Our humble roots begin in 1946 as HH Products, a Milwaukee manufacturer of parts for outboard motors. That morphed into an agricultural and small-engine component parts supply company. Today, more than 6 decades later, we’re a multi-national business boasting world-class operations in North America, Europe and Asia. Hayes is a recognized global braking, steering and suspension systems supplier with core competencies at integrating components and technologies into systems, providing superior braking and electro, hydraulic and mechanical controllability for products in the Powersports, Agriculture, Construction, Military and Bicycle markets. Over 15 million HB integrated braking systems are currently functioning throughout the world in various applications. But throughout the years, our path has taken some interesting twists and turns.
In 1968, Kelsey-Hayes purchased the business, moved it to Mequon, WI and focused on non-automotive industrial brake components. Soon, the company was supplying brakes for all Harley-Davidson motorcycle platforms, most of Caterpillar’s wheel loaders as well as all Polaris snowmobiles.
In 1984, it was purchased by the Ohio based Brenlin Group who renamed the business Hayes Industrial Brakes. Through the late 80’s and early 90’s, the business experienced moderate growth and in the mid-90’s, our engineers created a hydraulic disc brake system for the mountain bicycle market revolutionizing this industry segment.
Our humble roots begin in 1946 as HH Products, a Milwaukee manufacturer of parts for outboard motors. That morphed into an agricultural and small-engine component parts supply company. Today, more than 6 decades later, we’re a multi-national business boasting world-class operations in North America, Europe and Asia. Hayes is a recognized global braking, steering and suspension systems supplier with core competencies at integrating components and technologies into systems, providing superior braking and electro, hydraulic and mechanical controllability for products in the Powersports, Agriculture, Construction, Military and Bicycle markets. Over 15 million HB integrated braking systems are currently functioning throughout the world in various applications. But throughout the years, our path has taken some interesting twists and turns.