When Gravely first unveiled its Pro-QXT, a compact, walk-­behind tractor with multiple attachments for completing various tasks with a single machine, the company touted the product for the ability of its users to seamlessly change out attachments. Gravely continues to promote that ability today.

“That allows you to capitalize on your investment,” said Trae Humphreys, senior commercial product manager for AriensCo, Gravely’s parent company. “You buy the power source, then [with] multiple attachments you can use it all year long and not have all these single-use machines with single-use engines that just sit around most of the year. It allows you to have all-season use of the product.”

At the time of its unveiling in 2015, the Pro-QXT featured snow removal attachments for winter and an all-season power brush attachment for debris cleanup and snow removal. Now, Gravely is introducing two new attachments — a dethatcher and an aerator — which Humphreys said will serve government entities well. One reason is that dethatchers and aerators are standalone machines that are only used for short periods of time throughout the year.

Dethatcher & Aerator Promote Healthy Lawns

Dethatching is the use of either a spring tine or flail head reel located underneath the machine. As the operator moves the machine around the lawn, “it pulls that thatch up off the ground and leaves it so it allows for a more healthy lawn,” Humphreys said, also noting that the operator can easily convert the machine into a slit seeder. “What that does is give you the opportunity to overseed your yard.” 

Operators will only need to use the aerator attachments during certain times each year, which is an additional reason that a multi-use machine is ideal, “instead of having a single-use machine sitting around your facility [that’s] only used for short amounts of time,” Humphreys said.

“These new attachments are great for lawn renovation or lawn maintenance,” he added. “Making a healthier, greener, more lush lawn is why you use one of these attachments.”

Year-Round Use Reduces Costs

Humphreys emphasized that the main benefit of the machine is year-round, multipurpose use. Operators can use the product to remove snow in the winter, mow the lawn in the summer, take care of overgrown areas with the brush mower, overseed and aerate the lawn, and use the blade for moving material.

QXT stands for “quick-attach,” and the company stated that the machine features a “one-person attachment change-over” including a folding stand that operators can use when the tractor is not attached to anything. The machine features ergonomic adjustments and a self-­aligning attachment point that allow “an operator of any size” to change out attachments without the need for additional help.

“It all comes back to the biggest thing: the cost of ownership and investment,” Humphreys said. “It costs less to buy the tractor and all the attachments than it does all the single-­use machines. That is the whole premise behind the machine.”

Ariens was founded as a family-­owned business in 1933 and purchased the Gravely brand in the early 1980s.