MTD Products is an American manufacturer of outdoor power equipment for the
mass market
The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds wi ...
. Headquartered in
Valley City, Ohio
Valley City is an unincorporated community in central Liverpool Township, Medina County, Ohio, United States. The west branch of the Rocky River and Plum Creek flow near Valley City from south to north.
It is located at intersection of State R ...
, the company began in 1932 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Stanley Black & Decker. Prior to Stanley Black & Decker's acquisition in December 2021, MTD Products was a majority family-owned, private company. It originated as a
tool and die maker (Modern Tool and Die Company). MTD's main competitors are
Stihl,
Ariens
Ariens Company, stylized as AriensCo, is an American equipment company based in Wisconsin which has a long history manufacturing snow blowers, lawn tractors, and zero-turn lawn mowers for commercial and high-end consumer markets. Ariens touts ...
,
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of gasoline engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large facilit ...
,
John Deere
Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...
and
Husqvarna.
Over the years, MTD acquired the Troy-Bilt, Bolens,
Cub Cadet,
Craftsman (owned by its minority partner), and Yard-Man brands and/or companies. MTD craftsman mowers utilize the Sears "247" model prefix
MTD bicycles
Starting in 1966, MTD released their line of bicycles that were sold throughout the U.S. These bicycles were mostly
muscle bikes and in 1969 they released a
chopper, the MTD SS5 Chopper which merged
Columbia and MTD. Both brands were strong players in the high-rise bicycle market, eventually they would join forces in the coming years; eventually the bicycle brand MTD would fade out while Columbia would continue.
Timeline
Theo Moll, Emil Jochum and Erwin Gerhard formed a partnership to purchase the assets of Modern Tool and Die
Company located on Power Avenue in Cleveland. The initial capital investment was $4500. MTD's first products
were perforating dies and a rolling machine for making window channels for Standard Products. MTD employed 12
employees in 1933. By 1934 there were 60 employees.
In 1936 the company produced its first automotive stampings products, grilles for
Graham-Paige
Graham-Paige was an American automobile manufacturer founded by brothers Joseph B. Graham (1882-1970), Robert C. Graham (1885-1967), and Ray A. Graham (1887-1932) in 1927. Automobile production ceased in 1940, and its automotive assets were acq ...
automobiles.
In 1952 the controlling interest in Midwest Industries Inc. was purchased. With this MTD began to manufacture pedal bikes, velocipedes, kiddie cars and playground equipment.
In 1954 MTD entered the garden equipment industry with its introduction of a line of wheelbarrows.
In 1958 MTD entered the lawn and garden power equipment industry with the production of an 18" power rotary mower.
In 1959 MTD began manufacturing self-propelled lawn mowers, garden tractors and other power equipment.
In 1962 MTD purchased Sehl Engineering Ltd. of Canada which would later become MTD Products, Ltd. and then MTD Canada.
In 1966 MTD purchased Industrial Plastics Company in Cleveland.
In 1967 MTD started to manufacture bicycles.
In 1968 MTD started snow thrower production. At the same time Yard-Man buys George Garden Tools.
In 1975 MTD purchased the Yard-Man name from Montgomery Ward.
In 1980 MTD built its 160,000 sq ft (15,000 m2) manufacturing plant in Brownsville, Tennessee (now defunct).
In 1981 the Cub Cadet product line was acquired from International Harvester, and the White Outdoor Products Company was acquired from the old White Motor Company.
In 1985 the company's Martin, Tennessee plant began operation, and Arnold Corporation was acquired.
In 1986 Aircap Industries in Tupelo, Mississippi was acquired.
In 1994 MTD built the Modern Transmission Development Company plant in Leitchfield, Kentucky.
In 1996 a joint venture with Lesco created Commercial Turf Products.
In 2000, a Hungarian manufacturing facility was opened with expanded capacity for electrical products. MTD acquired Ryobi Limited's North America outdoor products business, giving them the capacity to produce 1.5 million engines and related hand-held garden products.
In 2001, MTD acquired Garden Way including the Troy-Bilt and Bolens brands.
In 2003, MTD's Ryobi Outdoor Power equipment division ceased manufacturing products under the Ryobi brand name and sold the rights to the use of the Ryobi brand name for the manufacture and sale of outdoor products to Ryobi Tools/TTI
In 2006, MTD began building lawn equipment under the fmc brand for sale in Europe.
In 2007, MTD began building the low-end lawn and garden tractors for its otherwise competitor, Toro.
In 2008, MTD began having a third-party company (located in China) manufacture a new line of engines for the Craftsman 2008 line of snowthrowers. They are no longer building them with Tecumseh engines.
In 2009 MTD acquired the brand Remington Chainsaws from Desa International.
In 2010 MTD (Australia) acquired the brand Rover Mowers from GWA International Limited.
In 2012 MTD began building Murray brand products which was acquired by Briggs & Stratton Motors in 2005.
In 2017 MTD acquired
Robomow
Robomow (also known as Friendly Robotics) is a manufacturer of robotic lawn mowers. Founded in Even Yehuda, Israel in 1995 by Udi Peless and Shai Abramson, the company provides robotic lawnmowers to the United States and Europe, with prices rangi ...
, a.k.a. "Friendly Robotics".
In September 2018, New Britain, Conn.-based power tool maker Stanley Black & Decker announced that it had an agreement to acquire a 20% stake in outdoor power equipment maker MTD Products for $234 million. The transaction is expected to close in early 2019. In addition, Stanley Black & Decker will have the option to acquire the remaining 80% of MTD starting July 1, 2021.
Furthermore, with the acquisition of
Craftsman by Stanley Black & Decker, the brand's products are now produced by MTD through this partnership. On August 17, 2021, Stanley Black & Decker announced that it has agreed to acquire the remaining 80% ownership stake in MTD Holdings Inc.
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial Russian websiteMTD Australia
{{MTD Products
American companies established in 1932
Manufacturing companies established in 1932
1932 establishments in Ohio
Agricultural machinery manufacturers of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Ohio
Lawn and garden tractors
Lawn mower manufacturers
Medina County, Ohio
2019 mergers and acquisitions
2021 mergers and acquisitions
American brands
Stanley Black & Decker brands