Bürgerspital Würzburg doesn't just focus on old vintages.
He's been in the business for 40 years now. He knows everyone and everything, not to mention each story and every machine. So when master vintner Günter Wohlfart is asked about the Unimog, he can wax lyrical about the versatile machine. In the 1960s, the first Unimog was brought into service at the Bürgerspital zum Heiligen Geist vineyard in Würzburg.
In service for 40 years.
"It was a truly special highlight at the time. Unimog drivers were a privileged bunch. They didn't even have to get out of the cab to open the dropsides. That was the job of the others. Back then, the Unimog drivers stayed comfortably in their seat." In the early 1970s when the 406 model series was launched, the Bürgerspital couldn't wait to get their hands on one: the 84 hp engine output of the Unimog had become a major aid to their daily business operations. "The Unimog is just quicker than a regular tractor." Even today, the four Unimog vehicles procured in this period are still reliably performing their duties.
And Günter Wohlfart was able to experience each new addition to the fleet in person. "Today we only use Unimog vehicles for transport applications," explains Wohlfart. "In the past, we had a cable winch mounted in the area between the two axles. We used it to plough between the vines on the steep sections of the vineyard. The Unimog proved to be particularly steadfast. At the front, there was a 60-bar pump for crop spraying. It provided the right level of power we needed for our hand-held spray guns." Special equipment like that is no longer required these days – in spraying operations directly on the vines, ten vineyard tractors carry out the job much more efficiently.
