Unimog
Download magazine - Mercedes-Benz Download magazine - Mercedes-Benz
www.mercedes-benz.com | January 2004 Mercedes-Benz Unimog The magazine for multi-functional applications. 2 | 2003 The all-in-one solution A “one-man show” with six implements A highly satisfied initiator | “Rescue, Recovery and Fire-Fighting” | What a hot summer...
- Page 2 and 3: Contents Road entertainment 12 “O
- Page 4 and 5: Practical test This is what it look
- Page 6 and 7: Anniversary The U 5000 equipped to
- Page 8 and 9: Anniversary ious Unimog types impre
- Page 10 and 11: While trying to find the answers to
- Page 12 and 13: Road maintenance A “one-man show
- Page 14 and 15: Environmental care The 4,000 trees
- Page 16 and 17: DaimlerChrysler Worldwide A Sterlin
- Page 18 and 19: Rubrik DaimlerChrysler Worldwide We
- Page 20 and 21: Symposium “Rescue, Recovery and F
- Page 22 and 23: The 1,000-litre liquid manure drum
www.mercedes-benz.com | January 2004<br />
Mercedes-Benz<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong><br />
The magazine for multi-functional applications.<br />
2 | 2003<br />
The all-in-one solution<br />
A “one-man show” with six implements<br />
A highly satisfied initiator | “Rescue, Recovery and Fire-Fighting” | What a hot summer...
Contents<br />
Road<br />
entertainment 12<br />
“One-man show”<br />
with six implements<br />
P u b l i s h e r ’ s d a t a<br />
Publisher:<br />
DaimlerChrysler AG, Product Unit <strong>Unimog</strong>/<br />
Speciality Vehicles<br />
Responsible publisher:<br />
Martin Adam, Product Unit <strong>Unimog</strong>/<br />
Speciality Vehicles<br />
Editorial committee:<br />
Martin Adam, Dieter Mutard, Dieter Sellnau,<br />
Karin Weidenbacher<br />
Contributors to this issue:<br />
Texts and photographs: Dieter Mutard,<br />
Stefan Loeffler, Petra Forberger,<br />
Product Unit <strong>Unimog</strong>/Speciality Vehicles<br />
Editorial office address:<br />
DaimlerChrysler AG,<br />
Product Unit <strong>Unimog</strong>/Speciality Vehicles<br />
Sales Marketing, 76742 Wörth, Germany<br />
Translations:<br />
Colin Brazier, Munich<br />
Production:<br />
Dieter Mutard DWM Pressebüro und Verlag,<br />
Ringstrasse 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany<br />
The next issue will be published in the spring of<br />
2004. The publishers accept no responsibility for<br />
unsolicited copy or photographs.<br />
Printed on paper bleached without chlorine<br />
Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany<br />
Practical test 4<br />
A highly satisfied initiator<br />
Anniversary 6<br />
A palace, Plenty of <strong>Unimog</strong>s and<br />
the rocks of Lançon-de-Provence<br />
Water authorities 10<br />
The “Eco-<strong>Unimog</strong>” in the biotope<br />
Road entertainment 12<br />
“One-man show” with six implements<br />
Two-way applications 13<br />
Moved as if by magic<br />
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide<br />
In everyday use 16<br />
A trip on the “New Silk Road” 17<br />
Western Star truck takes to the rails 18<br />
Living lakes 18<br />
Environmental care 14<br />
What a hot summer ...<br />
Report 15<br />
An example of best-practice methods<br />
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide 16<br />
Symposium 20<br />
“Rescue, Recovery and Fire-Fighting”<br />
UNISCOPE 22<br />
“Millionaire” in the bush<br />
Farewell to Hans-Jürgen Wischhof 23<br />
An off-road expert 23<br />
2 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Contents<br />
Symposium 20<br />
“Rescue, Recovery<br />
and Fire-Fighting”<br />
Environmental care 14<br />
What a hot summer ...<br />
Anniversary 6<br />
A palace, plenty<br />
of <strong>Unimog</strong>s and<br />
the rocks of Lançonde-Provence<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 3
Practical test<br />
This is what it<br />
looks like in the<br />
vehicle: The<br />
clutch pedal is<br />
folded upwards<br />
so that the<br />
driver’s left foot<br />
can do<br />
something else<br />
A highly satisfied initiator<br />
The <strong>Unimog</strong> equipped with the AutomaticShift® system is the most<br />
significant <strong>Unimog</strong> innovation this year and has passed the practical test<br />
carried out by one of the initiators to the complete satisfaction of all those<br />
involved. In addition to being one of the public authorities that asked for an<br />
alternative to the hydrostatic system, the Bayreuth roads department was<br />
also a cooperative test partner. After extensive testing, the authority’s<br />
administration issued a comprehensive report in January 2003, which<br />
reached positive conclusions in every respect and led to the purchase of<br />
the test vehicle, a U 400.<br />
The AutomaticShift® system proved to be the ideal<br />
solution for washing roadside posts and mowing in<br />
the Bayreuth test (far right)<br />
Siegfried Beck, Head of the Northern Bavarian<br />
Autobahn management’s equipment division (at the<br />
far right in the picture), workshop manager Wolfgang<br />
Rech (second from right) and driver Willi Hübner are<br />
highly satisfied with the AutomaticShift® system<br />
Siegfried Beck, who was then the head of<br />
this department at the Bayreuth public<br />
works authority, is satisfied with the results<br />
achieved with AutomaticShift® (Electronic<br />
automated Shifting or EAS) and proud of the<br />
fact that he is one of the initiators who, directly<br />
after the launch of the U 300 / U 400<br />
/ U 500 implement carrier generation, approached<br />
the Gaggenau-based company to<br />
propose the development of a alternative for<br />
the hydrostatic system. “A number of technologies<br />
were feasible, but nothing came<br />
close to the Actros’ EAS solution that was<br />
used as a basis for the <strong>Unimog</strong>’s AutomaticShift®<br />
system,” he says and confirms<br />
that he is very happy about the way that<br />
cooperation with <strong>Unimog</strong> worked out. This<br />
was the starting point for customising a<br />
U 400 according to what the Bayreuth road<br />
authorities needed and delivering it to the<br />
department concerned for a long-term test in<br />
January.<br />
In addition to the internal evaluation document,<br />
there are also statements from the experts<br />
who actually work with the unit. “The<br />
test extended over a long period of time as<br />
we wanted to test all our summer and winter<br />
service equipment with EAS. In this way we<br />
obtained an in-depth picture,” says Wolfgang<br />
Rech, workshop manager at the central<br />
Bayreuth municipal works department yard,<br />
who is responsible for three road maintenance<br />
authorities in the administrative district<br />
with depots in Bayreuth, Kulmbach and<br />
Wunsiedel. The range of practical applications<br />
in this region, with approx. 900 kilometres<br />
of regional, federal and state roads,<br />
provided a broad test basis covering the most<br />
diverse requirements. “Our summer work<br />
went without any problem and we haven’t<br />
had a single problem since AutomaticShift®<br />
reached series maturity. We worked closely<br />
4 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
The Bayreuth road<br />
maintenance authority’s<br />
municipal construction<br />
yard, with the <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
U 400 equipped with<br />
AutomaticShift®<br />
representing the future<br />
in the foreground and<br />
earlier models with<br />
cleaning equipment<br />
behind it<br />
Practical test<br />
together with DaimlerChrysler’s technicians<br />
during this test phase and I would like to<br />
take this opportunity to say that the cooperation<br />
was excellent and constructive<br />
throughout. We experienced no standstill<br />
times due to technical difficulties at any time<br />
after series maturity and I can emphasize<br />
that the AutomaticShift® system is an excellent<br />
alternative to the hydrostatic system,”<br />
says the workshop manager.<br />
Having received so much praise for this<br />
technical innovation, it was interesting to<br />
learn what the <strong>Unimog</strong> U 400 driver thinks<br />
of the AutomaticShift® system and what<br />
working with such innovative technology is<br />
like in real-world situations. To obtain a comparison<br />
based on many years of experience,<br />
the road maintenance authorities asked<br />
Willi Hübner to test the vehicle – a driver<br />
who has worked with different <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
model series for 22 years. “I started out on a<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> U 900, but I wouldn’t want to trade<br />
the latest one in for any of the previous models.<br />
Anyone can see how dramatically the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> has been improved in all areas. To<br />
me, AutomaticShift® is a real advantage for<br />
safe driving. I can concentrate on just the<br />
traffic, and this is an important factor when<br />
operating implements in summer and winter<br />
on busy roads. The <strong>Unimog</strong> has also improved<br />
quite a lot for drivers of the U 300 –<br />
U 500, because we’ve never enjoyed such<br />
good visibility before!” says Willi Hübner in<br />
tones of great satisfaction.<br />
In order to prove this statement in a reallife<br />
situation, we took the U 400 for practical<br />
tests with a Mulag mowing implement and a<br />
roadside post washing device. Both these<br />
test runs were definite proof of the fact that<br />
road maintenance services need such means<br />
of simplifying their tasks; after all, if you<br />
work with a limited budget, the saying “time<br />
is money” is an all-too-obvious conclusion.■<br />
Advertisement<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 5
Anniversary<br />
The U 5000 equipped<br />
to fight forest fires in the<br />
typical Estaque<br />
countryside of the<br />
Provence<br />
A chateau, plenty of <strong>Unimog</strong>s and<br />
the rocks of Lançon-de-Provence<br />
6 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Anniversary<br />
Château Calisanne near Lancon-de-Provence (Bouche du Rhône), a place<br />
greatly respected among gourmets for its olive oil and sun-soaked<br />
Provençal wine, was chosen as the ideal venue for a very special event<br />
held on November 5 and 6, 2003: 55 years of the <strong>Unimog</strong> and – a welcome<br />
coincidence – the sale of the first <strong>Unimog</strong> in France took place 50 years ago.<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> Sales, France, has felt it owed<br />
something to its customers, friends and<br />
the interested public ever since June 2001,<br />
the date when at our German production<br />
location in Gaggenau the “50 Years of Mercedes-Benz<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong>” anniversary was in full<br />
swing. In France itself, this event went unnoticed.<br />
It was high-time to make good on<br />
our negligence by organizing the “<strong>Unimog</strong><br />
55 ans” event. At Château Calisanne, two full<br />
days were dedicated to the <strong>Unimog</strong>, its customers<br />
and friends; and the press was of<br />
course also invited.<br />
On both days an interesting “anniversary<br />
show” was organized, presenting historic<br />
and contemporary <strong>Unimog</strong> vehicles, including<br />
the U 500 which will participate in the<br />
26th Paris – Dakar Rally in January 2004,<br />
and the latest off-road forest firefighting<br />
vehicles from the 437 series. In the information<br />
section Jean-Emile Martin, <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
Sales Manager at DaimlerChrysler France,<br />
and Didier Baille-Barelle, the Product Marketing<br />
Manager, presented the U 300/U 400/<br />
U 500 off-road implement carriers as well as<br />
the U 3000 / U 4000 / U 5000 models suitable<br />
for severe off-road travel in their relevant<br />
market segments and explained in<br />
some detail the latest technical innovations<br />
and details directly at the vehicles.<br />
Didier Baille-Barelle<br />
(above right) hosted the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> demonstration<br />
runs at Château<br />
Calissane<br />
Tree branch cutter and<br />
mower demonstrated on<br />
an all-terrain model<br />
All the guests were unanimous that the<br />
off-road driving demonstration was the<br />
event’s genuine highlight. The rocky landscape<br />
of Lançon-de-Provence not only provided<br />
magnificent scenery but also unique<br />
levels of challenge, giving passengers in var-<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 7
Anniversary<br />
ious <strong>Unimog</strong> types impressive evidence of<br />
why the <strong>Unimog</strong> has been unsurpassed for<br />
55 years. The white chalk rocks and rolling,<br />
hilly landscape covered in Estaque tempted<br />
drivers to master different levels of topographic<br />
challenge with the <strong>Unimog</strong>. And so<br />
the U 400 and U 500 <strong>Unimog</strong>s with loaded<br />
platforms and the 4000 or U 5000 vehicles<br />
with their firefighting equipment climbed<br />
through the green Provençal landscape.<br />
Almost all the visitors participated in the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> test drives, though possibly relieved<br />
to feel the solid ground beneath their feet<br />
again when the unusual trip was over; nevertheless,<br />
most of them were extremely enthusiastic<br />
about the vehicles’ performance.<br />
Even during these early November days<br />
when the sun in the South of France still had<br />
enough strength to allow us to take our aperitif<br />
outside, in front of the Château. In addition<br />
to the excellent organization that coped<br />
well with several hundred guests on both<br />
days, Provençal cuisine and wines did their<br />
best to make the event unforgettable. Despite<br />
the five-year delay, this anniversary lacked<br />
nothing of what the official “50 Years of the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong>” event had offered to its guests in<br />
Gaggenau.<br />
■<br />
A U 4000 fording water<br />
and crossing mudholes<br />
with supreme confidence<br />
A forest firefighting<br />
vehicle with Sides<br />
superstructure<br />
8 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Sampling the <strong>Unimog</strong> U 5000: Commandant Lt.<br />
Colonel Jean-Louis Farcy from Marseille’s Pompiers<br />
Marin (top centre) tested his new vehicles thoroughly<br />
Jean-Emile Martin, <strong>Unimog</strong>’s French sales director, explained the technical features of the vehicles and implements<br />
The cavalcade of historic <strong>Unimog</strong>s<br />
Successful demonstrations were held among the rocks of Lançon-de-Provence on both days of the <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
anniversary event in France<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 9
While trying to find the answers to these<br />
questions, we discovered some amazing<br />
and altogether innovative things. The<br />
Gelsenwasser AG water procurement company’s<br />
site in Essen-Burgaltendorf seems as<br />
well looked after as any golf course, except<br />
that the sand-filled pools are decidedly bigger<br />
than the usual bunkers and there are no<br />
flags to indicate where the holes are. This<br />
regional company supplies drinking water to<br />
three million people, businesses and industry<br />
in the Ruhr and Münsterland regions, on<br />
the Lower Rhine and in Eastern Westphalia.<br />
Annual water consumption in this region is<br />
approximately 290 million cubic metres,<br />
equivalent to 220,000 cubic metres of water<br />
per day. Supplying clean drinking water isn’t<br />
something that can be taken for granted:<br />
according to U.N. statistics, only 80 percent<br />
of the world’s population have daily access to<br />
clean water.<br />
The drinking water supply facilities in<br />
Essen, Dortmund, Haltern, Witten,<br />
Echthausen and Frondenberg (Sauerland<br />
region) operate some 20 <strong>Unimog</strong>s, of which<br />
the Essen-Burgaltendorf plant has five. All of<br />
the Gelsenwasser AG’s <strong>Unimog</strong>s used for<br />
water procurement run on ecological diesel<br />
oil (‘Bio-Diesel’) and biologically degradable<br />
oils for the engine, gearbox, axles, wheel<br />
hub gears and hydraulic system, in order to<br />
comply with stringent environmental protection<br />
requirements.<br />
The “Eco-<strong>Unimog</strong>” in the biotope<br />
Honestly – who gives much thought to where the clean drinking water<br />
comes from when they turn on the water tap? Or what methods are used<br />
to extract it, the preconditions for obtaining high-quality water, the role<br />
that biologically degradable oils for commercial vehicles have to play and<br />
what the Mercedes-Benz <strong>Unimog</strong> has to do with all of this?<br />
Using ecological oils at the Essen facilities<br />
was water procurement manager Otmar Jürgen’s<br />
idea. “When we decided to make this<br />
move in 1998, we needed a resolution from<br />
the Board of Management,” says Mr. Jürgen,<br />
“since a litre of ecological diesel fuel cost<br />
some DM 2.30 (approx. Euro 1.15) back then.<br />
Its ability to prevent soil and water pollution<br />
encouraged the Board of Management to approve<br />
our plan. The price for these fuels has<br />
in the meantime dropped substantially.”<br />
Otmar Jürgen searched hard for means of<br />
realising his project to operate the vehicles<br />
with biologically degradable oils. He adds,<br />
“We have had only positive results so far.<br />
Despite the often tough work conditions, use<br />
of these oils hasn’t caused any engine failures<br />
or major repairs.” This practicalminded<br />
individual’s work received the ap-<br />
10 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Water authorities<br />
preciation it deserved in 1996, when he was<br />
awarded the Federal Republic of Germany’s<br />
Service Cross for his commitment to the use<br />
of ecological oils and fuels.<br />
Large portions of the Gelsenwasser AG’s<br />
water procurement area are similar to a natural<br />
biotope for water birds, rare plants and<br />
many small animals. This idyllic environment<br />
needs care, too. Otmar Jürgen and his<br />
colleague Helmut Pristovnik, who have both<br />
been on the Essen-Burgaltendorf company’s<br />
staff for almost 17 years, find their <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
indispensable for the work. The vehicles are<br />
used for mowing with implements at the<br />
front or rear, cleaning, transporting sand to<br />
the filter pools, grading the sand surfaces<br />
and for winter service. Two <strong>Unimog</strong> U 300s<br />
with wide tyres and a laser-controlled grading<br />
blade are used for the difficult work in<br />
the filter pools. This has to be carried out<br />
with particular care as the seepage pools,<br />
which contain the slow sand filter, must remain<br />
clean in order to ensure consistently<br />
high water quality.<br />
The <strong>Unimog</strong>s are used for important tasks<br />
during the entire water procurement<br />
process. Gelsenwasser AG is yet another example<br />
for <strong>Unimog</strong> implement carriers being<br />
used all the year round for landscape and<br />
environmental care.<br />
■<br />
Wide tyres, eco-diesel fuel in the tank and biologically<br />
degradable oils for the engine, gearbox, axles, wheel<br />
hub gears and hydraulic system are important<br />
preconditions for biologically clean water procurement<br />
(above and page on left)<br />
Among other tasks, Gelsenwasser AG’s <strong>Unimog</strong>s are<br />
used for mowing and gully cleaning in the water<br />
catchment area<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 11
Road maintenance<br />
A “one-man show” with six implements<br />
This ‘jack-of-all-trades’ amazes even<br />
the most experienced road<br />
construction experts: a <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
U 500 with six attachments as a<br />
complete solution for road-shoulder<br />
construction, leaving not only a<br />
finished shoulder but also a clean<br />
road.<br />
The Söder shoulder building solution work stages are<br />
coordinated efficiently<br />
At one of the numerous beautiful spots in<br />
Germany’s Lüneburg Heath region, in<br />
the triangle between the towns of Celle,<br />
Gifhorn and Uelzen, a <strong>Unimog</strong> U 500 can be<br />
seen from some distance away on a country<br />
road. It is being driven behind a truck and is<br />
apparently swallowing large quantities of<br />
the material sliding out of the truck’s tipping<br />
body. This is the innovative shoulder building<br />
method developed by <strong>Unimog</strong> System<br />
Partner Alfred Söder in Burkardroth (Northern<br />
Bavaria) and the young company owner<br />
Achim Rosinsky based in Winsen an der<br />
Aller, who had the idea for building it.<br />
Rosinsky received help from <strong>Unimog</strong> consultant<br />
Christian Rabe, who works for <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
general agent Peter Meineke in Fallingbostel<br />
(Lower Saxony). “It’s quite obvious<br />
why I needed this combination of equipment,”<br />
says Achim Rosinsky, “I wanted to optimise<br />
the use of my U 500 all the year<br />
round, take full advantage of the four attachment<br />
points it possesses and become more<br />
competitive on the market.” Rosinsky’s goals<br />
have been achieved: his road shoulder construction<br />
services are hard to beat. The <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
U 500 with Söder shoulder building machine<br />
are far superior to the working<br />
methods used in the past. It can place up to<br />
1,500 tonnes of construction material such<br />
as asphalt, gravel, mineral mixtures or soil<br />
above or below street level with the <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
set up as a “multi-purpose solution” including<br />
VarioPilot® changeover steering and<br />
a combination of six attachments. In the past,<br />
a considerably higher workforce was needed<br />
and costly hourly rates for machines for the<br />
various work stages were incurred. The U 500<br />
is today driven along the road that needs the<br />
work, with push rollers for the truck and material<br />
bunker at the front, the shoulder building<br />
machine, Amman compacting plate and<br />
sowing machine (if plants are required) at<br />
the right and rear sweeper with brush, so<br />
that the construction site can be cleaned<br />
during the same work cycle. Once the work<br />
is done, nobody would guess that right next<br />
to the road, where the shoulder now finishes ➔<br />
12 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Road-rail applications<br />
off the road neatly, the asphalt was previously<br />
broken up and the shoulder was a serious<br />
danger to passing vehicles.<br />
In addition to carrying the complete combination of<br />
equipment, the <strong>Unimog</strong> U 500 propels the truck with<br />
its tipping semi-trailer<br />
Achim Rosinsky is one of those young and<br />
flexible businessmen who manage the use of<br />
their vehicles from their “mobile office” – in<br />
his case, an off-roader – and travel to every<br />
construction site to discuss questions and<br />
problems with their customers on the spot.<br />
He owns 27 commercial vehicles, from narrow-track<br />
implement carriers to heavy goods<br />
trucks, including a semi-trailer tractor with a<br />
low-bed trailer for a maximum load of 62<br />
tonnes. He reserves special affection, however,<br />
for his various <strong>Unimog</strong>s, consisting of a<br />
U 1700 L, a U 406, a U 140 and a U 90 in<br />
addition to the U 500 mentioned above. They<br />
are used for winter service, sweeping, work<br />
with a grader blade installed between the<br />
axles, construction-site services and general<br />
transport tasks. This customer’s close relationship<br />
with his machinery is also due to<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> general agent Meineke’s excellent<br />
customer support: Christian Rabe will<br />
provide assistance anywhere and attend<br />
promptly to any inquiry concerning the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> and its diverse applications. ■<br />
Moved as if by magic<br />
A road-rail <strong>Unimog</strong> is used for shunting in the port of Stralsund<br />
Anew kind of vehicle has now put in an<br />
appearance at the port of Stralsund. In<br />
the past, former Reichsbahn locomotives<br />
used to sound their horns, but since mid-<br />
2003, a road-rail <strong>Unimog</strong> has been used at<br />
the transhipment port operated by the Stralsunder<br />
Hafen- und Lagerhausgesellschaft<br />
(SHL). The <strong>Unimog</strong> for combined road and<br />
rail use is the economical solution for the<br />
implementation of an international business<br />
agreement. A five-year contract between<br />
SHL and a Norway-based company for the<br />
import of 100,000 tonnes of limestone per<br />
year via this port came into effect at the<br />
beginning of 2003.<br />
Various building materials including gypsum<br />
plaster board are produced in Drammen,<br />
on the Oslo fjord. The two 5,000-ton<br />
Norwegian bulk carriers “Marble Bay” and<br />
“Marble Sea” take turns to perform the<br />
weekly run to the North. Their destination is<br />
Jänschwalde power station in the State of<br />
Brandenburg. Once the gypsum has been<br />
discharged, the train is loaded again. Dieter<br />
Böse is delighted with this successful deal:<br />
“There are no empty movements – the transport<br />
cycle is complete.” Every working day, a<br />
1,800-ton train with 30 freight cars rolls into<br />
the harbour. A locomotive would normally be<br />
needed to shunt these, but since the big<br />
diesel locomotives turned out to be too<br />
expensive and too clumsy, SHL looked for an<br />
alternative and found it at Schoknecht in<br />
Demmin, the <strong>Unimog</strong> general agent for Western<br />
Pomerania. The <strong>Unimog</strong>, with rail guidance<br />
by <strong>Unimog</strong> System Partner Zwiehoff,<br />
can be driven on the road with its rubber<br />
tyres as well as on its steel rail wheels, and<br />
proved to be the ideal solution. It was tested<br />
for eight weeks at the dockside and gave<br />
such good results that SHL’s CEO Wolfgang<br />
Ostenberg decided to purchase it.<br />
Since then, many car drivers have been<br />
surprised to see this brand-new cross<br />
between a road vehicle and a locomotive suddenly<br />
appear in front of them on the transverse<br />
canal bridge, pulling a freight train.<br />
Its power output of 130 kW (177 hp) is fully<br />
adequate for the purpose. There is no driver<br />
anywhere in sight; instead, one of SHL’s<br />
eight shunting controllers trained by the<br />
Deutschen Bahn AG wears a remote control<br />
around his neck to move the 1,800-ton train<br />
and to control the separate air pressure system<br />
for opening and closing the freight car<br />
bodies at the touch of a button.<br />
According to Dieter Böse, the 200,000 Euro<br />
investment has definitely paid off, with<br />
prospects of a ten-year contract with this<br />
Norwegian client.<br />
■<br />
Top left: Shunting a 1,800-ton train; the historic<br />
“Alte Lotsenwache” (the former pilots’ building) can<br />
be seen in the background<br />
Top right: The SHL’s <strong>Unimog</strong> is remote-controlled<br />
Bottom: Mercedes-Benz encounter on transverse canal<br />
bridge in the port of Stralsund<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 13
Environmental care<br />
The 4,000 trees and<br />
bushes in Straubing<br />
were very thirsty this<br />
summer<br />
What a hot summer...<br />
Two municipal works departments in the town of Straubing in Lower<br />
Bavaria (with approx. 45,000 inhabitants) decided to share one <strong>Unimog</strong> –<br />
and both benefit from it<br />
The vehicle sharing method ensures economical<br />
use of the <strong>Unimog</strong> all the year<br />
round and reduces the burden on the town’s<br />
budget. We watched the town’s gardening<br />
division at work. In the hot summer of 2003,<br />
the trees and flowers in the parks had to be<br />
watered with up to 28,000 litres of water per<br />
day.<br />
Whenever it gets really hot in Straubing,<br />
there is generally enough to drink, but it’s<br />
not quite as easy with the decorative flower<br />
beds, more than 120 plant troughs and approximately<br />
4,000 trees lining the streets<br />
that are spread out over the entire town and<br />
cover an area of 190 hectares. This area was<br />
less than 100 hectares twenty years ago, but<br />
its size was increased significantly for the<br />
1989 Bavarian Garden Show.<br />
The town’s gardening division staff starts<br />
out at five in the morning with the <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
and 4,000 litres of water. This journey is repeated<br />
up to seven times per day. Jörg Bär,<br />
head of the gardening division, sums up the<br />
requirements: “For this kind of work, it is<br />
important to have plenty of capacity available.<br />
The ‘little but often’ principle would<br />
have been completely useless in this summer’s<br />
temperatures. We previously used a<br />
truck with a capacity of 5,000 litres, but we<br />
needed two people for it as it wasn’t flexible<br />
enough for this kind of work.”<br />
Bär continues: “This is why we were looking<br />
for a more appropriate carrier vehicle,<br />
and the <strong>Unimog</strong> was one of the options.<br />
Ultimately, we purchased it because two<br />
divisions decided to buy one vehicle. The<br />
town’s gardeners use it with a watering<br />
system attached and in autumn, after the<br />
bird breeding period, with a Dücker hedge<br />
cutting machine, for which its off-road capabilities<br />
are also an advantage. Our yard<br />
workshop then installs a salt spreader and a<br />
snow plough on the <strong>Unimog</strong> for winter service.”<br />
The <strong>Unimog</strong>’s manoeuvrability is perfect<br />
for both applications, and its power hydraulics<br />
system offers lots of technical<br />
advantages. “It’s been the ideal investment<br />
for us,” says Jörg Bär, “and if the <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
hadn't been available, it would have had to<br />
be invented for our beautiful old town with<br />
its narrow lanes and sharp corners.”<br />
For Jörg Bär and his colleagues, the decisive<br />
advantage is that the <strong>Unimog</strong> and the<br />
watering device make their work easier.<br />
“Our driver Rupert Hopf doesn’t need to get<br />
out of the vehicle anymore; instead, he controls<br />
everything with the joystick and we<br />
don’t need a second person to work the hose<br />
outside the vehicle,” says the head of the<br />
town’s gardens division. The “Straubinger<br />
Rundschau” newspaper featured an enthusiastic<br />
report, too: “Rupert Hopf presses one of<br />
the many buttons on his instrument panel,<br />
which makes the hydraulically controlled<br />
watering arm move towards the flower bed.<br />
His right hand expertly manoeuvres the joystick.<br />
After pressing the red button briefly,<br />
the pump begins to run, and the water is<br />
sprayed out of the watering head.” After so<br />
much praise from the local press, we wouldn’t<br />
want to omit driver Hopf’s statement: “This<br />
is the best vehicle the town’s gardening department<br />
owns!” he confided to his local<br />
newspaper.<br />
■<br />
14 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Report<br />
An example of best-practice methods<br />
In the English county of Wiltshire, two <strong>Unimog</strong> with implements<br />
combinations from <strong>Unimog</strong> System Partner Bucher-Schörling,<br />
Mulag and Schmidt are used for economical cleaning work<br />
Like communal administrations in Germany,<br />
those in England also have to<br />
work with limited budgets, and taxpayers<br />
expect them to demonstrate their efficiency.<br />
This is why the County of Wiltshire recently<br />
invested in devices and implements for the<br />
community that ensure efficient use of the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> system and encourage the citizens<br />
to be proud of the place they live in. The<br />
“Wiltshire Highways Partnership” is a network<br />
of companies and communities created<br />
for the purpose of sharing road maintenance<br />
duties in the county. The concept arose out<br />
of the necessity to use Wiltshire’s winter<br />
service fleet capacity to the fullest extent.<br />
Another decisive factor was the fact that the<br />
county has many main roads that are maintained<br />
by an external service provider rather<br />
than by the national authority.<br />
Since the autumn of 2002, a U 400 and,<br />
following its successful results, more<br />
recently a U 500 have been operated all the<br />
year round. Eighty percent of the winter<br />
service vehicles previously stood idle for<br />
eight or nine months of the year, as they<br />
were permanently equipped with spraying<br />
equipment, but this has changed with the<br />
advent of the <strong>Unimog</strong>. It is equipped with a<br />
snow plough, salt spreader and gritter devices,<br />
but can also carry mowers, weed<br />
brushes and replaceable sweepers for use in<br />
the summer. The combination of <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
and attachments from Schmidt, Mulag and<br />
Bucher-Schörling is giving full satisfaction<br />
in Wiltshire, especially since the increasing<br />
degree of automation applied to individual<br />
work processes, for which fewer staff are<br />
now needed, makes the investments twice as<br />
profitable.<br />
With the potential of its power hydraulic<br />
system, the <strong>Unimog</strong> can drive different kinds<br />
of machinery such as hedge cutting tools,<br />
mowers, weed brushes, cutting devices for<br />
gullies and road drains and the Bucher-<br />
Schörling road sweeper. People and material<br />
can be transported to the working location<br />
quickly – in short, these are compact, highly<br />
agile vehicles. Those responsible are particularly<br />
grateful for the implement carriers<br />
used in picturesque towns such as Marlborough<br />
and Devizes, in villages and in<br />
tourist centres such as Stonehenge and the<br />
Avebury Circle.<br />
On the continent of Europe, where<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong>s and Mulag machinery have been a<br />
common sight on the roads for decades, the<br />
communities definitely prefer this combination.<br />
Things are often done differently in<br />
Great Britain: kerb and gutter maintenance<br />
is very important here and only certain<br />
machines can be used for it.<br />
The “Wiltshire Highways Partnership” is a<br />
model scheme in which machinery and<br />
people both work with optimum efficiency.<br />
The option of being able to install the equipment<br />
combinations on both <strong>Unimog</strong>s plays<br />
an important role for this. Network support<br />
manager Paul Smith, who coordinates the<br />
cooperation process and the equipment<br />
schedules, is highly enthusiastic: “We are at<br />
the beginning of a learning process right<br />
now. Before long we shall see what can be<br />
accomplished!”<br />
■<br />
The U 500 with an impressive number of devices<br />
including a weed brush and a Bucher-Schörling sweeper<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 15
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide<br />
A Sterling truck used by<br />
Crux Subsurface (left)<br />
“This is where it’ll be!”:<br />
Locating the best subsurface<br />
conditions for<br />
the bridge over the<br />
Colorado River (next<br />
page, far right)<br />
The geotechnical<br />
company’s U 500 with<br />
drilling equipment<br />
In everyday use<br />
The geotechnical company Crux Subsurface relies on DaimlerChrysler commercial vehicles for<br />
its work - and on financing solutions from Truck Finance<br />
The Hoover Dam is surrounded by desert<br />
interrupted by just a few rock formations<br />
and a deep scar in the earth’s surface. Imagine<br />
for a second that you’re attaching a rope<br />
to the canyon’s narrow peak at an altitude of<br />
800 metres. Slowly and with a firm step, you<br />
lower yourself down on the rope, with several<br />
hundreds of metres between you and<br />
the mighty Colorado River below. One wrong<br />
movement, and you’ll fall. The closer you are<br />
to your destination, the higher the temperatures<br />
get – up to 40 degrees Celsius. The<br />
beads of sweat that would normally appear<br />
on your skin are swallowed up instantly by<br />
the extreme dryness of the desert. And when<br />
you final reached your destination, the real<br />
work begins.<br />
Is this some kind of extreme sport for a<br />
new reality TV show? Far from it. This scenario<br />
is typical of a few hours in the “office”<br />
of Nick Salisbury and his team at Crux<br />
Subsurface. Some couple of years ago, the<br />
geotechnical company was commissioned to<br />
do preliminary work for a bridge construction<br />
project with an estimated value of 220<br />
million US-$. Crux Subsurface specialises in<br />
recording data in areas hard to access physically<br />
and logistically, and mainly works for<br />
the engineering industry.<br />
Known as the Hoover Dam Bypass Project,<br />
this bridge is to provide a link between<br />
Arizona and Nevada. Crux’s job was to<br />
gather information for scientific studies.<br />
Precision is essential<br />
Such tasks are very tricky and call for precision<br />
and special equipment. This is the<br />
reason why Nick Salisbury and his team<br />
were chosen for this challenge. “We can drill<br />
just about anywhere – even in places where<br />
other companies have given up. We specialise<br />
in these kinds of jobs, and this is why<br />
we get asked to do projects of this nature and<br />
scale,” explains Nick Salisbury.<br />
Mobile and ready for action immediately<br />
Just as their customers prefer Crux for<br />
specialised work, so Salisbury chooses<br />
DaimlerChrysler’s special vehicles and<br />
financing solutions from DC Services Truck<br />
Finance. Crux sets itself apart from competitors<br />
by offering mobility and being ready<br />
for action immediately. In order to fulfil this<br />
claim, the company uses Sterling and<br />
Freightliner trucks, among others.<br />
Competitive prices<br />
Not long ago, Nick Salisbury added a<br />
DaimlerChrysler vehicle that is new on the<br />
North American market to the fleet. This<br />
makes him the first U.S. customer to finance<br />
a <strong>Unimog</strong>. The <strong>Unimog</strong> has been available<br />
since the 1950s in Europe, but was only<br />
recently introduced to the USA and Canada.<br />
It is renowned for its versatility and can be<br />
combined with many kinds of machinery. Its<br />
functions can be changed quickly by replac-<br />
16 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide<br />
ing the equipment, and this is why it complements<br />
Crux’s fleet so perfectly. Nick<br />
Salisbury also took advantage of DC Services<br />
North America’s financing facilities.<br />
Various highly competitive financing<br />
schemes for the <strong>Unimog</strong> are available from<br />
Truck Finance. Thanks to its experience, the<br />
company can offer tailor-made solutions at<br />
competitive prices and under flexible<br />
conditions. A package including various<br />
implements is available for every <strong>Unimog</strong><br />
model.<br />
New offers for special-purpose vehicles<br />
“Until up to two years ago, our business<br />
was geared mainly towards fleets and oneperson<br />
companies. With the new financing<br />
and leasing solutions, we are taking full advantage<br />
of the potential this big market has<br />
to offer,” explains Klaus Entenmann, DC Services<br />
Truck Finance’s Vice President, who<br />
predicts dramatic growth for Truck Finance<br />
on the working vehicle market, which<br />
encompasses much more than heavy trucks<br />
for building contractors and vehicles for<br />
town administrations and authorities. It also<br />
includes the market for big and small service<br />
providers and passenger and goods<br />
transport operators such as drinks, parcel or<br />
pharmaceutical delivery companies.<br />
A market with huge potential<br />
Entenmann is positive that “in a couple of<br />
years’ time, we will be able to cover one fifth<br />
of our portfolio with working vehicles. In<br />
addition to specialising in medium-heavy<br />
and heavy trucks, Truck Finance is in an<br />
excellent position to become a major player<br />
on the working vehicle market. Truck<br />
Finance offers the right solution for any<br />
financing requirement.”<br />
■<br />
One of the vehicles used for the<br />
TRACECA project: the double-cabin U 4000<br />
with extreme off-road capability<br />
A trip on the “New Silk Road”<br />
Fascinating mountain roads with breathtaking<br />
scenery, 1,000 kilometres of sand<br />
and gravel in the Kara Kum desert and<br />
passes with steep uphill and downhill sections<br />
of road through mountain massifs that<br />
exceeded the tour participants’ fantasy by<br />
far. The “Help” convoy that DaimlerChrysler<br />
despatched on this 6,047-kilometre trip from<br />
Brussels to Kabul under the auspices of the<br />
European Union in early September consisted<br />
of thirteen Mercedes-Benz Actros<br />
trucks, five Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans,<br />
one <strong>Unimog</strong> U 4000 with double cabin and<br />
five off-road vehicles. The convoy carried<br />
goods urgently needed for reconstruction<br />
work in Afghanistan and was also intended<br />
to establish about the economic viability of<br />
transporting goods on the so-called<br />
TRACECA route (Transport Corridor Europe<br />
Caucasus Asia), part of which is the same as<br />
the ancient “Silk Road” trade route. The<br />
service team’s conclusion on reaching its<br />
destination in Hayraton (Afghanistan) was<br />
clearly in favour of Mercedes-Benz products<br />
and could not have been more positive<br />
regarding the reliability of the Actros trucks,<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong>, vans and off-road vehicles: very few<br />
spare parts were needed, and only a few<br />
bulbs broke because of the rough roads. ■
Rubrik DaimlerChrysler Worldwide<br />
Western Star truck<br />
on rails<br />
A Western Star 4900 SA helps put 100-ton<br />
trains on the rails<br />
An unusual duo: Western Star pulling a suburban train onto the rails<br />
Bulky and heavy transports are nothing<br />
exceptional for Western Star Trucks,<br />
but the Western Star 4900 SA’s task for the<br />
MAX tram project in Portland, Oregon was<br />
unusual even for a professional heavy-duty<br />
vehicle.<br />
On the 5.8-mile (9.3-kilometre) extension<br />
to the Interstate Metropolitan Area Express<br />
(MAX), a 100-ton low-floor train had to be<br />
pulled on to the rails for the first time in<br />
order to check the track and the overhead<br />
wires. To perform this task efficiently the<br />
4900 SA modified by Canadian vehicle<br />
manufacturer Brandt Industries was guided<br />
by steel wheels on the rails while the normal<br />
twin tyres on the road surface drove it along.<br />
The Interstate MAX extension to be opened<br />
in the autumn of 2004 as the “Yellow Line”,<br />
is the fourth segment of the 38-mile modern<br />
streetcar network of the Portland region’s<br />
local public transport system. The new line<br />
connecting the city with the trade fair centre<br />
in the north cost 350 million US-$. The rail<br />
network is operated by the Tri-County Metropolitan<br />
Transportation District of Oregon<br />
(Tri-Met), which also owns the heavy truck<br />
used for checking the route.<br />
“The 4900 SA is an excellent all-round<br />
truck and one of our most versatile models,”<br />
says Cary Gatzke, Western Star’s Engineering<br />
Director.<br />
■<br />
www.westernstartrucks.com<br />
Living Lakes<br />
DaimlerChrysler is involved in<br />
conserving the lakes on our planet<br />
DaimlerChrysler has from the very outset<br />
supported the Living Lakes project, the<br />
Global Nature Fund’s worldwide lake<br />
network, with its international competence<br />
and modern technology. The company has<br />
now launched a new project as part of this<br />
cooperation: DaimlerChrysler Nature Workcamps.<br />
During the summer holidays this<br />
year, employees’ children and young<br />
Ambitious environmental protection:<br />
volunteers at Lake La Nava<br />
members of the DaimlerChrysler staff joined<br />
local people on six lakes and stretches of water<br />
particularly worthy of protection to contribute<br />
towards protecting these resources.<br />
For example, volunteers<br />
built socalled<br />
ecological<br />
paths, designed to<br />
promote sustained<br />
tourism in the area,<br />
on Siberia's Lake<br />
Baikal. At South<br />
Africa’s Lake St. Lucia,<br />
which is inhabited<br />
by endangered<br />
A hippopotamus in Lake<br />
St. Lucia, South Africa<br />
species such as hippopotamus, leather-back<br />
turtles and crocodiles, volunteers were<br />
involved in environmental education for children.<br />
On Lake La Nava in North-West Spain,<br />
which has been restored to its natural condition,<br />
the DaimlerChrysler team helped to ring<br />
rare birds.<br />
Living Lakes also supports worldwide<br />
environment-related cooperations. Last September<br />
scientists, activists, representatives<br />
of companies and governmental and non-governmental<br />
organisations met at the 8th Living<br />
Lakes Conference in Norwich, England,<br />
held at the University of East Anglia. The conference<br />
was an opportunity to exchange<br />
Resources worth protecting: Lake Baikal<br />
experience, present examples of best-practice<br />
solutions and prepare new joint projects.<br />
The key topics were the effects of climatic<br />
changes and new concepts for successful<br />
nature preserve management.<br />
■<br />
www.livinglakes.org<br />
www.globalnature.org<br />
18 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Advertisements<br />
Technology that<br />
grabs you!<br />
Loader attachment<br />
Type M 213<br />
Tel. +49 (0) 83 31/94 87-0 Fax -40 Industriestrasse 6 87734 Benningen Germany www.ematec.de<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 19
Symposium<br />
“Rescue, Recovery and Fire-Fighting”<br />
The Product Unit <strong>Unimog</strong>/Speciality<br />
Vehicles, several <strong>Unimog</strong> System<br />
Partners and special superstructure<br />
manufacturers presented<br />
equipment packages for specific,<br />
efficient firefighting and<br />
catastrophe services<br />
At the “International Symposium for<br />
Forest Fire-Fighting and Catastrophe<br />
Protection” held at the DC Rastatt customer<br />
centre and also at a gravel pit in Ötigheim,<br />
Europe’s most difficult off-road testing<br />
ground, the <strong>Unimog</strong>’s very diverse applications<br />
for saving lives, extinguishing the most<br />
difficult fires and salvaging goods were<br />
demonstrated. More than 600 experts from<br />
fire brigades, technical emergency services,<br />
the police and other help, firefighting and<br />
catastrophe prevention organisations from<br />
all over the world had been invited to attend<br />
this event. They witnessed presentations by<br />
17 <strong>Unimog</strong>s, from the U 300 to 500 off-road<br />
implement carrier models to the <strong>Unimog</strong> U 3000<br />
to U 5000 extreme off-road chassis series –<br />
all of them equipped with country-specific<br />
special attachments from international manufacturers<br />
and recovery and salvaging<br />
equipment from <strong>Unimog</strong>’s European System<br />
Partners. The presentations showed these<br />
decision-makers in an impressive manner<br />
just what can be accomplished with the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> in extreme working and off-road<br />
conditions, when fighting forest fires, carry-<br />
20 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
Martin Flammer of the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> sales<br />
department directed the<br />
“star parade” and<br />
presented the<br />
demonstrations in the<br />
Ötigheim gravel pit<br />
skilfully (left)<br />
Only the realistic work<br />
demonstrations were<br />
more spectacular than<br />
the “star parade” of<br />
working and rescue<br />
vehicles (strip at the<br />
bottom)<br />
combat fires quickly. In France alone, more<br />
than 1,000 <strong>Unimog</strong>s equipped for this purpose<br />
are in use; each of them can carry up to<br />
5,000 litres of water.<br />
ing out repairs after floods, storms and<br />
earthquakes or in post-accident rescuing<br />
operations.<br />
In addition to extensive information on<br />
the <strong>Unimog</strong>’s technology and application options,<br />
practice-oriented talks by Lt. Col. Didier<br />
Besson (head of the firefighting centre<br />
in Royan, South-West France) and Helmut<br />
Moser (four-wheel-drive training teacher and<br />
publisher/editor-in-chief of the “4 Wheel<br />
Drive” magazine, from Wels, Austria)<br />
aroused lots of interest. “We would have<br />
been helpless in many situations without<br />
our <strong>Unimog</strong>” – this statement by Mr. Besson<br />
made it clear to the experts in attendance<br />
how important the “appropriate equipment”<br />
is when fighting fires and other catastrophes.<br />
Besson, who in the summer months is<br />
often busy fighting severe forest fires, emphasized<br />
“his” <strong>Unimog</strong> working vehicles’<br />
technical concept, their reliability and the<br />
ability of the <strong>Unimog</strong> models U 3000 to<br />
U 5000 to be driven directly into the fires<br />
with their solid steel driver’s cab and special<br />
self-protection equipment, thus creating fire<br />
lanes. These <strong>Unimog</strong> units equipped with an<br />
extinguishing water tank are mainly used to<br />
The demonstrations in the Ötigheim<br />
gravel pit convinced firemen and catastrophy<br />
prevention staff of the merits of the new<br />
highly mobile <strong>Unimog</strong> chassis U 3000 -<br />
U 5000. The real-life working presentations<br />
of the U 300, U 400 and U 500 off-road implement<br />
carriers, too, were very impressive<br />
to watch – as a tank vehicle for emergency<br />
supplies of drinking water, as a hose tender,<br />
with a crane and/or winch, as a forest fire<br />
extinguishing vehicle, as a high-pressure<br />
cleaning unit or equipped with an excavatorloader<br />
or a special sand sack filling machine<br />
for flood disaster control.<br />
■<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 21
The 1,000-litre liquid manure drum<br />
(which has of course been thoroughly<br />
cleaned) delivers water for the fields<br />
A “millionaire” in the bush<br />
Father Manfred Förg has run the Nyangana<br />
mission in Namibia’s north since<br />
1962, and for an equally long period has<br />
used a <strong>Unimog</strong> in the African bush on the<br />
Okavango river near the border with Angola.<br />
The priest and his helpers use the vehicle to<br />
negotiate rough terrain and reach the more<br />
than fifty mission communities with 22,000<br />
Christians located in a 100-kilometre radius.<br />
The <strong>Unimog</strong> is equipped for these journeys<br />
with a 200-litre water tank, a 50-litre spare<br />
can of diesel, a camping stove and a plank<br />
bed. Father Förg occasionally drives to the<br />
Namibian capital of Windhoek on the 1,000-<br />
kilometre road strewn with potholes. A large<br />
drum of water is often installed on the platform<br />
instead, to supply missions where the<br />
water supply has broken down. Sometimes,<br />
the carefully cleaned-out liquid manure<br />
trailer is filled with almost 1,000 litres of<br />
water so that the hand-planted gardens and<br />
fields can be watered. This <strong>Unimog</strong> has<br />
already covered more than a million kilometres,<br />
largely without any problems. Only<br />
the filters have had to be replaced from time<br />
to time. Luckily, minor repairs could be carried<br />
out at the mission. As veteran cars more<br />
than 40 years old aren’t subject to taxes in<br />
Namibia, Father Förg doesn’t have to pay tax<br />
on his <strong>Unimog</strong> any more. This saves 250<br />
Namibian dollars, which is a lot of money for<br />
a missionary. His second <strong>Unimog</strong> – a U 416<br />
with the U 406’s cab and engine – which the<br />
Father assembled with help from<br />
the locals, is still subject to tax. Fortunately,<br />
Father Förg can now rely on expert help for<br />
both of his “universal motor vehicles”:<br />
In Rundu, some 100 kilometres away, a<br />
mechanic of German origin has opened what<br />
is alleged to be the “best Mercedes truck<br />
workshop in the country”.<br />
■<br />
Advertisement<br />
22 <strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003
UNISCOPE<br />
An off-road<br />
expert<br />
Farewell to<br />
Hans-Jürgen Wischhof<br />
Hans-Jürgen Wischhof was CEO of the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> Division for more than twelve<br />
years – longer than any of his predecessors<br />
– and on his retirement leaves a healthy<br />
company behind him. Dr. Klaus Maier, Head<br />
of the Mercedes-Benz Truck Division, held<br />
the official farewell speech on Thursday,<br />
October 9. In his words: “You could always<br />
rely on Hans-Jürgen Wischhof and he was<br />
and remains a true friend of the <strong>Unimog</strong>. He<br />
was always the company’s foremost engineer<br />
and salesman.”<br />
There were many speeches and therefore<br />
memories of Hans-Jürgen Wischhof’s activity,<br />
lasting almost 25 years, on behalf of the<br />
DaimlerChrysler Group. What was constantly<br />
evident was that he would accept<br />
every job and consider it “his task”. He came<br />
to Gaggenau in the spring of 1990 with this<br />
attitude, and set to work right away, making<br />
the necessary urgent decisions and leading<br />
the <strong>Unimog</strong> through one of its more difficult<br />
phases. With the help of his team and with<br />
the backing of the Group headquarters, the<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> has entered the 21st century in<br />
great condition.<br />
During the Wischhof era, two product<br />
lines for different customer target groups<br />
were introduced – the off-road U 300 - U 500<br />
implement carriers and the extreme off-road<br />
U 3000 - U 5000 transport vehicles – and the<br />
U 500 USA was also the first model to be<br />
launched in North America. Wischhof set<br />
the signals in many important areas with a<br />
view to making the division more economical.<br />
Strategic re-orientation of the <strong>Unimog</strong> –<br />
which is in fact the world’s best-known<br />
Mercedes-Benz truck – culminated with relocation<br />
of the <strong>Unimog</strong> production facilities<br />
to the truck assembly plant in Wörth.<br />
“Now that I’m leaving, I’m absolutely<br />
positive that it has all been worthwhile,”<br />
said the former <strong>Unimog</strong> CEO. The festive<br />
environment in Gaggenau, with a vehicle<br />
parade through the factory and standing<br />
ovations for his emotional final speech, was<br />
a last and certainly pleasant highlight of an<br />
interesting and successful career. ■<br />
Gisbert Hindennach, author of several<br />
books about the <strong>Unimog</strong> that mainly deal<br />
with its driveline technology and extreme<br />
off-road situations, has now written<br />
another book entitled “<strong>Unimog</strong> Off Road<br />
Driving School”. It describes what can be<br />
done with the off-road <strong>Unimog</strong>. An off-road<br />
specialist from Freudenstadt in the Black<br />
Forest, Hindennach describes how to<br />
maintain preconditions for safe driving in<br />
extreme off-road terrain by appropriate<br />
driving techniques and by taking full<br />
advantage of the <strong>Unimog</strong>’s driveline technology.<br />
On 224 pages with 400 colour<br />
pictures, the author conveys many useful<br />
facts on how to look ahead and adopt the<br />
appropriate driving style, on basic physical<br />
principles and realistic assessment of<br />
risks. The book is obtainable in German and<br />
English, from:<br />
Ingenieurbüro Gisbert Hindennach<br />
Keplerstrasse 3,<br />
72250 Freudenstadt,<br />
Germany<br />
Phone +49 (0) 7441 - 91150<br />
Fax +49 (0) 7441 - 911519<br />
E-mail: gisbert.hindennach@t-online.de<br />
www.hindennach.com<br />
Flowers for Mrs. Wischhof and a heartfelt thank-you<br />
for Hans-Jürgen Wischhof (centre) from Dr. Klaus<br />
Maier (left)<br />
<strong>Unimog</strong> 2|2003 23