STEELWING™ debuts at Equip Expo 2026: Don't underestimate simple

New $299 Connect & Release Hitch combines machine-powered transport with true wheelbarrow access and placement.

The Equip Expo show floor will be filled with machines designed to move material. Outdoor Impressions Inc. is introducing something much simpler: STEELWING™, a new Connect & Release Hitch System designed to help contractors get more from equipment they already own.

Moving material with a machine is nothing new. The challenge comes when the machine can no longer fit where the material needs to go. STEELWING™ lets a tow-capable machine handle the distance, then releases the same loaded wheelbarrow so the crew can continue beyond the machine's footprint for final placement.

Same load. Same wheelbarrow. No transfer of material.

"It may look like a simple piece of steel, and that's exactly the point," said Jim Adams, longtime landscape contractor and inventor of STEELWING™. "You already have the wheelbarrow. In many cases, you already have the machine. STEELWING™ is simply the interface between the two." Using the system with his own crews revealed another benefit: workflow. With multiple wheelbarrows, one can be loaded while another is being transported and another is being emptied or spread. Full wheelbarrows can keep moving out while empties return. "That's when I realized this was more than towing a wheelbarrow," Adams said. "You can have material being loaded, transported and placed at the same time. You keep the material moving."

STEELWING™ is designed to work alongside loaders, mounted carts and other material-moving equipment. Those tools remain valuable where they work best; STEELWING™ adds another capability when distance and final access both matter. Its simplicity is intentional. STEELWING™ is a mechanical interface, not another powered machine: no additional engine, battery or drivetrain to purchase and maintain. It can stay ready for the jobs where distance becomes the problem.

STEELWING™ launchs at an introductory price of $299.

"I wanted to get this way of working into contractors' hands," Adams said. "Don't underestimate what a simple tool can do to time, labor and workflow. You may not need it on every job, but when distance shows up, it's ready."

STEELWING™ joins The W.I.T.C.H.™ (The Witch Hitch™), Outdoor Impressions Inc.'s premium multi-application Connect & Release Hitch System introduced at Equip Expo 2025. Both systems are made in the USA.