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From paintings to pate, high-end grocery will
sit where gallery once was
|
Harco brings its quiet business to Industrial Way |
The industrial muffler manufacturer takes up
residence in building that formerly held Action Equipment |
By David
Sale, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail David at
dsale@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The latest addition to Newberg’s
manufacturing sector has been keeping things quiet — by design.
Harco Manufacturing, which produces industrial-scale mufflers,
recently moved into Action Equipment’s former production space on
Industrial Way.
“We moved the equipment in about a month ago and production just
started,” said general manager Jeff Harris. “We have some staff in
the area and this building was a good fit for us. The tall ceilings
and craneways are an advantage.”
Founded
in 1948 by Jeff’s grandfather, Frank Harris, Harco began producing
exhaust filters for diesel-powered agricultural and construction
equipment.
“In 1951, we came up with a spark arrestor which traps any sparks
in the exhaust; it’s important for logging or marine equipment,”
Harris said. “Since then, we’ve progressed to making mufflers for a
range of diesel and natural gas applications, such as power
generators.”
Such mufflers are often considerably larger than those found on the
average automobile, many ranging in size and shape somewhere between
a stock tank and a Jacuzzi — drum-shaped designs being popular.
“We came up with that design back in the ‘40s due to space
constraints,” Harris explained. “They’re typically mounted on or
near the roof of an industrial site and it gives the volume without
the size of a standard tube muffler.”
Even so, the mufflers can be quite large, depending on the desired
specifications: “We’ve built them up to the size of a car,” he
added.
And unlike car or truck mufflers, which are standardized, Harco’s
products are custom-built and sold directly to manufacturers.
“A new market for us is air quality and filtering,” Harris added.
“We’ve started producing filters for diesel engines that don’t just
cut noise but also reduce particulate levels in the exhaust.
Harco’s regional clients include Caterpillar, Cummins, EC Power,
Portland General Electric and the Providence Group. |
|
From
Aug. 1,
2007, Newberg Graphic
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