Galion Iron Works

Galion Iron Works

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

Galion Iron Works is the name of the company that build Galion brand construction equipment. World famous for their graders that shaped the roads of the world, a saying emerged that "All roads lead to Galion." They also manufactured rollers, cranes, asphalt millers and even riding sqeegees among other machines.

History

File:Light premier.jpg

The Galion "Light Premier" horse-drawn grader came from the Galion Iron Works and Manufacturing company in 1915. It was billed as "light enough for two horses, but strong enough for four".

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 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 its huge pull-type graders, some of the largest ever built, designed to be pulled behind the largest tractors availible. The No 14 shown here is equipped with scarifier, steerable tounge, 14-foot blade and hand-operated controls. This heavy-duty piece of iron tipped the scales at 15,000 pounds.

Galion was famous for building some of the largest pull-type graders in the industry. Popular throughout the 1920s and 1930s, 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.

Galion developed one of the first hydraulic power grader systems in the 1920's. By the early 1930's hydraulics were standard on all motor graders. An example of a 1922 "Galion Patrol" is shown here.

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 1920s, 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.

File:Pull grader.jpg

A Galion pull-tupe grader cuts a steep bank and a ditch. The advantage of the offset wheel arrangement is clearly demonstrated. This machine has hydraulic controls.

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

File:Galion T-700.jpg

The world size record was taken by Galion in 1955 when the T-700 series was introduced, incorporatng the new Grade-O-Matic control. This was Galion's name for it torque converter drive and power-shift transmission. larger tahn any other grader yet built, the T-700 weighed 40,000 pounds and came with a 190-horsepower engine.

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 (140 kW) and an operating weight of over 40,000 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.

In 1979, Galion added the first three articulated graders to its line. The midsized A-550, with a 29,100 pound operating weight, is shown here. These graders were of completely ne design, with a distinctive sloping engine hood. Other models of the same desing were introduced until all Galion's rigid-frame machines were replaced by the mid-1980's.

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.

Some bank grading performed by a Dresser 830 grader. The 27,800-pound grader was ofrmerly the Galion A-450E, but was renumbered when its parent company [Dresser Industries] temporarily dropped the Galion name in 1986.

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 consolidated 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 established. (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 280 horsepower (210 kW).