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The Toro Company

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The Toro Company
Company typePublic company
NYSE: TTC
S&P 400 Component
IndustryIrrigation supplies,
landscape & turf maintenance products
Founded1914
HeadquartersBloomington, Minnesota, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide[1]
Key people
Richard Olson, Chairman, President and CEO
ProductsTurf and landscape maintenance, snow and ice management, underground utility construction, rental and specialty construction, and irrigation and outdoor lighting solutions
RevenueIncrease US$4.51 billion (2022)[2]
Number of employees
11,280 (full-time)[3]
Websitethetorocompany.com
Toro plant in Tomah, Wisconsin

The Toro Company is an American company based in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota that designs, manufactures, and markets lawn mowers, snow blowers, and irrigation system supplies for commercial and residential, agricultural, and public sector uses.

History

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Founding and early history

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The Toro Company was established as the "Toro Motor Company" in 1914 to build tractor engines for The Bull Tractor Company.[4] It built steam engines to support war efforts during World War I, and changed its name to Toro Manufacturing Company in 1920 when it began to refocus on manufacturing farm equipment.[5] The company is credited with manufacturing the first mechanical golf course maintenance equipment with the creation of a fairway mower utilizing five lawn mowers mounted behind a Toro tractor. Toro began shipping golf course maintenance products worldwide by 1928, and released the first power mower for homeowners in 1935.[5]

In the 1940s, Toro ceased production of commercial products to focus on manufacturing equipment for World War II.[6] It also planned additional manufacturing space in anticipation of post-war production.[7] In 1948, Toro acquired Whirlwind Corp. and introduced a bagging system to rotary mowers.[8] It created its first snowblower in 1951, and in 1956 was the first lawn and garden manufacturer to advertise on television.[9]

Toro purchased an irrigation equipment manufacturer in 1962 and entered the underground irrigation business.[9]

1986 to present

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In 1986, Toro acquired the Wheel Horse Products Division of American Motors Corporation (AMC).[10][11][12] 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.[13]

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 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 stores.[14] Toro discontinued its Wheel Horse models and retired the brand name in 2007.[15] 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.[16]

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 and MTI Equipment and other brands, for $700 million.[17]

In May 2022, Toro announced it was bringing an automated robotic mower to market in spring 2023.[18]

Brands

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The company's products are marketed under several brands:[19]

  • Toro – irrigation systems & supplies, professional and consumer mowers, compact utility equipment, snow blowers, and handheld trimmers and leaf blowers[20]
  • 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 – Underground utility construction equipment
    • Radius –
    • American Augers –
    • Subsite –
    • Trencor –
    • HammerHead –
Dingo Wide Track
  • Dingo – compact heavy duty hydraulic equipment[21]
  • eXmark – commercial mowers[22]
  • Hayter (United Kingdom) – consumer and professional mowers.[23]
  • Intimidator Group – utility vehicles and lawn mowers [24]
    • Intimidator – 4x4 utility vehicles
    • Spartan Mowers – Lawn mowers
    • eNVy – Neighborhood Vehicles
  • Irritrol Systems – irrigation systems for residential and commercial landscapes[25]
  • Lawn-Boy – consumer mowers[26]
  • Lawn Genie – consumer irrigation
  • Perrot – Regnerbau Calw GmbH (South-Germany) and the subsidiary Perrot-Polska were taken over by The Toro Company/USA as of 01.01.2017.[27]
  • Unique Lighting – low voltage landscape lighting[28]
  • Ventrac - tractors for maintenance and lawning
  • YardCare - a Toro-branded website of yard care tips from Toro experts[29]

References

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  1. ^ "Toro Co/The". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  2. ^ "The Toro Company - 2022 Annual Report". thetorocompany.gsc-web.com.
  3. ^ "The Toro Company (TTC) Number of Employees". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  4. ^ "The Toro Company History 1910-1919". Toro. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b Parker, David Lewis; Harwell, Carroll T. (2002). By These Hands. Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 127. ISBN 9780873514422. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  6. ^ International Directory of Company Histories. St. James Press. 2011. ISBN 9781558625815. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Celebrating 100 Years" (PDF). Sports Turg. July 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  8. ^ Kurtz, Kent (December 1997). "Doc's Dugout - An Inning from our Past and Present" (PDF). Sports Turf Manager. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  9. ^ a b Business Statistics For Contemporary Decision Making. Wiley. 2019. ISBN 9781119607458. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  10. ^ "Steve Wolfe to Retire as CFO of The Toro Company". Business Wire (Press release). 30 March 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Wheel Horse Lawn Tractor History". Tractor Data. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  12. ^ "The Toro Company History 1980-1989". Toro. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  13. ^ Foster, Patrick R. (2013). American Motors Corporation: the rise and fall of America's last independent automaker. Motorbooks. p. 182. ISBN 9780760344255.
  14. ^ "New Line of Toro Lawn and Garden Tractors to Debut at Toro Dealers and The Home Depot" (Press release). Toro. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  15. ^ Gillespie, Evan. "Wheel Horse Tractor Information". homeguides.sfgate.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Boss Products to be Purchased by The Toro Company" (PDF) (Press release). Boss Products. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  17. ^ "The Toro Company to Acquire The Charles Machine Works, Inc". www.businesswire.com (Press release). 15 February 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Toro Launches New Robotic Mower, Delivering on Technological Innovation". www.businesswire.com. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  19. ^ "The Toro Company - Our brands". Toro. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  20. ^ "Toro Company".
  21. ^ Lambertson, Giles (1 June 2014). "Small Machines with Big Paybacks". Turf. Group C Media. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  22. ^ "eXmark".
  23. ^ Hayter
  24. ^ "Intimidator Group".
  25. ^ "Irritrol".
  26. ^ "Lawn-Boy".
  27. ^ "Unternehmen". www.perrot.de. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  28. ^ "Unique Lighting".
  29. ^ "Yardcare". Yardcare.
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