Welte Fahrzeugbau

Welte Fahrzeugbau GmbH is a medium-sized German designer, manufacturer and distributor of forestry, municipal and special-purpose vehicles, headquartered in Umkirch near Freiburg im Breisgau, on the edge of the Black Forest. The company was founded in 1952 by Alexander Welte senior in Freiburg im Breisgau, initially producing truck bodies and tipping trailers for cars and trucks. It soon expanded into long-timber vehicles and special low-bed trailers, winches and hydraulic attachment logging equipment, with its first forestry equipment mounted on a converted Unimog in 1958. In 1961 the company moved its headquarters and production to Umkirch, where it remains today. Welte is a specialist in forestry technology. It develops and builds high-quality forestry machines based on proven foundations that can be adapted to customer needs through a simple, modular construction kit system. The product range includes skidders, forestry combination machines, forwarders and harvesters, as well as municipal and special-purpose vehicles. The company states that it follows the principle of doing things right since 1952, combining timeless quality features such as reliability and robustness with active further development of technological standards. Sustainability plays a major role as both an ecological and economic factor. Over the decades Welte has introduced numerous innovations, including all-wheel-drive forestry special machines with articulated frame steering (the Welte "Forstmann") in 1964, the medium-weight forestry special tractor "Ökonom" and the small thinning tractor "JubiTrac" in the 1970s, a powershift transmission in 1980 and a swiveling skidding device in 1985. In 1990 the 400th forestry special tractor and the 750th forestry attachment were delivered. On 1 July 1998 Werner Nühnen, previously a managing director and board member of mechanical engineering companies, took over the company and restructured it, leading to new and further developments, especially a modular system for flexible combination of equipment elements. In 2001 Welte received the Baden-Württemberg sponsorship award for young companies, and in 2002 the innovation award of the Interforst trade fair in Munich for developing a constant-pull winch. In the same year Welte acquired the rights for licensed production of FMA (Frankenberger Maschinen- und Anlagenbau) Forst- und Spezialfahrzeugbau GmbH in Frankenberg, Saxony. In 2006 the first 8-wheel combination machine was developed. The production facility was modernized and expanded with several halls. Today Welte delivers over fifty new machines annually. Its products are exported through several sales partners, accounting for around thirty percent of total turnover, mainly to France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Central and Eastern Europe, but also as far as Japan. The current model range includes the W230, W130 and W100 series, with the W130 in its fourth generation and the W230 in its third generation. Welte continues to present its machines at trade fairs such as INTERFORST.

Welte Fahrzeugbau GmbH was founded in 1952 by Alexander Welte senior (died 2 September 2001) in Freiburg im Breisgau. Initially the company produced bodies for trucks and tipping trailers for cars and trucks. Soon afterwards it added long-timber vehicles and special low-bed trailers (semi-trailers), winches and hydraulic attachment logging equipment; the first forestry equipment was mounted on a converted Unimog in 1958. In 1961 the company moved its headquarters and production to Umkirch, where a new company site with 3,000 square meters of production area was built. In 1964 the first all-wheel-drive forestry special machines with articulated frame steering (Welte "Forstmann" as base vehicle) were developed and produced. In the 1970s followed the development of a medium-weight forestry special tractor (Welte "Ökonom"), a powershift tractor with exchangeable rear frame, and a small thinning tractor with a very short wheelbase (Welte "JubiTrac") with center of gravity shifting. In the 1980s the powershift transmission (1980) and a swiveling skidding device (1985) were developed. In 1990 the 400th forestry special tractor and the 750th forestry attachment were delivered. On 1 July 1998 Werner Nühnen, who had previously been a managing director and board member of companies in the mechanical engineering industry, took over the company and restructured it. New and further developments followed, in particular a modular system for flexible combination of equipment elements. In 2001 Welte received the sponsorship award of the state of Baden-Württemberg for young companies, and in 2002 the innovation award of the Interforst trade fair in Munich for the development of a constant-pull winch. In the same year Welte acquired the rights for licensed production of FMA (Frankenberger Maschinen- und Anlagenbau) Forst- und Spezialfahrzeugbau GmbH in Frankenberg (Saxony). In 2006 the first 8-wheel combination machine was developed. The production facility was modernized and expanded by several halls. Today Welte delivers over fifty new machines annually. The products (skidders, forestry combination machines, forwarders, harvesters) are exported through several sales partners, accounting for around thirty percent of total turnover, mainly to France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Central and Eastern Europe, but also as far as Japan.

• 2006

  Development of the first 8-wheel combination machine; production facility modernized and expanded.

• 2002

  Received the innovation award of the Interforst trade fair in Munich for developing a constant-pull winch; acquired rights for licensed production of FMA in Frankenberg, Saxony.

• 2001

  Received the sponsorship award of the state of Baden-Württemberg for young companies.

• 1998

  Werner Nühnen took over the company on 1 July and restructured it.

• 1990

  Delivery of the 400th forestry special tractor and the 750th forestry attachment.

• 1985

  Development of a swiveling skidding device.

• 1980

  Development of the powershift transmission.

• 1970

  Development and production of a medium-weight forestry special tractor (Welte "Ökonom").

• 1964

  Development and production of all-wheel-drive forestry special machines with articulated frame steering (Welte "Forstmann").

• 1961

  Production moved to a newly built company site in Umkirch with 3,000 sqm of production area.

• 1958

  Forestry division expanded with double-drum forestry winches and hydraulic attachment logging equipment; first forestry equipment on a converted Unimog.

• 1954

  Product range expanded to include long-timber vehicles and special low-bed trailers.

• 1952

  Company founded in Freiburg by Alexander Welte senior; production of truck bodies and tipping trailers.

Specialist in forestry technology offering robust, modular, high-performance machines with a focus on reliability, sustainability and customer-specific configurability.

• Welte W230

  Third-generation six-cylinder forestry machine, strong for long and short timber, available with G-HTW skidding trailer.

• Welte W130

  Fourth-generation forestry machine, presented as W130T; tested by TimbCo GmbH; used in long timber.

• Welte W100

  New compact forestry machine.

• Welte Forstmann

  All-wheel-drive forestry special machine with articulated frame steering, developed in 1964.

• Welte Ökonom

  Medium-weight forestry special tractor developed in the 1970s.

• Welte JubiTrac

  Small thinning tractor with very short wheelbase and center of gravity shifting, developed in the 1970s.

1. 1Startseite - Welte Forstmaschinen, Kombimaschinen, Kommunalmaschinen und Spezialfahrzeugewelte.de
2. 2Über uns - Welte Forstmaschinen, Kombimaschinen, Kommunalmaschinen und Spezialfahrzeugewelte.de
3. 3Welte Fahrzeugbaude.wikipedia.org
4. 4Welte Fahrzeugbauwikidata.org