Ok, I see the 2 pistons in this picture. Did Galion have mechanical drive at one time? Seems like an unusual amount of moving parts instead of putting pistons in the regular position.
I have never seen a mechanical Galion, but early ones may have existed. Galion was an early adopter of hydraulic control on graders, long before many of the competition.
The bell crank system worked ok, but years of use made all the extra linkage loose and sloppy and hard to tighten up.
The linkage system according to my dad was for times that you did side slopes on banks, and large ditching projects as the link arm extended, and the bell crank could be repositioned in several holes in relation to the horizontal shaft.
Another reason according to dad is hydraulic hose was unreliable and expensive way back when, and the bell crank kept the hose run short. I’m guessing that long rod cylinders were expensive also, so the ability to use a short stroke cylinder may have been a factor also.
Galion was a popular brand around here as the factory was only 150 miles from here. You were more likely to see a Galion than any other make, with Wabco, Huber and Cat pulling up behind.
It seemed that Galion would install whatever brand engine you fancied in their machines also, Continental, Cummins, International Harvester, Detroit Diesel, Waukesha, and Hercules.