STEVENS POINT - Ryan Schmitt, of Juda FFA, was the champion tractor driver in the Wisconsin FFA Safe Tractor Operators Contest held Aug. 12 at the Farm Technology Days.
Schmitt competed against eight other contestants from across the state - all of whom won their respective sectional contest earlier in the summer.
The contest consists of four parts. One part consists of driving a tractor and two-wheel implement through a maze of poles with golf balls on top of them. Students accumulate points if a golf ball gets knocked off and if a pole gets knocked out of place by the tractor or the implement. The winner is the one with the lowest score. Students have five minutes to complete the course, and they accumulate a point for each second that it takes them to get through the course. Schmitt completed the maze in two minutes and 34 seconds, which was 35 seconds faster than he did at the sectional contest.
The second part of the contest is to drive a tractor with a four-wheel wagon out of a shed of poles with golf balls on top and back it into another shed next to the original one. Each contestant had five minutes to complete this part of the competition. Schmitt completed the phase of the contest in three minutes and 10 seconds.
The third part of the contest is to evaluate a tractor and find ten things wrong with it, such as low tire pressure, low amount of engine oil, missing SMV emblem or many other choices.
The fourth and final part of the contest is for each student to take a 25 question test on proper maintenance and operation of tractors and farm machinery.
Schmitt competed against eight other contestants from across the state - all of whom won their respective sectional contest earlier in the summer.
The contest consists of four parts. One part consists of driving a tractor and two-wheel implement through a maze of poles with golf balls on top of them. Students accumulate points if a golf ball gets knocked off and if a pole gets knocked out of place by the tractor or the implement. The winner is the one with the lowest score. Students have five minutes to complete the course, and they accumulate a point for each second that it takes them to get through the course. Schmitt completed the maze in two minutes and 34 seconds, which was 35 seconds faster than he did at the sectional contest.
The second part of the contest is to drive a tractor with a four-wheel wagon out of a shed of poles with golf balls on top and back it into another shed next to the original one. Each contestant had five minutes to complete this part of the competition. Schmitt completed the phase of the contest in three minutes and 10 seconds.
The third part of the contest is to evaluate a tractor and find ten things wrong with it, such as low tire pressure, low amount of engine oil, missing SMV emblem or many other choices.
The fourth and final part of the contest is for each student to take a 25 question test on proper maintenance and operation of tractors and farm machinery.
