GBI Outdoor Power/Gruel Brothers Inc: 2020 Indiana Green Expo
GBI Outdoor Power, our newest dealer for Ambrogio Robot and the NT60 Precision Buried Wire Layer in Crown Point, Indiana invited me to assist them at the Indiana Green Expo February 12-13, held in downtown Indianapolis at the Convention Center.
First, some history about GBI Outdoor Power. GBI is the new trade name for Gruel Brothers, Inc., the longest-running outdoor power equipment company in Crown Point. Founded in 1938, GBI is celebrating their 82nd year in business this year (2020), having served Crown Point and surrounding agricultural communities with equipment and repairs. GBI prides themselves in carrying a great selection of top brands while providing service that exceeds customer expectations. Many of their customers will not do business with anyone else. It is easy to find very positive Gruel Brothers reviews using Google. Their convenient location on Main Street is also a plus.
GBI went all out for the show, hosting not one but two booths on two corners at opposite ends of the show floor. The first corner, near the entrance, was the New Product Showcase. The second corner, the booth I manned, was directly across from a lunch area so we had the opportunity to mesmerize people with a running robot.
To attract maximum attention, they had a competitor robot running in the New Product Showcase booth and an Ambrogio 4.0 robot lawn mower on a table that allowed people to see it up close. They also showed some battery operated equipment (a lawn mower, leaf blower and trimmer) as well as a monitor with an extensive and informative slide show presentation on robot mowers. The presentation was my 45-minute talk branded as Paradise Robotics/GBI with a few of their own slides added. The time was sped-up so the viewer could understand the important points without having to stand there the whole time. I was surprised to learn that people would stand and watch the whole thing for about 7 minutes. That's good to know, as I may choose to show the presentation on a monitor myself at a future show.
The booth I manned had the Ambrogio 4.0 Elite robot running and we showed the Ambrogio 350i Elite and the Ambrogio L85 Elite robot mower for hills on podiums. There was tremendous interest from landscapers who wanted to know how to incorporate robot mowing in their businesses. Grounds managers from municipalities and golf courses also expressed significant interest.
One golf course turf manager mentioned they were planning to purchase four large commercial zero-turn ride-on mowers to mow 60 acres of golf course rough for a capital expenditure of $350,000. 60 acres sure seems like a lot and is certainly much more than any of our robots can handle on their own. However, I was curious and decided to crunch the numbers right there on-the-spot. The Ambrogio L400i Deluxe robot lawn mower maintains 5 acres on its own, leaving no long grass. To do this on 60 acres, requires 12 robots. At $17,500 each, the cost (not including wire, pegs, sales tax and installation labor) is $210,000. Clearly there are enough funds left over to handle the additional items and labor! It is easy to justify the cost is less for the robots to take over since no gas, less maintenance, less fertilizer, less water and no labor is needed to keep the rough maintained.
I was pleased to be invited to assist GBI Outdoor Power showing Ambrogio robot at the Indiana Green Expo. Having the only robot lawn mower booths at the show, GBI has solidified themselves as the robot mowing leader in Indiana. We are fortunate to work with such a long-standing and high-quality company.
First, some history about GBI Outdoor Power. GBI is the new trade name for Gruel Brothers, Inc., the longest-running outdoor power equipment company in Crown Point. Founded in 1938, GBI is celebrating their 82nd year in business this year (2020), having served Crown Point and surrounding agricultural communities with equipment and repairs. GBI prides themselves in carrying a great selection of top brands while providing service that exceeds customer expectations. Many of their customers will not do business with anyone else. It is easy to find very positive Gruel Brothers reviews using Google. Their convenient location on Main Street is also a plus.
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| GBI Outdoor Power/Gruel Brothers, Inc 1601 IN-55/Main St Crown Point, IN (219) 663-0076 |
To attract maximum attention, they had a competitor robot running in the New Product Showcase booth and an Ambrogio 4.0 robot lawn mower on a table that allowed people to see it up close. They also showed some battery operated equipment (a lawn mower, leaf blower and trimmer) as well as a monitor with an extensive and informative slide show presentation on robot mowers. The presentation was my 45-minute talk branded as Paradise Robotics/GBI with a few of their own slides added. The time was sped-up so the viewer could understand the important points without having to stand there the whole time. I was surprised to learn that people would stand and watch the whole thing for about 7 minutes. That's good to know, as I may choose to show the presentation on a monitor myself at a future show.
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| GBI Outdoor Power Booth at Indiana Green Expo |
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| GBI's New Product Showcase Booth |
One golf course turf manager mentioned they were planning to purchase four large commercial zero-turn ride-on mowers to mow 60 acres of golf course rough for a capital expenditure of $350,000. 60 acres sure seems like a lot and is certainly much more than any of our robots can handle on their own. However, I was curious and decided to crunch the numbers right there on-the-spot. The Ambrogio L400i Deluxe robot lawn mower maintains 5 acres on its own, leaving no long grass. To do this on 60 acres, requires 12 robots. At $17,500 each, the cost (not including wire, pegs, sales tax and installation labor) is $210,000. Clearly there are enough funds left over to handle the additional items and labor! It is easy to justify the cost is less for the robots to take over since no gas, less maintenance, less fertilizer, less water and no labor is needed to keep the rough maintained.
I was pleased to be invited to assist GBI Outdoor Power showing Ambrogio robot at the Indiana Green Expo. Having the only robot lawn mower booths at the show, GBI has solidified themselves as the robot mowing leader in Indiana. We are fortunate to work with such a long-standing and high-quality company.
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