Last month, Legendary Hydraulic Valves LLC, a newly launched U.S. company specializing in cartridge valves and hydraulic manifolds, appointed industry veteran Larry Rowe as President.
Larry Rowe has been appointed president of the new Legendary Hydraulic Valves.
Headquartered in Tustin, California, Legendary Hydraulic Valves (LHV) was founded by George King, the owner of KTI Hydraulics Inc., a long-time manufacturer of dc and ac hydraulic power units. LHV will offer a complete range of cartridge valve solutions and custom manifolds for industrial and mobile hydraulic applications. With a focus on domestic stock availability, engineering support, and responsive service, the company aims to become a trusted supplier for OEMs, integrators, and distributors across the United States and Canada.
Rowe reports to Bill Crossen, CEO of KTI Hydraulics Inc. Crossen also serves as CEO of Legendary Hydraulic Valves. Together, they plan to lead expand into the North American fluid power market. Rowe brings more than three decades of leadership experience in the hydraulic valve industry, beginning his career at Vickers and advancing through key executive roles at Modular Controls, Delta Power, and most recently, Sun Hydraulics.
2/2 way position normally closed size 8 common cavity valve from Legendary Hydraulic Valves
“Larry brings deep technical expertise, respected leadership, and an unwavering commitment to customer success —exactly what we need as we launch this new venture,” said Crossen. “His deep expertise in global sales, distribution strategy, and cartridge valve technology makes him uniquely qualified to lead Legendary Hydraulic Valves. Larry’s proven ability to scale organizations and build world-class teams will be instrumental as the company enters the market with a strong foundation and clear vision.”
LHV was founded out of the vision of George King and his late partner, Bob Habermann. Haberman was instrumental in designing some of the original cartridge valves used by companies like Delta Power and later brought that technology to KTI, said Crossen. For more than 25 years, KTI has designed and subcontracted valve manufacturing.
Legendary Hydraulic Valves will operate from KTI Hydraulics’ headquarters, with room to grow in its updated space.
“George and Bob had always wanted to start a dedicated valve company, and now we have found a niche. We see a lot of companies that can’t deliver, and we think we could come up with a good value proposition,” Crossen said. “We decided we can do this, but we have find the right guy to lead it. I was fortunate enough that Larry was available with his long expertise in the industry.”
Rowe added, “When you look at Legendary Hydraulics’ value proposition, it’s going to be a value play. It’ll be a quality product for a decent price, with good service and good delivery. We’re focusing on basically common cavity in high volumes, and smaller manifolds that are populated with very few cartridges.”
With KTI’s expertise in global sourcing and logistics, and its proven import/export infrastructure (handling six to eight containers weekly), the foundation for LHV was clear.
Legendary Hydraulic Valves will rely on KTI’s extensive global network. Here, Bill Crossen, CEO of both KTI and LHV, stands in front of the company’s China plant.
KTI, led by King, has grown supported by significant investments in facilities and automation. In April of last year, KTI opened a new $35 million facility in Tustin, California, equipped with advanced robotic automation and a Mitsubishi automation project to drive efficiency. This facility will also support LHV with assembly and testing operations, Crossen said.
The initial focus is on North America, where the company is establishing distribution partnerships and pursuing mid-sized OEMs looking for reliable, high-volume valve solutions. At the same time, LHV has a global strategy, leveraging KTI’s facilities and logistics network.
LHV offers load holding valves in a wide verity of industry cavities.
“We’re going to look at getting real strong trading partners for this using my background. We’re also going to be utilizing the KTI customer base and working with those people to add on and bolt on more product of what KTI sells to them today,” Rowe concluded. “We’re going after mid-size OEMs in North America that are looking for a value play and in small manifolds at high volume. There’s not a lot of people that can do that today in higher volumes with automation.”
Visit lhvalves.com and ktihydraulicsinc.com for more details.
Filed Under: Components, Industry News, News, Valves & Manifolds
