Huge is the word to describe the massive chain jacks Electro-Hydraulic Automation, or EHA has begun supplying to a U.S. customer. The chain jacks are shipped overseas to a shipyard that is converting decommissioned oil tankers into fueling platforms that will be used to supply other ships with bunker fuel.

The chain jacks are used to link massive chain that hold the floating fueling station to the ocean floor. They lift links of chain, weighing 300 pounds each, two lines at a time from ocean depths of more than 5,000 feet.

"For us, it's a great business because some of our other industries are down a little," EHA Chairman Don Kaas said. "He said the marine business has enabled EHA to continue expanding its employment, which stands at 87 in Cedar Rapids.

Each ship uses four of the assemblies, which move between four "chain stoppers" that hold the chain in place.

Once they have been tightened, the hydraulic units will be used only once per year to retighten the chain.

Kaas said the marine industry has some special requirements, such as the use of stainless steel to resist corrosion from ocean spray.

The chain jacks will be shipped from Cedar Rapids to Singapore, where they will be installed for use on floating fueling stations off the coast of Brazil.

Despite their enormous size, the chain jacks aren't the biggest thing on the factory floor at EHA. The company also is manufacturing a 1,000 horsepower hydraulic unit that will be two stories tall, 23 feet long and 11 feet wide.

Kaas said the unit will be shipped to Shanghai in the People's Republic of China in August for use on a vessel that lays oil pipeline on the ocean floor. It will provide the hydraulic power for a crane used to lift oil pipeline sections.

The crane will have a lift capacity of 500 metric tons, Kaas said

Several more units of similar size have been ordered by customers in the same industry, Kaas added.

Electro-Hydraulic Automation was formed in 1993 as an outgrowth of the Iowa Fluid Power, its system company. It is led by Greg Kuhlman.

The company entered into a long-term agreement with John Deere in 2000 to perform endurance testing of hydraulic components for John Deere. The work led to a 32,000 square-foot expansion of the company's Blairs Ferry Road facility.

Kaas said Electro-Hydraulic Automation's customer base is extremely diverse, with none of its top 20 customers in the same industry. It has one other customer in the marine industry, but in a totally unrelated field.