Since the end of the seventies, Erich Wenzel, the father of Andreas and Jörg, had been running the construction business with a focus on civil engineering, at peak times with more than 20 employees. As employees, the two sons were able to gain a lot of experience in the application of machines.  After all, it was Andreas who completed his master's training in 1991, with the aim to continue the company of his father with his new own company in 2009 and thus fulfilled his desire for independence. In Lichtenfels in Hesse, not far from the Edersee, he now runs among others together with his brother Jörg, Claus Rupprath as operator and Manuel Sälzer, as well as accounting support by wife Heike, his own recycling place with earth collection point (for excavation) with sieve and sorting system. 

HYDREMA's multi-purpose backhoe loader replaces a 10 ton mobile excavator ditching 

"There are two very important changes this year," Andreas says proudly. The son Lukas, who also completes the master's training, has recently joined the company as an employee while the company, despite the crisis, has a high order in-take. "We really can't complain," Andreas says, pointing to the further innovation in his company. "With the MX18, we have seen the efficiency gain we get with the machine, because the super-compact city excavator not only enters almost every construction site despite its 18 tons of weight, but also reaches almost every corner on the construction site with its arm."

The first HDREMA, a backhoe loader, type 805, was purchased by his father directly from HYDREMA in 1990. Continous service was ensured via HYDREMA without any problems and the machine also ran completely error-free over the years. Since the family company was very active in building private housing and at that time a lot of work was done without a crane, the characteristics of the machine were very important for the decision for the manufacturer, which has its headquarters in Denmark and since 1996, through the purchase of WEIMAR-WERKE, also in Thuringia.  "But not only the lifting forces, but also the thrust performance of the HYDREMA multi-purpose backhoe loaders are still virtually unrivalled," says son Lukas, who has been repeatedly booked by HYDREMA as a demonstrator at trade fairs. "Thanks to the four big, equally sized wheels, the machine has an enormous traction force, which other manufacturers simply cannot offer to this day. We have therefore been working very intensively since BAUMA on what we are doing with our backhoe, which has been used less and less since we acquired the city excavator."

HYDREMA's dealer for the region, DiTec, not only has an excellent reputation, but also excellent service and expertise. "Here, too, we have noticed that HYDREMA has improved significantly in recent years, because the only weakness, if any, was service. But not even that you had to complain about it in the past because before HYDREMA was using local service partners who have been supported by HYDREMA very well. DiTec is a powerful self-sufficient specialist retailer that does not miss anything," says Andreas Wenzel.       

From left: Lukas Wenzel, Timo Betz (DiTec), Gino Götz und Helmut Frantz (both from DiTec), Andreas und Heike Wenzel.

"We first discussed with DiTec to mount a tiltrotator on the existing Backhoe loader, and then finally decided to buy a completely new machine, a HYDREMA 906F," says Heike Wenzel, who is responsible for the company's finances. "DiTec has also convinced us absolutely as a partner based in Haiger and enjoys our full confidence." Lukas, who has always accompanied the decisions technically with his expertise, is particularly happy today, because of course he also drives the new machine on the construction sites of the company WENZEL-Bau. "Whether it's digging trenches, cutting and moving trees, excavating, laser-controlled levelling, or pulling the rain gutters in the forest, it's always a real pleasure to work with the powerful machine. Even our customers are amazed at how manoeuvrable and powerful we can work with the machine even on tight construction sites. This was already the case without a tiltrotator, but now our flexibility is significantly improved with the ENGCON Tiltrotator. The fact that the excavator arm can  easily move from one side to the other without a counter weight means that you can also utilize the powerful machine in extremely tight construction sites."

The pulling of drainage ditches on the side of the forest path is very easy with the view to the excavator arm

Helmut Frantz, DiTec's area sales manager, describes the machine as this: "In the front, a powerful wheel loader with 1.4 cubic meter bucket capacity and the thrust of a bulldozer combined with the zero-tail-swing excavator at the rear, which has the power similar to a 10-ton mobile excavator make the HYDREMA an absolutely efficient multi-purpose machine. It is not for nothing that HYDREMA avoids the word backhoe loader, because the HYDREMA can simply do much more than conventional machines of this type. It is actually an all-round machine, or as HYDREMA in Germany says, a multi-purpose machine." Andreas Wenzel adds: "Like a snake, the HYDREMA can squeeze into even tight spaces due to its articulated steering joint and the highly movable rear excavator arm in order to be able to grab firmly. Finally, it is possible to fully control the machine when facing backwards via the seat mounted joysticks and rearward facing pedals.

The 280-degree slewing radius of the rear excavator greatly expands the working area of the rear excavator, which is also approved as a crane. "This means that I can unload the excavated material onto a truck almost directly next to the machine, and I have no tail slew radius to consider on the other side, so that in extremely tight construction sites I can now save having to move the excavated material with a wheel loader. And levelling with the front shovel is only possible because the shovel always has a support through the oscillating articulation joint. All these characteristics are not found in any other machineries, which proves once again that the quality and performance of the HYDREMA represents a clear advantage for us as operators. Otherwise we would have to buy, pay, maintain and transport at least 4 machines - loaders, dozers, excavators and cranes." 
 

With the 280 degree slew range, the material can also be loaded on the side.

German sales manager Martin Werthenbach, who has been responsible for setting up the sales organization in Germany for 7 years, is proud of the customer and dealer: "With DiTec GmbH & Co. KG, we have gained an absolute flagship dealer for the region. Frank Schmenn and his team live the philosophy of our company here, which is: first-class machines with first-class service for customers who appreciate high-quality technology. We know that as a premium manufacturer, you do not serve every customer, because there are pure price buyers who end up buying only what they want or can pay. We not only build high-quality and with a great depth of in-house production, but also install very high-quality components, so that our machines with numerous unique selling points represent a valuable investment for the customer. Customers, such as Andreas Wenzel, recognize this and are therefore willing to make the investment. The return-on-investment also results from the ratio of the amount of the investment to performance and utilization. A machine that can be used more frequently due to its characteristics and which also enables significantly more power not only pays off faster, but also delivers more profit. And this is also what customer Wenzel, like so many others, now stands for in Germany: the long-term customer loyalty. A customer who has recognized these properties of HYDREMA knows how to appreciate them and will come back to HYDREMA again and again. Finally, as Andreas Wenzel always says: ‘HYDREMA makes you addicted to it. Once, when you have learned to know HYDREMA and the many benefits the machine provides, and when you know what you can do with it, you do not want any other machine’. And that makes us proud at HYDREMA and constantly commits us again to delivering the best performance for our customers. On the contrary; we know that the customer usually has to make a higher investment with us and it is our duty to be able to justify and confirm this investment again and again."