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A passion for Liebherr wheel loaders
Almost 60 years after its début, Liebherr restored the LSL 1500 shovel loader, one of the first wheel loader prototypes from the corporate group’s early years. This specimen is the oldest preserved Liebherr wheel loader in existence!
From the left to the right: Simon Schaidreiter, Andreas Scharler, Christian Reiter, Martin Gschwend and Johann Stickler
A piece of wheel loader history
“When developing wheel loaders, we deal with the latest technologies and trends on a daily basis. However, we also respect our roots. And this wheel loader here shows that Liebherr was getting innovative machine concepts off the ground even six decades ago,” explains Martin Gschwend, who is managing director of the Liebherr Bischofshofen plant and responsible for the worldwide distribution of Liebherr wheel loaders.
At the Bischofshofen facility, he is inspecting a particular rarity: a Liebherr LSL 1500 shovel loader from the early 1960s, which the wheel loader specialists in Bischofshofen have lovingly and fully restored over recent months. This wheel loader is the only remaining example of a pilot series of only five machines, and therefore the oldest preserved Liebherr wheel loader in existence. Liebherr exhibited the shovel loader for the first time in 1962 at the industrial fair in Hanover. After that, the five prototypes started their working life and performed well over the years.
The LSL 1500 in use at Fried-Sped in the 90ies
The LSL 1500 has had a very full life. After only a few years at a gravel factory in the Biberach area, the machine was relocated to the Fried-Sped corporate group in Ummendorf circa 1980. The LSL 1500 served the logistics specialist reliably for around 20 years. One of its main tasks was loading heavy steel angles, for which the wheel loader was equipped with a fork carrier and additional rear ballast.
At the beginning of the 2000s Markus Liebherr took the 40 year old prototype back to the Heinrichsburg in Eberhardzell. From 2011, Liebherr stored the now decommissioned machine at the factory in Kirchdorf an der Iller. However, this storage location was not to be the final resting place for this wheel loader veteran. In 2019, the management of Liebherr-Werk Bischofshofen GmbH decided to fully restore this last remaining LSL 1500.
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The restoration
from scrap metal to an exhibition piece
Liebherr has invested about 650 working hours in the restoration of the vintage loader.
The path to restoration was not easy. At almost 60 years old, the wheel loader reached the Liebherr Bischofshofen factory in several individual parts. The ravages of time, particularly in the form of rust and frost damage, had taken their toll on the wheel loader. “First, we completely dismantled the machine to check whether all the parts were present. It was only then that we were able to start gradually renovating each module, one by one,” recalls Andreas Scharler, who ran the repair centre for many years.
The project was started in the spring of 2020. The wheel loader experts refurbished each individual part of the LSL 1500 down to the very last screw. For the team, the renovation meant much more than mere nostalgia: “Several apprentices worked on the renovation. For them, this was a rare opportunity to observe and understand the technology of earlier times,” explains Scharler.
In many places, technical skill and improvisational talent were required. “When you start the diesel engine, the operating voltage suddenly switches from 12 to 24 volts. We first had to analyse this process correctly in order to be able to start the wheel loader successfully. It was a splendid moment when we heard the powerful six-cylinder diesel engine running for the first time,” says Scharler, who, with his team, invested more than 650 working hours in this vintage wheel loader. Now, fully functional again, the LSL 1500 is to be an exhibition piece for customer visits at the Liebherr Bischofshofen plant.
2020 / 1962
