I don’t typically delve into equipment-related discussions in this space. However, in this issue we share the winners of the OPE+ Twenty for 2025 New Product Awards. The awards program is run by our sister publication, OPE+, which covers the outdoor power equipment dealer and professional landscape markets. And although the winning products are geared toward landscape industry professionals, there is plenty of crossover interest to users in the sports field management industry.
This year’s slate of 20 winners featured a healthy dose of mowers, handheld OPE and earth-moving equipment. As former editor of both Landscape and Irrigation magazine and OPE magazine , I helped launch the “Twenty for…” awards program more than a decade ago.
To look back at the program — and equipment trends over the years — I recently sat down with OPE+ Editor Glenn Hansen for a retrospective on winners over the past decade and related observations based on the stats.
Over that time, mowers were far and away the most recognized innovations. Since 2015, 49 of the award winners have been ride-on/zero-turn mowers, another 16 were stand-on mowers and six were walk-behind mowers. The next closest categories of winners were loaders /skid-steers with 18, blowers with 14, UTVs with 10, irrigation components with nine, and excavators with eight.
Glenn and I also delved into the winning companies to get a feel for which brands had the most awarded innovations over the years. As expected, the awards have been led by major equipment brands that invest a lot in R&D and equipment innovation. Since 2015, Kubota and Toro lead the way with nine wins each. That is followed by Stihl with eight; Bobcat, Exmark and Scag with seven each; Cub Cadet, Ferris, John Deere and Hustler with six each; and Caterpillar, Mean Green, Ditch Witch, Belgard and Kioti with five each.
Looking back at trends throughout the years, it is interesting to note that we had two pieces of battery-powered OPE win awards in 2015, and our first robotic equipment win was in 2016. For comparison , 10 of this year’s “Twenty for 2025” award winners were battery or autonomous technologies.
Husqvarna has been consistent with its robotic technology through the years — winning in 2019 for the Automower 550, in 2020 for the Automower 525 AWD, in 2022 for the CEORA, and now in 2025 for the Automower 525 AWD EPOS. In addition to Husqvarna, other companies being recognized for their autonomous innovations this year include Exmark , John Deere and Mean Green.
For more information about the OPE+ Twenty for 2025, visit ope-plus . com and check out both the OPE Insider podcast and the OPE People podcast.