The Toro Company is an American company based in the Minneapolis suburb of

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on the north bank of the Minnesota River, above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 89,987, ma ...

that designs, manufactures, and markets lawn mowers, snow blowers, and irrigation system supplies for commercial and residential, agricultural, and public sector uses.

History

The company was established as the "Toro Motor Company" in 1914 to build tractor engines for The Bull Tractor Company. In 1948, Toro entered the push mower market, acquiring Whirlwind Corp. They sold push mowers under this name for several years. In 1952, the Whirlwind's factory in Windom, Minnesota was closed. In 1986 Toro acquired the

Wheel Horse Wheel Horse was a manufacturer of outdoor and garden power equipment, including lawn and garden tractors. The company's headquarters were in South Bend, Indiana, USA. History The business was started in the two-car garage of Elmer Pond in 19 ...

Products Division of

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...

(AMC). Wheel Horse manufactured lawn and garden tractors as well as riding lawn mowers. The division was spun off from AMC for $8 million so that the automaker could maintain focus on vehicles. Lawn and garden tractors were then marketed under the Toro, Wheel Horse, and Toro Wheel Horse names. Acquisitions continued with the purchase of

Lawn-Boy Lawn-Boy is a brand of lawn mower, originally manufactured by the Evinrude Company in 1934 and owned since 1989 by Toro. It was the first one-handed reel power mower{{what, What is a "one-handed reel power mower"?, date=December 2021 introduce ...

in 1989 from Outboard Marine Corporation. In the 1990s, then CEO Kendrick Melrose changed the company's strategy, shifting its focus to golf courses, sports fields, municipal parks, and commercial properties. The company acquired James Hardie Irrigation in 1996, Exmark Manufacturing in 1997, Hayter in 2005, Rain Master Irrigation Systems, and Turf Guard Wireless Monitoring Technology in 2007. In 2007 almost 70 percent of the company's sales came from professional markets, versus one-third in 1990. In 2007, the low-end lawn and garden tractor product manufacturing was outsourced to MTD Products, to be sold at

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...

stores. Toro discontinued its Wheel Horse models and retired the brand name in 2007. Products and other brands expanded with Toro's purchases of TYCROP Manufacturing turf equipment product line in 2009 and USPraxis in 2010. In 2014, the snowplow and snow removal equipment company Boss Products was purchased by Toro. On February 15, 2019, Toro announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire privately held The Charles Machine Works, the parent company of

Ditch Witch Ditch Witch, a trade name of Charles Machine Works, is an American brand of underground utility construction equipment, which has been in operation since 1949. It is the leading subsidiary of Charles Machine Works, headquartered in Perry, Okl ...

and MTI Equipment and other brands, for $700 million. In May 2022, Toro announced it was bringing an automated robotic mower to market in spring 2023.

Brands

The company's products are marketed under several brands: *Toro – irrigation systems & supplies, professional and consumer mowers, compact utility equipment, snow blowers, and handheld trimmers and

leaf blower A leaf blower, commonly known as a blower, is a device that propels air out of a nozzle to move debris such as leaves and grass cuttings. Leaf blowers are powered by electric or gasoline motors. Gasoline models have traditionally been two-strok ...

s *Toro Ag – agriculture professional microirrigation systems, such as driplines, driptapes and sprayers for professional agriculture applications *Boss Snowplow – snow and ice removal *Charles Machine Works – Includes the following brands **Ditch Witch – **Radius – **American Augers – **Subsite – **Trencor – **HammerHead – *

Dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

– compact heavy duty hydraulic equipment *eXmark – commercial mowers *Hayter (United Kingdom) – consumer and professional mowers. *Intimidator Group – utility vehicles and mowers *Irritrol Systems – irrigation systems for residential and commercial landscapes *

– consumer mowers *Lawn Genie – consumer irrigation *

Pope Products Pope Products Ltd. was an Australian manufacturer, based in Beverley, South Australia, best remembered for washing machines and refrigerators. The company was founded in 1935 by Sidney Barton Pope (18 February 1905 – 2 September 1983) (genera ...

(Australia) – garden maintenance equipment *Unique Lighting – low voltage landscape lighting *Ventrac - tractors for maintenance and lawning

References

{{Authority control Agricultural machinery manufacturers of the United States Lawn mower manufacturers Snow removal Lawn and garden tractors Irrigation in the United States Manufacturing companies based in Minnesota Companies based in Bloomington, Minnesota Manufacturing companies established in 1914 1914 establishments in Minnesota Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Irrigation companies