RIP Tecumseh

[Fordlords]

Stock up on your Tecumseh parts. As of December 15, 2008 Tecumseh has ceased manufacturing small engines.

-Fordlords-

[shvl73]

I was in a Lowes today, the basic MTD snowblower looked like it had a Chinese engine. Could this be part of the reason? Is Tecumseh manufacturing anything else or were small engines all they made?

[Fordlords]

Tecumseh was bought by a holding company, Platinum Equity, in 2007. They piece-mealed the company claiming offshore competition for its demise. Their small engine operations were secondary to their refrigerator compressor manufacturing. When Sears cancelled their small engine contract with Tecumseh last year, it drove the spike through Tecumseh's heart. Form what I heard all of the Briggs and Stratton horizontal shaft engines are sourced from China. So with Tecumseh out of the snow blower market, you either get some sort of Chinese engine or you spend a lot more for a Honda, some of which are made in China now also. I noticed Sears doesn't even give horsepower ratings on their snow blower engines anymore.

-Fordlords-

[Flatheadyoungin]

i really hate to see all those old companies closing up shop or being bought and their name soaked until there's nothing left.....troy-bilt, bolens, cub, homelite, lawnboy (epa) etc.....

to me, these names were American as apple pie......

the world is changing, but i'll kick and scream all the way...

[ray66v]

It is a shame, that the quality of Tecumseh products had fallen far behind the others, for sometime.

Anymore, they were at least a "decent" inexpensive engine, for applications where you did not need a lot of duty. I had just bought one of their engines last fall, for a sprayer that will only see use 5 or 6 times a year.

Now, I guess I will be paying more.

It should be yet another wake up call to manufacturers.

Companies that don't have a very bright future, will be failing all around us, this year.

A friend of mine had to sell a business, one you probably have heard of, right before Christmas. It started it in their garage, and over the years was built up to have 100 employees. They simply had run out of cash due to slumping sales, and the banks said no more. When the economy comes back, the company will be fine, they just won't own it anymore.

[Skyco]

I noticed Sears doesn't even give horsepower ratings on their snow blower engines anymore.

Apparently the small engine makers are going to a new system publishing cc instead of horsepower. I don't like it because engine ouput can vary tremendously depending on design, for the same cc displacement

[NuBota]

Complete shame - my 7 year old 20 hp Murray Lawn Tractor is Tecumseh - engine and Peerless Trans. Don't laugh - it was Wally World special edition - one of the few not B&S. Have close to 1000 hrs on it - hard mowing up steep hills (1+ acre), hauling wood, stone, block. Even drag the chain harrow with it (4x4' section). Have dogged it repeatedly and runs like it did first day. I know Murray takes (took) lots of knocks, but this thing has been solid - I think in large part to Tecumseh. Guess parts will be an issue for me since both companies are essentially gone.

Just got rid of a '76 MTD (Hechinger) tractor last year - still ran fine - just small (11hp) - struggled on the hills. It was Tecumseh.

I have nothing against B&S (have had good experiences with both), but have always considered Tecumseh to be a better quality reputation.

We are truly getting to a point of American companies just keep folding - Anheuser-Busch was a shock to me, the Detroit mess, etc - very frustrating

[2manyrocks]

Lots of luck getting parts for anything made in China.

[tomd999]

Hiya,

I just saw this thread, however I can't find anything about Tecumseh power products closing. I did find that they were closing 1 or 2 plants, not the entire line. Also, Ariens is still listing them as the engine supplier.

Tom

[Fordlords]

From a parts dealer listing:

"AS OF DECEMBER 15TH 2008, TECUMSEH HAS SHUT DOWN THERE ENGINE DIVISION. STARTING JANUARY 1ST ALL TECUMSEH DEALERS WILL BE LOSING ANY PREMIERE DEALER DISCOUNTS, WHICH MEANS PARTS WILL NO LONGER BE MADE AND PRICES WILL BE GOING UP."

-Fordlords-