In the late 1970 s, John M. Bowling went to purchase a stump grinder for his tree service business. At that time, his choices were limited, and the manufacturing lead-time was almost one complete calendar year. Unable to wait for delivery, John designed his own stump cutter, incorporating similar features of the most widely accepted model. His design, which became known as the RG 145, developed a following in the local market, and John moved from owning a tree service company to manufacturer/entrepreneur. Not content with this current design, John wanted to manufacturer a unit that was more powerful, cut-wider, deeper, and with better tow ability. In 1978 he developed "the original RAYCO the RG 1635A, a unit whose boom mounted configuration differed his design from competition. This was a major innovation for the tow-behind market. By changing the design of these stump grinders, RAYCO was able to produce units that cut deeper, wider, and even towed better for travel. RAYCO introduced the next major innovation to occur in the stump cutter market by introducing the self-propelled stump grinder in 1985. These units were narrow enough to pass through a garden gate (36" or 94 cm) where tow-behinds could not access and were more powerful than handlebar units. During the last 10 years, one of the most important aspects for stump cutters has been the change of the cutting tools called Stump Cutter Teeth . Many major stump cutter manufacturers have their own stump cutter tooth design. RAYCO designed and patented the Super Tooth® and Monster Tooth. These teeth used engineering science to develop one of the best selling, safest, and most efficient teeth in the industry. John foresaw the growth potential of the compact track crawler market and introduced the C85D Mini Crawler Dozer. The product line continued to grow to include a loader, construction loader, and dedicated forestry mower. 2004/2005, RAYCO expanded their product offering to the aggressive market of brush chippers. Offering enhanced safety features and RAYCOs exceptional history of engineering success, this product launch has beenone of the most successful in company history. In 2011, RAYCO is proving to be a manufacturing and marketing force in the environmental, forestry, tree care and rental industries by continuing to invest in R&D for new, innovative product offerings. The future of RAYCO is a compound of the creativity, challenge and passion of its employees. This spirit will continue to be the driving force that insures RAYCO Manufacturing s presence in the 21st century.