In 1965, Delbert 'Bus' Brown designed and built the first Tommy Lift hydraulic liftgate in his machine shop in Woodbine, Iowa. Named after his son, the Tommy Lift original hydraulic liftgate was designed to help move heavy loads into and out of pickup trucks.

Still in Woodbine after 40 years, Tommy Gate Company has a newly-expanded 150,000 square foot factory with a state-of-the-art production system that manufactures today's finest liftgates.