[Green]

Just thought it would be nice to have a thread about lawn equipment telling what company makes what brands of equipment. If you know who makes something that has a different brand name on it than the actual company, post it here.

Here are the ones I came across for some mowers:

-Lawn Boy push mowers are made by Toro. In fact, Toro is the current owner of the Lawn Boy company.
-Craftsman, Cub Cadet, and Troy-Bilt push mowers are all made by MTD.

And sprayers:

-Lesco and Ace Hardware brand "hand can" pump sprayers are both made by Chapin Mfg.

Sprinklers:

-Orbit Voyager II sprinkler heads are apparently made by Hunter, and identical to PGPs.

 

[Redtenchu]

I've always found this an interesting subject. Much like cars/trucks, its often the EXACT same unit, just diffrent paint and stickers.

 

[MasterMech]

This also shifts a bit over time. It would take me hours to post every brand relationship in the outdoor power industry but I'd gladly answer any specific inquiries.

There are only a few major manufacturers left these days. MTD, Husqvarna and Deere, in that order are the big players for riding lawn equipment. Simplicity is still around but they and Snapper are both a part of Briggs and Stratton Power now. Factor in the small stuff like pressure washers, generators and the like, there are a few more players like Honda, Briggs and Mighty M, plus all the Taiwan/China stuff.

 

[J_nick]

Rainbird's 5000 series MPR nozzles and Hunter's I-20 MPR nozzles have the exact same performance charts. Always found it to be a bit fishy, they didn't even change the color of the nozzles for crying out loud.

 

[Green]

This also shifts a bit over time.

Absolutely. We'll have to keep updating this thread as we figure it out.

Do you know what companies currently make push mower engines that have Toro and Craftsman brand labels?

 

[Cory]

Absolutely. We'll have to keep updating this thread as we figure it out.

Do you know what companies currently make push mower engines that have Toro and Craftsman brand labels?

MTD makes Toro, MTD and Husquvarna make Craftsman. Here's a write up I found about mowers. https://www.google.com/amp/s/todaysmower.com/2014-lawn-yard-garden-tractor-manufacturers/amp/

This also applies to hand tools and other power tools. Most people don't realize that there are only a few manufactures that make them. Example...

Black and Decker makes/owns Black and Decker tools, Dewalt, Porter Cable, Irwin, Mac Tools, Bostitch, Stanley, Craftsman and a few others.

Makita and Hilti are pretty much the only major manufactures that are stand alone companies that only manufacture their own tools. Same goes for Sthil and Echo when it comes to landscaping.

 

[pennstater2005]

So is Husqvarna a standalone company?

 

[Cory]

Husquvarna is the main brand or parent company, they also own McCulloch,
Poulan Pro, WeedEater, and a few others. My Poulan Pro rider is identical to a Husquvarna just with some cheaper parts and about $600 cheaper.

 

[pennstater2005]

@Cory

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It gets even messier than that. One of the major names (I think it is Toro?) subcontracts their consumer (big box models) mowers out to MTD.

 

[Cory]

@Cory

Thanks!

No problem! Probably should have added that Husquvarna doesn't make Motors for their riders, I think they get them all from Briggs and Stratton

 

[pennstater2005]

@Cory

Thanks!

No problem! Probably should have added that Husquvarna doesn't make Motors for their riders, I think they get them all from Briggs and Stratton

My Husqvarna has a Kawasaki engine which is actually the reason I bought. Most are Briggs and Stratton and the only place I could find one with a Kawasaki was online. It was pretty sweet though as they shipped it right to the house and I uncrated it.

I liked doing it that way because I knew no one was sitting on it ripping at the controls, mostly kids, like you see at Big Box stores. That and a lot of places that sell mowers leave them outside.

 

[gene_stl]

There is some kind of relationship between Toro and ExMark. I think the professional Toros and ExMarks are made in the same factory. One of them owns the other but I don't know which is which. But they have similar aerators. Husqvarna and BlueBird also are the same aerators with different paint jobs.(Blue vs Orange)

 

[MasterMech]

Exmark was/is owned by Toro. For a long time, the Exmark brand was held out at arms length. Then Toro adopted Exmark's chassis for ZTR's. Now they may even share the same deck. But the two existed pretty much as independent entities as being an eXmark Dealer did not give you access to Toro's line and vice versa.

Fun Fact: Toro also owns Boss Snowplow.

Some (a lot) of Toro's riding lawn equipment was manufactured by MTD. They have since exited that market. But the walk-mowers, snowblowers, and ZTRs have always been Toro manufacturered.

I believe LCT -was- the OEM for Toro branded engines, not sure if that's still true. Some of the two-cycle engines branded as Toro's were Suzuki's and excellent motors at that.

 

[Green]

MTD makes Toro, MTD and Husquvarna make Craftsman. Here's a write up I found about mowers. https://www.google.com/amp/s/todaysmower.com/2014-lawn-yard-garden-tractor-manufacturers/amp/

That's not totally accurate, though. My Craftsman push mower is obviously an MTD, and not a Husquvarna, and so are many (all?) of the current models. I also saw a "Murray" branded MTD push mower (el cheapo model) advertised on Walmart's site.

 

[gene_stl]

The real Murray (who also built Noma professional gear) company which built my orange monster went bankrupt about 2000 or so. Somebody bought up their trademarks and is using them again (Briggs and Stratton). But the "real" Murray company is long gone. They also OEMed stuff for example for large local hardware stores (which we used to have here in St. Louis once upon a time. There was a Murray built "Central Park" line of mowers sold at a local hardware chain. Also long gone).

 

[Green]

What's the relationship between Briggs and Stratton and MTD? It's odd, because apparently Briggs owns the Murray name today. They must have MTD build the mowers for them if that's the case.

Also, apparently MTD makes Gererac, too...?

Finally, an old link on another site. Not sure if it helps: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1505642/mtd-chinese-engine

 

[MasterMech]

What's the relationship between Briggs and Stratton and MTD? It's odd, because apparently Briggs owns the Murray name today. They must have MTD build the mowers for them if that's the case.

Also, apparently MTD makes Gererac, too...?

Finally, an old link on another site. Not sure if it helps: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1505642/mtd-chinese-engine

Briggs is a supplier to MTD for engines. I'm pretty sure Briggs inherited some manufacturing capability when they took over Murray, I know Murray was in deep to them when they folded in the early 2000's. Your link there mentions that Briggs took over Murray's operations in an attempt to recover $40M in debt. :shock:

 

[Green]

Yeah, because the current Murray and Craftsman push mowers are obviously OEM Troy Bilt style designs made by MTD. So, Briggs doesn't own part of MTD, do they?

 

[pennstater2005]

Found a good, up to date article regarding this topic:

https://todaysmower.com/2014-lawn-yard-garden-tractor-manufacturers/