A history of hydraulics

Oct. 1, 2006
HYDRAULIC components are some of the best selling products in the parts department of many truck equipment shops. It wasn't always this way. When Hamer

HYDRAULIC components are some of the best selling products in the parts department of many truck equipment shops.

It wasn't always this way.

When Hamer Shafer began his career with Muncie Power Products some 70 years ago, hydraulic power was in its infancy. Parts departments stocked gears, chains, levers, and driveshafts, rather than the hydraulic components we see today. These parts typically were combined whatever way possible to tap the power of internal combustion engines in order to drive auxiliary equipment.

During the Great Depression, trucks were smaller, simpler, and less capable than the hydraulically powered and electronically controlled vehicles that truck equipment distributors complete today. But a variety of forces were beginning to coalesce to make today's versatile vehicles possible.

Muncie Power Products was not even in the truck business in 1935 when Shafer joined the newly formed Muncie Parts Manufacturing Company as its only employee. Despite its name, the company did not manufacture parts. Instead, the company began as an automotive parts wholesale distribution warehouse. Popular items that the new company sold included ring and pinion gears and other service parts. But nothing much for trucks.

One of the major factors that transformed the Depression era trucks was World War II. Suddenly trucks were asked to do more and haul more. They became bigger and more powerful.

Post World War II was another huge boost to work trucks. As veterans returned home, the plans for marriages, families, and households that had been placed on hold suddenly were possible. The housing market boomed for years, and America began building the infrastructure — including the highways — that a growing nation required.

Trucks had more work to do, and increasingly hydraulic power made that possible.

“People wanted to make one haul instead of four,” says Joe Wilson, a former president who started his career at Muncie in 1962. “The new highways we were building could support the higher GVW ratings.”

Management changes

With the death of Muncie's founder, Lou Conne, ownership of the company transferred to Conne's son and daughter. As California residents half a continent away, they had no interest in running the company. They left Shafer free to lead the company where he saw fit. Shafer, who had been watching as America increasingly needed work trucks, saw opportunity for Muncie to sell (but not manufacture) power take-offs.

For Muncie to sell power take-offs, though, someone had to design and manufacturer them. From Shafer's perspective, that someone was Bob Wagner.

Wagner owned and operated what is now Chelsea Products Division of Parker Hannifin Corp. According to Shafer, Wagner had a rare ability to design and produce power take-offs.

Partners in parts

Muncie and Chelsea may be major competitors today, but the two companies were perfect complements for most of their history. Shafer and Wagner would talk over a particular application. Wagner would come up with a design — often drawn on a napkin — and build the PTO. Shafer would market it.

“In those days, we found what the customer needed, and we developed a solution,” Shafer says. “We didn't have sales territories. We just sold PTOs anyplace we could find business. We became Chelsea's largest customer.”

Shafer got to know Bob Wagner shortly after Wagner got started with Chelsea Products.

“Wagner had some backers with some money, and they were looking for distribution,” Shafer says. “Bob and I hit it off well.”

Selling wholesale

Muncie's approach to distribution was to sell Chelsea PTOs at wholesale. Those companies, in turn, made the retail sale and performed the installations.

“In the beginning, our customers were junkyards, people who had dump bodies, anyone who might need a power take-off,” Shafer says. “Warshawsky's in Chicago and New York were good customers. We sold them power take-offs and associated parts such as universal joints, driveshafts, and other parts associated with PTOs.”

Drivelines were another product Muncie sold.

“We didn't develop drivelines, but we did a lot to develop the marketing of it,” Shafer says. “We sold a lot of shafts that we put universal joints on either end. We cut them in different lengths — 36", 48", and 60" — and we machined the keyways long enough on one end so that they could be chopped off to whatever length the customer needed.”

One of Muncie's early accomplishments was to develop catalogs for power take-off & hydraulic components.

“Bob Wagner manufactured power take-offs, but he was not a detail person when it came to cataloging and distribution,” Shafer says. “So that was my foothold. We found a lot of ways to work together.

“Back then, the automotive industry had catalogs. But on the power take-off side, no one had found the need to develop catalogs. Bob Wagner, for example, did not want to bother with them.

In the early years of power take-offs, the lineup was pretty simple. Make one PTO for a Ford, one for Chevy, another of Dodge, and another for International.

“All of these trucks had four-speed transmissions, and there were only a couple of models,” Wilson says. “You really didn't need to be a brain surgeon to figure out which PTO you needed. It was a nice, simple business.”

As trucks developed, they got bigger, and a lot more transmissions were needed to match the wider range of applications that trucks were serving. Manufacturers developed five-, six-, even 18- and 20-speed transmissions because of truck and engine size.

“Customers needed to know what transmissions and speed ratios were available, and what all the options were,” Shafer says. “We found a way to provide that. We developed a lot of business because we were the only people who provided power take-off cataloging for all the different transmissions.”

The cooperation between Wagner and Shafer extended to trade shows. The two companies never shared exhibit space, but they frequently referred customers to one another when exhibiting at the same trade shows.

“Wagner used to tell visitors, ‘if you want power take-offs, call Chelsea. If you want literature, call Shafe,’” says Terry Walker, Muncie's current president.

Changing chassis

Changes in truck chassis have had major effects on hydraulic components.

“There was always some hydraulics,” Shafer says of his early days in the business. “Dump bodies had dump pumps on them, and that's where we needed drivelines — to run power from the PTO to the dump pump.”

But this simple system was not always possible with other applications. Some would not allow operating angles to be within three or four degrees. Others began requiring multiple power take-offs. The industry was changing, equipment was changing, and chassis were changing.

“Many times, you could not install a PTO, and driveline, and pump because of the frame configuration,” Wilson says. “I don't know if it was Bob Wagner who invented the direct-mount pump. But when the direct-mount pump came out in the late 1950s, it opened a much wider range of applications. That idea may have required more than a napkin. It was a big enough idea to be drawn up on a tablecloth, because it opened hydraulic systems up to a lot of other applications. Drivelines were no longer needed. Instead, all you had to do was run hydraulic hose.”

Decades ago, truck equipment distributors routinely altered truck frames and rerouted exhaust systems to make hydraulic systems work properly — or to get them to work at all.

“Today, with all the restrictions manufacturers are placing on frame modifications and changes to the exhaust system, it's no wonder that the vast majority of installations are direct mounts,” Wilson says. “Only a fraction of the applications use a PTO with separate pump.”

A hot shift for Muncie

For the first 50 years of his career, Shafer and his company were parts marketers. Because the company did not manufacture parts, in 1979 Muncie Parts Manufacturing changed its name to Muncie Power Products. The idea was to more accurately reflect what the company does.

But the name change may have been premature. Because at age 70, in 1986, Shafer and Muncie Power Products acquired the PTO manufacturing facilities and PTO manufacturing equipment of the Vickers Tulsa Manufacturing company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The marketer was now a manufacturer as well.

“I find it hard to imagine putting that much on the line at his age,” Walker says. “It was a major change for all of us. Marketing was all we had known. The acquisition could not change the mentality of a lot of us. Fortunately, we had good people at Tulsa, and we were able let them do what they did best.”

70-year career

After 70 years of working at Muncie, Shafer no longer comes to work every day. He began a three-day work week in May.

He and his wife Phyllis — who has worked with the company since the 1950s — recently moved into a retirement home where Hamer serves on the board of directors.

His employees are quick to explain some of the principles that he used to guide a parts company through all or part of eight decades.

“Hamer's philosophy has always been to stick to the basics — you pay your bills, you pay your employees, collect your invoices,” Wilson says. “And if you tell someone you are going to ship something, you better ship it. This business is really built on same-day shipping. But offering same-day shipping requires a big inventory. We have always kept a large stock of power take-offs, hydraulic pumps, or whatever component we were selling. It's expensive to do, but our fill rates have always been close to 100%. This isn't rocket science. This business is a matter of executing the basics, and Hamer made it easy for us to learn them.”

Commenting briefly about longevity

The Shafers are not the only ones at Muncie with lengthy careers. In an industry where hiring good people is an issue, many at Muncie have been there for decades.

“Longevity of employees starts with establishing a family atmosphere,” Wilson says. “We have a lot of confidence in the people who work here. Consequently, our people have a lot of confidence in us, and they stay with us instead of jumping around to other jobs.”

“This business has its ups and downs,” Walker says. “But I don't recall us ever laying anyone off. Profits may have suffered, and the Shafers may have taken a cut in what they took home, but we maintained our employment during downturns. It was good business sense, too, because our industry requires technical people who know power take-offs and hydraulics. If you don't have that group of people, you aren't going to sell much. By holding on to our employees during slow times, we had them on staff when business picked back up. In the down years, we worked hard to develop new products. We came out of each recession stronger and more competitive.”