Cub Cadet is an American company that prides itself on the motto “Built In America”. They produce a range of outdoor power equipment that includes lawn mowers, electric tools, utility vehicles, and snow blowers. They have an extensive range of snow blowers that are promoted on their website as “The best snow thrower on the market… engineered for the toughest jobs… rugged, reliable and fit for purpose”
Their snow blowers and parts for snow blowers can be bought on their website. Checking Walmart, it seems that you can get parts but not the actual snow blower. Home Depot sells the machines and parts.
But, who makes Cub Cadet snow blowers and where are Cub Cadet snowblowers made? After some research, you can read about what I found out.
Who Makes Cub Cadet Snow Blowers?
After doing some research, it appears that the Cub Cadet company has been acquired over the years by several different companies. An article I found, published by the New York Times, mentions that a company called MTD Products makes Cub Cadet snow blowers. MTD Products (Modern Tool and Die Company) according to Wikipedia is owned by Stanley Black & Decker. This is not unusual – a lot of the tool manufacturers seem to own several brands that operate in similar spaces.
I took a closer look to try and find out if different manufacturers produce the various components that are required to create a Cub Cadet snow blower, which threw up a few more names and nuggets of information.
For example, I specifically looked into who makes the engines for cub cadet snow blowers, as this is one of the main components and found that they generally have Kohler Engines.
Here is an in-depth article about Kohler and their collaboration with a Chinese manufacturer YinXiang Ltd. There is more on YinXiang Ltd website that explains –“in 2007, Yinxiang and one of Top 500 Global Corporations, America Kohler Co. jointly invested 100 million dollars and constituted Chongqing Kohler Yinxiang Co., Ltd”.
So it seems likely that it’s this company that produces the engines for Cub Cadet Snow Blowers.
After having a live chat with an operator on the Cub Cadet website, I was told that Cub Cadet also use Powermore® engines in their snow blowers. Powermore® engines fall under the MTD brand that I mentioned a little earlier.
Where Are Cub Cadet Snow Blowers Made?
According to their website, Cub Cadet equipment is proudly Built in America at their world-class manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Mississippi, and Tennessee. However, we know that “Built in” does not always mean “Made in”.
It appears that the engines fitted into Cub Cadet snow blowers are often Kohler engines made in China by the YinXiang Ltd company.
YinXiang Ltd is located at:
Chongqing Yinxiang Industrial Group Co., Ltd.
Address: No. 1226, Jinkai Road, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing
The actual snow blowers are designed and engineered in Valley City, Ohio, the headquarters of Cub Cadet. They pride themselves on employing hundreds of local employees in the USA to represent American pride and quality.
Apart from the engines, I did not find much info about where the other parts for the snow blowers are made.
When I spoke to the Live Chat on the Cub Cadet website I told that…
“We do source raw materials from all over the world, but most parts are produced here in the states”.
So, I think when trying to get to the bottom of whether Cub Cadet snow blowers are made in USA, it seems that “mostly” is the most we could say, given that we know some components (i.e. the engines) come from China.
History of Cub Cadet Snow Blowers
The company was originally called IH Cub Cadet and began production of tractors and lawn mowers in the 1960s. Their target market was rural homeowners with large gardens. Production was done at the Shed in Gloria Drive, Kentucky. After MTD acquired the company in 1981, many designs were retained and new products were added to the line-up.
This page on the Cub Cadet website has a very comprehensive and interesting year-by-year picture story of their products. If you enjoy nostalgic images, you should take a look!
