Anyone heard of "DR" snowblowers?

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My work just got in the new line of snowblowers we are carrying, changed from carrying several kinds of Husky blowers...



These were "DR Snow Throwers," I put together a 24", 28" and 30"... seemingly sold/distributed by Generac by the packing info.. oddly enough they came to me rather "un-assembled" (different from the Poulan/Husqvarnas I've dealt with before) down to only having the engine/frame/auger together, leaving me to put in all the shifting linkages, shifting lever mechanisms, run all the cables, etc, not a big deal, but kind of odd from what I'm used to.



They seem really chintzy as compared to even the value priced Ariens and Huskys, Cheap, likely poor quality, 100% Chinese made. Anyone heard of these or had any experience with them? Very little info online outside of the manufacturer site.
 
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DR used to be a serious name in backyard chippers. If they're China made and cheesy, I would look to see who their parent company is, which from the sounds of it would be MTD, who is the leader in the production of Walletlightenine Chinesium, and has swallowed up the lion's share of consumer brands of lawn and garden equipment.
 
Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "DR" is / was a spin off of the old "Troy Bilt" name. Many years back, (60's and 70's), Troy Bilt was made here, and was associated with very high quality. Their older rear tine tilling machines were some of the best available. And they didn't come cheap. But they were assembled from very heavy, high quality, precision machined cast iron castings.

Then, as with most good things, they got cheaper and chintzier as time marched on. A lot of the milled cast iron components were replaced with die cast Aluminum, and stamped sheet metal. Around the same time is when the "DR" name came out attached to them. It started with a bunch of big, heavy, brush cutting mowers. The type that were used to mow vacant lots and such.

They advertised them by showing some big guy wrestling with them, cutting down small saplings and trees. Around this same time the Troy Bilt name got more or less separated from them. And everything got even cheaper and flimsier. About this same time "DR" also came out with a bunch of other products like leaf vacuums, wood chippers, and log splitters. I don't know when they started to get made in the Pacific Rim. But whenever that occurred, I'm sure it didn't improve on the quality the original Made In America, Troy Bilt name was known for in the 60's.
 
Originally Posted by billt460
Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "DR" is / was a spin off of the old "Troy Bilt" name. Many years back, (60's and 70's), Troy Bilt was made here, and was associated with very high quality. Their older rear tine tilling machines were some of the best available. And they didn't come cheap. But they were assembled from very heavy, high quality, precision machined cast iron castings.

Then, as with most good things, they got cheaper and chintzier as time marched on. A lot of the milled cast iron components were replaced with die cast Aluminum, and stamped sheet metal. Around the same time is when the "DR" name came out attached to them. It started with a bunch of big, heavy, brush cutting mowers. The type that were used to mow vacant lots and such.

They advertised them by showing some big guy wrestling with them, cutting down small saplings and trees. Around this same time the Troy Bilt name got more or less separated from them. And everything got even cheaper and flimsier. About this same time "DR" also came out with a bunch of other products like leaf vacuums, wood chippers, and log splitters. I don't know when they started to get made in the Pacific Rim. But whenever that occurred, I'm sure it didn't improve on the quality the original Made In America, Troy Bilt name was known for in the 60's.



I remember those commercials. The guy would wipe out brush etc. like crazy.
 
I was never impressed with DR. Their chippers were alright, the mowers were way over priced for what they were. Essentially a cheap snowblower frame with a belt drive mower deck attached to it at Gravely walk-behind prices. If you wanted an engine with full pressure lubrication so you could mow hillsides that was another couple of grand. A customer of mine had one and bought the snow blower attachment. I know it was a few bucks, and he used it once, since it was a single stage and didn't work very well.
 
A little online reasearch shows the parent company, Country Home Products, was bought by Generac in 2015.
Dont see where they were ever affiliated with Troy Built, which has been an MTD brand since the 1990's.
 
Originally Posted by billt460
Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "DR" is / was a spin off of the old "Troy Bilt" name. Many years back, (60's and 70's), Troy Bilt was made here, and was associated with very high quality. Their older rear tine tilling machines were some of the best available. And they didn't come cheap. But they were assembled from very heavy, high quality, precision machined cast iron castings.

Then, as with most good things, they got cheaper and chintzier as time marched on. A lot of the milled cast iron components were replaced with die cast Aluminum, and stamped sheet metal. Around the same time is when the "DR" name came out attached to them. It started with a bunch of big, heavy, brush cutting mowers. The type that were used to mow vacant lots and such.

They advertised them by showing some big guy wrestling with them, cutting down small saplings and trees. Around this same time the Troy Bilt name got more or less separated from them. And everything got even cheaper and flimsier. About this same time "DR" also came out with a bunch of other products like leaf vacuums, wood chippers, and log splitters. I don't know when they started to get made in the Pacific Rim. But whenever that occurred, I'm sure it didn't improve on the quality the original Made In America, Troy Bilt name was known for in the 60's.


I believe in the era of high-quality Troy Bilt tillers they were made by Garden Way. I have a "pony" model from the early 90's that is built like you describe. About 10 years ago a neighbor bought a Troy Bilt mower which looked to be very MTD-like.
 
Originally Posted by PantherFan88


They seem really chintzy as compared to even the value priced Ariens and Huskys, Cheap, likely poor quality, 100% Chinese made. Anyone heard of these or had any experience with them? Very little info online outside of the manufacturer site.


Does the entire machine come from China?

I think the last completely Chinese made no-name larger 2-stage snowblower I saw was sold at PepBoys and this is going back a good 8+ years. I haven't seen any that weren't MTD, Murray(Briggs) or Husqvarna group built since. All of those, regardless of quality level are built in the US with imported engines. Some may have US made Briggs engines on them.
 
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Originally Posted by Touring5
......I believe in the era of high-quality Troy Bilt tillers they were made by Garden Way. I have a "pony" model from the early 90's that is built like you describe. About 10 years ago a neighbor bought a Troy Bilt mower which looked to be very MTD-like.

Yes, that's the name I couldn't remember. Garden Way. The Troy Bilt tillers made by them were very well made machines. So much so that there are several videos on You Tube showing complete restorations of them. Right down to new stickers, decals, and tines.

Many of these guys turn these decades old machines into all but like new condition. It's really nice to see. Especially when compared to the flimsy construction of the newer models that are now selling for as much as $2,600.00 dollars. It's a classic case of how, "they no longer make them like they used to".

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Troy-Bi...ith-One-Hand-Operation-Big-Red/307415678
 
Garden way for sure made a variety of nice OPE.

I have a neighbor who rocks a late 1990's Troy-Bilt garden tractor year-round for mowing and snowblowing duty. I think late 1990's was about the last of the Garden Way built Troy-bilt riding mowers?

Anyway, this garden tractor has a Kohler command V-twin, power steering, hydraulic everything and sauer sundstrand hydro drive. He paid like $8000 for the setup back then! I guess they didn't sell enough of them to build iron beasts AND stay profitable.
 
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