Grandpa and Grandson Rebuild a Historic East German Tractor

Surrounded by flower pots and cone-shaped hedges, the vintage East German tractor—weighing just under one metric ton—stands on a stone pedestal in Gerhard Kähne’s front yard. However, the tractor is not a historical collector’s item, but a replica of the air-cooled Famulus 14/36 made from 1,551 horseshoes—on a 1:1 scale. “My wife, Anne-Kathrein, has been my love for 44 years, but my second great love is vintage tractors,” says the 64-year-old from Strasburg, raving about the old farm tractors.

Already his second horseshoe tractor

This isn’t Kähne’s first tractor replica made from horseshoes. About ten years ago, he welded together a Lanz Bulldog. A genuine vintage tractor was too expensive for him, so he decided to build his dream tractor out of horseshoes. He later gave this work of art to his cousin from Saxony-Anhalt.

Ever since then, the hobbyist has been itching to build a new tractor for himself. At the end of last year, the urge finally got the better of him. He wanted to recreate the vintage tractor he’d bought 25 years ago—the Famulus. Built in the 1960s at the Nordhausen Tractor Works in Thuringia: “Whether I’m lying on the couch in the winter and my belly keeps getting bigger, or I go to the workshop on Saturdays, Sundays, or after work and sweat it out building a tractor like this”—that simply brings him great joy, sums up the trained agricultural machinery and tractor mechanic.

“This is my hobby, and this is my life”

When Kähne isn’t putting together a tractor out of horseshoes, you’ll probably find him tinkering with a real vintage model. He helps many friends and also drives to other towns to work on his projects. “This is my hobby, and this is my life,” says the Uckermark native. Even as a child, he had a knack for tinkering and used to solder small Mickey Mouse figures together from bottle caps.

Kähne built the Famulus together with his grandson Malte. The two even installed the crankshaft, connecting rod, piston, and bearing in the iron GDR tractor from the 1960s. For Kähne, the joint project with his grandson was also about getting him away from his cell phone and getting him excited about doing something with his hands.

Hands-on work instead of cell phones

Many children sit alone at home in front of a screen after school—while their parents are still at work—playing on their cell phones or laptops, says Kähne. He wants to encourage children and teenagers to put away their smartphones and watch someone they know do some DIY projects, as he puts it. But he also believes parents and grandparents have a responsibility to engage with their children’s interests.

He’s aware that not every child has that opportunity, he says. But the fact that he was able to teach his grandson something—and that his grandson was so enthusiastic about it—makes him proud. “And Malte isn’t on his phone much anymore.”

Grandson Malte: Maybe He Learned Something Useful for His Future Career, Too

After finishing his homework, Malte came to the workshop and helped his grandpa with welding. For the 13-year-old, it was an exciting project far removed from the digital world: “There are lots of things in the workshop that you can build and learn,” says Malte. “Maybe even for a future career.”

Malte, too, takes a critical view of his generation’s long screen time. “When you’re bored and don’t know what to do, you reach for your phone.” But working on the project with his grandpa allowed him to be creative and have a say in certain steps of the process. “There were lots of things I could help Grandpa with.” For example, he came up with the idea for the steering wheel, which he then implemented on his own.

After the big project with his grandpa, Malte enjoyed welding so much that he wanted to keep going. The two of them don’t just weld tractors—they now also weld flowers and hearts out of horseshoes.

“It’s a great feeling to see something come to life”

Malte loves how creative you can be when welding. It’s a great feeling to see something come to life and to know the work is worth it, he says. “It’s really something unique.” He can only advise his peers to try their hand at a craft project, fix a bike, or simply head out into nature instead of being on their phones. 

In the workshop, where the grandfather-grandson duo has spent a total of 220 hours working together, there are numerous old tractors belonging to Kähne and his son-in-law. The hall is also used by the Strasburg classic car club, where Kähne regularly meets with other enthusiasts.

There’s even a genuine Famulus sitting there among the numerous farm machines. Kähne doesn’t have a single favorite tractor. “They have to start up, they have to run, and they have to be roadworthy and safe to operate—then it’s fun to drive any tractor,” says Kähne with a grin. And Kähne reveals that the tractor isn’t meant to be the last joint DIY project for grandpa and grandson.