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In 1941, engineer Richard Vinkler was hired by the company as the technical manager, while engineers Johan Økland and Bernt Våge were hired a few years after the war. These three were to be of great importance for the development of hydraulic equipment at Frydenbø.
Initially, the idea was to design a hydraulic transducer for more efficient loading and unloading of the ships. The first prototype was manufactured and test mounted on Frydenbø's own quay crane and delivered good results.
The idea to manufacture a hydraulic steering machine came after a remark from an old customer, Rasmus Drønen. He had steering gear mounted on several of his fishing boats, and during a service stay in the workshop he commented that the steering worked excellently. But he had also noticed that there were a lot of rudders from the sea when sailing with the waves aft across. Regarding this, he said that he would like to have a hydraulic shock absorber fitted to dampen these blows. This might have been how the idea of the hydraulic steering machine was born.
The road from thought to action has never been long in Frydenbø. In 1952, work began on constructing the first two-wing hydraulic steering machine.
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