Mercedes-Benz freed from the woods after 50 years
We have rescued a Mercedes-Benz bus, built 1951, type O 3500 with Kässbohrer coachwork. Tino Ertel and Thomas Turnwald of the Bavarian Pickers have discovered the vehicle and organized the mission. As it has a length of 8.5 meters and as it was concealed in a more or less inaccessable piece of forest in Northern Bavaria, they have called on ATG ACROSS THE GROUND.
We have developed a light but sturdy lift gantry and with its help we have freed the bus from its bed in the forest. We than moved our radio controlled transport crawler underneath, tight it down safely and drove out of the impenetrabel countryside. For the final leg on a low loader the 5to coach was transshipped on the first truck accessible road. The whole operation was done in two days in the mid of September 2018.
During the recovery not only the 
bus was treated with care but the enviromentas well. Here the crawler was of the utmost advantage due to its very low ground pressure. Besides that only two trees, that grew next and through the bus, had to be felled.
As this is the first official operation of our transport crawler, we have decided to carry out the mission as “pro bono”, a.k.a. cost free. As the Bavarian Pickers have carried out the recovery as nonprofit, we wanted to act the same.
On first sight the vehicle looks a bit wretched, still it will be exhibited at some car shows to present its history and recovery. According to some specialists the coach could even be rebuilt especially as almost all aluminium parts and bumpers are present and in good shape. The rusted sheet metal and the rotten wood can be exchanged easily. As the undercarriage of trucks and coach were identical at these times, spare parts could be found with managable efforts.
The Bavarian Pickers
Usually they recover VW busses of the T1 and T2 type. They are known for their surprising discoveries in Germany. Vintage car magazines and TV have had reports about their sudatory hobby. Their focus is to salvage the wrecks as gentle as possible, as over the years out in the open the vehicles have become very instable.
The Pickers came together in 2014 and are driven by pure idealism. They want to rescue as much vehicles as possible, to keep them from total loss and preserve them for the posterity. They derive their rewards from the gleaming eyes of the beholders. Their opinion is that not only fully renovated and gleaming cars , but the natural finish of the contemporary witnesses have their own attraction.
Tino Ertel and Thomas Turnwald are both born and reside in the Oberpfalz in Northern Bavaria. They both have their own vintage car shops.
Email: mail@bavarian-pickers.com www.bavarian-pickers.com
The coach
The undercarriage Type O 3500 of Mercedes-Benz is married to a body from Kässbohrer. This variant only was build in the year of 1951. The recovered bus is one of only very few known examples. The present object was used as a public transit bus in the 50th and 60th. After it was put out of service a teacher and beemaster of Mendorferbuch/Oberpfalz bought it. He moved it far into the forest as a beehouse. After he passed away the buyer ot the piece of land accidently found the coach in the woods. After contacting the Bavarian Pickers they quickly agreed that the bus has had to be retrieved and be exhibited to the public. As the recovery was very challenging technically they contacted the specialists for cross country heavyload transports of ATG ACROSS THE GROUND.
The coach will now be given a set of new rims and tires to be movable and except to this will be kept in its present condition. At the beginning of December 2018 in Nuremberg/Germany and in March 2019 in Stuttgart/Germany it will be shown at the Retro Classics fairs.