Ten covered wagons, pulled by 22 cold-blooded horses, drove from Brügge in Belgium to Brück in Brandenburg, Germany. Just like 850 years ago, when Flemish migrants made their way to a sparsely populated region that is today called Fläming. But this time the caravan of wagons was accompanied by a Fendt 924.

“Sometimes I really thought I wouldn't be able to realise the idea of driving from Belgium to Germany in a covered wagon in such a short amount of time,” recalls Thomas Haseloff, President of the Cold-Blood Breeding and Sports Association, about the situation August 2008. At that time, though, construction workers near the city of Paderborn in Eastern Westphalia dug up an 850 year old, well-conserved covered wagon. “That was the final push to make the “Titans on Tour” really come true,” explained the businessman and cold-blood breeder from Brück. Because now, in addition to a concrete plan to realise the idea, there was also a historical vehicle available, according to which the ten covered wagons could be built true to the original.
So he and his brother Burkhard Haseloff, with whom he operates the “Brücker Agrar und Landschafts GbR”, had an idea in their heads that was almost crazy. They infected many others with it in a short amount of time. The entire Cool-Blood Breeding and Sports Association Brück helped to implement the idea. In reality that meant: Just as settlers set out eastward from Flanders to Fläming with covered wagons and cold-blooded horses in 1159, “Titans on Tour” started in the Flemish city of chocolate, Brügge, on 4 May 2009, to re-enact a part of the history of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Another reason for the event was the European Year 2009, which stood under the motto “Creativity and Innovation”.
The AGCO subsidiary Fendt also contributed towards making the event possible. As the main sponsor, the agricultural equipment manufacturer from the Allgäu region of Germany provided a 924 Vario, which accompanied the caravan over the full distance, at no cost. The tractor reliably transported tools, water, hay, oats and harnesses for the 750 to 1000 kg heavy horses, which had to conquer some 1,300 kilometres. They consumed 20,000 kilos of hay and 15,000 kilos of oats during the eight weeks and were shoed with 150 new horseshoes along the way.

“I always drove ahead and prepared everything at the overnight accommodations for the arrival of the caravan,” explained the driver of the tractor, David Haseloff, about his job in the event. He easily drove some 2,500 km in the Fendt tractor, because he already drove the distance in the opposite direction in April, from Brück to Brügge, in order to be able to start the historical caravan with the others at the marketplace in Brügge in front of 10,000 curious onlookers. “Even long distances were no problem with the Vario 924. The son of Burkhard Haselhoff spoke highly of the powerful tractor with continuously variable transmission and comfortably equipped cab, which made the road trip comfortable: “There is not a single thing to criticise about the tractor.” Further proof that Fendt tractors are also well-suited for roads, not only fields.
In contrast, the 135 drivers and passengers on the coach boxes of the covered wagons, which had no suspension, had to master a somewhat less comfortable vehicle on the tour through Brussels, Leuven and Tondern to the German border. From there they drove through Aachen, Wermelskirchen, Hildesheim, Helmstedt and Magdeburg into the Fläming. After eight weeks, on 27 June, they arrived in the “Titan Arena” in Brück, flanked by the Fendt 924 high-horsepower tractor. There they were welcomed by the sponsor of the “Titans on Tour”, Minister President of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck, amidst cheers from 14,000 spectators, because this was the weekend of the traditional “Titans of the Racetrack” event, the only cold-blooded horse show in Europe. This grand event made a worthy backdrop for the arrival of the caravan.
“We are very happy to have Fendt as a sponsor,” explained the organiser of the tour, Thomas Haseloff, and did not hold back that it wouldn't have been possible to realise such a large event without such generous support. He was also very pleased with the numerous talks about the things that join and separate Europe, which arose spontaneously on the way or at the individual stations of the trek. He also highlighted another bonus: “The cold-blooded horses have found new appreciation. On the trip we heard from breeders that this tour has shown what these animals are capable of, especially to the “non-horse” people. We are very proud of that.”
This was no different for the 240 hp technology on the trek, because once again, a tractor from the Fendt brand was able to prove what kind of innovative, powerful and operator-friendly technology it is made of – and added a bit more to the AGCO success story on this remarkable tour, which started out as a crazy idea.