At Specialty Gear Drives, we specialize in the repair, rebuild, and in-house manufacturing of Barber Greene gearboxes — pugmill boxes, paver drives, conveyor drives, and legacy asphalt plant equipment. Over 100 years of Barber Greene engineering, restored by our Timken-certified technicians to better-than-OEM condition.
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Founded in 1916 in Aurora, Illinois by Harry H. Barber and William B. Greene, Barber Greene built its reputation on mechanizing material handling and asphalt paving. Harry Barber filed the first patent for the modern asphalt paver on August 20th, 1932 — inventing a machine that could mix and place asphalt simultaneously. That single invention sparked the growth of an entire industry. Barber Greene's transmission solutions for the asphalt industry became the gold standard — and though the company was eventually acquired by Astec Industries before being dissolved, thousands of Barber Greene pugmill boxes and paver drives remain in active service. Specialty Gear Drives is one of the few shops that can still properly repair them.
Legacy Equipment. Active Production Value.
Barber Greene pugmill boxes and asphalt paver drives are known for their durability — but with the company dissolved and no OEM parts supply available, finding someone who can properly repair them is a real challenge. Specialty Gear Drives has the expertise, tooling, and in-house manufacturing capability to restore any Barber Greene gearbox to full operational specification.
We reverse-engineer and manufacture any Barber Greene component that can no longer be sourced through OEM channels — keeping legacy asphalt plant equipment running without costly replacement of the entire machine. Our technicians understand the transmission solutions Barber Greene built for the asphalt industry and can work with any model regardless of age or obsolescence status.
In-House Manufacturing Capabilities
When a Barber Greene gear or shaft is beyond repair or can’t be sourced, we produce a precision replacement on-site matching OEM hardness and dimensional tolerances.
Barber Greene asphalt plant gearboxes face extreme operating conditions — high torque, abrasive materials, temperature extremes, and continuous-duty cycles. We identify the root cause before any repair begins.
Pugmill mixing shafts place enormous torque demands on Barber Greene gear sets. Sustained abrasive material contact and high-impact loading cause progressive gear tooth wear and pitting throughout the drive train.
Asphalt plant operations expose Barber Greene gearboxes to elevated ambient temperatures and thermal cycling. Oil degradation under heat causes film failure, gear scoring, and accelerated bearing wear.
Continuous-duty paver and pugmill operations place sustained loads on all drive bearings. We replace all bearings with Timken-certified equivalents installed via our liquid nitrogen thermal process.
Worn shaft seals in Barber Greene pugmill boxes allow asphalt material and aggregate dust to enter the gear oil — one of the most common and damaging failure modes in asphalt plant drive equipment.
High torque shock loads from pugmill blade impacts and paver engagement events cause shaft fretting, keyway wear, and journal damage requiring precision reconditioning or new manufacture.
Bearing migration under sustained load causes housing bore deterioration in Barber Greene units. Our precision line-boring equipment restores all critical diameters to OEM specification.
With Barber Greene dissolved and OEM parts no longer available, worn components can't simply be ordered. Our reverse engineering team measures, blueprints, and manufactures exact replacements on-site.
Abnormal vibration and noise in Barber Greene units indicate worn gear mesh or damaged bearings. Our full rebuild process diagnoses and corrects every contributing factor before reassembly.
Every Barber Greene gearbox receives our full documented rebuild — with special attention to reverse engineering and parts manufacturing for components no longer available through OEM channels.
We arrange no-cost freight pickup anywhere in the US. Your Barber Greene unit is logged, assigned to a specialist technician, and disassembly begins immediately upon arrival.
All components are cleaned in our industrial parts washer — removing asphalt residue, aggregate contamination, and degraded lubricant. Every component is measured and documented against OEM specifications.
For components that can no longer be sourced through OEM channels, our engineering team measures, documents, and blueprints exact replacement specifications before any manufacturing begins.
Worn Barber Greene gears and shafts are manufactured on-site to original specifications. Our CNC gear cutting center produces exact replacements for any Barber Greene component regardless of obsolescence status.
Reassembly uses Timken-certified bearings installed via liquid nitrogen thermal process. All new seals, gaskets, and high-temp polymer housing coating complete the rebuild to better-than-OEM standard.
Every rebuilt Barber Greene gearbox completes a full load test monitoring vibration, temperature, and leak-tightness before shipping with our 24-month production warranty.
We manufacture Barber Greene gears on-site. No OEM backorders — just precision parts cut to spec and ready in days.
Every Barber Greene rebuild is covered from the moment it goes back into production — the strongest guarantee available.
Pickup and delivery at no cost to you, anywhere in the U.S. We handle all logistics from door to door.
A Specialty Gear Drives rebuild costs a fraction of sourcing a new Barber Greene unit, with equal or better reliability.
Our technicians hold the same certifications required by OEM service centers — ensuring every repair meets the highest industry standards.
We maintain blueprints for every Barber Greene model we've ever serviced — including discontinued and legacy units no longer supported by the manufacturer.
Ski lift down? Production line stopped? Our emergency team is available around the clock to accelerate your Barber Greene repair turnaround.
Call us and our repair coordinators — experienced former field technicians— can often diagnose your Barber Greene gearbox failure over the phone before the unit even ships.
Don’t let a failed Barber Greene pugmill box or paver drive halt your asphalt operations. Call Specialty Gear Drives for a free quote, free pickup, and the fastest certified repair turnaround available.