ZECK - THE STORY

PROJECT.
THE GAME CHANGER:
JOINT VENTURE WITH SIEMENS
Many fruitful projects and innovations emerged from the collaboration with SIEMENS. One of the
world's first innovations was the mobile winch brake WB 1500 with a drum stand and drum drive
in 1973. Fritz Zeck was initially ridiculed for this machine, with people saying, "Now Zeck is building
brake machines with motor drive!" However, within a few years, these machines were in use worldwide.
FROM NIGERIA AROUND THE GLOBE
SIEMENS' orders have taken ZECK's people all over
the world. The first major foreign project was in Nigeria
during or after the Biafra War of 1967- 1970. A
9t Puller with Tensioner and drum stand was to be
positioned there and used in a SIEMENS project.
The machine set had been transported to Africa by
ship, then continued by land to the site of operation
in the interior of the country. The bridge over
the river Niger had been blown up and replaced
by a temporary wooden bridge that ran about 60
meters above the river. When the set was about
mid-river with a towing vehicle, the bridge collapsed
with a deafening roar, and the machinery
set plunged into the river, "where it probably still
lies today," as Fritz reported in 2018. This was followed
by countless trips abroad with major projects
that made ZECK well-known in the industry.
Always in his luggage were salami and canned
peas with bacon, for example in 1977 during a rope
pulling project in Saudi Arabia.
Picnic in the savannah of Kenya 1977 - on the right Fritz Zeck
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