The founder of the MISTRA company, Milan Strašák, is developing the legacy of his father Vladimír with his business. The roots of the company go back to the First Republic, when Vladimír Strašák started his own business as a newly trained skilled craftsman. He quickly worked his way up from repairing agricultural machinery to developing and manufacturing his own equipment – Ajax forging hammers.

Despite the difficult periods of World War II and communist totalitarianism, it was possible to preserve and pass on all important knowledge and experience to future generations. Thanks to that, Vladimir`s descendants had a good foundation for rebuilding the company. The latter began to produce highly specialized engineering equipment, a number of models of which are patented.

It all started in 1937, when Vladimír Strašák founded his business right after his apprenticeship. At first he repaired farm implements and machinery, household appliances and bicycles. He also gradually added motorcycle and car repairs. Soon after, he began employing additional workers to handle the rapidly growing number of orders.

In addition to repairing machines, he also began to manufacture them. Many of his products were even protected by a patent. These were mainly the following products:

shears and sprayers for growing fruit trees
electric stoves, irons and washing machines for households
hand tools for workshops
braiding machines for electrical cables
Ajax forging hammers

The development of his business was dampened by World War II. Immediately after the war, however, he resumed his activities and was very successful at the fairs with the Ajax hammer. The reason was an advanced design solution protected by a patent.

Naturally, thanks to these successes, the company grew. The original production premises in the family house were no longer enough, so Vladimír Strašák built a very modern production plant on a green field for that time. The plant with the STRA brand was equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and tools. He received orders for approx. 1000 pieces of Ajax bumpers per year, on which 50 employees worked. In this number, however, it was difficult to meet the agreed orders, so further expansion of production was planned.

But the advent of the communist regime overturned these plans. The STRA production plant was nationalized and Vladimír Strašák was forced to work in coal mines. The nationalized plant gradually declined under foreign management.

After 1989, the Strašák family plunged into business again, but the buildings of the STRA plant were returned to them in a very poor condition. Despite the necessary high initial investment in equipment and the extensive reconstruction of the plant, the renewed STRA company began to prosper quickly. The reason for the rapid success was mainly the experience in the development of engineering equipment, process management and related administration, which Vladimír Strašák accumulated and passed on to his descendants.

Already in 1990, the STRA company was producing again. The main products were Bobr cable cutters, KAJMAN alligator shears in 6 sizes, Gekon belt sanders, groovers and small products such as drawing angles or needles. This meant an increase in turnover and the number of employees. After the death of the founder of the STRA company, Vladimír Strašák Sr., in 1999 there was a split in the management of the company. This culminated in the departure of his son Milan, who immediately founded the company MISTRA s.r.o. He bought the patent for alligator scissors from his old company and threw himself into the development of new equipment. MISTRA s.r.o. stabilized very quickly on the market and production was soon running at full speed. The company has included a number of completely new models in its offer: the BREAKER rail breaker, the EAGLE heel rope puller, the CONDOR hanging shears, the KAJMAN AUTOMATIC 300 and 700 alligator shears and then the KAJMAN AUTOMATIC GRAVITACNÍ 700, which are still in production today. The current version of the machine is capable of compressing and cutting a cleaned car body into small pieces. We currently deliver our products to customers in the country and abroad. The top quality of MISTRA equipment is praised by clients in Poland, France and Canada.

Rail Breaker