail is overlooked and the precision with which everything is done. Dan Haes, Francis Ariens Service School manager at AriensCo, helped us learn more about the machines and showed us exactly how they work, which made our supervisors feel comfortable explaining the technology to the crews that would be using them. It helped us move past that resistance you sometimes get when introducing something new and different.”

Once the 10 mowers were delivered, AriensCo provided training and support and helped Sebert Landscape develop the infrastructure for recharging them. "As soon as we rolled out the Pro-Turn Evs, Gravely and Halloran Equipment, our Gravely dealer and partner, came in and did a training day," Amy says. "They set up an obstacle course and showed how to change the blades, check for issues and charge the batteries. Afterwards, they sent the operators to cut grass of a fire station across the street so they could get familiar with the machines and see how they're different from a regular propane mower."

By being able to ask the right questions and get feedback from the beginning, Serbert Landscape crews hit the ground running, immediately becoming knowledgable in the operation of innovative machines.

In a short span of time, the crews acquired plenty of knowledge, such as understanding how differing grass lengths affect run-time before they must return to the trailer and change the batteries.

machines and see how they’re different from a Now, Sebert Landscape’s three all-electric regular propane mower.” crews—and the neighborhoods in which they By being able to ask the right questions and work every day—are enjoying the benefits of get feedback from the beginning, Sebert

Gravely’s quietest commercial mower. At just Landscape crews hit the ground running, 84.2 dB of noise volume, the machine generates immediately becoming knowledgeable in the the equivalent volume of a kitchen blender.