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{{Short description|Brand of trencher machines}}
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: ] -->
{{for|the food truck|Ditch Witch (food truck)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
| logo = DitchWitchlogo.png
| logo_size = 193px
| type = ]
| foundation = Perry, Oklahoma, U.S. ({{Start date|1902}})
| founder = ] (July 3, 1921 - December 11, 2015)
| location_city = ]
| location_country = U.S.
| industry = ]
| products = ], ]
| parent = ]
| website = {{url|ditchwitch.com}}
}}
]
]
]
]
]


'''Ditch Witch''' is an American brand of underground construction equipment built by The Charles Machine Works, Inc., which has been in operation under the current name since 1949. The company is based in ]. '''Ditch Witch''', a trade name of '''Charles Machine Works''', is an American brand of underground utility construction equipment, principally ], which has been in operation since 1949. It is the leading subsidiary of '''Charles Machine Works,''' headquartered in ]. Charles Machine Works is, since 2019, a subsidiary of ].<ref name=Toro_2019acquisition></ref>


Ditch Witch machines started in the 1940s when a compact trenching machine was created to replace ] and ] for installation of some residential services. Innovation of Ditch Witch machines started in the 1940s when a compact trenching machine was created to replace the pick and shovel for installation of underground residential utility services.


The Ditch Witch organization specializes in the design and manufacture of underground construction equipment. The company is a source for trenchers, vibratory plows, horizontal directional drilling systems, drill pipe, downhole tools, vacuum excavation systems, fluid management systems, and mini ]. Because of its extensive experience in construction of subterranean structures and systems, CMW and Ditch Witch have been called, "The Underground Authority."<ref name="TWorld"/>
At present, the Ditch Witch line includes ] units, vacuum excavators, tracking and locating electronics, ], and compact utility machines.

{{clear}}


==History== ==History==
In 1902, Carl Frederick Malzahn, a German immigrant seeking to escape the harsh winters of Minnesota, moved his family to ], and opened a blacksmith shop with his sons, Charlie and Gus. The business prospered, and several years later, with the advent of an oil boom, it became Charlie’s Machine Shop, specializing in repairs for the nearby oil fields. In 1902, Carl Frederick Malzahn, a ] immigrant seeking to escape the harsh winters of ], moved his family to ], and opened the Malzahn Blacksmith Shop with his sons, Charlie and Gus. The sons took over the business in 1913 and renamed it Malzahn Brothers' General Blacksmithing. The business prospered, and several years later, with the advent of an oil boom, it began specializing in repairs for the nearby oil fields. After Gus died in 1928, Charlie renamed the business Charlie's Machine Shop. In 1944, Charlie persuaded his son, Edwin "Ed" Malzahn (July 3, 1921 - December 11, 2015), by then an Oklahoma A&M (now ])-trained mechanical engineer, to join the business.<ref name="EOHC-DW"> Accessed November 17, 2016.</ref>

Ed Malzahn, Charlie’s son, learned from his elders the process of adapting a business to meet changing demand. In the late-1940s, he began to apply his mechanical engineering degree to a device that he believed would simplify the process of installing residential utility services—electric, gas, and plumbing lines—which at that time involved slow, tedious pick-and-shovel labor.

Working together, Ed and his father Charlie spent months in the family machine shop creating the prototype of the first compact trencher. They would call it the DWP, which stood for Ditch Witch Power.

The first commercial DWP was introduced in 1949. It was the first mechanized, compact service-line trencher developed for laying underground water lines between the street main and the house. Not only did the DWP solve an age-old problem for utility contractors of its day, but it also paved the way for the creation of the compact trencher industry and a more efficient way of installing all types of underground utilities: water, sewer, and gas lines, and telecom, CATV, and fiber-optic cables.

With the growing popularity of the Malzahns’ trencher, Charlie’s Machine Shop became The Charles Machine Works, Inc., which still maintains its headquarters in ], a town of about 5,000 residents in the north-central part of the state. In addition to trenchers, the company today designs and manufactures a wide variety of underground construction equipment bearing the Ditch Witch name, including vibratory plows, horizontal directional drilling systems, pneumatic piercing tools, backhoes, electronic guidance and locating systems, drill pipe, downhole tools, vacuum excavation systems, pipe bursting systems, excavator-tool carriers, mini skid steers, and Zahn® power utility equipment.

Tiffany Sewell-Howard, Ed Malzahn’s granddaughter, became CEO of The Charles Machine Works, Inc., in 2005. Now in his mid-80s, founder Ed Malzahn still serves as company president and chairman of the board.

==About the Company==

The ], headquarters of the Ditch Witch organization is on an expansive campus that contains the company’s 30-acre manufacturing plant and training, testing, research and product development facilities. Ditch Witch worldwide headquarters employs more than 1300 people.

The Ditch Witch organization distributes its products through a worldwide network of independent dealers extensively trained in the sales, service, and maintenance of Ditch Witch equipment. Most dealers also offer an inventory of replacement parts and accessories for Ditch Witch equipment, everything from drill pipe (for horizontal directional drills) to downhole tools (bits and backreamers) to digging systems (digging chains, teeth, and sprockets).


==Compact trencher development==
Ditch Witch products are an important part of the history of American industry. The Ditch Witch compact trencher has twice been named “one of the 100 best American-made products in the world” by ]. In 2002, the DWP was designated a historical mechanical engineering landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (]). More recently, ] recognized the company’s dedication to domestically manufactured products by featuring the Ditch Witch manufacturing facility on its program Made in America, hosted by ].
In the late 1940s, Malzahn began to apply his mechanical engineering knowledge to inventing a device that he believed would be in great demand, once it was produced. At the time, the process of installing residential utility services—electric, gas and plumbing lines—involved slow, tedious pick-and-shovel labor. Malzahn's idea was to create a compact trencher that would dramatically reduce the time and effort of this process. Working together, Ed and his father spent months in the family machine shop creating the prototype of what would be known as the DWP, which stood for Ditch Witch Power.<ref name="EOHC-DW"/> As described by the ASME, "The DWP used a vertical bucket line with an endless bucket chain to carry off the spoil, ...Small two piece buckets with sharp, finger-like edges were mounted on the vertical chain to gouge out chunks of dirt. The buckets were attached in sequence onto an endless moving chain that carried them down a ladder type mechanism to chew out chunks of soil, then upward to dump the spoil in neat piles on the ground as they began the downward descent to bring up more dirt. A 6-inch wide trench with a digging depth of 30 inches was the goal.<ref name="DWP_Landmark"/>


The first production trencher rolled off the assembly line in 1949. Called the "endless conveyor ditch digging machine," It was the first mechanized, compact service-line trencher developed for laying underground water lines between the street main and the house. It was initially marketed for $750 per machine. Before the end of the 1950s, the company bought {{convert|160|acres|m2}} of land west of Perry and built a new manufacturing facility.<ref name="EOHC-DW"/> In 1955, Ed Malzahn's endless conveyor ditch digging machine received U.S. Patent No. 2,714,262.<ref name="DWP_Landmark"/>
==The Ditch Witch Product Line==


Alex Baker, a landscape contractor from ], ], bought the first DWP machine that came off the production line. He used it to install underground sprinkler systems until he traded it in for a newer model in 1959. Ditch Witch company restored the older model to mint condition and put it on display in the Ditch Witch museum in Perry.<ref name="DWP_Landmark"/>
===Trenchers and Plows===
• Trenchers. Ditch Witch trenchers range from truly compact, 11-hp (8.2 kW) pedestrian (walk-behind) trenchers to heavy-duty, 300-hp (224 kW) tracked trenchers designed to trench through solid rock. Ditch Witch trenchers are considered to be among highest-quality, longest-lasting equipment in the industry. Everything from residential sprinkler conduit to mainline water and sewer pipe can be installed with a Ditch Witch trencher. After installing the pipe, the trencher’s backfill blade is used to refill the trench.
• Vibratory plows. Ditch Witch vibratory plows are designed to install utilities with minimal disturbance to the turf and surrounding infrastructure. The vibratory plow blade slices into the turf and pulls in the cable or utility conduit (PVC or other flexible pipe) behind the blade. No trench is created, so no backfilling is necessary.


In 1958, Charles Machine Works incorporated with Charlie and Ed Malzahn having equal control. During the same year, the first Ditch Witch international office opened in Australia. Meanwhile, the DWP led to the creation of the compact trencher industry, which today produces all types of equipment for efficiently installing any type of underground utilities including water, sewer and gas lines, as well as telecommunications, CATV, and fiber-optic cables. By 1969, customers included utility, telephone, and cable television companies, government agencies, and general contractors.<ref name="EOHC-DW"/>
• Attachments. Most Ditch Witch trenchers are designed to accept attachments to perform different tasks. Attachments include trenchers, vibratory plows, a combination trencher/plow, saws (for digging through rock and concrete), backhoes, and reel carriers (which hold PVC or other flexible pipe for installation via vibratory plow).


In 2019, the ] acquired Charles Machine Works, maintaining it as a Toro subsidiary.<ref name=Toro_2019acquisition/>{{efn|Toro immediately announced that the CMW/Ditch Witch operations will remain in Perry.<ref name="TWorld"/> CMW reportedly generated $725 million in 2018.Toro, based in Bloomington, Minnesota, reported its world-wide sales were about $2.6 billion in 2018.<ref name="TWorld"> Accessed February 18, 2019.</ref>}}
===Zahn® Power Utility Equipment===
• The Zahn concept. Introduced in 2008, Zahn power utility equipment is a unique concept in underground construction because it is engineered to be versatile like compact utility equipment—a mini skid steer, for example—yet perform like a dedicated unit (a machine built to perform one task only, e.g., a dedicated trencher, a dedicated backhoe). With compact utility equipment—machines that can operate many attachments—some sacrifice of performance is expected. But no matter which front end is in use with Zahn power utility equipment, it performs like a machine dedicated to that one task.


Still based in Perry, Oklahoma, as of 2022, The Charles Machine Works designs and manufactures a wide variety of underground construction equipment: trenchers, vibratory plows, horizontal directional drilling systems, drill pipe, downhole tools, vacuum excavation systems, fluid management systems, and mini skid steers, all bearing the Ditch Witch name. Charles Machine Works’ campus outside of Perry contains a {{convert|30|acres|m2|adj=on}} manufacturing plant as well as training, testing, research, and product development facilities. It employs more than 1,300 people, making the company the largest employer in Perry and in Noble County.<ref name="EOHC-DW"/>
• Zahn power units. Each Zahn power unit includes the engine, operator’s console, and the articulation joint. The Zahn R230 and R300 also have a unique InterChange connection that accepts up to seven types of front ends. The two-wheel-drive Zahn R150 is essentially a dedicated trencher. The R230 and R300 are available in two-wheel- and four-wheel-drive models; the four-wheel-drive models accept all seven types of front ends.
• Zahn front ends. The seven types of front ends that can be operated by the four-wheel-drive R230 and R300 Zahn power units are the trencher, plow, dumper, tiller, backhoe, stump grinder, and tool carrier.
===Compact Utility Equipment===
• Mini skid steers. There are three Ditch Witch mini skid steers, ranging in size from 20 hp (15 kW) to 32 hp (24 kW). These tracked, compact machines are designed to easily fit through a standard 36-inch-wide yard gate and run dozens of attachments for performing utility, landscape, and general contracting work.
• Excavator-tool carriers. The XT850, the company’s first excavator-tool carrier, was released in 2005. This multipurpose machine can operate dozens of attachments like a mini skid steer, and also features an excavator that can dig within a 260-degree radius without moving the machine. The XT1600 is a larger excavator-tool carrier that combines the capabilities of a skid steer, backhoe loader, and mini excavator.
• Attachments. Ditch Witch compact utility machines can perform many different underground construction tasks because of their ability to drive interchangeable attachments, which include trenchers, vibratory plows, jackhammers, tillers, cement bowls, rotary brooms, pallet forks, augers, rock saws, tree spades, a variety of buckets, and more.


==Accolades and awards==
===Trenchless Systems===
*The Ditch Witch compact trencher has twice been named "one of the 100 best American-made products in the world"<ref name="Fortune_100">, Fortune 100 best American-made products in the world - 1998</ref> by ].
• Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) systems. Ditch Witch HDD systems are designed to install utilities without digging a trench. The machine creates an underground tunnel or bore using a drill bit and drill pipe. Electronic guidance systems integrate with the HDD unit to help the operator steer the drill pipe string along its intended path. The new utility pipe is then attached to the end of the drill pipe string and pulled back to the starting point.
*On December 16, 2002, ] President Susan H. Kemp awarded the Ditch Witch organization a bronze plaque designating the DWP as a historical mechanical engineering landmark.<ref name="DWP_Landmark"> Accessed November 18, 2016.</ref>
• Fluid management. Ditch Witch fluid mixing systems are designed to deliver the right amount and the right blend of drilling fluid to facilitate the HDD process.
• Pipe bursting systems. Ditch Witch pipe bursting systems are designed to replace aging or undersized utility pipe. First, the system fractures or cuts the existing water, sewer or utility pipe—made of either clay, steel, ductile iron or cast iron. Then it pulls in new replacement pipe along the same path as the old pipe. The fragments of the old pipe are simply pushed aside.
• Pneumatic piercing tools. Ditch Witch Pierce Airrow II piercing tools are pit-launched, compaction-boring devices used to install small-diameter utility conduit under sidewalks and other sensitive infrastructure without the need to dig a trench.
• Rod pusher. The Ditch Witch P80 rod pusher provides a simple solution for making pipe, interduct, conduit, and cable installations of 500 feet (152 m) or more.
• Vacuum excavation systems. Ditch Witch vacuum excavation systems are designed for a wide variety of cleanup jobs, from HDD jobsites to municipal storm drains. They are also used for “soft” excavation tasks such as creating postholes to install fence. The Ditch Witch vacuum excavation system product family ranges from portable, pickup-mounted units to full-size, trailer-mounted units, and offer storage tanks with capacities of 150 to 1200 gallons.
===Electronics===
• Guidance systems. Ditch Witch guidance systems are used during HDD operations to help guide the bore along an intended path and even produce a map of the completed installation.
• Locating tools. Ditch Witch locating tools are used to locate existing underground pipes, cables and obstacles before any trenching, excavating or drilling operation begins.


===Parts=== ==Notes==
{{notelist}}
• Digging systems. Composed of chains, sprockets, and digging teeth, Ditch Witch digging systems are designed to work together as a system.
• Downhole tools. Ditch Witch downhole tools include a variety of bits and backreamers, the parts that make first contact with the soil during HDD operations.
• Drill pipe. The Ditch Witch organization is the only horizontal directional drilling system manufacturer that also designs and manufactures its own drill pipe.
• Replacement parts. An inventory of replacement parts for each Ditch Witch machine is available through the worldwide Ditch Witch dealership network.


===Trailers=== == References ==
{{Reflist}}
Ditch Witch single- and tandem-axle trailers have the dimensions and load-bearing capability to transport the company’s compact utility equipment, trenchers, plows, directional drilling systems and attachments.


== External links == == External links ==
{{commons category}}
* http://www.ditchwitch.com
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406214506/http://www.ditchwitch.com/ |date=2022-04-06 }}
*
* First person interview conducted on April 14, 2011, with Ed Malzahn, founder of Ditch Witch.


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Latest revision as of 20:14, 14 December 2024

Brand of trencher machines For the food truck, see Ditch Witch (food truck).
The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryConstruction equipment
FoundedPerry, Oklahoma, U.S. (1902 (1902))
FounderEdwin Malzahn (July 3, 1921 - December 11, 2015)
HeadquartersPerry, Oklahoma, U.S.
ProductsTrenchers, Directional Drilling Machines
ParentThe Toro Company
Websiteditchwitch.com
Charlie and Ed Malzahn with an early Ditch Witch.
Ed Malzahn riding an early Ditch Witch trencher.
The Ditch Witch RT120 Ride-On Trencher
Ditch Witch JT60 Horizontal Directional Drill
The Ditch Witch FX60 Vacuum Excavator

Ditch Witch, a trade name of Charles Machine Works, is an American brand of underground utility construction equipment, principally trenchers, which has been in operation since 1949. It is the leading subsidiary of Charles Machine Works, headquartered in Perry, Oklahoma. Charles Machine Works is, since 2019, a subsidiary of Toro Company.

Innovation of Ditch Witch machines started in the 1940s when a compact trenching machine was created to replace the pick and shovel for installation of underground residential utility services.

The Ditch Witch organization specializes in the design and manufacture of underground construction equipment. The company is a source for trenchers, vibratory plows, horizontal directional drilling systems, drill pipe, downhole tools, vacuum excavation systems, fluid management systems, and mini skid steers. Because of its extensive experience in construction of subterranean structures and systems, CMW and Ditch Witch have been called, "The Underground Authority."

History

In 1902, Carl Frederick Malzahn, a German immigrant seeking to escape the harsh winters of Minnesota, moved his family to Perry, Oklahoma, and opened the Malzahn Blacksmith Shop with his sons, Charlie and Gus. The sons took over the business in 1913 and renamed it Malzahn Brothers' General Blacksmithing. The business prospered, and several years later, with the advent of an oil boom, it began specializing in repairs for the nearby oil fields. After Gus died in 1928, Charlie renamed the business Charlie's Machine Shop. In 1944, Charlie persuaded his son, Edwin "Ed" Malzahn (July 3, 1921 - December 11, 2015), by then an Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State)-trained mechanical engineer, to join the business.

Compact trencher development

In the late 1940s, Malzahn began to apply his mechanical engineering knowledge to inventing a device that he believed would be in great demand, once it was produced. At the time, the process of installing residential utility services—electric, gas and plumbing lines—involved slow, tedious pick-and-shovel labor. Malzahn's idea was to create a compact trencher that would dramatically reduce the time and effort of this process. Working together, Ed and his father spent months in the family machine shop creating the prototype of what would be known as the DWP, which stood for Ditch Witch Power. As described by the ASME, "The DWP used a vertical bucket line with an endless bucket chain to carry off the spoil, ...Small two piece buckets with sharp, finger-like edges were mounted on the vertical chain to gouge out chunks of dirt. The buckets were attached in sequence onto an endless moving chain that carried them down a ladder type mechanism to chew out chunks of soil, then upward to dump the spoil in neat piles on the ground as they began the downward descent to bring up more dirt. A 6-inch wide trench with a digging depth of 30 inches was the goal.

The first production trencher rolled off the assembly line in 1949. Called the "endless conveyor ditch digging machine," It was the first mechanized, compact service-line trencher developed for laying underground water lines between the street main and the house. It was initially marketed for $750 per machine. Before the end of the 1950s, the company bought 160 acres (650,000 m) of land west of Perry and built a new manufacturing facility. In 1955, Ed Malzahn's endless conveyor ditch digging machine received U.S. Patent No. 2,714,262.

Alex Baker, a landscape contractor from Long Island, New York, bought the first DWP machine that came off the production line. He used it to install underground sprinkler systems until he traded it in for a newer model in 1959. Ditch Witch company restored the older model to mint condition and put it on display in the Ditch Witch museum in Perry.

In 1958, Charles Machine Works incorporated with Charlie and Ed Malzahn having equal control. During the same year, the first Ditch Witch international office opened in Australia. Meanwhile, the DWP led to the creation of the compact trencher industry, which today produces all types of equipment for efficiently installing any type of underground utilities including water, sewer and gas lines, as well as telecommunications, CATV, and fiber-optic cables. By 1969, customers included utility, telephone, and cable television companies, government agencies, and general contractors.

In 2019, the Toro Company acquired Charles Machine Works, maintaining it as a Toro subsidiary.

Still based in Perry, Oklahoma, as of 2022, The Charles Machine Works designs and manufactures a wide variety of underground construction equipment: trenchers, vibratory plows, horizontal directional drilling systems, drill pipe, downhole tools, vacuum excavation systems, fluid management systems, and mini skid steers, all bearing the Ditch Witch name. Charles Machine Works’ campus outside of Perry contains a 30-acre (120,000 m) manufacturing plant as well as training, testing, research, and product development facilities. It employs more than 1,300 people, making the company the largest employer in Perry and in Noble County.

Accolades and awards

  • The Ditch Witch compact trencher has twice been named "one of the 100 best American-made products in the world" by Fortune magazine.
  • On December 16, 2002, American Society of Mechanical Engineers President Susan H. Kemp awarded the Ditch Witch organization a bronze plaque designating the DWP as a historical mechanical engineering landmark.

Notes

  1. Toro immediately announced that the CMW/Ditch Witch operations will remain in Perry. CMW reportedly generated $725 million in 2018.Toro, based in Bloomington, Minnesota, reported its world-wide sales were about $2.6 billion in 2018.

References

  1. ^ Toro company press release
  2. ^ Morgan, Rhett. "Toro Co. to buy Perry-based parent company of Ditch Witch for $700 million." Tulsa World. February 16, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2019.
  3. ^ Hannemann, Carolyn G. "Ditch Witch." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed November 17, 2016.
  4. ^ "Ditch Witch® DWP Service-Line Trencher." ASME. Accessed November 18, 2016.
  5. , Fortune 100 best American-made products in the world - 1998

External links

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