Tough Country had its beginnings in the early 1980’s. Back then, the products were not known as “Tough Country Products†as they are today, they were only known to be the bumpers from Mark’s Machine Co., Inc. Mark Pratka had identified the need to have bumpers for the front and rear of his personal and company trucks that would allow the trucks to become tools of the trade, as well as to protect the trucks and employees during many harsh miles. In the early 1990’s, Brent Pratka—Mark’s oldest son, took his father’s idea and added the concept of style to the workhorse bumpers. Adding style to the superior quality and durability of these bumpers opened the market and gave birth to Tough Country. In the late 1990’s, the first salesman for the new Tough Country was Brent and his truck. Traveling the countryside during and following his years at Texas A&M in College Station, he began building a dealer network that totals over 400 accounts today. The Tough Country name was established in 1998 and the product line featured front and rear replacement bumpers for Dodge trucks. Since then, the Tough Country parts list has grown to include Ford, Dodge, General Motors, Toyota, Nissan, Jeep, and the Hummer H2. This list has grown to include five styles of front replacement bumpers, four styles of rear bumpers, three styles of running boards/nerf bars, two styles of headache racks, one style of roof rack, and one style of brushguard. The manufacturing crew for Tough Country has grown from one man to well over 30. In 2001, Mark’s Machine and Tough Country completed a building expansion that allowed each and every aspect of the manufacturing process to be under company care and control. During the same year, Tough Country also expanded it’s operations to include all vehicle aftermarket accessories by opening a retail outlet in downtown El Campo. This has allowed Tough Country to become an industry leader not only in quality and style, but also in service.www.ToughCountry.com..
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