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www.mercedes-benz.com | January 2004
Mercedes-Benz
2 | 2003
Unimog
The magazine for multi-functional applications.
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...
Contents
Road
entertainment 12
“One-man show”
with six implements
Practical test
A highly satisfied initiator
4
Environmental care
What a hot summer ...
14
Anniversary
A palace, Plenty of Unimogs and
the rocks of Lançon-de-Provence
6
Report
An example of best-practice methods
15
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide
16
Responsible publisher:
Martin Adam, Product Unit Unimog/
Speciality Vehicles
Water authorities
The “Eco-Unimog” in the biotope
10
Symposium
“Rescue, Recovery and Fire-Fighting”
20
Editorial committee:
Martin Adam, Dieter Mutard, Dieter Sellnau,
Karin Weidenbacher
Contributors to this issue:
Texts and photographs: Dieter Mutard,
Stefan Loeffler, Petra Forberger,
Product Unit Unimog/Speciality Vehicles
Road entertainment
“One-man show” with six implements
12
UNISCOPE
“Millionaire” in the bush
22
Two-way applications
Moved as if by magic
13
Farewell to Hans-Jürgen Wischhof
23
An off-road expert
23
P u b l i s h e r ’ s
d a t a
Publisher:
DaimlerChrysler AG, Product Unit Unimog/
Speciality Vehicles
Editorial office address:
DaimlerChrysler AG,
Product Unit Unimog/Speciality Vehicles
Sales Marketing, 76742 Wörth, Germany
Translations:
Colin Brazier, Munich
Production:
Dieter Mutard DWM Pressebüro und Verlag,
Ringstrasse 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany
The next issue will be published in the spring of
2004. The publishers accept no responsibility for
unsolicited copy or photographs.
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide
Printed on paper bleached without chlorine
In everyday use
A trip on the “New Silk Road”
Western Star truck takes to the rails
Living lakes
Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany
2
Unimog 2|2003
16
17
18
18
Contents
Symposium
20
“Rescue, Recovery
and Fire-Fighting”
Environmental care
What a hot summer ...
14
Anniversary
6
A palace, plenty
of Unimogs and
the rocks of Lançonde-Provence
Unimog 2|2003 3
Practical test
This is what it
looks like in the
vehicle: The
clutch pedal is
folded upwards
so that the
driver’s left foot
can do
something else
A highly satisfied initiator
The Unimog equipped with the AutomaticShift® system is the most
significant Unimog innovation this year and has passed the practical test
carried out by one of the initiators to the complete satisfaction of all those
involved. In addition to being one of the public authorities that asked for an
alternative to the hydrostatic system, the Bayreuth roads department was
also a cooperative test partner. After extensive testing, the authority’s
administration issued a comprehensive report in January 2003, which
reached positive conclusions in every respect and led to the purchase of
the test vehicle, a U 400.
iegfried Beck, who was then the head of
this department at the Bayreuth public
works authority, is satisfied with the results
achieved with AutomaticShift® (Electronic
automated Shifting or EAS) and proud of the
fact that he is one of the initiators who, directly after the launch of the U 300 / U 400
/ U 500 implement carrier generation, approached the Gaggenau-based company to
propose the development of a alternative for
the hydrostatic system. “A number of technologies were feasible, but nothing came
close to the Actros’ EAS solution that was
used as a basis for the Unimog’s Auto-
S
4
Unimog 2|2003
maticShift® system,” he says and confirms
that he is very happy about the way that
cooperation with Unimog worked out. This
was the starting point for customising a
U 400 according to what the Bayreuth road
authorities needed and delivering it to the
department concerned for a long-term test in
January.
In addition to the internal evaluation document, there are also statements from the experts who actually work with the unit. “The
test extended over a long period of time as
we wanted to test all our summer and winter
service equipment with EAS. In this way we
The AutomaticShift® system proved to be the ideal
solution for washing roadside posts and mowing in
the Bayreuth test (far right)
Siegfried Beck, Head of the Northern Bavarian
Autobahn management’s equipment division (at the
far right in the picture), workshop manager Wolfgang
Rech (second from right) and driver Willi Hübner are
highly satisfied with the AutomaticShift® system
obtained an in-depth picture,” says Wolfgang
Rech, workshop manager at the central
Bayreuth municipal works department yard,
who is responsible for three road maintenance authorities in the administrative district with depots in Bayreuth, Kulmbach and
Wunsiedel. The range of practical applications in this region, with approx. 900 kilometres of regional, federal and state roads,
provided a broad test basis covering the most
diverse requirements. “Our summer work
went without any problem and we haven’t
had a single problem since AutomaticShift®
reached series maturity. We worked closely
Practical test
The Bayreuth road
maintenance authority’s
municipal construction
yard, with the Unimog
U 400 equipped with
AutomaticShift®
representing the future
in the foreground and
earlier models with
cleaning equipment
behind it
together with DaimlerChrysler’s technicians
during this test phase and I would like to
take this opportunity to say that the cooperation was excellent and constructive
throughout. We experienced no standstill
times due to technical difficulties at any time
after series maturity and I can emphasize
that the AutomaticShift® system is an excellent alternative to the hydrostatic system,”
says the workshop manager.
Having received so much praise for this
technical innovation, it was interesting to
learn what the Unimog U 400 driver thinks
of the AutomaticShift® system and what
working with such innovative technology is
like in real-world situations. To obtain a com-
parison based on many years of experience,
the road maintenance authorities asked
Willi Hübner to test the vehicle – a driver
who has worked with different Unimog
model series for 22 years. “I started out on a
Unimog U 900, but I wouldn’t want to trade
the latest one in for any of the previous models. Anyone can see how dramatically the
Unimog has been improved in all areas. To
me, AutomaticShift® is a real advantage for
safe driving. I can concentrate on just the
traffic, and this is an important factor when
operating implements in summer and winter
on busy roads. The Unimog has also improved quite a lot for drivers of the U 300 –
U 500, because we’ve never enjoyed such
good visibility before!” says Willi Hübner in
tones of great satisfaction.
In order to prove this statement in a reallife situation, we took the U 400 for practical
tests with a Mulag mowing implement and a
roadside post washing device. Both these
test runs were definite proof of the fact that
road maintenance services need such means
of simplifying their tasks; after all, if you
work with a limited budget, the saying “time
is money” is an all-too-obvious conclusion.■
Advertisement
Unimog 2|2003 5
Anniversary
The U 5000 equipped
to fight forest fires in the
typical Estaque
countryside of the
Provence
A chateau, plenty of Unimogs and
the rocks of Lançon-de-Provence
6
Unimog 2|2003
Anniversary
Château Calisanne near Lancon-de-Provence (Bouche du Rhône), a place
greatly respected among gourmets for its olive oil and sun-soaked
Provençal wine, was chosen as the ideal venue for a very special event
held on November 5 and 6, 2003: 55 years of the Unimog and – a welcome
coincidence – the sale of the first Unimog in France took place 50 years ago.
nimog Sales, France, has felt it owed
something to its customers, friends and
the interested public ever since June 2001,
the date when at our German production
location in Gaggenau the “50 Years of Mercedes-Benz Unimog” anniversary was in full
swing. In France itself, this event went unnoticed. It was high-time to make good on
our negligence by organizing the “Unimog
55 ans” event. At Château Calisanne, two full
days were dedicated to the Unimog, its customers and friends; and the press was of
course also invited.
U
On both days an interesting “anniversary
show” was organized, presenting historic
and contemporary Unimog vehicles, including the U 500 which will participate in the
26th Paris – Dakar Rally in January 2004,
and the latest off-road forest firefighting
vehicles from the 437 series. In the information section Jean-Emile Martin, Unimog
Sales Manager at DaimlerChrysler France,
and Didier Baille-Barelle, the Product Marketing Manager, presented the U 300/U 400/
U 500 off-road implement carriers as well as
the U 3000 / U 4000 / U 5000 models suitable for severe off-road travel in their relevant market segments and explained in
some detail the latest technical innovations
and details directly at the vehicles.
Didier Baille-Barelle
(above right) hosted the
Unimog demonstration
runs at Château
Calissane
Tree branch cutter and
mower demonstrated on
an all-terrain model
All the guests were unanimous that the
off-road driving demonstration was the
event’s genuine highlight. The rocky landscape of Lançon-de-Provence not only provided magnificent scenery but also unique
levels of challenge, giving passengers in var-
Unimog 2|2003 7
Anniversary
ious Unimog types impressive evidence of
why the Unimog has been unsurpassed for
55 years. The white chalk rocks and rolling,
hilly landscape covered in Estaque tempted
drivers to master different levels of topographic challenge with the Unimog. And so
the U 400 and U 500 Unimogs with loaded
platforms and the 4000 or U 5000 vehicles
with their firefighting equipment climbed
through the green Provençal landscape.
Almost all the visitors participated in the
Unimog test drives, though possibly relieved
to feel the solid ground beneath their feet
again when the unusual trip was over; nevertheless, most of them were extremely enthusiastic about the vehicles’ performance.
A U 4000 fording water
and crossing mudholes
with supreme confidence
A forest firefighting
vehicle with Sides
superstructure
8
Unimog 2|2003
Even during these early November days
when the sun in the South of France still had
enough strength to allow us to take our aperitif outside, in front of the Château. In addition to the excellent organization that coped
well with several hundred guests on both
days, Provençal cuisine and wines did their
best to make the event unforgettable. Despite
the five-year delay, this anniversary lacked
nothing of what the official “50 Years of the
Unimog” event had offered to its guests in
Gaggenau.
■
Sampling the Unimog U 5000: Commandant Lt.
Colonel Jean-Louis Farcy from Marseille’s Pompiers
Marin (top centre) tested his new vehicles thoroughly
Jean-Emile Martin, Unimog’s French sales director, explained the technical features of the vehicles and implements
The cavalcade of historic Unimogs
Successful demonstrations were held among the rocks of Lançon-de-Provence on both days of the Unimog
anniversary event in France
Unimog 2|2003 9
hile trying to find the answers to these
questions, we discovered some amazing and altogether innovative things. The
Gelsenwasser AG water procurement company’s site in Essen-Burgaltendorf seems as
well looked after as any golf course, except
that the sand-filled pools are decidedly bigger than the usual bunkers and there are no
flags to indicate where the holes are. This
regional company supplies drinking water to
three million people, businesses and industry in the Ruhr and Münsterland regions, on
the Lower Rhine and in Eastern Westphalia.
Annual water consumption in this region is
approximately 290 million cubic metres,
equivalent to 220,000 cubic metres of water
per day. Supplying clean drinking water isn’t
something that can be taken for granted:
according to U.N. statistics, only 80 percent
of the world’s population have daily access to
clean water.
W
The drinking water supply facilities in
Essen, Dortmund, Haltern, Witten,
Echthausen and Frondenberg (Sauerland
region) operate some 20 Unimogs, of which
the Essen-Burgaltendorf plant has five. All of
the Gelsenwasser AG’s Unimogs used for
water procurement run on ecological diesel
oil (‘Bio-Diesel’) and biologically degradable
oils for the engine, gearbox, axles, wheel
hub gears and hydraulic system, in order to
comply with stringent environmental protection requirements.
The “Eco-Unimog” in the biotope
Honestly – who gives much thought to where the clean drinking water
comes from when they turn on the water tap? Or what methods are used
to extract it, the preconditions for obtaining high-quality water, the role
that biologically degradable oils for commercial vehicles have to play and
what the Mercedes-Benz Unimog has to do with all of this?
10 Unimog 2|2003
Using ecological oils at the Essen facilities
was water procurement manager Otmar Jürgen’s idea. “When we decided to make this
move in 1998, we needed a resolution from
the Board of Management,” says Mr. Jürgen,
“since a litre of ecological diesel fuel cost
some DM 2.30 (approx. Euro 1.15) back then.
Its ability to prevent soil and water pollution
encouraged the Board of Management to approve our plan. The price for these fuels has
in the meantime dropped substantially.”
Otmar Jürgen searched hard for means of
realising his project to operate the vehicles
with biologically degradable oils. He adds,
“We have had only positive results so far.
Despite the often tough work conditions, use
of these oils hasn’t caused any engine failures or major repairs.” This practicalminded individual’s work received the ap-
Water authorities
preciation it deserved in 1996, when he was
awarded the Federal Republic of Germany’s
Service Cross for his commitment to the use
of ecological oils and fuels.
Large portions of the Gelsenwasser AG’s
water procurement area are similar to a natural biotope for water birds, rare plants and
many small animals. This idyllic environment needs care, too. Otmar Jürgen and his
colleague Helmut Pristovnik, who have both
been on the Essen-Burgaltendorf company’s
staff for almost 17 years, find their Unimog
indispensable for the work. The vehicles are
used for mowing with implements at the
front or rear, cleaning, transporting sand to
the filter pools, grading the sand surfaces
and for winter service. Two Unimog U 300s
with wide tyres and a laser-controlled grading blade are used for the difficult work in
the filter pools. This has to be carried out
with particular care as the seepage pools,
which contain the slow sand filter, must remain clean in order to ensure consistently
high water quality.
The Unimogs are used for important tasks
during the entire water procurement
process. Gelsenwasser AG is yet another example for Unimog implement carriers being
used all the year round for landscape and
environmental care.
■
Wide tyres, eco-diesel fuel in the tank and biologically
degradable oils for the engine, gearbox, axles, wheel
hub gears and hydraulic system are important
preconditions for biologically clean water procurement
(above and page on left)
Among other tasks, Gelsenwasser AG’s Unimogs are
used for mowing and gully cleaning in the water
catchment area
Unimog 2|2003 11
Road maintenance
A “one-man show” with six implements
This ‘jack-of-all-trades’ amazes even
the most experienced road
construction experts: a Unimog
U 500 with six attachments as a
complete solution for road-shoulder
construction, leaving not only a
finished shoulder but also a clean
road.
The Söder shoulder building solution work stages are
coordinated efficiently
12 Unimog 2|2003
t one of the numerous beautiful spots in
Germany’s Lüneburg Heath region, in
the triangle between the towns of Celle,
Gifhorn and Uelzen, a Unimog U 500 can be
seen from some distance away on a country
road. It is being driven behind a truck and is
apparently swallowing large quantities of
the material sliding out of the truck’s tipping
body. This is the innovative shoulder building method developed by Unimog System
Partner Alfred Söder in Burkardroth (Northern Bavaria) and the young company owner
Achim Rosinsky based in Winsen an der
Aller, who had the idea for building it.
Rosinsky received help from Unimog consultant Christian Rabe, who works for Unimog general agent Peter Meineke in Fallingbostel (Lower Saxony). “It’s quite obvious
why I needed this combination of equipment,” says Achim Rosinsky, “I wanted to optimise the use of my U 500 all the year
round, take full advantage of the four attachment points it possesses and become more
competitive on the market.” Rosinsky’s goals
A
have been achieved: his road shoulder construction services are hard to beat. The Unimog U 500 with Söder shoulder building machine are far superior to the working
methods used in the past. It can place up to
1,500 tonnes of construction material such
as asphalt, gravel, mineral mixtures or soil
above or below street level with the Unimog
set up as a “multi-purpose solution” including VarioPilot® changeover steering and
a combination of six attachments. In the past,
a considerably higher workforce was needed
and costly hourly rates for machines for the
various work stages were incurred. The U 500
is today driven along the road that needs the
work, with push rollers for the truck and material bunker at the front, the shoulder building machine, Amman compacting plate and
sowing machine (if plants are required) at
the right and rear sweeper with brush, so
that the construction site can be cleaned
during the same work cycle. Once the work
is done, nobody would guess that right next
to the road, where the shoulder now finishes ➔
Road-rail applications
off the road neatly, the asphalt was previously broken up and the shoulder was a serious danger to passing vehicles.
Achim Rosinsky is one of those young and
flexible businessmen who manage the use of
their vehicles from their “mobile office” – in
his case, an off-roader – and travel to every
construction site to discuss questions and
problems with their customers on the spot.
He owns 27 commercial vehicles, from narrow-track implement carriers to heavy goods
trucks, including a semi-trailer tractor with a
low-bed trailer for a maximum load of 62
tonnes. He reserves special affection, however, for his various Unimogs, consisting of a
U 1700 L, a U 406, a U 140 and a U 90 in
addition to the U 500 mentioned above. They
are used for winter service, sweeping, work
with a grader blade installed between the
axles, construction-site services and general
transport tasks. This customer’s close rela-
In addition to carrying the complete combination of
equipment, the Unimog U 500 propels the truck with
its tipping semi-trailer
tionship with his machinery is also due to
Unimog general agent Meineke’s excellent
customer support: Christian Rabe will
provide assistance anywhere and attend
promptly to any inquiry concerning the
Unimog and its diverse applications.
■
Moved as if by magic
A road-rail Unimog is used for shunting in the port of Stralsund
new kind of vehicle has now put in an
appearance at the port of Stralsund. In
the past, former Reichsbahn locomotives
used to sound their horns, but since mid2003, a road-rail Unimog has been used at
the transhipment port operated by the Stralsunder Hafen- und Lagerhausgesellschaft
(SHL). The Unimog for combined road and
rail use is the economical solution for the
implementation of an international business
agreement. A five-year contract between
SHL and a Norway-based company for the
import of 100,000 tonnes of limestone per
year via this port came into effect at the
beginning of 2003.
Various building materials including gypsum plaster board are produced in Drammen, on the Oslo fjord. The two 5,000-ton
Norwegian bulk carriers “Marble Bay” and
“Marble Sea” take turns to perform the
weekly run to the North. Their destination is
Jänschwalde power station in the State of
Brandenburg. Once the gypsum has been
discharged, the train is loaded again. Dieter
Böse is delighted with this successful deal:
“There are no empty movements – the transport cycle is complete.” Every working day, a
1,800-ton train with 30 freight cars rolls into
the harbour. A locomotive would normally be
needed to shunt these, but since the big
diesel locomotives turned out to be too
expensive and too clumsy, SHL looked for an
alternative and found it at Schoknecht in
Demmin, the Unimog general agent for Western Pomerania. The Unimog, with rail guidance by Unimog System Partner Zwiehoff,
can be driven on the road with its rubber
tyres as well as on its steel rail wheels, and
proved to be the ideal solution. It was tested
for eight weeks at the dockside and gave
such good results that SHL’s CEO Wolfgang
Ostenberg decided to purchase it.
A
Since then, many car drivers have been
surprised to see this brand-new cross
between a road vehicle and a locomotive suddenly appear in front of them on the transverse canal bridge, pulling a freight train.
Its power output of 130 kW (177 hp) is fully
adequate for the purpose. There is no driver
anywhere in sight; instead, one of SHL’s
eight shunting controllers trained by the
Deutschen Bahn AG wears a remote control
around his neck to move the 1,800-ton train
and to control the separate air pressure system for opening and closing the freight car
bodies at the touch of a button.
According to Dieter Böse, the 200,000 Euro
investment has definitely paid off, with
prospects of a ten-year contract with this
Norwegian client.
■
Top left: Shunting a 1,800-ton train; the historic
“Alte Lotsenwache” (the former pilots’ building) can
be seen in the background
Top right: The SHL’s Unimog is remote-controlled
Bottom: Mercedes-Benz encounter on transverse canal
bridge in the port of Stralsund
Unimog 2|2003 13
Environmental care
The 4,000 trees and
bushes in Straubing
were very thirsty this
summer
What a hot summer...
Two municipal works departments in the town of Straubing in Lower
Bavaria (with approx. 45,000 inhabitants) decided to share one Unimog –
and both benefit from it
he vehicle sharing method ensures economical use of the Unimog all the year
round and reduces the burden on the town’s
budget. We watched the town’s gardening
division at work. In the hot summer of 2003,
the trees and flowers in the parks had to be
watered with up to 28,000 litres of water per
day.
T
Whenever it gets really hot in Straubing,
there is generally enough to drink, but it’s
not quite as easy with the decorative flower
beds, more than 120 plant troughs and approximately 4,000 trees lining the streets
that are spread out over the entire town and
cover an area of 190 hectares. This area was
less than 100 hectares twenty years ago, but
its size was increased significantly for the
1989 Bavarian Garden Show.
The town’s gardening division staff starts
out at five in the morning with the Unimog
and 4,000 litres of water. This journey is repeated up to seven times per day. Jörg Bär,
head of the gardening division, sums up the
14 Unimog 2|2003
requirements: “For this kind of work, it is
important to have plenty of capacity available. The ‘little but often’ principle would
have been completely useless in this summer’s temperatures. We previously used a
truck with a capacity of 5,000 litres, but we
needed two people for it as it wasn’t flexible
enough for this kind of work.”
Bär continues: “This is why we were looking for a more appropriate carrier vehicle,
and the Unimog was one of the options.
Ultimately, we purchased it because two
divisions decided to buy one vehicle. The
town’s gardeners use it with a watering
system attached and in autumn, after the
bird breeding period, with a Dücker hedge
cutting machine, for which its off-road capabilities are also an advantage. Our yard
workshop then installs a salt spreader and a
snow plough on the Unimog for winter service.” The Unimog’s manoeuvrability is perfect for both applications, and its power hydraulics system offers lots of technical
advantages. “It’s been the ideal investment
for us,” says Jörg Bär, “and if the Unimog
hadn't been available, it would have had to
be invented for our beautiful old town with
its narrow lanes and sharp corners.”
For Jörg Bär and his colleagues, the decisive advantage is that the Unimog and the
watering device make their work easier.
“Our driver Rupert Hopf doesn’t need to get
out of the vehicle anymore; instead, he controls everything with the joystick and we
don’t need a second person to work the hose
outside the vehicle,” says the head of the
town’s gardens division. The “Straubinger
Rundschau” newspaper featured an enthusiastic report, too: “Rupert Hopf presses one of
the many buttons on his instrument panel,
which makes the hydraulically controlled
watering arm move towards the flower bed.
His right hand expertly manoeuvres the joystick. After pressing the red button briefly,
the pump begins to run, and the water is
sprayed out of the watering head.” After so
much praise from the local press, we wouldn’t
want to omit driver Hopf’s statement: “This
is the best vehicle the town’s gardening department owns!” he confided to his local
newspaper.
■
Report
An example of best-practice methods
In the English county of Wiltshire, two Unimog with implements
combinations from Unimog System Partner Bucher-Schörling,
Mulag and Schmidt are used for economical cleaning work
ike communal administrations in Germany, those in England also have to
work with limited budgets, and taxpayers
expect them to demonstrate their efficiency.
This is why the County of Wiltshire recently
invested in devices and implements for the
community that ensure efficient use of the
Unimog system and encourage the citizens
to be proud of the place they live in. The
“Wiltshire Highways Partnership” is a network of companies and communities created
for the purpose of sharing road maintenance
duties in the county. The concept arose out
of the necessity to use Wiltshire’s winter
service fleet capacity to the fullest extent.
Another decisive factor was the fact that the
county has many main roads that are maintained by an external service provider rather
than by the national authority.
L
Since the autumn of 2002, a U 400 and,
following its successful results, more
recently a U 500 have been operated all the
year round. Eighty percent of the winter
service vehicles previously stood idle for
eight or nine months of the year, as they
were permanently equipped with spraying
equipment, but this has changed with the
advent of the Unimog. It is equipped with a
snow plough, salt spreader and gritter devices, but can also carry mowers, weed
brushes and replaceable sweepers for use in
the summer. The combination of Unimog
and attachments from Schmidt, Mulag and
Bucher-Schörling is giving full satisfaction
in Wiltshire, especially since the increasing
degree of automation applied to individual
work processes, for which fewer staff are
now needed, makes the investments twice as
profitable.
With the potential of its power hydraulic
system, the Unimog can drive different kinds
of machinery such as hedge cutting tools,
mowers, weed brushes, cutting devices for
gullies and road drains and the BucherSchörling road sweeper. People and material
can be transported to the working location
quickly – in short, these are compact, highly
agile vehicles. Those responsible are partic-
ularly grateful for the implement carriers
used in picturesque towns such as Marlborough and Devizes, in villages and in
tourist centres such as Stonehenge and the
Avebury Circle.
On the continent of Europe, where
Unimogs and Mulag machinery have been a
common sight on the roads for decades, the
communities definitely prefer this combination. Things are often done differently in
Great Britain: kerb and gutter maintenance
is very important here and only certain
machines can be used for it.
The “Wiltshire Highways Partnership” is a
model scheme in which machinery and
people both work with optimum efficiency.
The option of being able to install the equipment combinations on both Unimogs plays
an important role for this. Network support
manager Paul Smith, who coordinates the
cooperation process and the equipment
schedules, is highly enthusiastic: “We are at
the beginning of a learning process right
now. Before long we shall see what can be
accomplished!”
■
The U 500 with an impressive number of devices
including a weed brush and a Bucher-Schörling sweeper
Unimog 2|2003 15
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide
A Sterling truck used by
Crux Subsurface (left)
“This is where it’ll be!”:
Locating the best subsurface conditions for
the bridge over the
Colorado River (next
page, far right)
The geotechnical
company’s U 500 with
drilling equipment
In everyday use
The geotechnical company Crux Subsurface relies on DaimlerChrysler commercial vehicles for
its work - and on financing solutions from Truck Finance
he Hoover Dam is surrounded by desert
interrupted by just a few rock formations
and a deep scar in the earth’s surface. Imagine for a second that you’re attaching a rope
to the canyon’s narrow peak at an altitude of
800 metres. Slowly and with a firm step, you
lower yourself down on the rope, with several hundreds of metres between you and
the mighty Colorado River below. One wrong
movement, and you’ll fall. The closer you are
to your destination, the higher the temperatures get – up to 40 degrees Celsius. The
beads of sweat that would normally appear
on your skin are swallowed up instantly by
the extreme dryness of the desert. And when
you final reached your destination, the real
work begins.
Is this some kind of extreme sport for a
new reality TV show? Far from it. This scenario is typical of a few hours in the “office”
of Nick Salisbury and his team at Crux
Subsurface. Some couple of years ago, the
geotechnical company was commissioned to
do preliminary work for a bridge construction project with an estimated value of 220
million US-$. Crux Subsurface specialises in
recording data in areas hard to access physically and logistically, and mainly works for
the engineering industry.
Known as the Hoover Dam Bypass Project,
this bridge is to provide a link between
Arizona and Nevada. Crux’s job was to
gather information for scientific studies.
T
16
Unimog 2|2003
Precision is essential
Such tasks are very tricky and call for precision and special equipment. This is the
reason why Nick Salisbury and his team
were chosen for this challenge. “We can drill
just about anywhere – even in places where
other companies have given up. We specialise in these kinds of jobs, and this is why
we get asked to do projects of this nature and
scale,” explains Nick Salisbury.
Mobile and ready for action immediately
Just as their customers prefer Crux for
specialised work, so Salisbury chooses
DaimlerChrysler’s special vehicles and
financing solutions from DC Services Truck
Finance. Crux sets itself apart from competitors by offering mobility and being ready
for action immediately. In order to fulfil this
claim, the company uses Sterling and
Freightliner trucks, among others.
Competitive prices
Not long ago, Nick Salisbury added a
DaimlerChrysler vehicle that is new on the
North American market to the fleet. This
makes him the first U.S. customer to finance
a Unimog. The Unimog has been available
since the 1950s in Europe, but was only
recently introduced to the USA and Canada.
It is renowned for its versatility and can be
combined with many kinds of machinery. Its
functions can be changed quickly by replac-
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide
ing the equipment, and this is why it complements Crux’s fleet so perfectly. Nick
Salisbury also took advantage of DC Services
North America’s financing facilities.
Various highly competitive financing
schemes for the Unimog are available from
Truck Finance. Thanks to its experience, the
company can offer tailor-made solutions at
competitive prices and under flexible
conditions. A package including various
implements is available for every Unimog
model.
New offers for special-purpose vehicles
“Until up to two years ago, our business
was geared mainly towards fleets and oneperson companies. With the new financing
and leasing solutions, we are taking full advantage of the potential this big market has
to offer,” explains Klaus Entenmann, DC Services Truck Finance’s Vice President, who
predicts dramatic growth for Truck Finance
on the working vehicle market, which
encompasses much more than heavy trucks
for building contractors and vehicles for
town administrations and authorities. It also
includes the market for big and small service providers and passenger and goods
transport operators such as drinks, parcel or
pharmaceutical delivery companies.
A market with huge potential
Entenmann is positive that “in a couple of
years’ time, we will be able to cover one fifth
of our portfolio with working vehicles. In
addition to specialising in medium-heavy
and heavy trucks, Truck Finance is in an
excellent position to become a major player
on the working vehicle market. Truck
Finance offers the right solution for any
financing requirement.”
■
One of the vehicles used for the
TRACECA project: the double-cabin U 4000
with extreme off-road capability
A trip on the “New Silk Road”
ascinating mountain roads with breathtaking scenery, 1,000 kilometres of sand
and gravel in the Kara Kum desert and
passes with steep uphill and downhill sec-
F
tions of road through mountain massifs that
exceeded the tour participants’ fantasy by
far. The “Help” convoy that DaimlerChrysler
despatched on this 6,047-kilometre trip from
Brussels to Kabul under the auspices of the
European Union in early September consisted of thirteen Mercedes-Benz Actros
trucks, five Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans,
one Unimog U 4000 with double cabin and
five off-road vehicles. The convoy carried
goods urgently needed for reconstruction
work in Afghanistan and was also intended
to establish about the economic viability of
transporting goods on the so-called
TRACECA route (Transport Corridor Europe
Caucasus Asia), part of which is the same as
the ancient “Silk Road” trade route. The
service team’s conclusion on reaching its
destination in Hayraton (Afghanistan) was
clearly in favour of Mercedes-Benz products
and could not have been more positive
regarding the reliability of the Actros trucks,
Unimog, vans and off-road vehicles: very few
spare parts were needed, and only a few
bulbs broke because of the rough roads. ■
Rubrik
DaimlerChrysler Worldwide
Western Star truck
on rails
A Western Star 4900 SA helps put 100-ton
trains on the rails
An unusual duo: Western Star pulling a suburban train onto the rails
ulky and heavy transports are nothing
exceptional for Western Star Trucks,
but the Western Star 4900 SA’s task for the
MAX tram project in Portland, Oregon was
unusual even for a professional heavy-duty
vehicle.
On the 5.8-mile (9.3-kilometre) extension
to the Interstate Metropolitan Area Express
(MAX), a 100-ton low-floor train had to be
pulled on to the rails for the first time in
order to check the track and the overhead
wires. To perform this task efficiently the
4900 SA modified by Canadian vehicle
manufacturer Brandt Industries was guided
by steel wheels on the rails while the normal
twin tyres on the road surface drove it along.
The Interstate MAX extension to be opened
in the autumn of 2004 as the “Yellow Line”,
is the fourth segment of the 38-mile modern
streetcar network of the Portland region’s
local public transport system. The new line
connecting the city with the trade fair centre
in the north cost 350 million US-$. The rail
network is operated by the Tri-County Metro-
Living Lakes
members of the DaimlerChrysler staff joined
local people on six lakes and stretches of water
particularly worthy of protection to contribute towards protecting these resources.
For example, volunteers built socalled
ecological
paths, designed to
promote sustained
tourism in the area,
on Siberia's Lake
Baikal. At South
Africa’s Lake St. LuA hippopotamus in Lake
cia, which is inhab- St. Lucia, South Africa
ited by endangered
species such as hippopotamus, leather-back
turtles and crocodiles, volunteers were
involved in environmental education for children. On Lake La Nava in North-West Spain,
which has been restored to its natural condition, the DaimlerChrysler team helped to ring
rare birds.
Living Lakes also supports worldwide
environment-related cooperations. Last September scientists, activists, representatives
of companies and governmental and non-governmental organisations met at the 8th Living Lakes Conference in Norwich, England,
held at the University of East Anglia. The conference was an opportunity to exchange
B
DaimlerChrysler is involved in
conserving the lakes on our planet
aimlerChrysler has from the very outset
supported the Living Lakes project, the
Global Nature Fund’s worldwide lake
network, with its international competence
and modern technology. The company has
now launched a new project as part of this
cooperation: DaimlerChrysler Nature Workcamps. During the summer holidays this
year, employees’ children and young
D
Ambitious environmental protection:
volunteers at Lake La Nava
18
Unimog 2|2003
politan Transportation District of Oregon
(Tri-Met), which also owns the heavy truck
used for checking the route.
“The 4900 SA is an excellent all-round
truck and one of our most versatile models,”
says Cary Gatzke, Western Star’s Engineering
Director.
■
www.westernstartrucks.com
Resources worth protecting: Lake Baikal
experience, present examples of best-practice solutions and prepare new joint projects.
The key topics were the effects of climatic
changes and new concepts for successful
nature preserve management.
■
www.livinglakes.org
www.globalnature.org
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Technology that
grabs you!
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Unimog 2|2003 19
Symposium
“Rescue, Recovery and Fire-Fighting”
The Product Unit Unimog/Speciality Vehicles, several Unimog System
Partners and special superstructure
manufacturers presented
equipment packages for specific,
efficient firefighting and
catastrophe services
20
Unimog 2|2003
t the “International Symposium for
Forest Fire-Fighting and Catastrophe
Protection” held at the DC Rastatt customer
centre and also at a gravel pit in Ötigheim,
Europe’s most difficult off-road testing
ground, the Unimog’s very diverse applications for saving lives, extinguishing the most
difficult fires and salvaging goods were
demonstrated. More than 600 experts from
fire brigades, technical emergency services,
the police and other help, firefighting and
catastrophe prevention organisations from
all over the world had been invited to attend
A
this event. They witnessed presentations by
17 Unimogs, from the U 300 to 500 off-road
implement carrier models to the Unimog U 3000
to U 5000 extreme off-road chassis series –
all of them equipped with country-specific
special attachments from international manufacturers and recovery and salvaging
equipment from Unimog’s European System
Partners. The presentations showed these
decision-makers in an impressive manner
just what can be accomplished with the
Unimog in extreme working and off-road
conditions, when fighting forest fires, carry-
Martin Flammer of the
Unimog sales
department directed the
“star parade” and
presented the
demonstrations in the
Ötigheim gravel pit
skilfully (left)
Only the realistic work
demonstrations were
more spectacular than
the “star parade” of
working and rescue
vehicles (strip at the
bottom)
combat fires quickly. In France alone, more
than 1,000 Unimogs equipped for this purpose are in use; each of them can carry up to
5,000 litres of water.
ing out repairs after floods, storms and
earthquakes or in post-accident rescuing
operations.
In addition to extensive information on
the Unimog’s technology and application options, practice-oriented talks by Lt. Col. Didier Besson (head of the firefighting centre
in Royan, South-West France) and Helmut
Moser (four-wheel-drive training teacher and
publisher/editor-in-chief of the “4 Wheel
Drive” magazine, from Wels, Austria)
aroused lots of interest. “We would have
been helpless in many situations without
our Unimog” – this statement by Mr. Besson
made it clear to the experts in attendance
how important the “appropriate equipment”
is when fighting fires and other catastrophes. Besson, who in the summer months is
often busy fighting severe forest fires, emphasized “his” Unimog working vehicles’
technical concept, their reliability and the
ability of the Unimog models U 3000 to
U 5000 to be driven directly into the fires
with their solid steel driver’s cab and special
self-protection equipment, thus creating fire
lanes. These Unimog units equipped with an
extinguishing water tank are mainly used to
The demonstrations in the Ötigheim
gravel pit convinced firemen and catastrophy prevention staff of the merits of the new
highly mobile Unimog chassis U 3000 U 5000. The real-life working presentations
of the U 300, U 400 and U 500 off-road implement carriers, too, were very impressive
to watch – as a tank vehicle for emergency
supplies of drinking water, as a hose tender,
with a crane and/or winch, as a forest fire
extinguishing vehicle, as a high-pressure
cleaning unit or equipped with an excavatorloader or a special sand sack filling machine
for flood disaster control.
■
Unimog 2|2003 21
The 1,000-litre liquid manure drum
(which has of course been thoroughly
cleaned) delivers water for the fields
A “millionaire” in the bush
ather Manfred Förg has run the Nyangana mission in Namibia’s north since
1962, and for an equally long period has
used a Unimog in the African bush on the
Okavango river near the border with Angola.
The priest and his helpers use the vehicle to
negotiate rough terrain and reach the more
than fifty mission communities with 22,000
Christians located in a 100-kilometre radius.
The Unimog is equipped for these journeys
with a 200-litre water tank, a 50-litre spare
F
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22
Unimog 2|2003
can of diesel, a camping stove and a plank
bed. Father Förg occasionally drives to the
Namibian capital of Windhoek on the 1,000kilometre road strewn with potholes. A large
drum of water is often installed on the platform instead, to supply missions where the
water supply has broken down. Sometimes,
the carefully cleaned-out liquid manure
trailer is filled with almost 1,000 litres of
water so that the hand-planted gardens and
fields can be watered. This Unimog has
already covered more than a million kilometres, largely without any problems. Only
the filters have had to be replaced from time
to time. Luckily, minor repairs could be carried out at the mission. As veteran cars more
than 40 years old aren’t subject to taxes in
Namibia, Father Förg doesn’t have to pay tax
on his Unimog any more. This saves 250
Namibian dollars, which is a lot of money for
a missionary. His second Unimog – a U 416
with the U 406’s cab and engine – which the
Father assembled with help from
the locals, is still subject to tax. Fortunately,
Father Förg can now rely on expert help for
both of his “universal motor vehicles”:
In Rundu, some 100 kilometres away, a
mechanic of German origin has opened what
is alleged to be the “best Mercedes truck
workshop in the country”.
■
UNISCOPE
An off-road
expert
Farewell to
Hans-Jürgen Wischhof
ans-Jürgen Wischhof was CEO of the
Unimog Division for more than twelve
years – longer than any of his predecessors
– and on his retirement leaves a healthy
company behind him. Dr. Klaus Maier, Head
of the Mercedes-Benz Truck Division, held
the official farewell speech on Thursday,
October 9. In his words: “You could always
rely on Hans-Jürgen Wischhof and he was
and remains a true friend of the Unimog. He
was always the company’s foremost engineer
and salesman.”
There were many speeches and therefore
memories of Hans-Jürgen Wischhof’s activity, lasting almost 25 years, on behalf of the
DaimlerChrysler Group. What was constantly evident was that he would accept
every job and consider it “his task”. He came
H
to Gaggenau in the spring of 1990 with this
attitude, and set to work right away, making
the necessary urgent decisions and leading
the Unimog through one of its more difficult
phases. With the help of his team and with
the backing of the Group headquarters, the
Unimog has entered the 21st century in
great condition.
During the Wischhof era, two product
lines for different customer target groups
were introduced – the off-road U 300 - U 500
implement carriers and the extreme off-road
U 3000 - U 5000 transport vehicles – and the
U 500 USA was also the first model to be
launched in North America. Wischhof set
the signals in many important areas with a
view to making the division more economical. Strategic re-orientation of the Unimog –
which is in fact the world’s best-known
Mercedes-Benz truck – culminated with relocation of the Unimog production facilities
to the truck assembly plant in Wörth.
“Now that I’m leaving, I’m absolutely
positive that it has all been worthwhile,”
said the former Unimog CEO. The festive
environment in Gaggenau, with a vehicle
parade through the factory and standing
ovations for his emotional final speech, was
a last and certainly pleasant highlight of an
interesting and successful career.
■
Gisbert Hindennach, author of several
books about the Unimog that mainly deal
with its driveline technology and extreme
off-road situations, has now written
another book entitled “Unimog Off Road
Driving School”. It describes what can be
done with the off-road Unimog. An off-road
specialist from Freudenstadt in the Black
Forest, Hindennach describes how to
maintain preconditions for safe driving in
extreme off-road terrain by appropriate
driving techniques and by taking full
advantage of the Unimog’s driveline technology. On 224 pages with 400 colour
pictures, the author conveys many useful
facts on how to look ahead and adopt the
appropriate driving style, on basic physical
principles and realistic assessment of
risks. The book is obtainable in German and
English, from:
Ingenieurbüro Gisbert Hindennach
Keplerstrasse 3,
72250 Freudenstadt,
Germany
Phone +49 (0) 74 41 - 9115 0
Fax +49 (0) 7441 - 911519
E-mail: [email protected]
www.hindennach.com
Flowers for Mrs. Wischhof and a heartfelt thank-you
for Hans-Jürgen Wischhof (centre) from Dr. Klaus
Maier (left)
Unimog 2|2003 23