When a contractor can reliably take on work that other companies either avoid or cannot execute at a high level, it changes both the type of customers they attract and the scale of projects they can win.
That is exactly what happened at GCI Turf in central North Carolina after integrating the ABI Force Z-23 into their operation.
Pete Denny, who has run GCI Turf for roughly 20 years, built the company into a 14-person operation split between turf health services and full grounds maintenance. On one side, crews handle fertilizer applications and weed control. On the other, they manage mowing, aeration, seeding, leaf cleanup, and full property maintenance across residential and commercial accounts. Alongside that, the company also runs an online education platform teaching turf care and grass management.
Within that structure, one category of work consistently stood out as both the most technical and the most valuable: grading.
Daily operations at GCI Turf are divided into clear service lines.
The fertilizer and weed control team operates spray routes across residential neighborhoods, athletic fields, and commercial properties. Their work follows a structured turf health program designed to maintain consistent growth and density across different site conditions.
The grounds maintenance crews handle everything from routine mowing to more intensive property management tasks such as aeration, overseeding, and seasonal cleanup. These jobs form the steady baseline of the business.
Then there is grading and renovation work, which sits at a different level entirely in terms of complexity.
Grading jobs require understanding how water moves across a surface, how elevation changes affect drainage, and how soil composition responds under load. Unlike mowing or fertilization, where results are incremental and repeatable, grading is corrective work. It reshapes how a surface behaves.
Denny describes this as the most technically demanding part of their workload, and also the area where having the right equipment makes the biggest difference.
Most landscape companies can mow, fertilize, and maintain turf at a serviceable level. Fewer are equipped to handle precision grading.
The challenge is not just moving soil. It is controlling how that soil settles, how it compacts, and how water will behave after the job is complete.
A properly graded surface must:
Achieving this consistently requires controlled material movement and repeatable depth control. Without that, results vary from job to job, especially across changing soil types and moisture conditions.
In GCI Turf’s case, grading work became both a growth opportunity and a limitation. Demand existed, especially from athletic facilities, but scaling that work required more precision than general equipment could reliably deliver.
The shift into athletic field work did not start as a planned expansion. It started with client demand.
As GCI Turf expanded its turf health services, coaches and athletic directors began asking whether the company also handled infield dirt work. Initially, Denny accepted those jobs using existing equipment, treating them as extensions of landscape maintenance.
That approach worked at a basic level, but inconsistencies became obvious quickly.
Baseball and softball infields, especially clay and sand-based systems, require precise grading control. Small elevation errors can create drainage problems that directly affect playability, recovery time after rain, and field safety.
As the volume of these requests increased, it became clear that improvisation was not sustainable for consistent results.
That is when Denny evaluated purpose-built grading systems and ultimately brought in the ABI Force Z-23.
The ABI Force Z-23 is designed for precision surface control across multiple grading applications, including athletic fields, lawns, and renovation sites.
For GCI Turf, its impact came down to three practical outcomes.
First, it delivered repeatable grading accuracy on athletic fields, especially when working with new clay and sand material. That consistency is essential for infield renovation and laser grading work where surface behavior must remain predictable.
Second, it reduced workflow complexity. Instead of switching between multiple machines or attachments, operators could complete grading and finish work in a controlled, continuous process.
Third, it created a service capability that was uncommon in the local market.
Not many contractors in the region owned equipment capable of this level of ball field work. That scarcity mattered because it immediately narrowed the competitive field.
Once GCI Turf demonstrated consistent results, it became a preferred option for schools and athletic programs needing infield renovation and maintenance.
In practical field use, the ABI Force Z-23 is applied across multiple stages of ball field construction and maintenance.
During renovation work, it is used to:
During ongoing maintenance, it is used to:
The value is not limited to one-time construction. It is in the ability to return repeatedly and maintain consistent surface behavior over time, which is critical in athletic environments.
Alongside the Z-23, Denny integrated the ABI Landscape Finisher into his operation after seeing it at an industry expo.
This attachment became especially useful for seed bed preparation and lawn installation work.
In a single pass, the Landscape Finisher can:
The key operational benefit is consolidation. Instead of multiple passes with different tools, the operator can complete grading and finish preparation in one workflow.
Denny has described it as particularly valuable for efficiency-driven work, where reducing time on site without sacrificing quality directly improves profitability.
A consistent theme in GCI Turf’s approach is operational efficiency.
Denny emphasizes that faster completion times, when quality is maintained, directly improve job profitability. Equipment that reduces passes, limits manual cleanup, and consolidates steps becomes a margin tool, not just a labor tool.
The ABI Force system supports that by allowing a single operator to complete work that might otherwise require multiple machines or additional crew support.
In grading work specifically, that efficiency becomes even more important because precision tasks often increase labor time unless the correct equipment is used.
One of the most important strategic outcomes of adopting the Z-23 is differentiation.
In most local markets, landscape contractors compete heavily on mowing, fertilization, and general maintenance services. Those services are widely available and highly competitive.
Ball field grading and precision athletic field renovation are not.
By investing in specialized equipment, GCI Turf positioned itself in a narrower segment of the market where fewer competitors can realistically compete.
That creates two long-term advantages:
Over time, this builds compounding demand. Each successful field project leads to additional inquiries and referrals.
GCI Turf uses the Z-23 for ball field grading, laser leveling, infield renovation, and precision surface work. It is also used for turf installation preparation and general grading tasks that require controlled material movement.
Ball fields require precise slope control and consistent surface conditions. The Z-23 allows controlled grading that supports proper drainage and playability, especially when working with clay and sand-based infield mixes.
It expanded their service offering into specialized ball field renovation work that many competitors cannot perform. This created a niche advantage and increased demand from athletic facilities.
Basic grading can be done by many landscape companies, but precision grading for athletic fields requires specialized equipment and experience due to drainage and surface performance requirements.
Grading permanently changes surface elevation and drainage behavior. Unlike mowing or fertilization, it directly affects how water flows and how the field performs under use.
