The Schwillach Maypole Friends and the Hoftrac meeting.
Hoftrac® meeting during the may pole watch.
The first Hoftrac® meeting was launched in 2009 by Hubert Rappold, the division head of the Schwillach Maypole Friends. The Schwillach Maypole Friends are a division of the Schüzengesellschaft Schwillachtal e. V. Unterschwillach. The meeting takes place regularly during the watch time, i.e. the time before the maypole is set up when the tree is guarded. For this time, Hubert Rappold wanted to offer a special event and, as a big Hoftrac fan and self-appointed “Weidemaniac”, he came up with the idea of a Hoftrac meeting.
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A small idea turned into a well-known party that is fun for the young and old.
The originally small meeting quickly turned into a Hoftrac meeting with different disciplines and games of skill that is well known beyond the borders of the town. The Schwillach Maypole Friends and the Hoftrac meeting. It is not the speed or the performance of the machine that is focused on here, but rather the driver’s skills and the command of the vehicle. Schwillach’s first historic winner and therefore the best Hoftrac driver in 2009 was Alfred Greckl from Unterschwillach. Since the event was quickly well-received, it has since alternated between the locations of Grund and Schwillach (Bavaria) during the maypole watch and is always exciting for spectators and participants. The Hoftrac meeting is a lot of fun for all ages. In 2019, the organisers counted about 300 visitors aged 0 to 95 years.
Skills exercises challenge the participants.
In 2019, 13 drivers took part in the competition. In addition to many original Hoftracs from Weidemann, a number of machines from other manufacturers have been added over the years so that now the field of participants is quite colourful. However the classic Hoftrac red is and remains the defining colour of course. The skills driving is the main part of the event where in particular young farmers and gardeners and landscapers want to demonstrate their skills. The skills exercises include, for example, slalom driving with water buckets on a hilly route or stacking beer crates with a pallet fork. The machine is used to complete all tasks of course. The disciplines are redesigned every year and announced on the first day of the competition so that no one can gain an advantage beforehand from practising. The winner of the competitions receives the title of “Best Hoftrac Driver in Schwillach Valley” and is given the Schwillach Hoftrac disc in recognition. This disc is similar to the shape of the German Championship trophy for football. On the first shooting evening of the year, the disc is then “shot out”. The best shooter and the best Hoftrac driver are then immortalised on the disc
In 2019, the winner was Florian Thalhammer from Grund, second place was taken by his brother Max Thalhammer and third place by Christian Scherer from Unterschwillach. With the shooting, Hubert Rappold surprisingly managed to win with a “random shot”.
Weidemann congratulates all participants and wishes them every success in this extraordinary event in future
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