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25 years of Magirus articulated turntable ladders

In 1994, the company introduced the first turntable ladder with an articulated arm – a paradigm shift in turntable ladders. Magirus is celebrating the anniversary with an exhibition in front of the Ulm Minster and a limited special edition of 25 articulated ladders.

25 years ago, Magirus presented the first turntable ladder with an articulated arm at the Interschutz in Hanover, Germany. The traditional Ulm-based company revolutionised turntable ladders at the leading trade fair for fire brigades, rescue services, civil protection and safety. This turntable ladder’ special feature was a five-part ladder set with a 3.50-metre-long articulated arm that could be angled by 75 degrees in the uppermost ladder section. It allowed precision alignment of the rescue cage even in confined spaces, thus facilitating ladder extension to dormer windows, recessed galleries, gable rears and skylights. The articulated-arm turntable ladder thus took over where normal turntable ladders ended. Today, it is one of the most frequently requested turntable ladder designs in the world.

Celebration and vehicle exhibition in front of the highest church tower in the world

On 26 September 2019, Magirus celebrated this special anniversary with invited guests from politics, fire departments, associations and the press. In his speech, Marc Diening, CEO of Magirus, pointed out that for over a century, the name Magirus has stood for ladder development like no other company: "The introduction of articulated-arm technology is an outstanding milestone that has revolutionised the application possibilities of turntable ladders as rescue equipment, creating a new segment that has become the standard in many parts of the world today." As part of the festivities, an exhibition with eight articulated-arm turntable ladders on the Münsterplatz in Ulm invited guests and the public to journey through time and learn about the development of articulated-arm technology.

Exclusive anniversary edition with 25 vehicles

For its 25th anniversary, Magirus is building special limited edition turntable ladders with articulated arms. The edition comprises 25 M32L-AS and M32L-AT vehicles with different chassis variants and two selected rescue cages; and they are already available. The models are equipped with many high-quality features, including proven accessories as well as the new Birdview+ technology. This 360-degree panoramic view ensures maximum safety at the deployment site.

Milestones in Magirus articulated-arm technology

When firefighter, inventor and company founder Conrad Dietrich Magirus invented the first free-standing, mobile turntable ladder almost 150 years ago, it was a revolution. This development has left its mark on Magirus to this day, and the revolution has become a story of evolution that the company has continued to write ever since. The following milestones are particularly worth mentioning in connection with the recent development of the articulated arm technology.

In 2000, Magirus presented "computer-stabilised technology", or CS technology. The introduction of active vibration damping of all ladder movements laid the foundation for the continuing digital optimisation of ladder technology.

With the introduction of the first articulated turntable ladder with telescopic arm, Magirus achieved another fundamental innovation. This design, the DLK 23-12 GL-T, allowed extension of the articulated arm to 4.70 metres by means of a partial telescopic extension. Due to the greater telescoping and rescue height, this also extended the application range of this turntable ladder type.

In 2010, a new chapter in ladder mechanics opened for the new, patented single-extension system. Four years later, the world's highest articulated-arm turntable ladder, the "M42L-AS", was introduced.


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