Magirus Deutz Trucks - 'Air-Cooled Rules'- by Roland Sparling

est. 2006

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Part of the Donautal Works

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Thanks

Roland

Contact me :-

roland@magirusdeutz.co.uk

factory

Ulm Donau

The Danube Valley plant at Ulm took 4 years to appear from concept, to its completion, in 1973.

On my first visit to the premises in 1976 I was very impressed with the modern clean layout of the premises. I immediately made a comparison to the austere look of my first workplace, The Cowley factory of British Leyland in Oxford, where I worked for 5 years.

During my time with British Leyland I visited MG Abingdon, and the plants at Longbridge and Swindon. I have also been to the Ford Truck plant at Warley in Essex, and the Ford Transit factory in Southampton.

I can honestly say that what I saw in Ulm, was like something from another planet.

It was not just the premises but also the diligent workforce, who were treated with great respect by their managers, and had the most amazing working conditions.

I could not believe it when I saw that rather than the English Tea Break, these workers were treated to bottled beer from the local brewery, by the side of the production line , paid for by Magirus Deutz !

I was not the only person in our party to ask themselves, how this would have been received in the motor factories at home in the UK ?

The first assembly process I saw was the chassis assembly for the D30 FK tipper, which was completed with the chassis upside down and then neatly rotated, longitudinally, by some large chains before continuing on to the next stage. This was very impressive, but it just got better.

The mixture of models down the same line, demanded the type of precision, for which the Germans are well known, to ensure that the correct, engine, cab etc., appeared at exactly the right time to ensure the line kept moving, to produce a New truck every 10 minutes.

Magirus Deutz (GB) - Visit to Ulm 1976 - Ulm Lecture Theatre

Click Picture to enlarge

I can put names to about five faces ( including myself ) Are you here ? Can you do better ?

Pitter Commercials - Visit to Ulm January 1978 - Group Photo

Click Picture to enlarge

The names to the faces are below, if my memory is not too deficient ( let me know if I am wrong)

Pitter Commercials visit to Ulm Jan 1978

Standing : Ron Sibley, Tony Gatrell, Ray Lambert, Arthur Kneller, Michael Pitter, Eric Rivers,

Jason King (No its ME really !) then its Simon Robins, The Late Michael Dunne, 1 Magirus Man and the Transport Manager for 'AP' in Leamington Spa at the time.

Front Row: Wyndham Curtis, Pat Halifax, Chris Hales, Maggie Man, and 'my memory fails me'.

Message to Michael Pitter.... If you know the name of the last man ? Please let me know.Thanks

The Ulm Donau Factory as seen by Google Earth - Click to enlarge

	4 Wheel-Drive bogie. There is a lot of Heavy Metal in this bogie. As I said above, these were assembled with the chassis members upside down , so that all the components are dropped on the chassis from above which was obviously easier and safer for the workers than working underneath, with their arms in the air.
	The Engine Forest This may seem like an odd picture to record but whilst walking through the factory I found this large area full of many types of Deutz engines. They were all hanging on large tree-type steel structure, but they were not there for long. An overhead travelling crane and winch arrangement was busy picking the engines off the branches and placing them on to a conveyor line. Again very strict control was necessary to ensure that they were placed in the same order, as the cabs that were being loaded on to another conveyor elsewhere in the works at the same time.
	Engine Installation . All the vehicle components arrived from above and were lowered at exactly the right time into each vehicle. Here a complete V10 engine and gearbox is lowered in one piece , only needing the services to be connected on the moving line. To see a string of different engines all snaking along a conveyor line to join the correct model, was quite amazing
	Cab Fitting. The trucks were assembled in a carefully programmed order with many different types being assembled in turn, some with Forward control cabs, then some with Normal control cabs as shown here. At some times it was possible that every truck on the line at any one time could be different. On one occasion that I walked down the line, every other truck was one of a large 10,000 truck contract for use on the Baikal Railway project in Russia.
	Body Mounting Some models had their bodywork fitted on the same assembly line, they were usually "Meiller" tipper units made at another factory locally.
	Modular Construction The modular cab construction system saved on the components required to offer different shapes andsizes. This also helped reduce the number of parts held in a Magirus Deutz Dealer.
	The Markbronn Test Ground Experience 1976 On my first visit to Magirus, I made a visit to the company Test Track up in the mountains. After an amazing "Army Provided" open air breakfast I witnessed the ultimate in vehicle torture. Torsion Track, Mudbaths, Concrete Trough, 60deg slopes, and some close-ups of German Army Vehicles. I watched as a fully loaded 38t Italian Spec V12 Tractor Unit lapped the main track at 90mph. A carousel ride, above the low cloud, at the top of a 30m high Fire Engine ladder, nearly brought my breakfast back ! But it sobered me up.