Ditch Witch

The history of the brand Ditch Vich originates directly from the products. A mechanical tool developed by Ed Malzahn in Perry, Oklahoma, solved a long-standing problem: the laborious, time-consuming trenching of engineering communications, which was previously carried out with a pickaxe and shovel, was now performed by a machine.

Ed did not come up with a name for his invention when he began to demonstrate it to customers. Therefore, he was forced to turn to Lewis Brandenburg (Lewis Brandenburg), who owned an agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

They spent the whole evening inventing various names, many of which were associated with animals living underground: moles and earthen squirrels. Before breaking up, Ed told Lewis that the name must have the word "ditcher" (excavator, excavator) or "trencher" (trencher). The next morning, the name "Ditch Witch" appeared as the main candidate. Lewis even created a logo with a witch riding on a spade on the background of the moon.

So the brand was born. Ed acknowledges that many of the ideas born in the process of creating the Ditch Witch brand were happy accidents. For example, the color of Maltsan’s first invention called Geronimo, which was used to transport oil workers to a safe place in the event of a fire. Initially, Ed used red, which was associated with the reliability of the equipment (for example, fire extinguishers were painted with this color). However, on a black non-primed gland, the red paint fades. Ed had to contact the owner of the warehouse of timber, which showed large reserves of orange paint.

When it was time to demonstrate the new compact trencher, it was also necessary to pre-paint it. The traditional color for construction equipment was considered yellow. However, after painting Geronimo in the Maltsana spray gun, there was still orange paint. Time was running out, so Ed painted his trencher in orange.

Over time, the original name and characteristic colors, as well as the unique capabilities of the new trencher, have become distinctive features of the Ditch Witch brand. Ed never thought that in the future his invention would become a household word for the technique used for trenching. "Ditch Witch" was just a name for his technique.