In this blog, we primarily want to talk about multifunctional vehicles that are designed for different tasks in municipal, service and industrial environments, e.g. as a tow tractor, winter service vehicle, sweeper, lawn mower, watering vehicle and so on. As a differentiation, for example, from amphibious vehicles, which can of course also be referred to as multi-purpose or multifunctional vehicles, since they move on land and in water.
Today there are different (municipal) implement carriers that can be converted more or less easily for different tasks by means of attachments and mountable equipment. In our view on history, however, we want to start with vehicles that are more likely to be considered as tractors. For these, there also have been attachments for multifunctional use for a long time, perhaps in comparison with limited performance, but they are still on the market today as an inexpensive alternative in the municipal and service sector.
Without claiming to be exhaustive, we want to list some of the early manufacturers here. A purely chronological approach would be rather confusing because of the simultaneous development.
Gebrüder Holder GmbH, now operating under the name of Max Holder GmbH and based in Reutlingen (Baden Württemberg, Germany), was founded in Urach in 1888. Originally the business was sprayers for pest control and single-axis motorized tillers and hoes. In 1930 the first two-wheel tractor from Holder came onto the market. Then in 1953 a four-wheel tractor and in 1954 a four-wheel tractor with an articulated joint design. There were and are various attachments for these vehicles that make them multifunctional. You can see some of them in our picture gallery.
After several takeovers and a bankruptcy in 2008, Max Holder GmbH is now part of the Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG group.
In 1920 LADOG was founded as a mechanical engineering company in Nordrach in the Black Forest in Germany. In 1948 the first three-wheel tractor with a 4 HP engine is developed and built. The first four-wheel vehicle with rear-wheel drive and a power of 14 hp followed in 1960.
In 1967 the first municipal vehicle from LADOG comes onto the market, and from 1970 also with four-wheel steering.
Hans Koch, who received his first patent in 1924 for his “Dimoha” (die motorisierte Hand – the motorized hand), a motorized, hand-operated hoe, founded the company HAKO (Hans Koch and Son) in 1948. The economic breakthrough came in 1956 with the development of the single-axle “HAKOrette”. Legendary is the HAKOtrac, which was sold from 1961 for about DM3,000 and, thanks to its versatility, served part-time farmers well and was also used in the municipal sector whenever space was limited.
Gutbrod was founded in 1926 and initially specialized in motorcycles. From the 1960s onwards, however, there was more and more development towards municipal multifunctional vehicles. The company was dissolved in 1996 when it was taken over by Modern Tool and Die Company.
The “Universal-Motor-Gerät” (Universal Motor Device), better known as the “Unimog“, was developed by Albert Friedrich for Daimler AG. As an equipment carrier with all-wheel drive, it was used for many municipal tasks. Other areas of application were forestry, the military and as a small truck. The Unimog has been revised many times and is still on the market today.