HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-11-05, Page 77GSS/Wednesday, Nov 5. 1986
The 1950s
The Dominion, Road Machinery Co. was originally located on East
Street in Goderich. In 1943 the company moved to a new plant
on Maitland Road. The above photo is from the early 195Os.
The grader became Champion's product
The Dominion Road Machinery
Company began expanding in
the late 1950s and early 1960s
and changes in the product and
workplace helped establish the
company as a major manufacturer
of road graders.
It was in 1958 that the company
made the decision to concentrate on
the production of motor graders and
attachments. It was a decision that
was to prove itself and it allowed the
company to utilize its expertise and
manufacturing capabilities on a
single product.
It was a gamble for the company,
to put all its stock in one product,
considering that 95 per cent of the
company's production was sold on
the Canadian market. With the
decision to concentrate on one
product, the company also decided
to develop an export market to offset
the seasonality of the business.
The D581 grader introduced in 1958
by Dominion Roads made use of
hydraulics to turn the circle and
blade, providing improved circle
turn gemoetry.
It was reported in a company
newsletter in late 1964,' that DRMCO
took a big step forward to increase
the Canadian content of its graders
when it tooled up to produce the final
drive gear' unit in Canada.
First introduced on Champion
graders in 1956, the final drive unit
pioneered the Champion concept of
separate unit construction, making it
possible to service the engine,
clutch, transmission and final drive
as separate units. It was an
appealing feature that would reduce
servicing time and proved quite
popular with customers.
Formerly built for the company by
the DANA Corporation, a co-
operative agreement between the
companies facilitated steps taken by
DRMCO to manufacture the units in
Canada. The move also necessitated
a large investment in special
machine tools by the company since
machines of the size required were
not in use in Canada.
Also, in the late 1950s and early
1960s, DRMCO had undertaken a
large plant expansion program to
make space available for new
equipment.
The Champion grader of today
began taking shape in 1964, with new
frame geometry, more weight
forward, an improved cab and more
glass.
With the Champion grader
improving and setting the standard
' in Canada, the company began to
flourish and in 1962 AVM Sully
became chairman of the board and
was succeeded as president by his
son, John Sully, who had served as a
wing commander in the RCAF.
John Sully was an innovative and
daring president and, under his
direction, DRMCO pushed to
manufacture many of its own parts
or have them manufactured in
Canada, and the decision was also
made to expand into the
international market.
The decision to manufacture as
much as 70 per cent of each grader
augered well for employment in
Goderich and Canada.
In 1965, the first Champion grader
entered the United States and since
then, Champion has greatly
expanded its role in the American
market and has significantly
increased its share.