Re: UNIMOG!
Subject: Re: Re: Automatics and limited slip differentials
Date: 6 Dec 91 14:44:13 GMT

>> A Unimog is probably the finest general utility vehicle in the world, by
>> the way.  Imagine a two seat jeep with a small truck bed in back, big
>> foot tires, 18 forward gears and six reverse, front and rear PTOs, and a
>> three point hitch.

Unimogs are made by Mercedes-Benz (who else?).  Contact your M-B dealer.
It was over 20 years ago that I got to play with one for a few months,
so my recollections are hazy.  As I recall, an M-B dealer in NJ was the
import agent, but I suspect any M-B dealer could get you more
information on them if you press them. I don't remember prices well, and
they wouldn't mean much now, but they are very expensive or very cheap,
depending on your point of view.

Expensive:  They cost a lot more than a jeep, a small utility tractor,
or a 1 ton truck.

Cheap:  They cost a lot less than a jeep, a small utility tractor, and a
1 ton truck combined.

You have to imagine a vehicle that you can pull a bottom plow with, drop
the plow at the edge of the field, and then drive home comfortably at 55
mph.  With the three pt hitch and front and rear hydraulics, there is
almost nothing that you can't hook up to them.  Just getting one of the
brochures is worth it.  The stuff they put on them is amazing...dump
bodies, side dump bodies, snow plows, snow blowers, fork lifts, you name
it.

Subject: Re: Automatics and limited slip differentials
Date: 9 Dec 91 14:57:36 GMT

>   Unimogs are made by Mercedes-Benz [...]
>There may be a use for these Do-All vehicles, but I suspect that for
>less money you could buy a good 25-hp tractor _and_ a good 3/4-ton
>pickup, and do a better job on the field and on the road than one of
>these wheeled Swiss Army knives.

I don't disagree with you entirely, but the Unimog was developed
initially for European farms, which tend to be quite small by U.S.
standards; it is harder for European farmers to justify the initial
expense and upkeep on several different single purpose vehicles.  Also,
Eupropean farmers are far more meticulous about vehicle upkeep than
their U.S. counterparts, and smaller, more lightly built equipment lasts
longer and does more in Europe.  European farm equipment, on the whole,
has never done well in this country because it is, by U.S. standards,
flimsily built.

While the Unimog may not be the *perfect* vehicle for any single
application, it is a remarkable exercise in design trade-offs.
One big advantage, in my mind, for a multi-purpose vehicle on a small
farm, is the reduced maintenance--only one engine to take care, one PTO,
one transmission, etc.

Given a motley collection of previously owned farm equipment:
a small tractor, a farm truck, a pickup, and an old jeep--something is
going to break down regularly, and just before you need it most.  I'd
rather put all that maintenance money into a single vehicle and keep it
in really good condition.