50 years of Hoftrac

A machine that makes history!

Weidemann is celebrating the Hoftrac’s birthday. The features of our small, compact loader have proven themselves both nationally and internationally for more than 50 years. From the first prototypes that were designed as simpler three-wheel loaders came a small, articulated wheel loader in 1972 and 1973. Its developers, brothers Reinhold and Oswald Weidemann, gave it the modern name “Hoftrac”. 

A Weidemann Hoftrac is manoeuvrable, powerful, very flexible - and this is all with an extremely compact design. Our first Hoftrac in series production, the Perfect 130, was developed in 1974 to precisely these points. 

The small, red articulated machine was a great success right from the start. What is the basis of the success of the Hoftrac models and their big “big brothers”? Then, like now, the machines presented a genuine, practical solution. In the early seventies, the Weidemann brothers meticulously experimented in their workshop in Diemelsee-Flechtdorf, Hessen, where they created a machine that could both enter into and work inside stables. Up until then this was barely possible, as the buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s mostly only allowed a wheelbarrow to access the feed alley. Behind the cattle, there was likewise only space for a wheelbarrow. That meant that feeding jobs and mucking out simply had to be carried out using a wheelbarrow and fork, therefore manually.

When developing the Hoftrac, the priority was therefore to make a machine capable of carrying out this back-breaking work. However, it had to be able to drive through narrow passageways, while also being able to work in them. Weidemann therefore wanted to build a machine, which was as narrow as possible, but was also extremely manoeuvrable and powerful. They wanted to mechanise the strenuous manual labour independent of building space. This would only work with an articulated machine.

With the start of production in 1974, the Perfect 130” then became the cornerstone of a true success story in agricultural machinery. With this machine, Weidemann opened up a completely new market sector in agricultural engineering for both distributors and the entire industry. With the Perfect 130 it was then possible to drive into a stable building to carry out work with the small machine. Demand was understandably great; as a result, in the subsequent years, the model range and production quantities constantly grew.

Since then, many generations of the machine have followed and the Hoftracs have become a real multi-tool on the farm with the various attachments: they present the ideal solution for many jobs. At the start, the manure fork and the resulting developed fork and grab, as well as the bucket, were primarily the most common tools for daily use. Today, a large variety of attachments are offered. The close co-operation between the Weidemann developers and our end users has repeatedly led to innovative concepts and a sophisticated product programme with high usability and mature technology.

You can find the full Weidemann history here.

It is no wonder that this machine has made agricultural engineering history for decades. For over 50 years the Weidemann Hoftrac has proven itself to be a versatile aid in agriculture, equestrian businesses and, in the meantime, municipalities, in the commercial sector as well as in the hotel, event and tourism industries. 

All the features and benefits of the Hoftrac have not changed over the last five decades, but they have got even better with every machine generation. The manoeuvrable and powerful everyday aid is captivates its users, even decades after its initial presentation.