Porsche Volksschlepper
Part II - The Gmünd Years

Tractor Design Moves To Gmünd

In the summer of 1944, thirty trucks left Stuttgart headed for Gmünd. There were likely several Type 112/5 and Type 113 tractors in the caravan that probably ended up at Zell am See. After all, the Porsche property at Zell am See was a farm and there were many Porsche employees to feed and what better vehicles served the needs of a farm than a Porsche Schlepper? In all likelihood most of these tractors were converted to Holzvergaser-power because petroleum products were for all practical purposes non-existent by this time, and wood products were plentiful in the mountain community. In the summer of 1945, the occupying forces arrived at the Zell am See farm. All the men, except one, were hauled away for interrogation. The mechanic that was allowed to remain free was servicing a tractor and covered in black oil. He was considered a laborer and of no interest.

Germany confronted a hostile world in 1945. Post WWI constraints were designed to strip Germany of her military capabilities but they did not work. So following WWII, American finance minister, Hugo Morgenthal developed a plan to "pastoralize" Germany, and make it an agricultural state with no major industry or manufacturing. This triggered a rash of tractor development and production activities. Almost overnight several German companies tried to enter the tractor business. To avoid complete chaos, the government declared that any company that wanted a license to build tractors must have been in tractor manufacturing before 1939. This, of course, presented a conundrum for Porsche.

Nevertheless, in Gmünd, on October 27, 1945, Ferry and company started refining a Type 112 tractor they had brought with them in the convoy from Stuttgart. It is likely that there were several of these models in Gmünd, and they were used as test mules and eventually cannibalized to make newer tractors. The Type 312 gasoline-engine tractor and Type 313 diesel-engine tractor designs were probably started in very late 1945 or early 1946, but it was probably a year or two later before prototypes of these types were built. In 1946, Porsche also did design work on a four-wheel drive Type 328 tractor, but this work evidently never went beyond the drawing board stage.

In 1946, a 17 hp Porsche tractor began acceptance tests on an experimental farm known as Lützelhof where the British had gathered various tractors for comparison. At the time the British had high interest in agriculture and were working with the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture to improve farm products. The British documented the following findings for the Porsche tractor. "The tests have conclusively demonstrated the superiority of the Porsche tractor, which has the added advantage of a very small turning circle. It is definitely superior to the other three tractors tested and proved itself ideal for the needs of the small farm." The Chamber of Agriculture had equal praise. "Practical tests have shown that the small Porsche tractor has excellent qualities. The driver has a very good view on the road. It is easy to steer, and there is no difficulty in shifting gears while in motion. The type of steering and the fluid clutch are a definite advantage compared with other tractors... To sum up our impression, we can say that the small Porsche tractor represents an important step forward in tractor design."

Porsche apparently started certification work on a tractor design of their own. In April 1949, the company was advised that the engine was not meeting certain standards set by the government evaluators. Porsche sent engineer Leopold Schmid to investigate and correct the problem with the diesel tractor engine. He successfully made design changes and satisfied the concerns of certification personnel. From that point on, the engine was known as the Schmid Engine. (As noted earlier, Leopold Schmid was the same engineer that developed the Porsche transmission sychromesh system whose royalties added to the company coffers for many years.)