ABOUT MOBILE PULLEY
From our humble beginnings in the late 1800s to our cutting-edge modern facility, SPI/Mobile Pulley Works Inc. has been at the forefront of innovation and quality in industrial manufacturing. Starting as a small foundry in Mobile, Alabama, we’ve grown into a global leader, specializing in high-performance dredging equipment and custom industrial solutions.
Our storied history includes crafting essential tools for the lumber industry, supplying artillery during WWI, and revolutionizing marine and dredging technologies. Today, we continue to build on this rich legacy, serving major industries worldwide with our renowned dredging equipment and precision-engineered systems.
Join the countless clients who trust SPI/Mobile Pulley Works for unparalleled craftsmanship, reliability, and service. Experience the excellence that has defined our success for over a century.
SPI/Mobile Pulley Works Inc. – Engineering the Future with a Legacy of Excellence.
COMPANY HISTORY
1892
Humble beginnings
It began as an entrepreneur's dream to leave England and start a new life in the American South. When his new venture in the citrus industry fell short of the stable success he desired, Mr. William Edgar arrived in industrial Mobile and established a foundry.
1897
Ann Street
He began producing items used in the area's many lumber camps. Stoves, pans, and skillets—items in great demand—boosted Edgar Foundry's success, leading the company to move to a larger tract of property on Ann Street in 1897, with room for future expansion. The company began making items such as flat belt pulleys and gears based on demand.
1904
The Advent of WWI
By 1904, the Edgar Foundry was incorporated as the Mobile Stove and Pulley Manufacturing Company. Steady growth followed as the company established itself as a supplier of pulleys, gears, and other castings for the timber industry. At this time, the company changed its name to Mobile Pulley and Machine Works to better reflect the diversified and industrial nature of the business. With the advent of WWI, artillery shells were produced, and Mobile Pulley became a major armament supplier to the government at war. However, the war ended, and the company had to pursue new markets to keep the plant busy.
1920
Dredging Market
With the purchase of a war surplus furnace, the plant produced steel. As a result, many new markets opened, including marine and shipyard castings. At that time, Florida’s real estate boom was underway, marking the beginning of Mobile Pulley’s long-renowned tradition of supplying dredging equipment, such as sheaves, cutter heads, pump parts, and ball joints for many of the small dredges in Florida and later to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Also, it was during the 1920's and the Florida real estate boom when Mobile Pulley began its long renowned tradition of supplying dredging equipment, such as sheaves, cutter heads, pump parts and ball joints for many of the small dredges in Florida and later to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
1945
Great Depression and Expansion
When the Great Depression hit, the business stayed afloat by adding a diverse product line of cast iron furniture, lighthouse clocks, and industrial-type castings to its more traditional product lines. Later, during WWII, the government selected Mobile Pulley to manufacture steam cargo winches and anchor windlasses to supply the shipyards. These products overburdened the existing machine shop, so a new one was constructed on the east side of Ann Street. It opened in 1945 and continues to contribute to the company's success.
1950
Reintroduction to the Dredging Field
Mobile Pulley entered a phase where the company produced equipment almost exclusively for the large paper mill expansion programs in the area. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Corps of Engineers began to transfer more work performed by cutter suction dredges to private industry, reintroducing Mobile Pulley to the dredging field. It remains the primary business of Mobile Pulley today.
1970
International Expansion
By 1970, the company expanded internationally in the European and Middle Eastern dredging markets. This growth led to one of the most successful periods in the company's history, during which the steel industry also became a significant customer for Mobile Pulley. The company capitalized on the excellent reputation it had developed by that time for its dredging equipment. Mobile Pulley's involvement with dredging activities worldwide further solidified the company's reputation for service, resulting in more work in exotic locations abroad. Its unique ability to design and manufacture complete systems helped the company secure several prestigious contracts.
Despite its success in the dredging field, Mobile Pulley has not forgotten its heritage as a foundry and machine shop, and it continues to engage in industrial projects as well.
2003
Acquisition
In 2003, Steel Processors, a local company providing fabrication services to the dredging industry, acquired Mobile Pulley. Steel Processors quickly consolidated operations into Mobile Pulley’s facility.
2024
Present Day
In 2023, Mobile Pulley was acquired by American Manufacturing Group, LLC, a privately held holding company. The group has made substantial and impactful investments and improvements towards Mobile Pulley’s processes, facilities, operations, and capabilities, in order to provide best-in-class products and services to the dredging, maritime, mining, aggregates, and energy industries.
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