"The idea was a laugh at first," says
31-year-old Christian Remer. "I texted my mate Hannes to say I wanted to
build a snowman. He said we're better off building a tractor. And what better
than a Fendt 1050 Vario?"
No sooner said than done. After five hours they had completed their work, and a 1.7-metre high, 2.3-metre long Fendt 1000 Vario made of snow was now parked in Christian Remer's farmyard in Richtenberg, near Stralsund. The two friends didn't need a manual. As a small boy, the now 19-year-old Hannes Perlitz became a Fendt fan through his parents' farm. The family business uses 15 Fendt tractors on its 5,400 or so acres of farmland, home to around 1,500 cattle. From the Fendt 211 Vario to the 390 hp-strong Fendt 939 Vario. For its crops of cereals, oilseed rape and maize, the Perlitz family relies on the tractor technology of Fendt. His friend Christian Remer works in the spare parts warehouse at Raiffeisen Technik Nord-Ost, where he manages about 100 Fendt tractors.
The snowy masterpiece has drawn plenty of media attention. The local press, the channel NDR and even a Swiss newspaper have been quick to report on the crazy snow tractor construction. The two friends' work of art not only looks amazing, but more importantly shows that farmers can defy the recent spell of weather. Some farmers in the district of Vorpommern-Rügen aren't finding it so easy.
“Especially in the north, a number of farmers were set back by the recent wet and cold weather," explains Andreas Langen, Managing Director of Raiffeisen Technik Nord-Ost. "The wet makes is very difficult to navigate the fields, so we can't carry out the spring work we should be doing at the moment."
But one thing is certain, even in the north the temperatures are rising again. "Our snow tractor only lasted a few days – not like the real one!" jokes Christian Remer.
