# Stanley Lawn Tractors?



## markfnc (Sep 16, 2003)

My neighbor came home Saturday with a Stanely Lawn Tractor. He was replacing his Sabre, which was in pitiful shape. All he ever did was add gas, never even changed the oil, and wondered why it did not hold up. Who makes the Stanley? I asked him and he said Stanley made it in New Brittan Ct, where they make all there tools. I was not sure what to tell him, so I just let it go. I don;t think Stanley even makes tools in USA anymore, everything looks like it is made in China now.


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

Murray makes it for Stanely tools. Its like the top of the line Murrays.
Jody


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

I was in a local small engine repair place one day lat year, and while waiting to get waited on, I could not help but overhear two customers and the parts man argueing. Evidently the customer needed a part for his engine which was badged as "Stanely" and as hard as the parts man tried to tell him its a B & S not stanley no matter what name is on the engine that the part he had wold fit. The customer insisted that he get "genuine" Stanley engine parts, and that all the parts man was doing was trying to sell him an item to make a buck since it was a non returnable item.........Some coil or module is what he was looking for..........


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## craftsman-man (Mar 21, 2004)

some people are so thick-headed it's not funny. if they belive something they will swear by it. #[email protected]$:


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## Neil_nassau (Feb 23, 2004)

> _Originally posted by jodyand _
> *Murray makes it for Stanely tools. Its like the top of the line Murrays.
> Jody *


Now there's an oxymoron......mg: 

Chipmaker........the Stanley riders I've seen,although not many,have had private label Tecumseh engines. Kind of explains the problem you saw.
Maybe the guy should schlep back down to Wally World and buy his "Genuine Stanley Parts" instead of arguing with someone trying to help him. MTD did the same thing with Tecumseh on their White product line last year giving us a White Outdoor"engine and a 3 year warranty.......

EEErrrrr..........no comment.:crazy:


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## leolav (Sep 16, 2003)

MY neighbor swears by his Murray. He takes great care of it though. Joe Homeowner wouldn't take care of it like this guy does thats for sure. They are cheap, easy to use and readily available. Makes for alot of bad press when some moron doesn't take care of it at all.


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## saxbel (Mar 8, 2012)

Hi all, I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd add this little tidbit. Murray, apparently in business again, is manufacturing tractors for such brands as Yard-Man (Walmart) and recently, Stanley. Take it another step and you find out all the part numbers are MTD numbers. That's because MTD bought out Murray. They use the Briggs and Stratton PowerBuilt engines, which are the entry-level line of motors from B&S. The 46" deck is identical to its MTD counterpart as is the accessory bagger, also made by MTD.


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## BBY_Murray (Jun 14, 2011)

saxbel said:


> Hi all, I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd add this little tidbit. Murray, apparently in business again, is manufacturing tractors for such brands as Yard-Man (Walmart) and recently, Stanley. Take it another step and you find out all the part numbers are MTD numbers. That's because MTD bought out Murray. They use the Briggs and Stratton PowerBuilt engines, which are the entry-level line of motors from B&S. The 46" deck is identical to its MTD counterpart as is the accessory bagger, also made by MTD.


Murray has been owned by Briggs and Stratton since August of 2005. Since the acquisition the Murray name has been affixed to AYP/Husqvarna Outdoor Power in South America and now on three MTD built lawn tractors and several walk behinds. Modern Tool and Die DOES NOT own Murray nor the Murray name. The "Murray" tractors being sold at Wally World are MTD built machines that have been in production for at least 2 seasons now and sold as Yard Machines and Huskee for TSC, and probably other badging for retailer accounts. Whether they are leasing the Murray name or have been giving permission outright by Briggs to use it in exchange for engine purchases I don't know. 

It seems the reasoning behind these tractors being labeled Murrays may be an attempt to appease MTD, who now uses Chinese power plants in most if not all of their entry level equipment, including their tillers and snow removal equipment. MTD knows that a Murray label will move product, and I'm willing to bet Briggs cut them a sweet deal on those B&S power plants......

Murray as it existed pre 2005 is gone. The offices in Nashville are closed, and the plant in Lawrenceburg Tennessee is shut down. The only remnants of a Murray design still in use today is a deck being utilized on two Snapper models and also on a entry level Simplicity based machine in England, and probably other European countries. Briggs will do the same thing to the Murray name that MTD did to Bolens, put it on sub standard equipment to fool the public that they are getting something tried and true and eventually run it into the ground.

As far as the Stanley line of tractors, they were produced well over a decade ago. The most common Stanley sold was the Garden Tractor, which essentially was just a 500 Series Murray Widebody GT painted yellow instead of red. Identical in every way. I believe the Stanley contract may have only been a 2 year run, again, not sure on that one.

There is more to the story, but this is the jist of it. Unfortunately Murray has been reduced to a name on a sticker, and it is essentially impossible for them to be in business again as a true stand alone entity as they were, let alone have the ability to manufacture equipment. Everything physical and intellectual that was Murray has been dissolved.


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## saxbel (Mar 8, 2012)

Thanks for the thorough information on Murray. I may get a little off-track here, but I'll throw out a few other thoughts.

I believe there are a number of snow blowers, under the MTD and Craftsman names as well as other brands (mostly under the MTD umbrella), that were originally Murray/Noma designs. I had thought that either Briggs or MTD was producing them in the former Murray plant, but I guess that's impossible. So maybe Briggs (or MTD?) took the assembly equipment and kept on manufacturing them elsewhere.

I'm not sure how this all played out, but MTD definitely has equipment and components (e.g., their widely-used CVT transmission) that originally came from Murray. There's so much intermixing of parts and units under the MTD name that it's kind of hard to decipher exactly what you're buying now at the local Sears, Lowe's, etc. I was surprised to see an actual leftover 2011 Murray-labeled snow blower at my local Home Depot at the beginning of this past 2012 winter season, which up here in the east (Boston) has been among the mildest in history. I even saw a used John Deere snow blower (not sure what year, but more than 5 years old) that was identical to the Murray counterpart except for paint!

All in all, I find that American Yard Products draws from a more consistent "parts bin" in its lawn and yard tractors, which generally appear under the Husqvarna, Poulan Pro, Ariens, McCulloch, and Craftsman names (the latter now only for the YT and certain GT series). It seems that what's really happening, or happened, is an enormous consolidation under only a handful (maybe 2) of major manufacturers. The few exceptions, at least for lawn equipment, now seem to be John Deere, Simplicity, and Snapper. Even Toro and Cub Cadet are made by MTD!

Let me add one last small anecdote: I admired the seemingly pricey (at about $3,000) Snapper tractors, in particular a V-Twin, large deck model, that Sears was selling last spring (2011). Not long ago I was on their site and saw the machine was reduced by about 50% (to roughly $1500) and I concluded that Sears was discontinuing carrying the Snappers. I was not able to get one. But, to my utter surprise, for 2012 Sears just introduced "their" new CTX9000 46", CTX9500 52", and CTX9500 54" garden tractors, which are nearly identical to the Snapper I wanted. These have the remarkable prices of $4,000, $5,500, and $6,500 respectively, give or take a penny! I knew that these machines were much more substantial but I never imagined Sears would bring them into their line-up at such inflated prices, especially compared to when they stocked them as Snappers!

So it all goes to show you that when you're buying, you've got to know what it is you're buying, who makes it, and more importantly what the actual quality of the equipment is. I sure wish I'd bought that "closeout" Snapper I wanted.



BBY_Murray said:


> Murray has been owned by Briggs and Stratton since August of 2005. Since the acquisition the Murray name has been affixed to AYP/Husqvarna Outdoor Power in South America and now on three MTD built lawn tractors and several walk behinds. Modern Tool and Die DOES NOT own Murray nor the Murray name. The "Murray" tractors being sold at Wally World are MTD built machines that have been in production for at least 2 seasons now and sold as Yard Machines and Huskee for TSC, and probably other badging for retailer accounts. Whether they are leasing the Murray name or have been giving permission outright by Briggs to use it in exchange for engine purchases I don't know.
> 
> It seems the reasoning behind these tractors being labeled Murrays may be an attempt to appease MTD, who now uses Chinese power plants in most if not all of their entry level equipment, including their tillers and snow removal equipment. MTD knows that a Murray label will move product, and I'm willing to bet Briggs cut them a sweet deal on those B&S power plants......
> 
> ...


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## markfnc (Sep 16, 2003)

Didn't Briggs get Murray in the bankruptcy of Murray since Murray owed Briggs so much money?


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