Tow and Blow

What Tow and Blow does

Tow and Blow (legally Tow and Blow 2017 Ltd, operating as TBX) is a New Zealand-based machinery manufacturer specializing in frost protection wind machines for horticulture. The company designs, manufactures, and sells both portable frost fans (the Tow and Blow series, with 250h and 650h models) and fixed frost fans (the Sentry 800), as well as the Titan 660 industrial fan for non-horticultural ventilation applications. The underlying technology circulates air to prevent frost formation on crops during cold conditions, with portability cited as the core differentiator for the Tow and Blow line.

TBX targets commercial growers across a broad set of crop verticals in New Zealand and Australia, including apple and stone fruit orchards (primary), citrus, avocado, cherry, kiwifruit, blueberries, and vineyards. The company also offers certified preowned 250h and 650h units to serve smaller and more budget-constrained growers. Revenue mechanics are entirely hardware-sales driven, with pricing handled through direct inquiry rather than publicly disclosed price lists, and a sales-led go-to-market executed via the company website and a single NZ phone contact.

The business is privately held with 11-50 employees, no disclosed institutional investors, and only a nominal 2019 Callaghan Innovation grant in the funding record. Distribution is direct-to-grower with no dealer network identified, and brand presence is built primarily through content marketing and customer testimonials rather than formal partnership or channel programs. The company is a focused, niche agricultural equipment specialist whose competitive position rests on portable fan design, domain specialization in frost protection, and regional brand recognition within New Zealand horticulture.

Name

Tow and Blow

Legal name

Tow and Blow 2017 Ltd

Website

https://towandblow.co.nz

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tow and Blow is a New Zealand manufacturer of portable and fixed frost protection wind machines, serving commercial orchardists, vineyard operators, and crop growers across New Zealand and Australia with hardware-based frost mitigation solutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Frost Protection Equipment

NAICS

Industrial and Commercial Fan and Blower and Air Purification Equipment Manufacturing (333413), Ventilation, Heating, Air-Conditioning, and Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing (33341)

SIC

Industrial & Commercial Fans & Blowers & Air Purifing Equip (3564)

akta.pro primary industry

Fans, Blowers & Ventilation Units (Supply/Exhaust/Inline) (IMADANAB)

Keywords

• Frost protection fans
• Portable frost fans
• Horticultural wind machines
• Agricultural frost control
• Orchard frost equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Hastings

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. New Frost Fan Sales: Sale of new portable frost fans (Tow and Blow series) and fixed frost fans (Sentry, Titan) directly to commercial growers and orchards.
2. Preowned Equipment Sales: Sale of preowned portable frost fans, including 250h and 650h model variants, providing more affordable options for smaller operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Tow and Blow (TBX) manufactures and sells frost protection wind machines for horticulture. The product line includes portable frost fans (Tow and Blow series, available in 250h and 650h variants), fixed frost fans (Sentry 800), and industrial fans (Titan 660). The fans circulate air to prevent frost formation on crops during cold conditions and are sold both as new and preowned units to commercial growers in New Zealand and Australia.

Product overview

TBX offers a portfolio of frost protection solutions centered around two core product lines: portable Tow & Blow frost fans and fixed Sentry frost fans, plus the Titan industrial fan series. The product range spans new equipment and preowned units (250h and 650h models), serving horticulture (tree crops including apple, stone fruit, citrus, avocado, cherry, kiwifruit; ground crops including blueberries; vine crops including vineyards) and industrial ventilation applications. The portfolio architecture provides flexibility through mobile portable units for seasonal or multi-site deployment, fixed permanent installations for continuous protection, and preowned options for budget-conscious buyers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tow and Blow: Portable frost protection fans for orchards and crops
• Sentry
• Titan

Products and services

• Tow & Blow Portable Frost Fan

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully protected orchards at temperatures as low as minus 3 degrees Celsius

Named customers2 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• John Deere (Deere & Company): Global leader in agricultural equipment with a strong specialty crop and orchard customer base. Indirectly comparable as a broad incumbent that could enter or absorb the horticulture frost-fan category that TBX operates in.
• AGCO / Fendt: Global agricultural equipment OEM with a broad specialty crop and tractor portfolio. Does not sell frost fans directly but represents the type of well-capitalized incumbent that could expand into TBX's niche through acquisition or new product development.

Emerging players

• NIPAN: Smaller, niche manufacturer of frost protection equipment with overlapping orchard and vineyard use cases. Comparable at a smaller scale and on a narrower set of crops than TBX.

Direct peers

• Agrofrost: European (Spanish) manufacturer of frost protection machines including wind machines and anti-frost boilers. Comparable product range to TBX serving fruit, vine, and berry growers across Europe and Latin America.
• Orchard-Rite: US-based manufacturer of Wind Machine frost protection fans for almonds, pistachios, citrus, stone fruit, and other high-value crops. A benchmark for the global frost-fan category TBX competes in.
• Turbair Ventilation Fans: UK-based manufacturer of large-format ventilation and frost-protection fans for agriculture and industry. Comparable air-movement technology and crop-frost use case as TBX.
• Amarillo Wind Machine: Established US manufacturer of large wind machines for frost protection in orchards, vineyards, and row crops. Competes head-to-head with TBX in the same product category.
• FROSTBOSS (FMR Group): Australia/NZ-based manufacturer of frost protection fans (including the F50 and F96) for orchards and vineyards. Closest direct competitor to TBX in the same geographies with overlapping product categories.

Others

• Hydralada: New Zealand manufacturer of elevated work platforms and orchard equipment, hosting TBX's blog (blog.hydralada.com/tbx). Adjacent horticulture equipment maker with a likely commercial relationship to TBX and shared NZ grower customer base.

Regional players

• Frost Fans Australia: Australian-based supplier of wind machines for frost protection in vineyards and orchards. Geographic neighbour to TBX with comparable product offering but different go-to-market structure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tow and Blow