Iowa Farmer Today
05-24-06
Small tractors foster big dreams for ISU students
By Gene Lucht, Iowa Farmer Today
AMES -- Today, the metal contraption on the floor here looks more like a cross
between the Terminator and NASCAR than like a tractor.
To Stacy Grove and his fellow students in the agricultural engineering
department at Iowa State University, however, this hunk of metal and bolts is a
dream nearing fruition.
“It’s a lot of work but it’s also a lot of fun,” Grove says as he bolts a wheel onto
the frame. We’re building a tractor.”
That tractor is part of a student competition that is becoming a tradition among
agricultural engineering departments in the United States and Canada,
particularly those with strong ag equipment programs. The competition is the
American Society of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ASABE) onefourth scale tractor student design competition.
The competition was the brainchild of two University of Wisconsin students in the
1990s and was first held in 1998. It has generally been on Memorial Day
weekend or soon after in the Midwest, often in the Quad Cities. This year’s event
is set for June 1-4 in Peoria, Ill., and will pit teams of students from 29
universities (mostly in the United States and Canada) in sort of glorified minitractor pull.
Of course, it’s not quite like a garden tractor pull that might be held at your local
county fair.
The students are supplied with a long list of rules, as well as engines which are
not to be modified. Each tractor must have an identical engine, must meet certain
maximum dimensions and weight levels, must have the same hitch height. But,
the students must raise a budget, often $20,000 to $30,000; design and build the
machine; and write a booklet explaining their design and process, and they must
assemble a team to handle all those aspects of the project.
It’s not as much the engineering and building that is the most important part of
the learning process, says Stuart Birrell, associate professor of agricultural
engineering at ISU and project advisor for the team building this year’s tractor.
“It’s the business aspect of it,” he says. “It’s the time management. It’s dealing
with the limitations of time, resources and money.”
Birrell concedes some professors think the contest is too focused and the
students would be better off working on different types of senior projects that
could potentially be considered more creative. But, he says the students enjoy
the tractor competition and it offers them a good learning opportunity.
This year’s Cyclone Power Pullers team, led by Grove and Matt Creswick, had its
hands full.
Grove of Peoria and Creswick of Newton each spent part of senior year working
on this project. For Grove, it offered a chance to work on his management and
engineering skills. And, the May ISU grad is preparing to start work at Caterpillar
in Peoria this summer.
The two began putting together their team last August and soon after began
raising money and planning their design. With a budget of $26,000, they hope to
finish in the top 10 and make their mark at a competition that includes teams
from schools as diverse as Kansas State, Texas A&M, the University of
California at Davis and the University of Guelph in Canada. One year, a team
from Malaysia competed.
The contest will feature awards and competitions in a number of areas. Teams
will be judged on their books, on the actual pull, and on items such as
ergonomics, manufacturability, and safety. Then, an overall winner will be
chosen.
“It’s a very competitive thing,” Grove says.
But, it’s also fun, he adds. Past team participants often show up, as do the vice
presidents or ag engineers from numerous companies that make farm equipment
or sponsor teams. The result is the competition is a social and career networking
occasion.
So, for all those NASCAR fans who need a fix or all those engineers who want to
check it out, this is the place to be.
“It’s fun,” Grove repeats as he picks up a socket set and prepares to get back to
work.