Through the 2026 North American Equipment Dealer Assn. (NAEDA) Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey, dealers across North America were asked to rate the manufacturers they work with in areas including product quality, parts availability, communication, warranty, marketing, training and overall satisfaction. A total of 1,745 dealer responses were recorded.

The 2026 Dealer’s Choice Award for OPE manufacturers went to Grasshopper. Wright Manufacturing snagged the 2026 Gold Level Recipient Award for OPE. 

The 2026 Dealer’s Choice Award for tractor manufacturers went to Yanmar. TYM earned Gold Level Recipient Award, and the #1 spot for Overall Satisfaction in tractor manufacturers for the second consecutive year. 

What Dealers Value Most

In terms of the importance of each category to the dealers, the top 5 — Product Quality, Parts Availability, Parts Quality, Manufacturer Response to Dealer Needs/Concerns and Product Technical Support — remained the same since the 2024 report, and there were no changes from the 2025 report. 

The areas that dealers value most are:

• Product Quality: 94%
• Parts Availability: 94%
• Parts Quality: 93%
• Manufacturer Response to Dealer Needs/Concerns: 92%
• Product Technical Support: 92%
• Product Availability: 85%
• Warranty Payments: 87%
• Communication with Management: 85%
• Warranty Procedure: 84%
• Marketing & Advertising Support: 73%
• Return Privileges: 72%

Company by Company Results

Grasshopper had the highest mean score of all OPE manufacturers at 6.1. It also had the highest score in 7 categories (Overall Satisfaction, Product Quality, Parts Availability, Parts Quality, Manufacturer Response to Dealer Needs/Concerns, Product Technical Support and Product Availability). Wright Manufacturing had the highest score in 5 categories (Warranty Payments, Communication with Management, Warranty Procedure, Marketing & Advertising Support and Return Privileges).

In addition to its Gold Level award, Wright Manufacturing also had the second highest mean score at 6.07. 

Husqvarna had the worst scores in 11 categories, while Dewalt had the lowest in a single category. 

Distributor Blue Mountain Equipment led the way in the trending up percentages for 5 categories, including Overall Satisfaction, followed by Power Equipment Distribution with 2 categories. 

Dewalt was trending down the most in 6 categories including Overall Satisfaction, followed by Walker in 4 categories. 

The following are the manufacturers’ performance in each of the studied categories, in the order of what is important to dealers. 

The numerical scores are based on a scale of 1 (extremely dissatisfied) to 7 (extremely satisfied), while the trending data is expressed in percentage change.

Overall Satisfaction

• Highest: Grasshopper (6.21), Wright Mfg. (6.17),  Scag (6.05)
• Trending Up: Blue Mountain Equipment (9.90%), Ferris (8.27%), Billy Goat (5.19%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.22), Dewalt (4.86), Cub Cadet (5.05)

• Trending Down: Dewalt (-7.25%), Walker( -6.01%), Bad Boy (-3.09%)

1. Product Quality

• Highest: Grasshopper (6.38), Wright Mfg (6.35), ECHO (6.29)
• Trending Up: Blue Mountain Equipment (11.26%), Ferris (4.42%), Wright Mfg (3.25%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.52), Cub Cadet (5.14), Kohler (5.29)

• Trending Down: Walker (-6.60), Creader Distributing (-4.72%), Hustler (-4.65%) 

2. Parts Availability

• Highest: Grasshopper (6.27),  Wright Mfg (6.13), Scag (6.08)
• Trending Up: Blue Mountain Equipment (21.03%),  Husqvarna (9.58%), Ferris (6.61%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (3.89), Dewalt (4.41), Cub Cadet (5.12)
• Trending Down: Dewalt (16.32%), Walker (-6.98%), Crader Distributing (-5.42%)

3. Parts Quality

• Highest: Grasshopper (6.41), Wright Mfg (6.37), ECHO (6.24)
• Trending Up: Blue Mountain Equipment (17.68%), Briggs & Stratton (4.97%), Ferris (3.52%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.77), Dewalt (4.84), Cub Cadet (5.20)
• Trending Down: Dewalt (-13.88%), Crader Distributing (-8.35%), Dixie Chopper (-5.58%)

4. Manufacturer Response to Dealer Needs/Concerns

• Highest: Grasshopper (6.10), Wright Mfg (6.07), Scag (5.86)
• Trending Up: Wright Mfg (13.42%), Power Equipment Dist.(9.50%), Ferris (8.40%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.18), Dewalt (4.66), Cub Cadet (4.92) 
• Trending Down:  Walker (-12.10%), Dewalt (-10.17%), Dixie Chopper (-6.60%) 

5. Product Technical Support    

• Highest: Grasshopper (6.18),  Exmark (6.06), ECHO (6.01)
• Trending Up: Bad Boy (9.44%), Blue Mountain Equipment (8.74%), Toro (5.82%) 
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.30), Dewalt (4.57), Cub Cadet (4.85), 
• Trending Down: Dewalt (-12.28%), Walker (-6.75%), Hustler (-6.01%) 

6. Product Availability    

• Highest: Grasshopper (6.38), Wright Mfg (6.17), Scag (6.09)
• Trending Up: Ferris (9.13%), Blue Mountain Equipment (8.27%), STIHL (6.03%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (3.91), Toro (4.52), Dewalt (4.81)
• Trending Down: Toro (-13.08%), Walker (-11.89%), Bad Boy (-9.31%) 

7. Warranty Payments    

• Highest: Wright Mfg (5.96), Grasshopper (5.95), Power Equipment Dist. (5.88)
• Trending Up: Toro (10.16%), Blue Mountain Equipment (8.74%), Power Equipment Dist. (6.14%)
• Lowest: Dewalt (4.51), Husqvarna (4.60), Cub Cadet (4.95)
• Trending Down: Dewalt (-10.69%), Walker (-8.26%), Hustler (-3.56%)

8. Communication with Management    

• Highest: Wright Mfg (6.03), Grasshopper (6.02), Exmark (5.74) 
• Trending Up: STIHL (12.30%), Ferris (8.10%), Billy Goat (6.72%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (3.81), Dewalt (4.16), Cub Cadet (4.54)
• Trending Down:Dewalt (-14.05%), Dixie Chopper (-8.40%), Walker (-8.21%)

9. Warranty Procedure    

• Highest: Wright Mfg (5.97), Scag (5.88), Shindaiwa (5.85) 
• Trending Up: Blue Mountain Equipment (9.76%), Toro (7.69%), Power Equipment Dist. (7.35%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.35), Dewalt (4.62), Cub Cadet (4.86)
• Trending Down: Walker (-11.40%), Dewalt (-8.15%), Husqvarna (-5.43%)

10. Marketing & Advertising Support  

• Highest: Wright Mfg (5.97), Grasshopper (5.83), Bad Boy (5.78)
• Trending Up: Power Equipment Dist. (9.60%), Wright Mfg (8.74%), Billy Goat (8.26%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.06), Dixie Chopper (4.38), Gravely (4.61)
• Trending Down: Dixie Chopper (-13.95%), Crader Distributing (-12.31%), Walker (-9.88%)

11. Return Privileges 

• Highest: Wright Mfg (5.82), Grasshopper (5.76), Exmark (5.60)
• Trending Up: Power Equipment Dist. (8.02%), Billy Goat (7.33%), Wright Mfg (6.99%)
• Lowest: Husqvarna (4.18), Dewalt (4.57), Cub Cadet (4.67)
• Trending Down: Walker (-12.15%), Dewalt (-7.30%), Crader Distributing (-2.52%)

Small-Sized Tractor Performance

When examining the OEMs supplying the smaller power tractors, Yanmar took 9 first-place finishes and had the highest average mean score, TYM took 2 and Kioti took 1. 

Kioti had the lowest average mean score with 4.04, and both Kioti and Mahindra finished last in 6 categories.

Looking at a 3-year trend, TYM saw the largest improvement in its average mean score at +9.75%. Kioti, on the other hand, saw the largest drop at –25.09% over the last 3 years.

Grouped Analysis

The group analysis showed similar results. Yanmar had the best performance in all 3 categories (Product & Parts Availability, Product & Parts Quality and Administration).

In terms of the worst performance in the grouped analysis, Mahindra had the lowest result for availability and quality. Kioti was the lowest in administration.

LS Tractor  had the best improvement from 2025 to 2026 in all 3 categories. Mahinda and TYM were both down in 2 categories (Product & Parts Availability and Administrative Programs & Protocols). Mahindra is down 6.15% in availability and 3.52% in administration. TYM is down 7.76% in availability and -6.88% in administration. Yanmar is also down 5.55% in availability, and Kioti is down 6.73% in administration. 

As for OPE, Grasshopper had the highest score in all 3 categories, scoring 6.33 in availability, 6.4 in quality and 6.0 in administration. Scag had the second highest in availability (6.09) and administration (5.77), and ECHO had the second highest in quality (6.27). 

In terms of most improved from 2025 to 2026, Blue Mountain Equipment’s score improved the most at 14.50% for product & parts availability. Husqvarna’s score improved the most at 15.84% for product & parts quality, with Blue Mountain Equipment a close second at 15.2%. Toro saw the highest improvement in administration at 7.68%.