Stories from Independent Farm Equipment Innovators
Hi manoj, In this episode of "How We Did It: Stories from Independent Farm Equipment Innovators," we hear from Bob Walker, chairman of Walker Manufacturing. In part 2 of this 2-part series, Walker shares stories of his humble beginnings, secrets to his success, and lessons learned over the past four decades in the industry. Watch it here >> After investing in a couple of rear engine riding mowers for their properties, Bob and his father quickly realized they made a mistake. “These mowers were not helping us," says Walker. “It was actually taking longer to mow the property and it didn’t look any nicer than it did before.” They talked about it for a while and decided they thought they could make a better machine than what was currently available on the market. Their family had a slogan “If you can’t buy it, build, and so we did”, says Walker. Their focus was on creating a compact, small machine with steering levels that would fit on a residential property, with a unique built-in grass catching system. Walker’s father used to tell him “don’t make things that are already available, make things that aren’t” — a mantra that guided their pursuits. After three prototypes, they were ready to test the market and attended their first farm show with their new mower. They received quite a bit of interest at the show and decided to go home and build 25 mowers. By the next year, they attended another farm show where an editor of Yard & Garden Magazine shared a photo of their mower in the new products section of their magazine. They were quickly receiving inquiries and orders from all around the country. “We didn’t just copy what someone else has done, we created our design to do the job that we had in mind for it and that was one of the key ideas that helped us get into the market,” says Walker. See more of the Walker Manufacturing story in the next episode of "How We Did It: Stories from Independent Farm Equipment Innovators." | | | Click on the image below to watch the episode: Walker Manufacturing — Part 2 | | | Farm Innovations • 16655 W. Wisconsin Ave, Brookfield, WI 53005
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