50 years of Hoftrac - our long-standing experts report.
Memories are an important part of an anniversary: the past forms the foundation for the present. The present prepares and builds the future. The people who stand behind the machines and the Weidemann company with their energy and passion are crucial. This becomes particularly clear on our 50th anniversary of the Hoftrac when you look at the diverse experience of our long-serving employees.
I was an apprentice at Weidemann at the time and was allowed to go to the trade fair as a demonstration driver. I did my laps there on the demo length - that was really cool.
My fascination for the Hoftrac is unbroken - small, powerful, maneuverable, agile. What I loved as a child is still true today.
The picture was taken in 1998 at the GaLaBau trade fair in Nuremberg. In addition to the product exhibition, there was a demo area where the Hoftrac 1070 D/M was to be demonstrated. Martin Drawe was 18 years old at the time and an apprentice industrial mechanic. He was kitted out in a striking red overall especially for the trade fair and was able to demonstrate his driving skills, which were already very well developed at the time, on the demo site. “On each day of the trade fair, I drove various demonstrations as required. Our aim was to convince customers of the maneuverability and power of the machines. We also had a pile of earth to demonstrate the heavy material handling. Of course, I thought it was great that I was able to go on a big trip for Weidemann and show what our Hoftracs are capable of,” he says looking back.
Martin Drawe developed his enthusiasm for Weidemann Hoftracs as a child: his father Walter was one of Weidemann's factory representatives at the time. The Drawe family also lived in the immediate vicinity of the traditional factory in Diemelsee-Flechtdorf. Even as a young boy, Martin was allowed to go on demonstrations with his father Walter and even traveled to France to see a machine delivery when he was just 3 years old. The factory premises at that time were Martin's (almost daily) playground - not to say his adventure area par excellence.
Little Martin was often lifted into the cab/onto the driver's cab by his father so that he could be there too.
So it's not surprising that when he got halfway to standing on the pedals, he really wanted to drive the machines - his formative beginnings ... “The children from my village were happy to be able to drive a Kettcar - I could and was allowed to drive many different wheel loaders at that time. That was of course something very special and made me really proud as a boy. I was totally fascinated by being able to operate the big machines!”...as he says of himself, Martin was ‘practically found in a shovel’ as a child. The Hoftrac gene was therefore passed on to him in the cradle...
When Martin was 14, he was in Arnstadt/Thuringia with his father and gave a demonstration for a municipal customer with a 2502 BL D/D backhoe loader. His father Walter conducted the sales talk and the customer was amazed at how easy it was to operate.
During this time, sales were often carried out as cash transactions, so that around 20,000 German marks were sometimes collected on delivery tours - a lot of money for Martin at the time. “It was always a celebration for the customer when we delivered his new machine to him and his family. The joy of receiving such great machine support for the strenuous yard work was often huge - I have many emotional moments in my memory. We then trained the new loader on delivery and simply drove through the work tasks together with the customer directly in the yard. This allowed the new loader to be introduced directly to its jobs, very close to the real world.”
Father and son: Martin on the 1050 D/M and his father Walter on the 1070 D/M impress customers in tandem at the trade show in Marsberg.
Today, Martin Drawe is responsible for the Hoftrac range at Weidemann as a product specialist and continues to travel internationally as a demo driver with the Hoftracs and the entire range. “I still really enjoy demonstrating machines - what could be better and more convincing than being able to see the loaders in action!” It's a good combination for him: seeing the world, attending international trade fairs, visiting different farms, listening to customers and feeling their direct reactions.
Martin also contributes his in-depth product and technical knowledge of all Weidemann machines to the creation of price lists and he is particularly interested in handling the machines in theory and practice in his varied work. For over 20 years, he has supported the assembly and dismantling of the machines at various trade fairs.
Of course, he also drives a historic Hoftrac privately (“a matter of honor”): his father bought a used 1070 D/M with the aim of having his own machine at home. Pushing snow, gardening, moving pallets - whatever needs to be done is done with it. However, his “sweetheart” is categorically not rented out in the village - but he is happy to help out: the 1070 is only available together with Martin as the driver.
Ten years ago, Martin restored the historic Perfekt 130 at Weidemann together with the industrial trainees. To mark the 40th anniversary of the Hoftrac, Weidemann was looking for the oldest Hoftrac still in working order and found the fifth machine of this type ever to have been produced. The restored machine was recently on display at EuroTier 2024 in Hanover and once again captivated many visitors. “We had one just like it from Weidemann, a really great machine back then ....”, many stories from long-standing customers began with this sentence and were exchanged at the trade fair stand. The Perfekt 130 and its successors write many personal and individual stories! Stories of working and living on farms, stories of generations of people, their working methods and their machines.
Martin Drawe also looks after the history and the Weidemann archive. “I grew up with the Hoftrac - after all, the machine is only 5 years older than me” - two things that fit together perfectly!
But it's not just the historic machines that Martin Drawe likes. He names the 1260 LP as his current favorite machine: the special drive concept with the wheel hub drive Direct Wheel Drive (dwDrive) enables high thrust, excellent acceleration and lively handling with the loader. The compact dimensions and low center of gravity make the loader maneuverable and comfortable to operate - just the way Martin likes a Hoftrac from Weidemann.
“My fascination with the Hoftrac is unbroken - small, powerful, maneuverable, agile. What I loved as a child still applies today and still totally inspires me.”
