Ditch Witch, a trade name of Charles Machine Works, is an American brand of underground utility construction equipment, principally trenchers, which has been in operation since 1949.

Because of its extensive experience in construction of subterranean structures and systems, CMW and Ditch Witch have been called, "The Underground Authority.

[3] In the late 1940s, Malzahn began to apply his mechanical engineering knowledge to inventing a device that he believed would be in great demand, once it was produced.

Working together, Ed and his father spent months in the family machine shop creating the prototype of what would be known as the DWP, which stood for Ditch Witch Power.

The buckets were attached in sequence onto an endless moving chain that carried them down a ladder type mechanism to chew out chunks of soil, then upward to dump the spoil in neat piles on the ground as they began the downward descent to bring up more dirt.

Called the "endless conveyor ditch digging machine," It was the first mechanized, compact service-line trencher developed for laying underground water lines between the street main and the house.

Charles Machine Works’ campus outside of Perry contains a 30-acre (120,000 m2) manufacturing plant as well as training, testing, research, and product development facilities.