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                                                                  Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION

I, Ross J. Centanni, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Gardner Denver, Inc., certify that:

1.   I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Gardner Denver, Inc.;

2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
     to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
     such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
     covered by this report;

3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
     information included in this report, fairly present in all material
     respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
     of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
     defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
     control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
     13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
     supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
     registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
     us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
     which this report is being prepared;

b)   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
     internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
     supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
     of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
     external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
     principles;

c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and
     procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
     effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
     of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

d)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
     most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in
     the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is
     reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting; and

5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
     on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
     reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
     registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
     functions):

a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
     operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
     reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
     record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
     employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting.


Date: March 15, 2005                         /s/ Ross J. Centanni
                                             ---------------------------
                                             Ross J. Centanni
                                             Chairman, President and
                                             Chief Executive Officer
                                             Gardner Denver, Inc.