page_title: M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc.
section_title: From Incorporation to Diversification: 1950-1999
hierarchical_section_title: M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc. / History / From Incorporation to Diversification: 1950-1999
caption_attribution_description: English: American crane delivery to M.D. Moody &amp; Sons in 1957. The image was taken by Max Moody Jr. who died in 1987 and with permission of his son deemed this photo and all other photos in relation to M.D. Moody in the public domain.
context_page_description: M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc. was a privately owned construction equipment distributor and heavy machinery service company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The firm was established in 1913 by Maxey Dell Moody who wanted to serve the needs of road construction businesses by distributing construction equipment. In 1946 the firm was incorporated to M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc. and by 1980 under Maxey Dell Moody, Jr. diversified into the Moody companies Moody Truck Center, Moody Light Equipment Rental, Moody Machinery Corporation, Moody Fabrication & Machine, Dell Marine, and MOBRO Marine, Inc. In 2009 M. D. Moody was forced to file for Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code bankruptcy and became defunct in 2013. As of 2020 the three Moody companies still in operation are MOBRO Marine, Inc., Dell Marine and Dell Marine Tug and Barge.
  M. D. Moody once stood as the oldest family owned construction equipment distributor in the United States, the oldest road equipment company in Florida and at one time the largest American Crane dealer in the world. It was at one time one of the few companies between South Florida and New Jersey that rented barges.
context_section_description: At the turn of 1950 the firm needed a new location because of its small location and expanding success. The headquarters of M. D. Moody was then moved from Downtown Jacksonville to Philips Highway. With a strong footing in the construction business the firm expanded out of Jacksonville to Tampa in 1955 with Muller Moody as the branch manager. Two more branches were established in Pompano in 1972 and Fort Myers in 1988.
  By 1960 M. D. Moody began to diversify its assets to form other subsidiaries in relation to heavy construction equipment. In 1962 Max Moody Jr. and his brother Muller Moody founded Moody Brothers of Jacksonville to handle the marine business and rental of large construction equipment located in Green Cove Springs, Florida. The name Moody Brothers correlates to the title of & Sons of M. D. Moody. Moody Machinery Corp. was established in Fairburn, Georgia to handle the sales and service of M. D. Moody's construction equipment in the Georgia region.
  In 1983 the Moody Truck Center was formed with the REO Truck line in order to serve the trucking industry. Max Moody Jr.'s son Mike Moody became the President of the Moody Truck Center until its demise in 1996. By the 1980s, M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc. had acquired over 150 cranes of all types such as crawler cranes and rough terrain cranes. The most notable crane equipment sold by the firm was American Hoist & Derrick, Badger, CDS, Furukawa, Trojan, Terex, Koehring, and Kato. In the mid-1980s M. D. Moody & Sons, Inc. and its subsidiaries were employing over 200 people. Operations of M. D. Moody branched out internationally to Cuba, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Japan. M. D. Moody also provided equipment for construction of Epcot in 1981 and the Walt Disney World Swan in 1990.
  Maxey Dell Moody III succeeded his father as president when Max Moody Jr. died in 1987. Mrs. Max Moody Jr. remained as chairman of the board until her death in 2004. Boyd Moody, the second son of Max Moody Jr., became vice president until 2011. M. D. Moody under the third generation of Moodys continued to diversify further with the subsidiaries Moody Light Equipment Rental and Southeast Crane Parts along with acquisitions of the Bellinger Shipyard, a Sea Ray dealership and at one point a local marina in Jacksonville called Arlington Marina. In 1992 Moody Brothers of Jacksonville became a corporate spin-off of M. D. Moody and was renamed MOBRO Marine, Inc. Moody Fabrication & Machine, Inc. was formed in 1994 to manufacture heavy machinery parts. 
  In February 1995 M. D. Moody acquired a shipyard called the Bellinger Shipyard on the Intracoastal Waterway for $1.9 million. Moody Fabrication & Machine and MOBRO Marine, Inc. operated out of the Bellinger Shipyard working on heavy industrial vessels. In January 1996 M. D. Moody provided cranes for the construction of the Amalie Arena.
caption: American Hoist & Derrick prepping to be delivered at M. D. Moody & Sons in 1957.
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