Fulton Iron and Manufacturing LLC

With over 145 years of experience and more than 1,800 sugar mill installations, we offer the exact in-depth experience, expertise, and superior quality you need and deserve. We can design, engineer, and build a complete factory, manufacture and procure all of the equipment, provide erection services, and supervise the installation and start up.  Our experience in the sugar mill industry has enabled us to transfer liquid extraction technology to the paper and pulp industry as well as a variety of other juice and oil extraction applications

Gerald B. Allen established a machine shop in 1852 to manufacture riverboat steam engines, locating it on the bustling Mississippi riverfront at St. Louis, Missouri. This was the steamboat's Golden Age. Allen's business thrived, inspiring him to rename his company in 1879, calling it Fulton Iron Works in honor of Robert Fulton, famed inventor of the steamboat that was the basis for Allen's early success.  As the demand for steamboat engines diminished, the rapid expansion of industry in the Midwestern U.S. created a new market for stationary power-plant engines, a market which Fulton Iron Works was able to supply by rapid adaptation of the steam engine for the new requirements. Fulton's reputation became worldwide in the manufacture of more advanced, diversified presses and mining equipment, and international exportation began.  Fulton Iron Works in 1891 designed and built the now famous nine-roll 'Cora' mill which started a mechanical revolution in the cane sugar world.

The Cora mill was the first nine-roll mill designed to be driven by common gearing and a single engine, an innovation which quickly took hold throughout the industry. The original Cora mill was still operating in the late 1970's in Central America, after being moved from Louisiana to Columbia and later to Panama.  Today, Fulton Iron Works is the world's foremost manufacturer of high capacity, high extraction cane milling equipment. Numerous sugar factories around the world, from South and Central America to Southeast Asia, have been built by Fulton.  Fulton pioneered roll grooving, long involute-toothed machine cut crown wheels, turbine drives, inclined mill housings, floating scraper tips, long ram hydraulic top caps, welded steel housings, and bedplates. Increases in capacity and efficiency of sugar plants remained ongoing, thanks to the innovations of Fulton Iron Works. 

The Lehmann Boring Tool Division was acquired in 1958, allowing Fulton to expand its product base and technological applications. One of the acquisition highlights was the resultant opportunity to develop and produce a boring device for use on American submarines.  The Ferracute and the Farquhar press lines were acquired in 1968. Ferracute had a rich history of contributions to industry. A Smithsonian reconstruction of a portion of the Machinery Hall Exhibit from the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 showcased Ferracute machines. 20th century contributions include developing presses for the United States mint, the Chinese Government mint, and presses for Armed Forces ammunition.  The addition of the Lehmann, Ferracute, and Farquhar product lines completed a plan to develop markets for products which had previously been manufactured on a subcontracting basis.  On February 18, 2000, after continuous operations for almost 150 years, Fulton began operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of South Side Machine Works, Inc. also located in St. Louis, Missouri. Combined these two facilities have more than 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space and employ 110 journeyman machinists and welders.