Champion Road Machinery Sells Two Divisions Cambridge, Ontario, Canada-based Champion Road Machinery, a subsidiary of Volvo Construction Equipment, has reached an agreement to sell its SuperPac Compaction and Pro-Pav Paving divisions.

SuperPac was bought by a consortium of managers and employees who are undertaking a leveraged buyout of the division's assets. The company, which was announced for sale in August 1998, was officially acquired by its employees as of March 27, and has been renamed SuperPac Acquisitions.

Asphalt paving equipment manufacturer Pro-Pav was purchased by Georgia-based Neal Paving, also a small asphalt paver manufacturer. The deal was expected to close by the end of last month.

Sales of both businesses, with a total of 115 employees, combined approximated $22 million (US).

Deere to Distribute Bell DumpTrucks Deere & Co. recently announced an agreement with South African dump truck manufacturer Bell Equipment to distribute Bell-manufactured articulated dump trucks in the Americas.

Deere will sell and service the trucks, which are primarily used in off-highway construction and mining applications. The trucks will carry the John Deere brand.

The boards of both companies have approved the transaction subject to final due diligence, according to Moline, Ill.-based Deere. Shareholders of Richards Bay-based Bell will meet this month to give final approval to the deal, Deere said.

Ingersoll-Rand to Buy Harrow Industries Ingersoll-Rand has signed a letter of intent to acquire Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Harrow Industries for about $160 million, including the assumption of Harrow debt. Harrow manufactures access controls technologies and architectural hardware.

The company will be integrated into Ingersoll-Rand's Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based architectural hardware group.

Concrete Beginnings With a team of concrete pumping veterans, 25 masons and laborers, and two Putzmeister concrete boom pumps, Forsa Construction completed two 13-story Hoboken, N.J., apartment buildings - one of 20,000 square feet and the other of 15,000 square feet - and a 42,000-square-foot parking garage between the buildings in less than three months. The crew was able to pour a new floor every two days by pouring as much as 100 cubic yards of concrete an hour.

Workhorse Chassis Moves Into New Manufacturing Plant Workhorse Custom Chassis recently moved into a new 200,000-square-foot facility in Highland Park, Ill., to accommodate the manufacturing of the General Motors Class A motor home and commercial chassis business, which it purchased in January 1999.

Workhorse COO Bob Atkins, a 32-year GM veteran, is leading the chassis production effort.

The previous GM plant and systems in Detroit were not designed to build a niche product like chassis, according to Atkins. "[It] was six stories and we were hemmed in by columns everywhere and all these tight corners on the assembly line," he says. "Here we are able to set it up right, from day one. We've got the chance to do all the things we knew we should be doing but couldn't do in Detroit."

New Holland, Harbin to Co-Manufacture Tractors New Holland has signed a joint-venture contract to manufacture agricultural tractors with Harbin Machinery Plant of China. New Holland will own about 70 percent of the company, which will be called Harbin New Holland Beidahuang Tractors. The contract is subject to approval by the Heilongiang Provincial Administration of Foreign Investment, according to New Holland, which is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

EMI Develops Forklift Operator Training Program In response to OSHA's new forklift operator training regulation that went into effect March 1, 1999, the Rough Terrain Forklifts Council of the Equipment Manufacturers Institute, Chicago, has developed an operator training program to assist equipment owners who must comply with the mandate.

The program, whose release is anticipated mid-year 1999, will incorporate existing industry safety and educational materials, including the EMI Rough Terrain Forklift Safety Manual for Operators and Mechanics and EMI safety videos for straight-mast and telescopic forklifts.

McCanse Engineering Sold McCanse Engineering was recently acquired by Scott Fore, a former Safety-Kleen Corp. executive. It will still operate under the name McCanse as a limited liability company and continue to manufacture and sell the Heftee line of hydraulic service lifts in its Oregon, Ill., facility.

Melroe Co., Fargo, N.D., a wholly owned unit of Ingersoll-Rand, will invest $18 million to expand its two North Dakota manufacturing facilities in Gwinner and Bismarck.

Mayville Engineering has relocated its aerial work platform division from Mayville, Wis., to a new 163,000-square-foot facility in Beaver Dam, Wis.