Who makes todays riding mowers

[djdicetn]

HHR,

Yep...you got it!!!! You may also notice that some of the newer "Commercial quality" Husqvarna ZTR's look amazingly similar to the Dixon ZTR's:0)

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The top of the line craftsman mower (about 7k) is made by simplicity. Just in case anyone is interested. Why anyone would pay that money for a craftsman branded mower, instead of just buying the authentic simplicity is beyond me.

Source of credit?

 

[mikehaugen]

Source of credit?

Actually, I just looked and they don't have them on the site anymore. I saw them about 1 or 2 years ago, and was reading the reviews... many of the reviewers eluded to the fact that they were simplicity. I started comparing them to the simplicity tractors and they were actually strikingly similar. Upon further research, I found other sites that were stating the same thing- I can't remember exactly which sites, but IIRC one of them was one of the larger, well known lawn & garden forums... possibly lawnsite.com.

The reason I even researched was because I couldn't believe craftsman was trying to sell a mower for that much. It may not seem very credible now, but at the time I read some very convincing statements that they were rebranded simplicity mowers. That made the price make more sense, but made the fact that people were buying them make less sense... at least to me.

I don't think these are the sites I was looking at before, but here are some examples.

Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractor Club, Inc. - Craftsman CTX line

http://www.tractorforum.com/f154/simplicity-craftsman-paint-logo-15196/

Craftsman Professional Premium 30 Hp 54 Garden Tractor from Sears.com

Craftsman CTX9500 52 Garden Tractor 50 States from Sears.com

It appears they no longer sell them, but at some point they did.

 

[The kid]

MTD bought Cub Cadet many years ago and cheapened them. I believe MTD still owns the name. Not sure if there is a high end MTD brand that will last many, many years. Most typical riding mowers are just considered throw-aways anymore. If you get 8 to 10 years out of them you are doing well. A small subcompact might work better for you depending on your budget, otherwise buy a cheaper one and plan on replacing it in about 8 years if you take care of it. Good luck.

You get what you pay for in mowers. I own a MMZ MTD Pro 2554 and I'll put it up against anything in it's class. Built like a tank. Built to be easy to service. Jerk fittings all over it. This was an 8K mower back in 2001. Kohler Commander twin CV25S 25hp. If one spends a bit more money and buy a professional version and used for personal use will last for many many years. BTW the 2554 is identical to Cub Cadets Pro models. I owned a 23Hp B&S Intek on a TSC riding mower. It's nice for smaller 1 acre or smaller. Only had one problem. My son left it outside for about a month and the flywheel rusted which changes the gap on your coil packs. A bit of sandpaper and it was back running smooth.
Back to a ZT mower is far superior in stability, speed and reliability. They make cheap ZT mowers. As I said above. You get what you you for. If I where in the market for a new ZT. First it would be commercial quality, built to perform and survive hard use. Second, is how easy it it change belts, shapen blades, ans service the moving parts. Lastly comfort. Most negative feature of my 2554 is it's ride. I like to move along and get the job done. My yard isn't the smoothest and the mower will hammer you if your leaning back in the seat. -kid

 

[Sledge740]

Briggs purchased Murray years ago, but doesn't own or have rights to the name. The current Murrays are either Husqvarna/poulan or MTD for push mowers, and MTD for the riders. MTD purchased Cub Cadet in 1981 and still own them. That is the high end product for MTD. Craftsman are made by Husqvarna/Poulan, and MTD. Briggs owns Simplicity/Snapper, but the Walmart Snappers are made by MTD.

Briggs bought Murray, but not the name? So Murrays are built by MTD? What about American Yard Products?

 

[94BULLITT]

Briggs bought Murray, but not the name? So Murrays are built by MTD? What about American Yard Products?

I think AYP is owned by husqvarna.

 

[RandyT]

I saw somewhere that husqvarna was the largest mower manufacturer but I would think it is MTD.

Back when Murray was its own company, MTD was the smallest of the big three box store mower makers. Back in the early 2000's I saw a distribution map for Walmart, Mtd had north of I-70, and east of the Mississippi river, Murray had south of I-70 and east of the Mississippi river. Husqvarna/AYP had everything west of the Mississippi, and was told that was 5% of their annual production.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I think Swisher still builds their own in MO. I notice Lowes carries one rider. Not sure if Sears still sells the line or not.

 

[sam5570]

and remember this about the JD mowers is not the same mower you buy at the dealer. several years back jd came out with a cheeper brand called sabre. it was built alot cheeper than the deere was and was priced alot cheeper. well the sabre name went by by but the same mowers are still being made and sold to the box stores they just chnged the name to john deere.

 

[kootch88]

Electrolux makes a ton of Craftsman, Husquvana, Poulon Pro, Ruyobi and others. Look at the manufacturing plate under the seat of your Craftsman and most will say manufactured by Electrolux.