EXHIBIT 31.1

                PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S CERTIFICATIONS
          PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, James W. Griffith, certify that:

1.  I have reviewed this Form 10-K of The Timken Company;

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 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 3, 2004                BY  /s/  James W. Griffith
                                        ______________________________________
                                        James W. Griffith,
                                        President and Chief Executive Officer
                                        (Principal Executive Officer)