Garden Tool Manufacturers

If you're like me, you'd want to know about garden tool manufacturers before you buy any of their products. Of course they produce great tools but before I make an investment I'd like to know if it's worth it. What quality of tools do they produce? Are they safe to use and keep in a house with kids? Are their tools easy to use or will I be stuck with something I can never use?

The sheer number of garden tool manufacturers with products in the market makes this a very difficult task. But then again I don't intend to do research on all. Just enough research to find one that fits and then I stick to it. Occasionally I might hear of some other that interests me and then may look into it. But basically I'd stick to just a few. A few , because now most of them are now specializing in a group of tools and so you can't get all you want from the same manufacturer. Maybe the same shop, but not the same manufacturer.

How to find them

The simplest way to find garden tool manufacturers is to visit an online garden tool catalogue. You can find these at many online shopping malls like amazon.com and ebay. In these catalogues, the tools are arranged in groups according to price or manufacturer. When you get there, do your search. For example let's say you wanted to find out about lawn mower manufacturers. First of all visit ebay or amazon.com. In the search box type lawn mowers and click search. When the results are displayed, look for an option that says group by manufacturer and click on it. When you have the names you can easily do a search to find their website which contains most of the information you'd be looking for.

What you should look out for

Trusted brand names - There's a lot of history and experience behind any trusted brand name. When a brand name becomes popular over time, it’s a vote of confidence in that particular garden tool manufacturer and signifies customer satisfaction. Trusted brand names are popular. You see their name pop up every where you mention what they produce. For example if you did a search for lawn mowers on any online shop today, you will definitely find the name Toro and Murray coming up. They must be making people happy if they've continued in business while others went down. This is true most of the time.

What they specialize in - Find out their area of specialty. Garden tool manufacturers often specialize in a particular area. Murray for lawn mowers, Toro for watering systems and lawn care, Ames for non-powered garden tools, Scag for professional lawn care.... It's better get tools from those who specialize in producing it. Note that I've only mentioned big names here because everyone can identify with them, but there are some smaller garden tool manufacturers that specialize in making a group of tools and do a fantastic job at that. Everyone gets to hear of them over time.

Safety policy - It also helps to know how much attention these guys pay to safety. Garden tool manufacturers often state on their website what quality checks and tests each of their tools are subjected to.

Any product call backs - Manufacturers do a call back if a tool doesn't measure up to their expectation, or turns out to have some un-anticipated problems, or turns out to be unsafe to use. Everyone who bought a particular tool through the right channels would be asked to return the tool and get a refund or a substitution.

When a manufacturer does call backs, it usually shows that they are concerned about quality. However, if a particular manufacturer has too many call backs it's better to avoid using their tools. If mistakes become routine are they really mistakes or bad habits?

What other people have to say - This in many cases turns out to be the best source of information. Let someone who has had experience share some with you.

Customer support - Do they have means of providing customer support? Do they have a telephone help line, or online support? Will they be willing to offer training for sophisticated tools? In general, how far have they gone to make life easier for their customers?

Here are some brand names you might want to check out - Ryobi, Black and decker and Ames. For lawn mowers check out Murray, Toro .

These tips should help you make good decisions. For more tips visit our practical tips section.