www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation October 2014 35
the product line to include a broad selection of tillage equipment
and becoming a wholesaler for dozens of other lines, the Brinly-
Hardy Company became a major player in the agricultural
equipment market of the early 1900s.
WeatherIng the storm
Between World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II,
to say that the early 1900s was a difficult time period would be
a serious understatement. But it wouldn't be until 1980 that the
Brinly-Hardy Company would face a challenge that would change
the face of the business from then on.
In January 1980, President Jimmy Carter began an embargo
on grain shipments to the Soviet Union. Twenty-five million tons
of excess American grain flooded the market, driving down prices.
Many American farmers all but eliminated their spending on
farming equipment, resulting in an agricultural recession. As both
a manufacturer and wholesale distributor of agricultural equipment
throughout the South and Midwest, the farm crisis took a toll on
Brinly-Hardy Company. Something had to be done — and quickly.
a fundamentaL shIft
In the early 1960s, Brinly lawn care attachments were introduced
to accommodate the expansion of the suburban middle class.
Building a relationship that continues to this day, Brinly-
Hardy Company worked closely with John Deere to develop
attachments for use with its newly introduced Model 110
consumer lawn and garden tractors. Until the grain embargo
of 1980, manufacturing lawn maintenance attachments was
not the central focus of Brinly-Hardy Company's strategy,
instead preferring to stick to its roots in the Ag market — both
manufacturing and wholesaling.
As the 1980 farm crisis wore on, the outlook of that product
mix and business model looked increasingly bleak. The decision
was made to exit the wholesale business and solely manufacture
attachments for lawn tractors and some small garden tractors.
With its focus now centered on the growing consumer lawn
care market, the design engineers at Brinly-Hardy committed
themselves to hearing the voice of the customer once again.
Gathering feedback from end users, dealers and distributors, and
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), they began refining
and developing one of the world's most comprehensive lines
of lawn and garden tractor attachments. Producing the rugged
Brinly product line, the economical Lawn Tender product line,
plus many more private-label OEM collaborations, Brinly-Hardy
Company solidified itself as a world leader in the lawn and garden
attachments category.
