Ensinger (tractor)
Ensinger is a former tractor brand that built caterpillars and tractors in Michelstadt in the Odenwald from 1948 to 1954 .
history
The engineer Friedrich (Fritz) Ensinger built his tugs and caterpillars in Michelstadt, opposite the train station . As one of many new tractor manufacturers in the post-war period , he achieved a total production of around 350 tractors and 20 crawler tractors. The production halls are still there and were later used by other companies.
The family company was founded in 1902 by Christian Ensinger, who began selling bicycles , sewing machines and motorcycles from the Dürkopp brand . Cars from manufacturers such as Opel , Brennabor , BMW and Mercedes followed later .
For the independent tractor production, the engines were obtained in different versions from the Mannheimer Motorenwerke (MWM) and with outputs of 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 hp (AS15, AS20, AS25, AS40 and RS25 and RS40) had all standard sizes common at the time on. It was also represented at the well-known DLG exhibition in 1949 and 1950 . It started in 1948 with the AS20. The tractor already had a pulley , a PTO shaft and, if desired, a cutter bar . The front axle could also be obtained as a swing axle . Only a short time later, the smaller AS15 with a single-cylinder diesel followed, with which it was hoped to increase sales. Ensinger's motto was “high-performance machines with a sophisticated design”.
Nevertheless, he soon had to sell the construction plans of the small tractor to the Bischoff-Werke in Recklinghausen , which continued to build the vehicle as Biwe AS 15 with modest success. The almost 100,000 German marks were used to develop and build new machines.
In addition to the AS25, Friedrich Ensinger now built an AS28 and then the even more powerful AS40, some of which were probably delivered to Turkey. The 40-horsepower diesel, however, overwhelmed the too weakly designed transmission, so that gear damage had to be repaired by a fitter in Turkey. They even exported to Greece, where u. a. an Ensinger tractor is in the Gelibolu Museum (Gallipoli).
Another attempt was the 40 hp caterpillar tractor that Ensinger presented at the DLG exhibition in Frankfurt in 1949 . But here too he had to sell the design documents to the Bischoff company just a year later.
Tractor types
| Surname | construction time | PS | Cylinder / stroke | Engine (type) | Displacement (cm³) | U (1 / min) | Empty weight kg) | Remarks | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS 15 | 1949-1950 | 15th | Single cylinder four-stroke | MWM-KDW-215-E | 1178 | 1500 | 1370 | Diesel tractor constructed in block construction; from 1950 there was an improved second version | |
| AS 20 | 1948 | 22nd | Two-cylinder four-stroke | MWM-KD-215-Z | 2356 | 1500 | 1650 | The tractor already had a pulley, a PTO shaft and, if desired, a cutter bar. The front axle could also be obtained as a swing axle. | |
| AS 20i | 1949 | 22nd | Two-cylinder four-stroke | MWM-KD-415-Z | 2360 | 1500 | 1390 | The tractor looked like the AS15 but had a two-cylinder engine and an extended hood. Like the AS 20, it was equipped with a PTO shaft and could optionally be equipped with a cutter bar. | |
| AS 25 | 1949-1950 | 25th | Two-cylinder four-stroke | MWM-KDW-415-Z | 2356 | 1500 | 1750 | Due to the low sales, the 25 HP tractor was also available as a caterpillar tractor with raised idler wheels, rollers and drive wheels. | |
| AS 28 | 1953 (?) | 28 | Two-cylinder four-stroke | MWM | |||||
| AS 40 | 1952 (?) | 40 | Three-cylinder four-stroke | MWM | |||||
| RS 25 | |||||||||
| RS 40 | 1949-1952 | 40 | Three-cylinder four-stroke | MWM-KDW-415-D | 2534 | 1500 | Was presented as a strong agricultural caterpillar at the DLG exhibition in Frankfurt in 1949. The caterpillar never achieved larger editions. As early as 1950, Ensinger was selling the construction documents to the Bischoff company . |
The End
After barely two years, Ensinger began to withdraw from tractor construction and sold constructions and production facilities (machinery and tools) (AS 15) for DM 97,120 to Bischoff-Werke KG in Recklinghausen .
This, founded in 1899 by Theodor Pfingstmann , and operating under the name Bischoff since 1938, has so far mainly been in business with subsidies for mining . Due to declining sales, it was hoped that the entry into tractor construction would result in better utilization of the factories.
The well-known Ensinger AS 15 was henceforth marketed under the name Biwe AS 15 . The water-cooled MWM single-cylinder engine KDW-415-E was able to put its practical test in numerous tractors of this performance class, while the four-speed gearbox was an in-house design that included Renk parts.
In 1954, the Ensinger plant had to be closed after bankruptcy and Ensinger had to give up its productive plans. He found employment at Rotenberger Metall-Werken Rudolf Stierlen KG , but died in 1956 at the age of 51.
The Odenwälder Oldtimerfreunde association , especially in the person of Heinrich Lauser, is actively working on the history of the company and family and keeps a list of tractors of this brand that are still available, which currently (as of March 2017) comprises over 20 tractors.
The Michelstädter Stadtarchiv has its own archive collection on the history of the company, made available by the Ensinger family.
literature
- Klaus Herrmann: Tractors in Germany: Companies and Manufacturers from 1907 to the Present , Verlags-Union Agrar, Frankfurt am Main 2000, p. 104 f.
- Klaus Herrmann: Acker Giganten: Technology history and stories , Georg Westermann Verlag, 1991, p. 130/190
- Udo Paulitz: Tractor classics: the most beautiful historical tractors in Germany , GeraMond Verlag, 2008, p. 83
Web links
- The Ensinger Register on the Odenwälder Oldtimerfreunde e. V.
- A Ensinger A25 with threshing about belt drive on the classic meeting in Bad König
- Photo of an Ensinger tractor that has not yet been restored but is ready to drive
- Wikibook: Ensinger tractors
Individual evidence
- ↑ At the bottom left, Fritz Ensinger is next to the AS40 in the picture for the flyer (PDF; 2.0 MB) of the 4th Tractor Classic Festival in Bad König 2010
- ↑ a b c Darmstädter Echo: Online article from March 11, 2019: Jürgen Schwinn: Turkey also knows the Michelstädter Ensinger tractors ; accessed on April 9, 2019
- ↑ Picture for the article Thanks to oldtimers, social thought blossoms ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Echo-Online: AS20 in restoration ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Tractor Classic Chronicle 1950
- ^ Ensinger Register , private website; accessed on March 1, 2017
- ↑ Darmstädter Echo Online: A soft spot for Ensinger tractors - Heinrich Lauser from Würzberg is working on the history of the Michelstädter tractor building (November 6, 2012) ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
