The University of Kentucky ¼ Scale Tractor Team brought home the Second Place Overall and Second Place Pull Performance trophies in the 13th Annual ASABE International 1/4-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition, held June 3-6, in Peoria, Illinois.
UK’s entry featured extensive use of aluminum to meet weight restrictions while permitting the students to utilize a four-engine design and a totally redesign operator interface.
The University of Illinois Illini Pullers took top honors followed by UK, Nicholls State University, University of Saskatchewan, and Purdue University. The five earned their top finishes by performing consistently well among all of the judging categories: Oral Presentation, Written Design Report, Static Design Judging, Maneuverability and Performance (tractor pull).
The ASABE Annual International 1/4-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition provides university students with a “360-degree” design experience, unique among collegiate vehicle-design competitions, in which they must build a tractor from the ground up, documenting their market research, testing and development; presenting their design to a mock corporate management team; and demonstrating performance in a live tractor pull.
Each team is supplied a 16-hp Briggs & Stratton engine and a set of Titan tires; they are responsible for acquiring all other components of their machines. All tractors run on a 10% ethanol fuel blend.
Students gain invaluable professional experience, and industry representatives, many of whom serve as competition judges, are able to find top job recruits among the participants. Twenty teams from across the U.S. and Canada competed in this year’s competition. In addition to those named as award winners, the field included: Cal Poly State University, Iowa State University, Modesto Junior College, North Carolina State University, Penn State University, Southern Illinois University, Texas A & M University, University of Manitoba, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin – Platteville.
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers is a professional and technical organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food, and biological systems. Members are consultants, managers and others who have the training and experience to understand the interrelationships between technology and living systems. Founded in 1907 and headquartered in St Joseph, Michigan, ASABE comprises 9,000 members from more than 100 countries.
This was the 13th year ASABE has sponsored the competition, and UK’s 12th straight entry.