Galion Iron Works

Galion Iron Works

Industry	Heavy machinery
Founded	1907
Headquarters	Galion, Ohio
Products	Construction Equipment Graders Rollers

The Galion Iron Works Company of Galion, Ohio, was founded by David Charles Boyd in 1907. In its early years, the Galion name appeared on a wide range of road-building and other construction equipment, such as drag scrapers, plows, wagons, stone unloaders, rock crushers, and a variety of other "experimental machines". By 1911, Galion had begun production of a light-duty, horse-drawn road grader.

The company's success and product diversification brought about its reorganization in 1923, and a change of the name the the Galion Iron Works and Manufacturing Company. The "Light Premier" was an early grader produced in 1915. It was billed as light enough for two horses, but strong enough for four. Its blade could be raised, lowered, angled, tilted, and shifted sideways, just like the blade movements on a modern grader.

Galion was famous for building some of the largest pull-type graders in the industry. Popular throughout the 1920s and 19030s, these huge machines were pulled by the largest traction engines and crawler tractors available. These graders outperformed other motor graders of the day. Galion continued selling its pull-type graders until 1945, long after other manufacturers discontinued pull-type graders.

In 1922, Galion was one of the first companies to develop a self-propelled motor grader. The tractor engine and transmission were located in the rear of the frame, and the operator cockpit was located near the center of the machine. Also in the 1920's, development work began on one of Galion's greatest achievements- the Galion hydraulic control. Used on both pull-type and self propelled graders, this hydraulic system was one of the first to be applied to grader controls.

In 1929, Jeffery Manufacturing Company of Columbus, Ohio, purchased the Galion Organization, but the name of the company remained unchanged.

The motor grader line received the first power-shift transmission, which was a big leap forward, in 1955. Called the Galion Grade-O-Matic drive, it utilized a torque converter,output shaft governor and power-shift transmission, providing simple two-lever control of speed and direction. The Galion T-700 garnered the worlds largest grader title in 1955. Larger than anything else in the grader industry, it boasted 190 horsepower and an operating weight of over 400,000 pounds.

After exactly 60 years with the same name, the Galion Iron Works and Manufacturing Company was renamed the Galion Manufacturing Company in 1973. The following year a transaction was completed making galion a division of Dresser Industries, Inc.

Galion introduced its modern -looking articulated grader line in 1979. It featued a distintively sloped rear engine hood and was identified as the A-series for "Articulated". Initially three models were introduced, the A-500, A-550, and A-600, weighing up to 30,000 pounds. These models joined the rigid-frame models, which continued in the Galion line until the mid-1980s.

In 1986, the grader products took on the name of the parent company, Dresser, and the Galion name was temporarily dropped. In 1988, the grader line was consoldated into three articulated models named the 830, 850 and 870. That same year, Galion became part of the Komatsu Dresser Company (KDC) joint venture. The Galion name reemerged in 1992, when the Galion division of KDC was establised. (Galion back by popular demand!) From 1995, the three basic Galion graders were badged and renumbered to fit into Kamtsu's GD series, and featured modified specifications. The Komatsu-designed GD825A-2 is its largest grader, weighing 58,250 pounds and producing 20 horsepower.