How to Decode MTD Model Numbers

It is important to locate your model number on an MTD product in order to secure the correct parts when you need them. MTD manufactures a full line of lawn and garden products for homeowners. Older model serial numbers have six or seven characters and current models have 11 characters. MTD Products describes a character as a number, a letter or a dash.

Observe your MTD product to find the model and serial number sticker or plate. It is about 2 inches by 3 inches in size.

Look on the rear deck of a walk-behind mower and the rear frame on a chipper-shredder or edger. Lift up the seat on a riding mower and look under it. Tillers and cultivators have the plate on the engine housing above the tines.

Observe the plastic area near the recoil starter on a leaf blower. The leaf blower sticker is smaller than other products.

Read the first character of the model number. The number 1 is a general category of lawn mowers of all types.

Look at the second character, which will represent the type of mower or accessory. The number 1 is a push mower, 2 is a self-propelled mower, 3 is a lawn tractor, 4 is a garden tractor, 5 is a reel mower, 8 is an electric mower and 9 is an accessory for a lawn mower.

Read the third character to decode the year your product was manufactured. A zero indicates a year that ends in a zero. A 1 is a year ending in a 1, and so on through all of the numbers in this position. Read the last characters in the model number for the decade of manufacturing. If there is no letter at the end, it is between 1964 and 1973, an A is 1979 to 1983 and 000 is 1984 to present.

Write down the digits after the dash and before the letter on the end, if your model has one. This is your model number of your product that is needed for parts ordering.

Observe the first two characters of the model number. These are the product category of your tool and are as follows: Walk-behind mowers are 11, self-propelled mowers are 12, lawn tractors are 13, garden tractors are 14, residential zero-turn mowers are 17, electric mowers are 18, garden tillers are 21, log splitters and chipper-shredders are 24, edgers are 25, handheld products are a 41 or 42 and any number in the 50s is a commercial product. Mower attachments have a product category number of 19.

Look at the next four characters to determine the manufacture date. The first character of the four is a letter of the alphabet and corresponds to the month. The character A is January, B is February and so forth, with L being December. The next two characters are the day, and the last of the four characters is the year. A zero can be 2000 or 2010 for the year.

Write down the remaining characters to order parts by the model number.