A little history...
The original business was founded in 1946 by Elmer
Pond, these were 2 wheel walk behind garden tractors. The first true
tractor was the RJ-58 manufactured in 1958. This model included the
first Uni-Drive transmission and used a Clinton or Kohler engine.
Many implements and attachments were made for these
models making them incredibly useful in both households and businesses.
By 1965 hydrostatic drive models were made
available and the first models were imported into Europe. The first
models being the Lawn Ranger and Commando series.
In order to increase presence in Europe a factory
was opened in Geel, Belgium to support manufacture. This factory was
called Amnor N.V. and was a final assembly and paint line. All major
components were shipped ‘knocked down’ in containers where the factory
would assemble them into the current models. This did lead to disparity
with model numbers, specifications and markings, but generally all
models were very close representations of the US counterparts.
In August 1986 the business was sold to Toro for
$8M and the products were sold as Toro Wheel Horse well into the 1990’s. |