Snapper Lawn Mowers
On November 1, 1894, in Georgia, Isaac Boyd incorporated Southern Saw Works. Between 1894 and 1949, the company produced circular saws for Georgia's growing lumber trade. It catered to the need and thrived. The post war period saw changes everywhere. In Georgia, the lumber industry was on the decline. The then owner, William R. Smith, read the signs and decided to change the company's product to something considerably more viable. A sharp and observant businessman, he noted the increased growth in lawns and saw the upcoming need for lawn services. Without hesitation, he switched the focus to a new one and Snapper was born.
Smith's first purchase was a patent. It was for a rotary mower, in fact, one of the first rotary motors, at that time, in production in Florida. The "Snappin' Turtle" rolled off the line in East Point, Georgia, in January 1951. There were only 16 of them, but the demand grew. At the end of January 1951, Southern Saw had produced and shipped 3,975 "Snappin' Turtles" to various cities and distributors across the United States. Today, you can see some of these early Snapper models when you visit the Atlanta History Museum in Georgia or if you go to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Smith had read his market correctly. Lawns were becoming an obsession with the North American public in the 1950s. The post war boom created suburban dotted with large swathes of grass. Thanks to Scotts and Abraham Levitt, people sought the solution to a "perfect" and perfectly cut lawn. Snapper's Snappin' Turtle was the ideal solution for the time.
The Snappin' Turtle was a walk-behind, rotary engine mower. It seemed a much easier solution to cutting the larger suburban lawns than push reel mowers. Moreover, although power reel mowers were around, they were more expensive, difficult to manoeuvre, heavy to push andvery dangerous. There was little attention paid to guarding the blades from feet and toes.
In contrast, the Snappin' Turtle was a dream to push. It self-propelled its way across lawns. Compared to the reel competition, the Snappin' turtle was light and safe. It came with a covered blade to protect the operators. Improved technology was obvious in the construction. The materials were lighter, less expensive and more durable. Eventually, rotary mowers, with the Snappin' Turtle leading the charge, replaced reel mowers.
The result for Southern Saw was a shift in product emphasis. As the need for mowers increased, the need for saws decreased. It made good business sense to replace saws with mowers. The East Point Plant was soon producing nothing but Snappin' Turtles. The demand was so great that, by 1954, it had outgrown the plant and a move was inevitable.
The upshot was a merger between McDonough Foundry and Machine Works, located in Henry County and Southern Saw. The new company took the name of McDonough Power Equipment. The focus was now on rotary mowers including accessories. The result was innovation after innovation. The company shone, in particular, in the areas of deck design, transmission development and safety improvements. Over the years, the company registered 44 separate patents in these areas.
The next step was a natural one - a riding mower to cover even larger areas of lawn and decrease the time needed in upkeep. This riding mower, however, had a rear engine. Although lawn tractors were available at the time, the McDonough Power Equipment's version was smaller and less expensive. The rear-end motor allowed unobscured vision of the task-at-hand. The company called this machine the Comet. It became an instant hit. The company, like a comet, was on the rise.
The Comet lead to the company's acquisition by another Georgia based company - Atlanta's Fuqua Industries in 1967. Snapper now had another production facility in Texas and greater resources to fund its research and development. The company began to produce lawn tractors (1982) and snowthrowers and tillers (1983). The major change, however, was the name. In 1982, the company officially became Snapper Power Equipment.
The race was on. By 1987, Snapper was producing commercial garden and lawn equipment. Then came the downturn in the 1990s. Snapper fought back with innovation after innovation, including hydrostatic engines for both tractor and riding mowers and a mulching system known as Ninja. Again, the company was bought out - purchased by Metromedia International.
Snapper continued to build on its reputation for innovation introducing the rear-engine riding mower, the Cruiser, in 1997. It had zero-turn radius, a comfortable ride and a single-hand, joystick steering mechanism. This was not to be the end of Snapper's innovative technological advancements. It was, also, not the end of their ownership changes.
On October 25, 2002, Simplicity, also a lawn and garden manufacturer, bought Snapper. Simplicity and all its companies, in turn, were purchased on July 4, 2004 by Briggs & Stratton. Today, Snapper continues to produce a fine line of easily maintained, affordable, innovative and high performance lawn mowers and tractors
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