October 2003
 

Ploughing into the past

Original steam plough catalogue republished

 
Rheinmetall history relived: A few weeks ago, the publishing house Verlag Podszun-Motorbücher GmbH (Brilon) issued a reprint of an original Rheinmetall steam plough catalogue from the 1920s entitled "Rheinmetall-Heißdampfpflug-Apparate", the original of which had long since become a rare antique. Illustrated with fascinating pictures of steam ploughs that hark back to the range of civilian products made by Rheinmetall following the First World War. According to the publishers, the catalogue was reissued for agricultural enthusiasts and model-builders; countless illustrations, technical data and descriptions contained in the catalogue make it a veritable treasure trove.
 

Rheinmetall engineering wasn't just for farmers: The Type ZT Tandem-Steam Plough (left-hand photo) and a similar oil-fired system featuring a protective roof (right-hand photo), with a single-furrow plough mounted between them.

 
A glance back at history: After the First World War, the German Reich was banned from producing heavy-calibre weapons, denying the Düsseldorf company Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik AG much of it business base. The company responded by building up its non-military production capacity. As a result, between 1919 and 1926, along with locomotives and passenger carriages, the company's factories in Düsseldorf-Derendorf and Düsseldorf-Rath also produced steam ploughs and agricultural implements for the farm sector.
 

Agricultural implements: five-furrow tipping plough with an anti-balance device and zigzag frame, below it a two-bladed Rajol plough with pre-tillers and underground cultivator elements.

 
Touching on these business activities, the catalogue's preface speaks among other things of how "the urgent need to bring under cultivation every half-way accessible bit of heath and waste land will give steam-powered agriculture an importance hitherto unimaginable, for it alone holds the promise of success ... Rheinmetall steam ploughs, for whose quality the good name and world renown of our forty-year-old company are a guarantee, represent a range of products incorporating the fill gamut of practical experience and progress in the field of steam plough engineering, the outcome of collaboration between many different experts. Farmers, steam plough subcontractors, engineers specialising in steam plough design, boiler engineers and others have all had their say in designing these machines, which, with great sensitivity to the needs of the agricultural sector, are only delivered once they have been tried and tested in every respect."
 

A strong performer: steam-powered cultivator with rotary spading harrow.

 
Measuring 45,000 square metres, the building erected for the production of locomotives and steam ploughs was the largest of its kind in Europe at the time. It had its own flanging mill (for arching and forming metal plate) equipped with heavy hydraulic presses capable of supplying the pressed parts needed for making locomotives; the heating and smoke pipes were drawn using the seamless technique first pioneered by Ehrhardt. The newly developed steam ploughs were tested and perfected in the fields of Unterlüß on the Lüneburger Heide. In order to facilitate the market launch of its new line of steam ploughs, in 1920 Rheinmetall took up an interest in Gustav Adolf Wetzel Dampfpflug- und Dampfstraßenwalzen-Unternehmung GmbH of Eisleben, then one of the most important steam plough subcontracting companies in central Germany.
 

The newly reissued catalogue contains detailed descriptions of the technical design of various Rheinmetall steam ploughs using the two-machine system. The Rheinmetall steam plough was characterised above all by its specially developed smoke pipe superheater, whose advantages – low consumption of fuel and water, fast and high superheating, no drop in pressure, extremely economical operation and ease of use – made it superior in every respect to (competing) smoke box superheaters.
 

The title page of the newly republished catalogue "Rheinmetall-Heißdampfpflug-Apparate".

 
The steam ploughs, ranging in horsepower between 80 and 200, were especially well suited for cultivating moors, heathland and waste areas, but could also be employed as prime movers, traction machines or steam-rollers. Apart from steam ploughs, the catalogue contains build-on equipment (e.g. plough blades, rollers, harrows, and pumps) and even a camping and equipment-storage wagon. The Rheinmetall plants in Düsseldorf and Sömmerda (in Saxony) both feature in the catalogue, as does the company's exhibition stand at the 1924 Hamburg DLG trade fair, providing fascinating glimpses of a bygone era.
 

Surprisingly spacious: Rheinmetall's camping and equipment-storage wagon (left-hand photo). The right-hand photo shows how the Düsseldorf company presented itself at the DLG fair in Hamburg 1924.

 
Those interested in buying the reprinted catalogue can order it from Podszun-Motorbücher-Verlag. Edited by Klaus Vollmar, the book is called "Rheinmetall-Heißdampfpflug-Apparate", and costs €14.90 (ISBN 3-86133-310-4).

Contact

Verlag Podszun-Motorbücher GmbH
Elisabethstrasse 23-25
59929 Brilon
Germany
Phone: +49 2961 53213
Fax: +49 2961 9639900
E-Mail: verlag.podszun@t-online.de