The Equal-i-zer® has kept on-road towers safe for 75 years and is the oldest sway control hitch in America. Though it has been a patented product for more than 50 years, the Equal-i-zer’s company, Progress Mfg. Inc., has undergone several name adjustments and changes in ownership.
Ed Hedgepeth started tinkering with tow dollies in 1945, selling his products to travel trailer owners in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1951, Hedgepeth received the patent for his first product, the Equal-i-zer, and he officially started Mobile Manufacturing. As Equal-i-zer sales doubled every year from 1965 to 1968, Hedgepeth created the Equal-i-zer Sales Corporation division to oversee growth.
That all changed with the 1973 and 1979 oil embargoes that reshaped the travel trailer and RV industries. In 1980, Hedgepeth sold Mobile Manufacturing to a local land developer, though he maintained company ownership until 1983. The following year, new investors moved the company 36 miles away to Lindon, Utah, renaming it Lindon Hitch. One investor, Bob Patch, owned Majestic Metals, where he allowed Lindon Hitch to manufacture the Equal-i-zer in his factory’s back room.
After surviving in Majestic Metals for 8 years with a few employees working in their free time, Jed Anderson began the company’s return to success. A nephew of the most-recent owner, Anderson graduated college in 1994 and was ready to turn the company around. He hired Rich Elliott in 1996 to keep the books and start a marketing team, Kenny Mauerman in 1997 to lead manufacturing and Josh Binks in 2000 to implement a better accounting system.
A year after Binks was hired, he and Anderson, Elliott and Mauerman made an offer to buy Lindon Hitch. Weeks later, they closed the deal and celebrated by working, still in Majestic Metals’ back room. On the company’s 20th anniversary, they moved to Provo, Utah, and became Progress Mfg. Inc.
Once Equal-i-zer established itself locally and could start growing into different markets, Progress Mfg. Inc. started its Fastway Trailer Products division to create easier experiences for RVers, boaters, ATVers, farmers and those who work in construction. Fastway’s No. 1 product is the e2 Hitch, though the Equal-i-zer remains the company’s best seller.
Progress Mfg. Inc. is still run by President and CEO Jed Anderson, along with Elliott, Mauerman and Binks, all of whom are trailer owners and avid towers. Trailer Life Magazine readers have voted the Equal-i-zer as America’s Favorite Hitch since 2012.
