UM2-07_Dok1_S01_13_EN:UM 2/07 - Mercedes-Benz

UM2-07_Dok1_S01_13_EN:UM 2/07
08.01.2008
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www.mercedes-benz.com | december 2007
Mercedes-Benz
Rubrik
2 | 2007
Unimog
The magazine for multi-functional applications.
World Premiere with Unimogs as
Twin Unit rescue package
Ideal for East Friesland’s ‘Wealth of Greenery’ | German Premiere in Saarland
Unimog 1|2007 1
UM2-07_Dok1_S01_13_EN:UM 2/07
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Service providers
4/5
Ideal for East Friesland's
15:29 Uhr
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Event
18/19
40 Successful Years of Unimog on Rails
Wealth of Greenery’
International
Trade Fairs
6/7
World Premiere with Unimogs as
Twin Unit rescue package
U 20 Makes Itself Known at “demopark”
Uniskop
Service Providers
20-22
8/9
“It is easy to service up to 50
23-26
inter airport Europe 2007
66 Unimogs for Kasakhstan
manholes a day”
First Unimog U 20 off the Assembly Line
1,200 Actros to be joined by the
Municipal Services
10/11
German Premiere in Saarland
First Road-Railer Unimog
Demonstration of “Tax Savers”
“Filmstar” Unimog
Fighting Forest Fires
12/13
8
“Where the sand burns”
Daimler Worldwide
14/15
“Extremely Efficient Work”
International
Serbia: With “Europark”
Daimler Worldwide
16/17
“Extremely Efficient Work”
on the Way to Europe
14/15
18
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Contents
P u b l i s h e r ’ s
d a t a
4
Publisher:
Daimler AG,
Special Trucks Division
Responsible at publisher:
Martin Adam,
Special Truck Division
Editorial committee:
20
Martin Adam, Sabine Bremer, Dieter Mutard,
Dieter Sellnau, Claws E. Tohsche
Contributors to this issue:
Texts and photographs: Dieter Mutard, Sasa Plavanjac,
Matthias Röcke, Special Truck Division
Editorial office address:
Daimler AG,
Special Trucks Division, D-76742 Wörth, Germany
Production:
Dieter Mutard DWM Pressebüro und Verlag,
Söflinger Str. 100, D-89077 Ulm, Germany
The next issue will appear in spring 2008.
The publisher accepts no responsibility for
unsolicited copy or photographs.
Printed on paper bleached without chlorine
Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany
Unimog 2|2007 3
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Ideal for East Friesland's
‘Wealth of Greenery’
vate Contractor Bruns for Agricultural and
Municipal Services.”
It's a bit late to convince Onke Bruns about the advantages of a MercedesBenz Unimog - he's been a fan for over 40 years. It was in 1967 that Onke
bought a U 421 for farm use and he still operates Unimogs as a private
contractor in the lush, green plains of Aurich-Popens in East Friesland.
E
ast Friesland is an impressive region
that includes Neuenburg Forest, a genuine primeval forest with trees that are centuries old. It is also the area where the locals
once razed all the woods to the ground – in
accordance with the motto “I must be able to
see my land!” East Friesland's wealth of
greenery also provides year-round employment for private contractor Onke Bruns and
his two Unimogs.
In 1986 Onke took over his father's farm
and started to help the highways department
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Unimog 2|2007
of the town of Aurich with its winter services. Aurich, a county town with a population of nearly 40,000, is situated at the crossing point of several federal and trunk roads
leading to the mud-flats of Lower Saxony, the
islands of East Friesland and the harbour
towns of Emden and Wilhelmshaven.
Onke's son, Hartmut, and his colleague
Heike Wagner, are vets running an animal
and horse hospital on Onke’s farm, while
Onke has moved a short way outside the
town and has established his business: “Pri-
Customers include Highway Authorities,
Building Contractors and Farmers
At the moment, Onke Bruns operates two
Unimogs – a U 1400 and a U 500 with lowemission BlueTec Euro 4 technology. For
trailer work, he uses three Müller-Mitteltal
trailers and a low-bed trailer. His fleet also
includes a traffic management safety vehicle
with lights, chevrons and arrows, so that up
to three of Bruns' work gangs can work
simultaneously.
The low-bed trailer is predominantly used
for transporting materials and equipment
for a local building contractor, who has specialised in manufacturing low-energy
houses. For the highways department, his
work is mainly involved in providing winter
roads maintenance services, and vegetation
control of green and woodland areas, including arboriculture and tree felling. The pending decision of the highways authority on
the award of a contract for mowing work
could possibly also tip the scales in favour of
buying a third Unimog.
Working Radius of 100 Kilometres
Bruns' Unimogs have a working area from
the north coast of East Friesland to as far
south as Pappenburg, 70 kilometres away,
and this means that he operates effectively
and economically in a radius of over 100
kilometres. Onke Bruns finds that the Unimog U 500 implement-carrier offers a range
of advantages, including its flexibility, speed
and manoeuvrability for day-to-day work on
motorways and main trunk roads.
For winter services Bruns provides the
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Service providers
An unbeatable pair:
a Mercedes-Benz Unimog
U 500 with trailer
(Large picture on the
left)
The pile of shredded
wood grows from day
to day (left)
The jobs on hand are
discussed with
colleagues from the
Aurich municipal
highways department,
whose fleet also includes
a U 400 (Photo below)
vehicle and driver, while implements such
as the salt spreader and snowplough are
supplied by the highways maintenance department. Normally, winter services in East
Friesland involve gritting operations when
wet roads freeze or black ice forms, but do
not include clearing huge quantities of snow.
The maintenance of woodlands and green
areas, on the other hand, needs a lot more
implements. Cutting back stumps is very
time-consuming and Bruns employs a mechanical stump cutter with a laterally turning cutting wheel. Without it the alternative
would be a lot of labour-intensive work to
handle this very difficult job. Cutting back
bushes and trees, on the other hand, needs
more manpower as the Unimog U 500, with
warning device and trailer, has to be accompanied by a traffic management vehicle to
warn other traffic and protect operatives.
“My enthusiasm for the
Unimog has now lasted for
almost 40 years. My
experience of using these
vehicles for a multitude of jobs
both in farming and as a
private contractor has been an
extremely positive one. Only
once did I test a competitor's
product and I was, in many
respects and very quickly,
disappointed.”
Onke Bruns,
private contractor in Aurich
(East Friesland)
The contract also specifies that cuttings
must be removed and may not be stored temporarily at the side of the road as this could
be hazardous for passing traffic. To meet
this requirement wood and other debris is
put through a chipper and the finely
chopped debris is blown directly into the
trailer for transport to Bruns' yard.
Onke Bruns core business is highly productive and effective – thanks largely to the
efficiency of the Unimogs – but as a former
horse breeder he also enjoys combining
business with pleasure. And one of his
favourite jobs, which also requires experience and expertise, is transporting horses.
With his special trailer and the Unimog
U 500, thoroughbred horses from East Friesland are taken to horse auctions, sometimes
as far away as the horse “Mecca” of Verden
on the Aller, Lower Saxony, which lies south
of Bremen.
■
The history of the vehicles in Unimog-fan Onke Bruns'
fleet: U 1600 (front) and U 1400 with a trailer. Photo
bottom right: The first Unimog, a U 421, which was
bought in 1967
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Trade Fairs
Unimog U 20 at the demopark in Eisenach:
The practical demonstrations can begin
U 20 Makes Itself
Known at “demopark”
The new Unimog U 20, with its various implement combinations, was a star
of the show at Eisenach’s open air “demopark”, where knowledgeable
Unimog fans were able to see the U 20 in live demonstrations for the first
time. After IFAT in Munich, this is the second most important exhibition of
municipal and horticultural technology in Germany.
P
TOs and hydraulic lines, auxiliary drives
run by the transmission, and the front
mounting plate aroused much excitement
among visitors, who were all specialists from
the public sector, both municipal and state, as
well as private service providers, horticulturalists and landscape gardeners. And visitors to
the fair were literally able to pass the door
handle of the new truck-type, forward control
cab from one to another.
Constantly recurring themes in conversations included: what is the U 20 able to do; and
what benefits will it bring to our own businesses and operations? Visitors who were using older Unimogs, including the U 90 to U
1200, as well as those using the implementcarrier U 300 to U 500 range for tasks for
which they are really too big, were particularly
interested in the new vehicle. The U 20 costs
about 25 percent less than the U 300 and can
therefore look competitors' all-wheel-drive
tractors directly in the eye.
As a workhorse and tractor vehicle, the new
Unimog makes the most of being closely related to a normal, road-going truck. Comfort,
good transport speeds, and certainly not least,
its ability to conform to the strict emission regulations for road vehicles that pose a difficult
obstacle for all special vehicles. The U 300 to
U 500 range of implement carriers contributes
“I really like the
U 20. The cab is great
and the implement
mounting points and
connections are really
first class.”
André Klabunde,
Employee at Galabau
Kittel in Lüdenscheid
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Unimog 2|2007
several beneficial factors and components, including: the stable tubular ladder-type frame,
permanent all-wheel-drive, portal axles, coil
springs, single tyres, engine transmission and
Telligent shifting. The U 20's compact dimensions also attracted a great deal of attention, as
did its very small turning circle of only 12,800
mm – no more than a passenger car.
The U 20 shown in Eisenach had:
• a mounted Palfinger PK 6001 crane
(maximum reach 5,300 mm with a
hoisting load of 1,020 kg), integrated in
a design by Werner Forst, plus industrial
technology. Hydraulic supports able to
disappear completely into the vehicle's
frame a winch made by Werner and a
drop-side body, which combine to make an
extremely versatile unit that is perfectly
adapted for use in forestry work or
horticultural and landscaping activities
• a Schmidt snow plough CPM 3
(weight 550 kg, clearing width 2,540 mm)
and a gritter from Gmeiner, specially
designed for use with the U 20
• a front-mounted mower MFK 400 from
Mulag giving the new Unimog a reach
of 4,700 mm from the centre of the vehicle
and it can also be pushed in a crosswise
direction another 1,500 mm. This is an
attractive application for municipal maintenance yards and for private contractors
needing to maintain green areas.
The first series of the U 20 came off the line in
October and the first vehicles will be delivered
to customers in spring 2008.
The U 20 may have been the highlight of the
Mercedes-Benz 3,000 square metre show area
at “demopark”, but the professional implement carriers of the U 300 to U 500 range also
attracted much interest. There were a total of
ten of these Unimogs on show with the following implements:
- U 300 with a Mulag combination-mower
- U 300 with a Dücker tandem mower
- U 400 with a Leistikow high pressure
cleaner and tank
- U 400 with a Mulag front-mounted mower
and a gritter with a flat storage bin from
Schmidt, fitted with Isobus and camera
- U 400 with the full range of Mulag
implements: MRM 300 verge mower,
MLM 200 delineator post detector and
trimmer, MHU 800 rear-mounted mower
and Isobus
- U 400 with a Dücker front-mounted
mower and a gritter with flat storage
bin from Gmeiner, Isobus and camera
- U 400 with a Söder (Burkardroth)
embankment cutter combined with a
plate compactor
- U 400 with a front wood-chipper from
Dücker and a skip loader from Jotha
U 400 A (agricultural specification Unimog)
with a front and rear side mulcher
from Dücker
- U 500 with a winter combination of
snow plough/gritter from Schmidt.
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Ready to show what it can do: U 400 with
delineator post detector and trimmer, verge
mower and rear-mounted mower, all from
Mulag (below and small picture right)
Two U 300s with mowers, the first time this
combination has been possible, also made
their debut. It was only after it had been figured out just how to distribute the weight,
among other elements, with the help of ballast
installed at the rear, that it was possible to use
the smallest of the U 300 – U 500 product
range efficiently with mowers mounted on the
front axle.
■
Fair talk from early
morning through to late
in the day: expert
explanations about the
U 20 (top right)
A few simple, safe
operating movements:
changing implements on
the U 20. (right)
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Service Providers
“It is easy to service up
to 50 manholes a day”
Getting the best value from
processes and labour are major
challenges faced by today’s costintensive industries. And this is
what gave entrepreneur Torsten
Kleinwort, the idea for his own
private contracting business.
Kleinwort is a service provider for
road maintenance and agricultural
jobs in Holm, near Wedel/Pinneberg in the German state of
Schleswig-Holstein, just outside
the gates of Hamburg.
H
is “Machine Services”, as he describes
his operations, are based on the abilities of his Unimog U 400.
The short wheelbase, 231 HP Unimog has
an implement-mounting plate and looks, at
first glance, just like many other Unimogs in
the range. But what makes it really different
is his use of a very wide range of additional
equipment. The list of technical equipment
reads more like a ‘special implements’ catalogue and it includes: additional hydraulic
equipment for higher performance and an
additional six sets of hydraulic controls; a
camera to help the driver see when reversing; rear power lift; and an additional oil
tank for agricultural implements. All the implements were prepared for fitting at the
workshop of the local Unimog-Partner, Land
& Bau, in Rendsburg. The U 400 also includes the quick-change, left to right and
right to left steering column, “VarioPilot”,
and the Central Tyre Inflation tyre pressure
adjuster. The front and rear PTOs were fac“I chose the Unimog for this work because, as a
service provider, I have to be cost-effective and work
according to the motto »1 vehicle, 1 machine,
1 employee«.”
Torsten Kleinwort, Private Contractor,
Holm near Wedel (Pinneberg County)
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Unimog 2|2007
tory-fitted in Wörth before delivery to the
customer.
Specialist for Road Installations
Kleinwort is a former car mechanic who
gave a lot of thought before he took his first
steps as an independent contractor. The alternative would have been to take over his
parents' farm, but he recognised that, because of the difficulties facing small farms
today, that would have been an even greater
risk than embarking on a new venture in offering roads maintenance and services to
other farmers. He therefore decided on the
present solution and is convinced that with
his Mercedes-Benz Unimog and his Stehr
manhole cutter he has found a successful
niche in the road installations business.
There is great demand for manhole cutters, where manhole covers have to be replaced for a variety of possible reasons: they
may not fit properly or may rattle, or they
are in the way of the traffic or they are a hazard. In these circumstances the road surface
has to be cut away with the manhole cutter
around the damaged section so that the insert ring and its cover are exposed ready for
replacement. The work is time-consuming
and strenuous, and used to be completed by
two or three road workers plus a pneumatic
drill. They managed to do a maximum of no
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The manhole cover to be exposed is approached and, with the help of the two cameras, the Stehr manhole cutter is placed absolutely precisely in the right position.
Agricultural services are private contractor Kleinwort's second leg to stand on. (top right)
more than three manholes a day. Kleinwort
and his Unimog with the Stehr manhole cutter achieves five manholes an hour, and
sometimes even more! “It is easy to service
up to 50 manholes a day,” he says.
No special safety measures
necessary for traffic
This is only the second time that the Unimog has been used to mount a manhole cutter by the Stehr engineering company in
Schwalmtal, Hessen. Normally the implements are fitted to diggers or wheeled loaders. On the U 400, the manhole cutter is fitted onto the mounting plate with lifting and
lowering equipment and a tilting device.
Very practical additions are the two cameras
which are attached to the left and right of
the drilling equipment, like side aerials, to
help align the 1,400 kilo unit exactly over
the manhole to the final millimetre. The
manhole cutter can be adjusted to diameters
ranging from 420 mm to 1,400 mm.
Another advantage is that the directional
arrow for traffic and the flashing warning
lights can be fitted directly onto the vehicle.
This means that the work unit is only as
wide as a normal vehicle and can therefore
be used as a mobile road works unit without
any additional traffic management safeguards, such as those required for diggers or
wheeled loaders.
Wide Range of Agricultural Services
At the same time as carrying out his work
on road installations, Torsten Kleinwort, son
of a Holstein farming family, wants to remain 'true to the earth'. With his Unimog he
helps in mowing work, fertilising, transporting silage, chipping cuttings and branches
as well as compressing grass, straw and hay.
“If a farmer has to spend a lot of time doing
these type of jobs, he cannot have a well-organised work flow on his farm, and nowadays that is absolutely necessary if you want
to survive among the strong competition in
the EU community,” says Kleinwort in his
down-to-earth way.
■
Advertisement
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Municipal Services
German Premiere in Saarland
It used to take a work gang of three or four men, plus a wheel barrow, filling material, barrel of tar, small road
roller, lorry and a crew vehicle to repair damage to the road. Today, such problems are easily dealt with – faster,
simpler and more cheaply using the Road Repair Patcher supplied by municipal maintenance specialist Schmidt,
from St. Blasien.
T
he smaller version of the Road Repair
Patcher SR 500 with a width of 2.30 metres, joins the 2.50 metre-wide SR 800,
which is designed for three-axle trucks, as
part of the range. It has been operating in
Lebach, Saarlouis County, since July 2007,
where it is mounted, for the first time, on a
Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 500.
Lebach is situated in the centre of Saarland and has a population of about 21,000. It
is enjoying strong economic growth and,
when the Saar Railway begins operation in
2010 – its anticipated start date – more factories are expected to be built and more jobs
created. But even with this encouraging future to look forward to, buying the Unimog U
500 with the Road Repair Patcher took a
supreme financial effort. However, as
Before and after the
repair is shown by our
pictures on the left: The
arm directs the bitumen
and aggregate mixture
onto the damaged
section (large picture).
After a short time there
is only a lighter spot on
the road as proof of just
how effectively the Road
Repair Patcher does its
job (small picture)
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08.01.2008
Lebach's Mayor Arno Schmidt says when
talking about the investment: “The capital
input for this work unit may be high, but it
pays for itself very quickly through cost savings on road repairs and personnel.”
Two years ago, according to the Mayor, the
poor state of the roads had to be endured for
much longer before they were repaired, “as
we were not nearly as flexible as we are today with the Road Repair Patcher.” And Peter Müller, Managing Director of the Lebach
Supply and Waste Disposal Association
(VEL), underlines: “The Unimog with the SR
500 is extremely flexible because, with its
quick-change body, we can always use it at
any time for other municipal work.”
The VEL is a municipal cooperation with
the Saarbrücken Public Utilities for city
sewage disposal and other services provided
by the maintenance and building yard in
Lebach. It operates a fleet of Unimogs including: a U 1400, plus U 500 and U 300 implement-carriers.
Practical Advantages
The Unimog with Road Repair Patcher
combination doesn't just have cost-saving
advantages; it offers benefits in its day to
day operations as well. Rudolf Kartes, head
of the Lebach maintenance yard, supervises
the traffic safety operation, which is the responsibility of every town's management.
“One of the advantages of our Unimog with
the SR 500 is that we can deal with repairs
fast and safely, and at short notice. In addition, town roads, especially in residential areas, are not as wide as main roads. This
means that we usually have to do the repairs
in the middle of moving traffic and here the
overall width of the Unimog at just 2.30 metres is most certainly a great advantage.”
Michael Balzer, sales consultant for Lebach
at Unimog-Partner Fasieco-Finger GmbH in
Koblenz, stresses not only its “manoeuvrability and versatility” for the town’s construction and maintenance yard, but also the high
working rate achieved by the Unimog implement-carriers from Wörth is important.
The mounted body of the Road Repair
Patcher SR 500 is 2,070 mm wide and 3,550
mm long. The container for the road chippings has a volume of 2.3 cubic metres and
the bituminous emulsion tank holds 500
litres. This means that there is enough material on board for every working shift. The
idea behind the device was to be able to repair potholes and cracks in the road surface
at a reasonable price. It has been designed
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The helpful reversing
camera (top) means that
the driver has always got
an “eye” on what is
happening behind him
without having to
leaving his cab seat
(right centre)
Dietmar Schlicht
(2nd from left) during
the Road Repair Patcher
demonstration.
Interested listeners are
Mayor Arno Schmidt
(left), VEL Managing
Director Peter Müller
(centre), Maintenance
Yard Manager Rudolf
Kartes (2nd from right)
and Unimog Sales
Consultant Michael
Balzer (right)
as a demountable body for the Unimog 500,
which also increases the cost-effectiveness
of the implement-carrier.
Dietmar Schlicht, Regional Sales Manager
for Schmidt's Winter Services and Municipal
Technology Company, points out a further
advantage: “The entire repair process is controlled by the driver, which means that it
takes only one person to do the repair work.
With the aid of two joysticks, he is able to
carry out all the functions.”
The damaged area is first cleaned with
compressed air, and it is then coated with a
thin layer of asphalt before being filled up,
slightly higher than the surface level of the
road, with a mixture of stone chippings and
bitumen, which has already been prepared
within the machine. Finally, the damaged
area is covered with stone chipping aggregate to minimise the time it takes for the bitumen to set. The repaired area can then be
driven over immediately.
■
“The Unimog and the SR 500 do a wonderful job.
We have trained our staff to operate the Unimog
and Road Repair Patcher so that they are fully
prepared for its everyday use.”
Rudolf Kartes (right), Maintenance Yard Manager
Lebach (Saarland), with his driver-operator,
Markus Becker
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Fighting Forest Fires
“Where the sand burns”
A U 5000 with a water tender body from Plastisol (body) and Empl (fire
protection technology) has been installed to tackle a major, potential forest
fire hazard in the lignite mining area, as well as offering support to the
industrial fire brigades during large-scale operations, and cross-border
assistance during flood catastrophes.
T
he fire engine with water tender is known
as TLF 20/40-SL and is owned by the
Spremberg Voluntary Fire Brigade (county
Spree-Neiße in south-east Brandenburg).
It can carry 5,000 litres of water and 500 litres
of foam extinguisher on board and, thanks to
its outstanding off-road capabilities and fording ability, it can cope easily with the varied
and wide-ranging tasks it is required to handle.
The fire engine is operated in association
with a large Unimog fleet belonging to Vattenfall Europe AG, which runs the lignite-fired
power station and open-cast lignite mining in
Spremberg. The height of the vehicle is less
than three metres as it must fit under the door
of the fire engine and appliance room. It also
has only a short front and rear overhang and
A photo for demonstration purposes:
the water cannon on the roof is
hardly ever used for fighting forest
fires
can carry a high payload on a relatively small
chassis to comply with the specifications –
which only the highly mobile Unimog U 3000
to U 5000 range could fulfil.
The U 5000 brings a full 14.1 tonnes maximum weight on to the road, and benefits from
the weight-saving factor of the Plastisol body,
manufactured in the Netherlands, which does
not require a support frame. The extra weight
'allowance' is therefore available for fire-fighting equipment. The purchase of the MercedesBenz Unimog was also subsidised by the European Union.
Forest fires in the Lausitz region are quite
frequent, and are exacerbated by a deposit of
fine coal dust that lies immediately beneath
the thin layer of vegetation. When this ignites
it can burn its way underground. “Here the
sand burns,” says Wolfgang Belka, Technical
Adviser to the Spremberger fire-brigade and
driver of the U 5000. To extinguish the fire it
is necessary to 'stir up' the red-hot smouldering layer with a strong jet of water, and the
only way to put these fires out is to attack
them directly with the high-speed, high pressure equipment on board.
At the front, the U 5000 is fitted with a
spray bar to protect itself by extinguishing
burning grass and cooling the ground. The water cannon on the roof can be directed for use
away from the vehicle. The U 5000 – which entered service in spring 2007 – is equipped
with a very high performance pump which
can jet 3,000 litres a minute at 10 bar. This
proved its value at its first large scale operation when a farmhouse caught fire.
■
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For cooling the hot
forest grounds:
Spray beams fitted
under the bumper
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Seite 13
Showing the Way by
Motorbike
T
he people of Spremberg probably think that motorcycles are
used to fight fires in the region as they are a common sight:
racing ahead of fire engine with a special siren. In fact, the motorcycles are a proven way of helping the fire-fighters identify
the heart of the blaze and get there to tackle it. The idea for the
motorcycles came from the staff at Spremberg Fire Brigade who
needed to navigate the young trees and saplings in the forest.
The woods in the Lausitz region were planted relatively recently
as way of re-cultivating the opencast mining area and the trees
are therefore planted in squares with a grid of forest tracks in
between. When the burning area is approached it is often difficult to tell exactly where the source of the fire is because of the
dense smoke, and this is where Hans-Joachim Urbassek, who is
both a motorcyclist as well as being in charge full time of the
fire-fighting equipment of the Spremberg Fire Brigade, takes
control. He knows the woods well and, because the motorcycle
gives him a clear view, he is able to get his bearings in a flash
and show the following fire engine the right way to go. Without
Urbassek’s motorcycling ability and knowledge of the woods, it
Spremberger specialty: The motorcyclist directs the fire
engine directly to the heart of the blaze
could happen that two fire engines would
suddenly find themselves facing each
other in the middle of a narrow forest
track. One would then have to reverse for
a fair distance and both fire engines may
eventually arrive at the source of the fire
far too late. Altogether the Spremberg Fire
Brigade has four light motorcycles as part
of its standard equipment.
■
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Unimog 2|2007 13
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09.01.2008
Daimler Worldwide
8:42 Uhr
Seite 14
Brazil
Unimog U 20 cab in the
body shell workshop
at São Bernardo
“Extremely Efficient Work”
The cab for the new Unimog U 20 is manufactured in the Mercedes-Benz plant São Bernardo do Campo.
Few manufacturing plants are so closely tied in to Daimler Trucks’ international production network.
So – we are off on a flying visit to Brazil.
E
very time the mighty press is lowered to
punch the sheet of metal into its form, the
ground shudders. This massive monster is activated by just one man who pushes the trigger
mechanism, but it is only when he uses both
his hands to press the right buttons at the
same time that the mighty press lowers itself –
because he must be sure that neither of his
hands is accidentally underneath the press at
the critical time! Safety is a very important
part of the operation at the Mercedes-Benz
plant São Bernardo do Campo near São Paulo.
The mammoth press is currently being used
14 Unimog 2|2007
to produce the cab front for the new Unimog
U 20. The press bears down on the steel with a
force of 1,600 tonnes. A few production steps
further, a laser has been programmed to cut
openings in the sheet metal. It appears to be a
slow operation – and, in fact, it is. It would be
quicker with a stamp, but automation and the
ability to program an infinite number of shapes into the machine, means it is the most efficient production method for São Bernardo,
where several different bodies are produced.
The plant, which covers an area of a million
square metres, has an enormous output. Tools
are manufactured as well as sheet metal parts,
axles and engines for many other MercedesBenz plants. Bus chassis and various complete
trucks and vans are also handled here, as well
as the cab for the new Unimog U 20.
The U 20 was based on the cab of the Accelo,
a small truck manufactured with great success
mainly for the Brazilian market.
“It is very much a world where work is shared. We are very closely linked with Daimler's
international production network,” says Dr.
Gero Herrmann, President of Mercedes-Benz
do Brasil, and therefore responsible for the São
UM2-07_Dok2_S14_28_EN:UM2/07
09.01.2008
8:43 Uhr
Seite 15
Mercedes-Benz do Brasil President, Dr. Gero
Herrmann, who is responsible for the second largest
Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle plant after Wörth
The workers at the plant are famed for the quality of
their welding
São Bernardo do Campo
Mighty presses
shape the steel
Bernardo do Campo plant. “Our plant is perhaps not as fully automated as European
plants, but we work extremely efficiently with
simple methods and we have already won a lot
of prizes.” As a result of this efficiency, the cab
for the new Unimog U 20 was also placed in
the capable hands of the Brazilian experts.
After all, the new, compact Unimog not only
has outstanding technology, low weight and
extreme manoeuvrability, but it should also
have a reasonable price.
The all-steel, forward control cab reveals its
relationship to the U 300 – U 500 product
range in the characteristic design of its front
headlights. As with a
classic forward control
truck, the cab can be
tipped forward without
the need for any tools,
unlike the larger multifunction implementcarrier U 300.
During the production
of the cab in the
The cab of the new
huge workshop for
U 20 is based on that
of the Accelo
body shells at São Bernardo, men and machines weld side by side.
Grab robots move the
cab front into the correct position; then armed
robots, which are reminiscent of “Star Wars”
cannons, set welding spots. Sparks skid over
the floor while an employee supervises the
process.
A digital display shows the production status of the current shift: 'Work to be done' and
'Units completed' figures as well as important
quality codes – transparency is the key to success when the objective is to optimise performance in São Bernardo. Every employee has to
know just what the status of the current shift
is.
With its workforce of about 11,800, the
Mercedes-Benz plant at São Bernardo do
Campo is the company's largest
commercial vehicle plant outside
Germany. 37,000 trucks and 22,000 bus
chassis were produced here in 2007. The
plant is responsible for bus chassis
worldwide and also supplies engines,
stamped parts, complete cabs and tools
for other Daimler commercial vehicle
plants. As well as production lines, São
Bernardo is also the headquarters of
Mercedes-Benz do Brasil. All imports and
sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars,
as well as the production of passenger
cars in Juiz de Fora, are controlled from
here. The town with its 750,000
inhabitants is situated in the Sao Paolo
conurbation (18 million inhabitants) in the
so-called industrial square ‘ABCD’ which
consists of the suburban towns of Santo
André, São Bernardo, São Caetano and
Diadema.
Because so many models are built on the
workshop floor at the same time, supplying the
correct materials in the right sequence is a
very complex affair. After an Axor cab, the robots then put together the cab for a Brazilian
short-hood truck, the L 1620, and that is then
followed by a U 20 cab. As Dr. Gero Herrmann
says: “Our logistic and production engineers
really have to put everything they have into
their work, but they know that already!”
■
Unimog 2|2007 15
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14.01.2008
13:32 Uhr
Seite 16
The old city of Belgrade
over the Save (left)
Serbia: With “Europark”
on the Way to Europe
It’s not talked about, but it’s always there – Serbia has every intention of
becoming a member of the community of states that is the European
Union. It may take some time yet, but the term Europe is respected for
many reasons, and it is not surprising that the country’s largest service
provider for road maintenance is called “Europark”.
T
he south-European country has already
embarked on a future that is being shaped
by Europe, and Serbia is making great efforts
to cope with the events of the last 15 years.
The capital, Belgrade, with its roughly 1.6 million inhabitants, throbs like a western European metropolis. A multitude of construction
projects, shopping centres, car showrooms
and extremely modern, high-rise buildings are
the visible expression of economic growth.
The never-ending stream of traffic that
crawls day-in, day-out around the “white
town” (the literal translation of the Serbian
name Beograd), which is situated on the country's two largest rivers, the Danube and the
Save, is a clear indication that motoring affluence has established itself here as well.
The history starts with brand Mercedes and
foundation of the company Mercedes-Benz
Yugoslavia, established on the December
3rd 1996, as the daughter company with the
Headquarter in Stuttgart. Although the history
of the name of this subsidiary company has undergone so many changes in such a short time,
the market for Mercedes-Benz products is very
important. In 2006, truck vehicle department
achieved sales volume of 203 units and in 2007
we expect approximately 600 sold trucks.
Unimogs have only been sold here for about
five years and Mercedes trucks, such as the
Actros and Atego, are, in practice, only found
in transport and construction companies that
are working at an international level. All of
which makes it even more amazing that there
Still a rare sight on the roads of Serbia: a
parade of Mulag mowers on Unimog U 500s
are about 100 Unimogs of all product ranges to
be found on the roads of Serbia. They are
mainly operating in road maintenance, road
construction, road-rail activities and in opencast mining sectors already app. 40 years.
The first four Unimog U 5000 vehicles with
Hiab cranes have been sold to an opencast mining company, and even in the skiing areas in
the southern part of Serbia, where the mountains are 2,000 and more metres high,
Unimogs are being used with snowploughs
and cutters for winter service. Dusko Micic,
who is in charge of Unimog sales at MercedesBenz Serbia Montenegro, believes there are
good prospects: “Montenegro is an interesting
country for the Unimog. The steep roads in the
coastal areas and winters which normally see
a great deal of snow in the mountains really do
require Unimogs.”
Further uses in Serbia and Montenegro include fire-fighting, road maintenance in the
mountains and on the motorways, as well as
the road-rail sector. Serbia’s continuing drive
to reach the level of European standards plays
an appreciable role in the way that many local
government bodies see themselves. Some
towns have already signalled their interest in
the Econic waste collection vehicles, with engines run on natural gas so they satisfy contemporary environmental standards.
Model Enterprise Europark
The service provider Europark occupies a
special position as a valued customer of
Mercedes-Benz Serbia Montenegro. The company was founded in 2001 by its owner Milojica Markovic, and now employs about 150 people on contracts and projects for local authorities all over Serbia.
Europark handles all the road maintenance
projects on all the important trunk roads, including the two Serbian Autoput, one of which
runs from Budapest in Hungary via Belgrade
to Nis and Skopje in Macedonia, as well as the
“racetrack” going from Belgrade to Zagreb in
Croatia via the large city of Novi Sad, about 80
km north-west of Belgrade. Europark takes on
all the municipal and road maintenance work
UM2-07_Dok2_S14_28_EN:UM2/07
14.01.2008
13:33 Uhr
Seite 17
International
Europark's municipal fleet doing its rounds in the Serbian capital: (a U 500 with Leistikow high pressure cleaner
and tank-trailer). A specialist operation: the Unimog U 500 with Schmidt winter equipment
with the main emphasis on mowing and
winter services.
Mercedes-Benz trucks fitted with implements
from well-known German manufacturers such
as Schmidt Winter Services and Municipal
Technology, Mulag and Leistikow are used exclusively on these contracts. “We are proud of
our equipment, which is the most modern for
this kind of work to be found in Serbia,” says its
boss Milojica Markovic. He was especially
impressed by the combination of an Actros
3346 with a Mulag trench digger HS 2400, a
working package unique in Serbia. In total,
Europark has eight Unimog U 500s, 25 Actros,
12 Vario and 11 Sprinters at its disposal.
Markovic also emphasises the reason why
he is relying on products with a three-pointed
star as well as the approved implement manufacturers: “For our jobs we need high quality
vehicles with matching equipment, which makes us extremely flexible and versatile. Only
then can we work for our customers throughout the whole country reliably and according
to schedule.”
And as the responsibilities of local government grows, Europark is looking to the future
by investing in capital equipment that will not
quickly become out of date. The next two
U 500 Unimogs are already being planned. ■
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Unimog 2|2007 17
UM2-07_Dok2_S14_28_EN:UM2/07
09.01.2008
8:43 Uhr
Seite 18
Event
40 Successful Years of
Unimog on Rails
More than 150 guests from eleven countries took part in the international
conference in Budapest, with these road-rail technology experts eager to
find out more about new products and current market trends.
T
he first road-rail Unimog saw the light of
day in 1967 when a Unimog U 406 was
fitted with rail guidance, enabling it to be
used on railway tracks. Even in those days
the outstanding features of the MercedesBenz Unimog were recognised as being ideal
in an environment not seen as a typical use
for a truck. And right up to the present day
this concept is still topical.
However, the Unimog’s extreme cost-effectiveness and flexibility while shunting, as
well reliability for a wide range of maintenance and rescue work, means that as a roadrail vehicle it is now more important than
ever in successfully carrying many industrial
operations, on state railways, for service providers and for transport companies. That is
why more than 150 industry experts accepted
the invitation from the Special Trucks Division to visit Budapest in October, 2007, to attend technical lectures with practical demonstrations of innovative techniques and also to
learn about the latest applications.
Among the vehicles on show at the outdoor
site of the lovingly restored Budapest Railway
Museum were: a road-rail Unimog with an aerial working platform for maintenance work
on overhead lines; a U 400 with a track spraying unit for keeping down unwanted vegetation on the rail tracks; a track-laying vehicle
with a crane for work on the railway infrastructure; and a Unimog with a hydraulic lifting and pivoting system with rail guide,
which was also equipped with a snowplough
or blower for winter services off the rails.
The Hungarian Railway (MÁV) used their
road-rail Unimog stationed in Budapest to
give a very impressive demonstration of a
rescue operation. Within a very short space
of time, with the assistance of hydraulic re-
18 Unimog 2|2007
railing equipment driven by the Unimog's
front PTO, a derailed railway waggon was lifted up and set back on to the rails ready to go.
Of course there also had to be a demonstration of the road-rail Unimog's outstanding
capabilities as a shunter. The guests boarded
historic railway carriages for a short journey,
hauled by a Mercedes-Benz Unimog as the locomotive, to the museum platform. They were
amazed to see how easily a road-rail Unimog
equipped with buffer equipment, plus an
automatic connecting rod and truck braking
equipment was able to haul a unit consisting
of three steam engines, with a total weight of
about 400 tonnes, moving and then accelerating.
Among the talks at the symposium of experts a contribution by Michael Edinger
(BASF) dealt with the challenges of rail logistics in the chemical industry, and this caused
much surprise and interest and stimulated a
lot of discussion. The BASF plant at Ludwigshafen covers an area of over 10 square kilometres and includes a railway network of 213
kilometres, over which 850 railway waggons
need to be shunted every day. As railway manager for BASF, and therefore in charge of
making sure that all rail traffic runs
smoothly, Edinger was able to demonstrate
very clearly, by means of cost analysis and
comparative cost accounting, just why BASF
took the strategic decision to use road-rail
Unimogs for their intra-plant shunting. At the
moment, ten Unimogs with shunting equipment are operated at BASF in three-shifts a
day. It is hard to imagine what day-to-day operations would be like without them.
The programme for the visit was rounded
off by a visit to the impressive grounds of the
Railway Museum, which has a wide variety of
historic railway treasures on display. It was
no great surprise that the delegates to the
event went home with plenty of new impressions.
■
UM2-07_Dok2_S14_28_EN:UM2/07
09.01.2008
8:44 Uhr
Seite 19
As strong as an ox:
Smoothly and easily, the
road-rail Unimog shunts
a train of heavy steam
engines (left)
Delegates to the road-rail
event take a ride “back
in time” in some historic
rail carriages (right)
A demonstration by
Hungarian Railways
(MÁV): De-railed railway
waggons are quickly rerailed on the track with
help from the Unimog
road-railer (bottom left)
The road-rail Unimog is
the star of the show:
Imposing vehicles are on
display in front of the
impressive Budapest
Railway Museum (large
picture below)
UM2-07_Dok2_S14_28_EN:UM2/07
09.01.2008
8:44 Uhr
Seite 20
International
We hope never to see this
for real in the future:
Two Mercedes-Benz
Unimogs U 400 in
double traction rescuing
one of the Métro
Lausanne-Ouchy trains.
Seen here after the
tunnel just before Sallaz
station on one of the few
sections which run above
ground
World Premiere with Unimog as Twin Unit rescue package
In Switzerland, the country with the most beautiful railway routes and mountain railways in Europe, an interesting
world premiere in transport technology is about to be completed and start operating. The rail track “M2” of the
Métro Lausanne-Ouchy S.A. is the first to be successfully tested as a unit with double traction Unimogs developed
as a rescue unit for emergencies involving a Metro train on the 5.9 km long newly-built line.
T
his project – the first Metro line in Switzerland – is a world premiere in underground railway construction. No other Metro
in the world has such difficult topography to
cope with. The “M2” in Lausanne, which will
be completed on time in 2008, could also set
a record for being the world's first Metro to
be built over such a short construction
period.
In its technical specifications, the Lausanne project could quite easily be compared with the most important Swiss northsouth railway connection, the Gotthard Tunnel, which was opened 125 years ago. On its
5.9 km long route, the “M2” overcomes a
rise/fall in altitude of 338 metres, with inclines of up to 12%, without the help of a rack
20 Unimog 2|2007
UM2-07_Dok2_S14_28_EN:UM2/07
09.01.2008
or traction rope. The new, fully-automatic
Metro line with rubber-tyred carriages from
Alstom, connects the Lausanne suburb of
Ouchy on Lake Geneva with the northern
suburbs and the “Biopôle” quarter north of
the conurbation with its 250,000 inhabitants, which is also the headquarters of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The “M2” starts operations in the second
half of 2008 and the overall investment
amounts to 590 million Swiss francs.
Test Runs and Cost Effectiveness Speak
for Unimog
The ‘rescue unit’ of two Mercedes-Benz
Unimog U 400s running as a twin unit with
a Hiab crane XSO55 and demountable rear
mounting area also represents a world
premiere for vehicles running on rails. The
package has been designed specifically for
the “M2”.
Philippe Goy from Lausanne is in charge
of all the electro-mechanical systems for the
“M2” project as well as being responsible for
what the two Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 400s
with Zwiehoff-Zagro rail guiding equipment
are to be used for. He is a totally focussed
railway engineer. During his National Service with the Swiss army, he got to know and
appreciate the Unimog 411, but then had
little more to do with Unimogs until he had
to invite tenders and prepare the specifications for two road-rail rescue and service vehicles as part of the “M2” project.
Philippe Goy well remembers the tender
phase for the two vehicles. “Among the
various manufacturers in Switzerland and
neighbouring European countries, there
were only three who were able to come up
with series-type production. Some suppliers
8:44 Uhr
Seite 21
thought they would be awarded the contract
with vehicles specially built for the job, but
we wanted to have vehicles with well-established large-scale production.
“The test runs were on wet rails, which
had been additionally smeared with soap,
using heavy trailer loads of up to 2 x 12
tonne gross weight on the old rack railway
route from Ouchy to the former terminus
Lausanne-Flon in the centre of the city. The
tests convinced us, and other participating
experts from HTL Yverdon, of the operational capabilities of the Mercedes-Benz
Unimog. Once more, the good coefficient of
friction of rubber on steel proved to be an
advantage and played a very important part
in the final test results. We were awarded
the official operating permit from the Swiss
Federal Transport Office in June, allowing
the Unimog to be used on the Metro line.
“Taking all the commercial and technical
aspects into consideration, the MercedesBenz Unimog proved to be the most cost-effective solution. Its cost-effectiveness could
not be undercut by any other competitor.
And, additional to all these tangible advantages, is the excellent reputation enjoyed
worldwide by this tested and proven
product. Our decision was clear. One other
important aspect was that we also have the
ideal service partner just on our doorstep –
the branch office of the Unimog-Partner in
Switzerland, Robert Aebi AG, is
situated not far from Lausanne in Morges.”
“Master” and “Slave”: Unimog with
Double Traction
After the testing and decision making
phase had been completed, the time came to
put the project for rescue and servicing
“I had had absolutely no experience with
Unimogs before. But these trucks quickly
convinced me of their value with their reliability,
high standard of comfort and ability to change
over quickly from rail to road.”
Christian de Siebental, material requirements
planner for the “M2” project and one of the
Unimog drivers.
vehicles into practice. The results of the test
runs had shown that it would be necessary
to have two vehicles in double traction mode,
both for safety reasons, and also because the
54 tonne trailer load of an empty Metro train
would have to be pulled up inclines of up to
12%.
The first vehicle in the twin unit with the
driver is called the “master” and it is connected by a coupling rod with the second vehicle called the “slave”, which does not have
its own driver. The electronics as well as all
the controls for operating the vehicle are
synchronised. That meant that completely
First tests: A U 400 shunts one of the Metro carriages
made by the French company Alstom over the newlybuilt line (bottom left)
During construction over the last three years the
Unimogs were working up to 20 hours a day doing
all kinds of jobs (bottom pictures)
Unimog 2|2007 21
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09.01.2008
8:44 Uhr
Seite 22
International
new handling technology had to be developed to meet the requirements of twin-towing. Never before has such a construction
been designed for vehicles with rail guiding
systems.
G. Zwiehoff GmbH of Rosenheim completed the task with flying colours because
they are specialists in supplying and designing road-rail vehicles. Philippe Goy also
confirms this: “The cooperation in our team
with Aebi and Zwiehoff, as well as Zagro as
the rail guiding manufacturer, was outstanding. We engineers always found a common
language to solve the tasks on hand – and
thanks to our consensus we were able to run
all the tests on the spot with a realistic configuration. This fact had a very positive influence on the outcome which is well worth
seeing today.”
The end result is that the Métro Lausanne-Ouchy S.A. is very well equipped to
handle emergencies such as, for instance, if
the train breaks down or there is a power
“During the whole of the
construction period, our
Unimogs have proved
their worth so
outstandingly that since
they were bought they
have been used for all
kinds of jobs.”
Philippe Goy, engineer
in charge of the electromechanical systems for
“M2” project.
failure. “Then the Unimog will be our salvation,” says Goy.
The actual towing operation is far from
the greatest challenge faced by the twin vehicles. Future tasks also include cleaning
and sweeping the tunnel, and additional
equipment also includes cranes and flat
beds on the vehicles, each fitted with an additional generator, which is needed for line
Altitude profile of the Métro Lausanne-Ouchy line
Riponne
492 m
Délices 408 m
Lausanne
Flon 473 m
Croisettes
711 m
Bessières
500 m
CHUV
570 m
Jordils 392 m
Fourmi
651 m
Vennes 683 m
Ours 517 m
Lausanne CFF 451 m
Sallaz 610 m
Grancy 425 m
Ouchy 373 m
Cleaning, sweeping, transporting ...
The Unimogs were used below ground in the
train tunnels during the entire construction
period
22 Unimog 2|2007
maintenance. Maintenance work along the
line has to be done daily between 1 am and
5 am, when no scheduled trains are running. The Unimogs are also required for
transporting heavy equipment and, because
of the steep inclines, this is achieved by
using trailers manufactured by MüllerMitteltal that are fitted with tilt technology.
“Diamond's” Value Quickly Recognised
The “M2” project team soon found out that
the railway world is quite different from
transporting goods by road. After the two
Unimogs had been delivered, they spent a
lot of time simply waiting on the rails at the
building yard, but when construction materials were needed further along the new line
the true value of the two new “diamonds”
became apparent.
During the last two or more years of construction work, the Unimogs have been working every day for 12 to 16 hours in three
shifts. “It was not intended to make so much
use of them,” says Philippe Goy, “but the
Unimogs really proved their value and we
realised immediately just how much they
are capable of handling.” And so the trucks
were used for all kinds of jobs during construction, even carrying out jobs for which
they had never been intended. Christian de
Siebental, the material requirements planner for “M2” and driver emphasises: “We
have had only positive experiences with our
Unimogs.”
■
UM2-07_Dok2_S14_28_EN:UM2/07
09.01.2008
8:44 Uhr
Seite 23
Uniskop
inter airport
Europe 2007
The Mercedes-Benz Unimog plays a
vital role as a multi-tasking
specialist vehicle for airport
operations – and nowhere was that
more clearly demonstrated than at
“inter airport Europe”, at the FranzJosef Strauß Airport in Munich in
October.
T
his, Europe’s largest airport trade fair, is
growing in popularity among airport
professionals throughout the continent,
where the number of flights is increasing,
new airports are being built and ‘mega-size’
planes are setting new standards for the industry. By 2025, worldwide, the number of
people flying will have doubled to more than
nine billion a year. In China alone, 50 new
airports are planned for completion within
the next few decades.
The Unimog already has a major role in a
wide range of applications, including fire
engines, for mowing work, winter services,
towing and transporting work, as well as
dealing with supplies and waste disposal for
a wide variety of airport facilities. At the
Daimler AG stand – the first trade fair appe-
A ‘cut above the competition’ at inter airport Europe 2007, Munich: the large area gang mower, MGM 650 from
Mulag, copes with a working width of 6.50 metres
arance for the company under its new name
– the Special Trucks Division from Wörth
was represented by a new U 500 equipped
with the wide-spread, triple-headed, gang
mower – the MGM 650 from Mulag.
Grass at airports has to be cut to a speci-
De-icing treatment using
a salt solution is
applicable for roads as
well as at airports.
This application was
developed by Dammann
fic height to prevent birds from nesting in it.
To ensure that this cutting height is achieved accurately, the new Unimog and Mulag
mowing combination has boom mowers to
the left and right as well as a front mower.
They work as a combined unit to provide a
working width of an impressive 6.50 metres.
At the same time, the mowed grass cuttings
are mulched, which means they can remain
on green strips and do not need to be carted
away.
On the Herbert Dammann GmbH stand at
inter airport a U 400 with a de-icing plant on
the drop-side body was exhibited. This application has been developed for winter services on paths and roads away from the runway areas, but it can also be used for highways authority’s winter services. The tank
holds almost 3,000 litres and the pump driven by the vehicle's hydraulic system handles 320 litres a minute. A cab-based unit controls the amount spread, varying between 5
and 50 ml/m2.
■
Unimog 2|2007 23
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09.01.2008
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Seite 24
66 Unimogs for Kasakhstan
A fleet of 66 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 5000 vehicles, valued at some 25
million Euros, is destined for Kazakhstan, where they will be operated by the
Temi Scholy Railway Company in the country’s capital city, Astana.
T
his order, the largest that the central Asian
country has ever placed for western vehicles and technological equipment, has been
placed by G. Zwiehoff GmbH, of Rosenheim,
which specialises in projects involving its rail
guidance system and road-rail vehicles.
Zwiehoff, the primary contractor, is working in cooperation with six other German
companies to supply the special off-road vehicles, which are capable of coping with extreme
terrain. Each is fitted with a front winch – absolutely essential for rescue work – and a boxtype body to transport personnel, tools and
other equipment, including rescue and re-railing equipment, signal technology, workshops,
and generators for electricity and to provide
power for welding equipment. The Unimogs –
which are renowned for their rigidity, reliability and off-road capabilities – are to be used
for routine maintenance, track repair and
Ready to start work in Kasakhstan,
the world’s ninth largest country
maintenance, and as rescue vehicles along the
14,560 kilometres of the network run by the
the Temir Scholy Railway Company.
Zwiehoff, one of the best-known specialist
companies for rail guidance equipment for
Unimogs and trucks, established its first contacts with its Kasakhstan business partners in
2002 and two years later had already supplied
the first 12 Unimogs with rail guidance equipment into the country. Kazakstan is the ninth
largest country in the world and has a massive
need for commercial vehicles and traffic technology.
According to Gerd Zwiehoff, managing partner of the Rosenheim company, the Unimog
system with its wide range of tried, tested and
proven mounted implements and equipment
has a promising future in Kasakhstan. “We are
going to invest in Kasakhstan; set up service
stations for our vehicles; and build up Unimog
sales for the whole country together with our
partners at Mercedes-Benz Trucks,” says the
head of the company. And he emphasises that:
“Unimogs are just made for this country because, as implement-carriers and transport vehicles with off-road capabilities, they are the
ideal vehicle. With their support, the infrastructure of the whole country can be greatly
improved.”
■
First Unimog U 20 off the Assembly Line
T
he first Unimog U20 came off the assembly
line at the Mercedes-Benz plant at Wörth
on 23rd October, 2007. With this new product,
which has supplemented the Unimog range of
products at the lower end, Mercedes-Benz can
now supply the ideal implement-carrier for
small and medium-sized communities, as well
as for horticultural and landscape gardening
businesses.
In particular it provides an efficient working
unit for the coming winter services. In his
words of thanks, Martin Daum, head of the
Wörth plant, praised the collective efforts of
the project team responsible for the development and production. “In less than two years a
new project has been developed. In particular,
the cooperation with our colleagues in our Brazilian plant Sao Bernardo do Campo, which
supplies the cabs, was, and is, as good as one
could wish.”
The new, compact, implement carrier is available in two versions with maximum weights of
7.5 tonne and 8.5 tonne. It combines the tried
and proven Unimog technology with a lower
24 Unimog 2|2007
vehicle weight and impressive manoeuvrability
for a reasonable price. The Unimog U 20 incorporates the chassis and drive technology of the
classic implement carrier Unimog, but has a
wheelbase shortened to 2,700 mm. The engine
is the 4.5 litre, four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz
turbo-diesel OM 904 LA with an output of 110
kW (150 HP). The “Blue-Tec” engine meets the
standards required by the EU emission regulations Euro 4. The powertrain is the eight gear
shift unit UG 100/8, which can also be enhanced with another 8 additional working gears.
Unlike the U 300, the new Unimog U 20 has
Martin Daum (right),
head of the MercedesBenz plant at Wörth,
presents the first Unimog
U 20 off the assembly
line to the first customer,
the Mayor of Wörth,
Harald Seiter
an all-steel forward control cab, which is easy
to access because of its wide-angle doors, and it
has room for three people.
This winter the Unimog U 20 encounters its
first big test during the “U 20 Winter Services
Tour 2008”. From mid-January to the beginning of March 2008, the new compact Unimog
will be demonstrating – with 14 events
throughout Germany – just what it is capable
of achieving with various implement combinations, and from the end of March onwards the
first vehicles will be delivered to the customers.
■
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Seite 25
Uniskop
1,200 Actros to be joined by
the First Road-Railer Unimog
Freight Contractor Reysas, of Ankara, Turkey, relies on
Mercedes-Benz trucks... and the first Unimog will be
delivered in June.
R
eysas Logistics, a dedicated hauling
business, has been a loyal customer of
the Kolumann Group, one of the largest
Mercedes-Benz dealers in Turkey, for many
years. The company operates more than
1,200 Actros long distance trucks for its
international freight contracts, and in June it
takes delivery of its first Unimog U 400 roadrailer from the implement partner ZwiehoffZagro. The Unimog will be used as a shunter
and has been designed to haul train loads of
up to 52 axles or 800 tonnes.
Reysas decided to buy the road-railer
Unimog because its rail logistics sector is
experiencing a booming trend and this means that the future prospects of Unimog
road-rail vehicles in Turkey are likely to be
very positive.
Reysas was founded in 1990 and under
the leadership of its owner Durmus Döven it
has grown into one of the biggest international logistics companies in the Middle East,
as well being No. 1 in the logistics sector in
Turkey. Reysas has specialised mainly in
Durmus Döven (right) owner of the international
logistics company Reysas, Ankara, accepts the first
Unimog from Ali Saltik, manager of the Kolumann
office in Istanbul
Rail logistics for the Turkish hauling company Reysas
are showing a strong upwards trend
transporting vehicles, logistic services,
international long-distance freight traffic
and carrying fuel by rail, road and sea. The
Reysas fleet of trucks can be seen on roads
all over Europe and the Middle East, and as
far away as Kazakhstan.
■
Advertisement
Unimog 2|2007 25
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Seite 26
Visitors to the Wiltshire Open Day put up with
the weather to watch the demonstration of the
Schmidt Road Repair Patcher
Demonstration of “Tax Savers”
In the very wet summer of 2007, Wiltshire County Council decided to present its fleet of Mercedes-Benz Unimogs
to the Press. Despite heavy rain, a storm and cold weather, many road engineers and contractors, plus journalists,
from all over the UK accepted the invitation.
W
iltshire County Council made a very
important and forward-looking decision when they bought trucks that could be
used all year round for a great variety of
jobs. It was not only the Unimog's technology and efficiency which played an important part in the decision, but also its cost-ef-
fectiveness, which certainly found a positive
echo among the tax payers in the county.
The highlight of the demonstration was
the Road Repair Patcher SR 500 from
Schmidt, up to now the only implement of its
kind in Great Britain. It was very impressive
just how fast, quietly and efficiently the road
repair work was completed using a one-man
operation. And while sitting comfortably in
his U 500 cab, driver Tony Adams described
to the BBC television reporter just how easy
and convenient it was to operate the truck
and its equipment.
In Wiltshire, the Mercedes-Benz Unimogs
with their implements from Schmidt and
Mulag are also used for cleaning road signs,
mowing verges, cutting back hedges and
bushes as well as clearing snow and ice in
winter.
■
The Unimog 500 has an extremely strong weed brush
and vacuum sweeper. Vegetation growing on the road
surface and in the gutters is removed by the brush and
then sucked up into the truck sweeper’s hopper – shown
here working under the expert supervision of road
engineers
“Filmstar” Unimog
N
ormally filmstars come to premieres in stretch limousines and
stroll down the red carpet. But that was not the case with
“Kenny”, a film parody of a documentary about mobile WCs. The star
of the show in London’s West End was a Mercedes-Benz Unimog
U 400, chauffering “Kenny” to the premiere of his film.
The silver grey Unimog U 400 used at the premiere was loaned
for the purpose by its owner, Unimog customer Richard Cave.
It was a far cry from its normal role of delivering mobile toilets to
music festivals and other events.
■
26 Unimog 2|2007
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Seite 28
mu se um
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Fascination Unimog-Museum
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Next to highway
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Tram from Karlsruhe or Freudenstadt, stop Bad Rotenfels Schloss
Telephone +49 (0) 72 25/9 81 31-0 · www.unimog-museum.de