Young tractor drivers compete at fair

Backing up is the hard part.

T.J. Pruett, a member of the Madison County 4-H Club at Fredericktown, Mo., agrees that backing a small tractor with a trailer attached can be a tough chore.

So does Travis Huffman, a member of the Future Farmers of America Club of Fredericktown, Mo., High School.

Pruett and Huffman posted pretty good scores in the 4-H/FFA Tractor Rodeo at SEMO District Fair Thursday with scores of 30 and 40 respectively.

But the eventual winner was Thomas Strickland of Richland High School FFA at Essex, Mo.. Andrew Bachman of the FFA chapter at Perryville, Mo., High School finished second, and Luke Aufdenberg of the Tilset 4-H Club was third.

"It was fun," said Huffman, who put the small DX25 CaseIH tractor and a trailer through the figure 8 obstacle course in good time. "Time is not really a factor, unless you have a tie," said Huffman of his 1 minute, 26-second clocking.

The crowd watched in awe as young tractor drivers demonstrated their skills over the figure 8 course, especially the final half of the course.

"That's where the backing started," said Pruett, who took a little longer to tour the course but came away with a good score.

The 47 contestants in the afternoon's action each jumped off with a good start, covering the first half of the figure 8 in a forward gear.

Then the fun started.

Tight quarters

Drivers had to go through the second half of the course in reverse, then back and park the trailer into tight quarters.

Points were added if the drivers nipped an obstacle or had to stop, pull forward, and back up again.

In fact, a change of direction in driving results in 20 points added to the score each time it happens, said Larry Rausch, who signed up candidates and coordinated the event. "You could get points for failing to check the PTO (power take-off) for disengagement."

"Low score wins," said Rausch.

The entrants knew what they were in for.

"The guys have been training for the rodeo for the past week," said Kris Rudd, vo-ag instructor at Twin Rivers High School of Brosely, Mo. "Everything is safety and driving skills, and we do a lot of practicing."

Rudd said his school set up an obstacle course and let FFA and 4-H students qualify for the fair rodeo.

"We can bring three members of the school's Future Farmers of America class and three from the community's 4-H Club," said Rudd. "We have five students here for the fair rodeo. One of our drivers couldn't make it."

Matt Upchurch and Cory Trentham, both of Woodland High School at Marble Hill, Mo., looked forward to the competition.

"We both drive tractors a lot on the farm," said Trentham, a senior. "I just hope to get through the course."

Both were drivers in the rodeo a year ago and both finished the course, "but we didn't win trophies," said Upchurch.

Upchurch, a sophomore at Woodland, came away with a trophy this year, finishing fourth in the competition.

The tractor rodeo scoring is based on driving skills and safety measures, with points tacked on for a number of violations.

"You can get 100 points for failure to ride on the seat safely," said Rausch. "Or, you can get 50 points for turning too short or 100 points for jumping on or off the tractor. By that time you're out of the running."

rowen@semissourian.com

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