Industry | Power tools |
---|---|
Founded | 1943Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | in
Founder | Robert P. McCulloch |
Headquarters | Tucson, Arizona, U.S. |
Products | Chainsaws, String trimmers |
Parent | Husqvarna Group |
Website | mcculloch |
McCulloch Motors Corporation is an American manufacturer of chainsaws and other outdoor power tools. The company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1943 by Robert Paxton McCulloch as a manufacturer of small two-stroke gasoline engines and introduced its first chainsaw in 1948, the Model 5-49. McCulloch and its brand are owned by Husqvarna.
McCulloch moved its operation to California in 1946. In the 1950s, McCulloch manufactured target drone engines, which were sold to RadioPlane in the 1970s. These McCulloch 4318 small four cylinder horizontally opposed two-stroke engines were also popular for use in various small autogyros, such as the Bensen B-8M and Wallis WA-116.
McCulloch also started Paxton Automotive, manufacturing McCulloch-labeled superchargers like the one fitted to the Kaiser Manhattan, the 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk, and Ford Thunderbird.
In 1959, they produced their first kart engine, the McCulloch MC-10, [1] an adapted chainsaw two-stroke engine. [2] Bill Van Tichelt of VanTech Engineering designed and produced one of the first specialized and most successful intake manifolds for the McCulloch kart engine, along with mufflers, conversion kits, throttle linkages, air stacks and bottom slopers. [3]
In 1964, McCulloch founded Lake Havasu City, Arizona, with a factory and housing for its workers. The company founder Robert McCulloch was involved in buying the London Bridge at auction in the 1960s. It was then reassembled in Lake Havasu City and opened in 1971. [4] [5]
In 1967, McCulloch discontinued its line of outboard boat engines which it began after the 1956 purchase of Scott-Atwater Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota - the manufacturer of Scott-Atwater outboard boat engines. [6]
In the 1970s their range was expanded to add generators, hedge trimmers, string trimmers, and leaf blowers, but started a narrow focus on lawn and garden equipment.
By 1978, Charles Hurwitz had 13% holdings in the company. [7] Black and Decker bought McCulloch on 4 October 1974, and sold the company to a private group in November 1984. [8]
In January 1999, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sold its European division to Husqvarna AB. In October 1999, its North American operation was acquired by the Taiwanese company Jenn Feng Industrial Co. Jenn Feng added electric power tools and pressure washers to the product line. [9]
In March 2003, MTD Products signed a distribution and licensing agreement with Jenn Feng in which MTD would exclusively produce McCulloch products in North America. [10]
In March 2008, Husqvarna acquired the outdoor products division of Jenn Feng, gaining access to the McCulloch brand in the North American market. [11] McCulloch is since a brand within the Husqvarna Group.
Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motorsport circuits. Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports, with most Formula One drivers—including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, and Max Verstappen—having begun their careers in karting.
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese mobility manufacturer that produces motorcycles, motorboats, outboard motors, and other motorized products. The company was established in the year 1955 upon separation from Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. and is headquartered in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The company conducts development, production and marketing operations through 109 consolidated subsidiaries as of 2012.
A string trimmer, also known by the portmanteau strimmer and the trademarks Weedwacker, Weed Eater and Whipper Snipper, is a garden tool for cutting grass, small weeds, and groundcover. It uses a whirling monofilament line instead of a blade, which protrudes from a rotating spindle at the end of a long shaft topped by a gasoline engine or electric motor.
A go-kart, also written as go-cart, is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing karts. Karting is a type of racing in which a compact four-wheel unit called a go-kart is used. Art Ingels created the first go-kart in Los Angeles in 1956.
Paxton Automotive is a United States-based manufacturer of superchargers for automotive use. The company is the major proponent of the centrifugal type supercharger. Early products were offered under the McCulloch name. Some Paxton superchargers have been factory fitted, but most units sold have been aftermarket installed. Paxton products are possibly best known for their frequent use in performance-modified Ford Mustangs.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a Fortune 500 American manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware, and a provider of security products. Headquartered in the Greater Hartford city of New Britain, Connecticut, Stanley Black & Decker is the result of the merger of The Stanley Works and Black & Decker on March 12, 2010.
Poulan is a brand name of the Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna AB.
The West Bend Company was a West Bend, Wisconsin, company from 1911 to 2001. The West Bend Company manufactured aluminum cookware and electrical appliances, but also made two-stroke cycle engines, including outboard boat motors. Art Ingels used a surplus West Bend engine to power the first kart. Clayton Jacobson II used a West Bend 2-stroke motor to power the first stand-up Jet Ski. The engine division of West Bend was sold to Chrysler, then to Brunswick, and finally to US Motor Power.
MTD Products is an American manufacturer of outdoor power equipment for the mass market. Headquartered in Valley City, Ohio, the company began in 1932 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker. Prior to Stanley Black & Decker's acquisition in December 2021, MTD Products was a majority family-owned, private company. It originated as a tool and die maker. MTD's main competitors are Stihl, Ariens, Briggs & Stratton, John Deere and Husqvarna.
Stihl is a German manufacturer of chainsaws and other handheld power equipment including trimmers and blowers headquarted in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg, near Stuttgart, Germany. Stihl was founded in 1926 by Andreas Stihl, an innovator in early chainsaw production. Stihl says it is the world's best-selling brand of chainsaws and the only chainsaw manufacturer to make its own saw chains and guide bars. Andreas Stihl AG is a privately held company owned by the descendants of Andreas Stihl. Stihl operates the Stihl Timbersports Series.
Lawn-Boy is a brand of lawn mower, originally manufactured by the Evinrude Company in 1934 and owned since 1989 by Toro. It was the first one-handed reel power mower introduced to the American public. Evinrude purchased Johnson Motor Wheel Company from a New York stock brokerage firm a year later, and in 1936 they merged with the Outboard Marine and Manufacturing Company (OMC), continuing production of Lawn-Boy mowers until 1939, when it was temporarily put on hold to manufacture outboard motors for World War II.
Robert Paxton McCulloch was an American entrepreneur from Missouri, best known for McCulloch chainsaws and purchasing the "New" London Bridge, which he moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona—one of the cities he founded.
Tecumseh Products Company is an American manufacturer of hermetic compressors for air conditioning and refrigeration products. Tecumseh Products Company has subsidiaries that sell externally and internally to Tecumseh. The Tecumseh corporate offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Husqvarna Group is a Swedish manufacturer of outdoor power products including robotic lawn mowers, chainsaws, trimmers, brushcutters, cultivators, and garden tractors. Founded as a firearms manufacturer in 1689, it is one of the oldest continuously running companies in the world. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the group also produces consumer watering products under the brand Gardena, cutting equipment and diamond tools for the construction and stone industries.
The Paxton Phoenix was a rear-engine coupé prototype developed in 1953 by Robert P. McCulloch's Paxton Automotive of Los Angeles, California, a division of his chainsaw business.
Husqvarna Motorcycles GmbH is an Austrian company which designs, engineers, manufactures and distributes motocross, enduro, supermoto and street motorcycles.
Victa is an Australian manufacturer of outdoor garden equipment, including petrol, electric, and battery-powered lawn mowers, edgers, trimmers, and chainsaws. The brand is best known as a manufacturer of rotary lawn mowers. In the early 1960s the company also built light aircraft, notably the Victa Airtourer, and project homes.
Rope start is a method of starting an internal combustion engine, usually on small machines, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws, grass trimmers, ultralight aircraft, small outboard motors and portable engine-generators. Also used on some small vehicles such as small go-karts, minibikes, and small ATVs.
Bill VanTichelt ; born February 17, 1935, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is the creator of VanTech Motorcycles.
The Yamabiko Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of power tools formed with the September 2008 merger of the Kioritz and Shindaiwa corporations. The brands owned and distributed by Yamabiko are Kioritz, Shindaiwa and Echo. The Yamabiko Corporation is based in Ome, Japan.